Campbell helps Raiders beat Bears 32-17
Saturday night's second preseason game started off horribly for the Bears, but it got better in a hurry.
At least for the starters, that is, who retired for the night at halftime with a 14-13 lead, despite a shaky performance by the offensive line.
But the second half belonged to the Oakland Raiders, who dropped the Bears to 0-2 and improved to 2-0 with a 32-17 victory at Soldier Field.
The Bears trailed 10-0 late in the first quarter and were backed up at their own 11-yard line after a Charles Tillman interception stopped another potential Raiders scoring drive.
On the next play Matt Forte burst through a gaping hole in the right side of the line created by blocks from guard Lance Louis, center Olin Kreutz and tight end Kellen Davis.
Showing the speed that was absent last season, when he battled knee and hamstring injuries all season, Forte sprinted 89 yards to bring the Bears within 10-6 with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Backup long snapper Desmond Clark, filling in for injured Pat Mannelly, dribbled the snap back to holder Brad Maynard thwarting the extra-point attempt.
That one play probably is enough to quiet Forte's critics from last season, but even if it doesn't he's not worried after picking up 109 yards on 5 carries.
"I don't really listen to all that," he said. "I know what I can do on the field."
Before that, the first quarter was all Oakland.
The Raiders ripped through the Bears' defense for a 90-yard scoring drive to open the game. Unhurried quarterback Jason Campbell completed all 5 of his passes on the drive for 89 yards.
Even worse for the Bears, middle linebacker Brian Urlacher left midway through the drive with a left-calf injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the game.
"We don't think it's anything serious," Bears coach Lovie Smith said.
The first-team offense was even worse on its opening possession, especially a new and obviously not improved offensive line that was manhandled in pass protection. Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly bull-rushed Bears right guard Lance Louis and dropped Jay Cutler for a 9-yard loss.
On the next play, Raiders defensive end Kamerion Wimbley flew past Bears left tackle Chris Williams and dropped Cutler for an 11-yard loss. Midway through the second quarter, Wimbley, who was credited with 4 sacks, blew past Williams again to drop Cutler for an 8-yard loss.
"Clearly, it's too much," Cutler said of the hits he took in just one half. "It's not going to be acceptable. I'm sure the offensive line wasn't satisfied."
Sebastian Janikowski's 43-yard field goal on the ensuing possession gave the Raiders a 10-0 lead.
The five sacks of Cutler were troubling at best, especially the 3 allowed by Williams.
"We can't allow that to happen," Smith said. "Chris is a better player than that. (His play) was not good enough."
Early in the second quarter, the Bears had a chance to creep within a point, but Clark's low and wide snap on a 37-yard FG attempt could not be handled by Maynard, the holder.
"Good thing it was the preseason or they might have cut me," Clark said, joking.
Another 43-yard boot by Janikowski put the Raiders ahead 13-6 with 4:29 left in the half. That drive included failures by the Bears to stop Oakland on third-and-9 and third-and-10 plays.
"The third-and-longs hurt us," Smith said. "But guys came back and played a lot better."
The Bears' defense indeed stepped up with a big play of its own. As Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell fumbled a shotgun snap, defensive end Israel Idonije grabbed the quarterback, discarded him and then went after the ball, recovering at Oakland's 25-yard line.
On fourth-and-7, the Bears disdained another FG attempt, and Cutler was hurried again. But he bought time by sidestepping the Raiders' pass rush and finally found Johnny Knox open in the end zone for a 22-yard TD. The Bears went for 2 points and took the lead 14-13 on Chester Taylor's conversion run.
The TD toss gave Cutler a passer rating of 90.7, as he finished with 99 passing yards, completing 7 of 15 passes. He and the rest of the starters on offense and defense played the entire first half.
Tight end Greg Olsen led the Bears with 3 catches for 26 yards. Devin Hester caught 1 pass for 29 yards and added 20 more yards on 2 carries.
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