Bears finally get a victory, but keep it in perspective

St. Louis was just what the Bears needed - a team worse than them.

The Bears converted just 31 percent of their third downs, but the Rams converted only 14 percent of theirs.

The Bears produced a mere 248 yards of total offense, but the Rams had just 233.

The Bears turned the ball over once; the Rams gave it away twice. The Bears fumbled six times but recovered 5 of them.

But, having lost four straight and six of seven, the Bears weren't in any position to worry about style points in their 17-9 victory at Soldier Field.

They raised their record to 5-7 while dropping the visitors from St. Louis to 1-11, and they kept the victory in perspective.

Asked what the difference was between Sunday's win and the four previous games, defensive end Alex Brown said: "The Rams."

"Honestly," Brown said. "I don't think we're fooling anybody when we say the Rams aren't Minnesota. It's a different type of animal. We still have to tackle better. We had some missed tackles and some missed plays, so we have to do better."

For the first time in five games the Bears ran the ball more often than they threw it. Even after Jay Cutler threw for 131 yards in the first 10 minutes, including completions of 71 yards to Earl Bennett and 48 yards to Devin Hester, there was a commitment to the run game that hasn't been seen in quite awhile.

Cutler had just 12 passing yards in the game's final 50 minutes, but for the first time in eight games he was not intercepted. The NFL's least productive ground game totaled 120 yards, topping the century mark for only the fourth time all season as Matt Forte picked up 91 yards on 24 carries.

"We played well enough to win," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said, even though the Bears had just 101 yards of total offense after the first quarter. "We'll take it. We won. The way our defense was playing and the way our field position was, we did what we had to do to win."

In their four-game losing streak, the Bears' offense averaged 41 passes per game and just 16 runs. But Sunday the Bears ran it 38 times while throwing only 18 passes, including just 11 by Cutler in the final three quarters.

"We felt like we needed to run the football, (that) we could run the football (and) had to run the football," coach Lovie Smith said. "We were able to do that. Any time you get 38 rushes that's a good day for our team. I thought both running backs ran hard."

The production was nothing to get excited about, considering the Bears averaged just 3.2 yards on their rushing attempts, about a yard less than the NFL average.

"It wasn't pretty, but it was a win," said linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, whose leaping interception with 3:29 left helped the Bears hold on, although he didn't think 1 win would quiet the team's critics.

"We beat a team that we should've beaten, and it was a close game," Hillenmeyer said. "So I think it'll still be exactly the same, and that's OK."

The Bears have had problems converting red-zone opportunities into touchdowns all season, but they were better Sunday, scoring 2 touchdowns and a field goal on four opportunities.

They extended their lead to 17-6 when Bennett caught a 3-yard TD pass from Cutler with 1:23 left in the third quarter. It was Bennett's 45th catch of the season but his first NFL touchdown.

"I was glad to see Earl get one," Cutler said. "He's had a lot of good catches for us all year long, but he hasn't been able to crack one into the end zone."

The Rams responded with Josh Brown's 50-yard field goal with 10:10 left, which brought them to within 17-9.

On the Rams' two possessions that bracketed Hillenmeyer's interception, which came at the Bears' 40-yard line, they drove across midfield but were never able to get inside the Bears' 40.

Against the Rams, the Bears allowed 304 fewer yards than the 537 they yielded a week earlier while being routed 36-10 at Minnesota, even though they were missing all three of their opening-day starters at linebacker.

Hillenmeyer has been starting, mostly in the middle, since Brian Urlacher suffered a season-ending fractured wrist in the season opener. Nick Roach was starting his 11th game of the season, most of them on the strong side in place of Pisa Tinoisamoa, who also is on injured reserve.

But Jamar Williams was making his first start of the season in place of Lance Briggs, who was out with a knee injury, and the four-year veteran responded with 18 tackles.

How they scored

Bears 7, Rams 0

Score: Matt Forte, 1-yard run; Robbie Gould kick; 9:43 left in first quarter

Drive: 5 plays, 85 yards; 2:09 time of possession

The play: On the first play of the Bears' second drive, Jay Cutler connected with Devin Hester for a 48-yard gain to the Rams' 37.

Fact: The Bears came into game with just 3 first-quarter touchdowns.

Bears 10, Rams 0

Score: Gould, 27-yard field goal; 3:51 left in first quarter

Drive: 7 plays, 84 yards; 2:57 time of possession

The play: A 71-yard catch and run by Earl Bennett was the longest pass completion this season by Cutler.

Fact: Gould's field goal was No. 128, tying him for second on the Bears' list with Bob Thomas.

Bears 10, Rams 3

Score: Josh Brown, 20-yard field goal; 1:14 left in second quarter

Drive: 14 plays, 88 yards; 6:16 time of possession

The play: Brandon Gibson's 21-yard catch and run got the Rams down to the Bears' 19.

Fact: The Rams gained 55 yards on their first five possessions and 88 yards on final drive of the half.

Bears 10, Rams 6

Score: Brown, 48-yard field goal; 8:50 left in third quarter

Drive: 6 plays, 19 yards; 3:09 time of possession

The play: The Rams were struggling until Charles Tillman was flagged for a face mask, putting the Rams at Bears' 26.

Fact: The Bears were whistled for only 4 penalties for 35 yards.

Bears 17, Rams 6

Score: Bennett, 3-yard pass from Cutler; Gould kick; 1:23 left in third quarter.

Drive: 13 plays, 76 yards; 7:30 time of possession.

The play: A 15-yard penalty for a horse collar tackle of Matt Forte moved the ball into Rams territory.

Fact: It was Bennett's first career NFL touchdown catch.

Bears 17, Rams 9

Score: Brown, 50-yard field goal; 10:10 left in fourth quarter

Drive: 7 plays, 10 yards; 3:51 time of possession.

The play: The Rams' Danny Amendola returned Brad Maynard's punt 30 yards to the Bears' 42.

Fact: Brown leads all active kickers with 23 FGs from 60 yards or beyond since 2003.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=342144">Images from Bears win over the Rams </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=342153">Rozner: Thrilling doesn't begin to describe it <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342150">Imrem: Nobody in any real rush to see this one <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342199">Williams all right on left side <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342198">Williams much more than just fill-in for Briggs <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342169">For Lovie, too little, way too late? <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342168">Grading the Bears' win <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342200">Rams need a win even more than Bears did <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342147">Hester leaves game with calf injury <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=342201">Sore hand limits Cutler's passing <span class="date">[12/06/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>