Bears adjusting to being atop NFC North
ARLINGTON, Texas - What at first appeared to be the start of a disastrous day for the Bears' offense turned around on two plays near the end of the first quarter in a surprising 27-20 victory on the road over the heavily favored Cowboys.
From the start of the Cowboys' home opener, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was under siege from a frenzied pass rush that sacked him on two of the first three pass plays, although the second was nullified by offsetting penalties.
When the Cowboys weren't sacking Cutler they were chasing him all over the artificial turf in front of 85,168 at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium. Or they were forcing him to throw the ball away before he was dragged down again.
And, oh, by the way, the Bears also lost starting left tackle Chris Williams after three plays to a hamstring injury.
At first, backup Kevin Shaffer replaced Williams on the second series, but that didn't work. So they switched right tackle Frank Omiyale over to the left side and moved Shaffer to right tackle.
The reconfigured front seemed to get better as the game went on.
Despite managing just 3 total yards on their first three possessions, the Bears actually held a 3-0 lead, thanks to the first of 2 D.J. Moore interceptions that gave them the ball at the Cowboys' 23-yard line.
But the home team went up 7-3 late in the first quarter on rookie Dez Bryant's 62-yard, punt-return touchdown.
That's when the Bears turned the game around.
Deciding to abandon the seven-step drops that were endangering Cutler's well-being, offensive coordinator Mike Martz went to quicker-developing plays.
A 19-yard slant to Devin Hester got the Bears going. The next play, a quick dart over the middle to tight end Greg Olsen, went for 39 yards, a touchdown, a 10-7 lead and a more confident team.
"I think that just settled us down," Olsen said of his only catch. "We were (able) to punch one in, and we got settled down and said, 'Hey, we're good. We weathered their storm early, the excitement of (their) opening home game and all that.'
"We settled in and for the rest of the game and for the most part did pretty well."
Cutler was never sacked again, as the Bears' big-play potential forced the Cowboys to back off their aggressive blitzing.
Cutler wound up completing 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions and his highest passer rating (136.7) as a Bear, which was the fourth best of his career and left the Bears at 2-0 heading into a Monday Night Football showdown with the Green Bay Packers, who also are 2-0.
"We knew we were going to get their best punch early," Cutler said. "They were coming off a tough loss (13-7 at Washington) and wanting to put on a good show here at home.
"We had to ride the wave a little bit. We emptied (the backfield) out a few times (using more receivers) and got them to settle down. Once we started attacking them a little more, we settled down some."
The Cowboys (0-2) came back to retake the lead 14-10, but then Cutler lobbed a 9-yard TD pass to Hester, who made a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone, pulled the ball in, secured it and barely got both feet down before going out of bounds for a 17-14 lead with 3:38 left in the half.
The score was set up when Cutler launched a bomb down the middle of the field that found Johnny Knox behind the Cowboys' coverage and picked up 59 yards.
"They kept coming," Bears coach Lovie Smith said of the Cowboys' pass-rush pressure. "Our protection got a little better, and we gave Jay a little more time.
"When you blitz, there's a lot of risk involved as far as giving up the big play. We liked some of our matchups we had and took advantage of it."
Knox led the Bears with 86 receiving yards on 4 catches, and Hester picked up 77 yards on his 4 receptions. Running back Matt Forte caught 5 passes for 37 yards, including a 3-yard TD that gave the Bears a 27-17 lead with 5:16 left in the game.
Although the Bears' defense permitted 410 total yards, including 374 through the air by Tony Romo, they also forced 3 turnovers; both of Moore's interceptions set up field goals.
There also were some spine-cracking hits throughout by safety Chris Harris and linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, both of whom made numerous plays for the second straight week and had 2 tackles for minus yardage.
Whether it was just coincidence or the Bears' physical play, Cowboys star receivers Miles Austin and Roy Williams both had big second-half drops on perfect passes.
It was a wicked hit by Charles Tillman that separated Austin from the ball in the first quarter, with the loose pigskin popping into Moore's hands for his first pick.
"I would be conscious of those guys, too," Smith said of Briggs and Urlacher. "They played great ball last week; (the Cowboys) saw on video what type of football players they are.
"For a receiver to come over the middle when we're in zone coverage, and to catch a little dink pass, he has to plan on getting hit."
• Follow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials at DailyHerald.com
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bears grades vs. Cowboys</p>
<p class="breakhead">GAME BALL</p>
<p class="News">Bears QB Jay Cutler's numbers speak for themselves: 21 of 29 for 277 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. But let's go deeper and look at his 8 incompletions. Cutler shrewdly threw 3 away, while 2 went off or through Devin Hester's hands. You might also consider the play where DeMarcus Ware chased him out of the pocket and deflected the pass as another throwaway.</p>
<p class="breakhead">QB (5 balls)</p>
<p class="News">What can you say? Especially when one considers Cutler took hits the first four times he dropped back, he'll be hard-pressed to produce a finer game than this. For the record, he posted a 136.7 quarterback rating - Cutler's best as a Bear and fourth-best of his career.</p>
<p class="breakhead">RB (3 balls)</p>
<p class="News">Matt Forte and Chester Taylor combined for just 14 carries and 35 yards, but Forte still made his presence felt with 5 catches for 37 yards and the clinching touchdown when he lined up wide left and made the easy 3-yard catch.</p>
<p class="breakhead">WR (4 balls)</p>
<p class="News">Throw out Devin Hester's 2 drops (and we can negotiate whether the missed bomb down the right sideline deserves to be called a drop) and the wide receivers and tight ends were terrific. Randy Moss' one-hand catch later in the afternoon was better than Hester, but that doesn't diminish the ridiculousness of Hester's one-hand grab in the back corner of the end zone in the second quarter. Johnny Knox snagged a 59-yard bomb while Earl Bennett made his 2010 debut with 5 receptions for 29 yards.</p>
<p class="breakhead">OL (3.5 balls)</p>
<p class="News">This could have been a disaster. Cutler was sacked on his first dropback. Left tackle Chris Williams (hamstring) went out for good after three plays. Though backup tackle Kevin Shaffer struggled on his first series, the coaches flip-flopped the tackles before the third series and things went more smoothly. One lingering issue? The Bears had three third downs of 3 yards or less, but didn't convert any of them.</p>
<p class="breakhead">DL (4 balls)</p>
<p class="News">No, Julius Peppers didn't break another quarterback. No, the Bears didn't earn any sacks in 51 Tony Romo dropbacks. But Romo threw a lot of ugly balls with defensive linemen all around. Peppers, Tommie Harris, Israel Idonije and Mark Anderson all earned one quarterback hit apiece. Matt Toeaina and Anthony Adams combined for 5 solo tackles as the Bears bottled up the run.</p>
<p class="breakhead">LB (4 balls)</p>
<p class="News">Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher delivered 2 tackles for loss apiece as they seemed to be in the Cowboys' backfield when they needed to be there and they were in the right spots in coverage, too. On one deep post into the end zone that Romo threw out of the field, Urlacher was one of three Bears surrounding Miles Austin. Urlacher recovered a fumble.</p>
<p class="breakhead">Secondary (4 balls)</p>
<p class="News">Second-year nickel back D.J. Moore, who has done nothing but express confidence that he can play in the NFL, earned his first 2 career interceptions by being in the right place at the right time. Peanut Tillman created the first INT by blowing up Austin and knocking a completion out of his hands. Later, during a crucial fourth-quarter possession, Moore held up WR Roy Williams long enough for Tillman to strip the ball and force another turnover.</p>
<p class="breakhead">Special teams (3 balls)</p>
<p class="News">Punter Brad Maynard didn't look good when he couldn't nudge Dez Bryant out of bounds on his first-quarter punt return for a touchdown but, hey, he's 14 years older than Bryant. Robbie Gould made all of his kicks, which Dallas' kicker failed to do and it hurt the hosts. Gould also boomed 2 of his 6 kickoffs for touchbacks.</p>
<p class="breakhead">Coaching (4 balls)</p>
<p class="News">After Cutler took hits on 4 of the Bears' first 7 snaps (including the false-start play that kept rolling), offensive coordinator Mike Martz switched tactics and figured out a way to keep Cutler clean. Cutler's three-step drops near the end of the first quarter not only went for 19 yards (to Devin Hester) and 39 yards (to Greg Olsen for a score), they stopped the Cowboys from bringing the house whenever they wanted.</p>
<p class="News">- Lindsey Willhite</p>
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