Forte's TD holds up as game-decider after Lions' TD catch nullified

Posted September 12, 2010 11:00 pm

By Bob LeGere

The Bears made their season-opening victory over the Lions on Sunday a lot more difficult than it should have been because of their own mistakes on offense.

And it took a favorable official's ruling and replay review on what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown for Detroit before the Bears could savor their 19-14 victory at Soldier Field.

The most spectacular play in the most productive performance of Matt Forte's NFL career accounted for the game's final points with 1:32 left.

Forte beat single coverage by linebacker Julian Peterson down the east sideline and made a difficult adjustment to Jay Cutler's pass, hauling it in as he crashed into the end zone, knocking the air from his lungs.

That 28-yard TD reception capped Forte's day, which also included an 89-yard TD sprint with a screen pass with 1:03 left in the first half.

Forte led all receivers with 7 catches and 151 yards and rushed for 50 yards to become just the fourth player in franchise history with 200 yards from scrimmage in a game.

But the Lions, on their final possession, made the home team and 59,281 sun-drenched fans sweat it out.

On their previous eight possessions, the Lions had been hammered into near-submission, going three plays-and-out five times and turning the ball over on the other three possessions.

On those eight possessions, the Lions had a total of 5 yards.

But, with time running out, a Lions offense that had generated just 110 total yards to that point finally got rolling.

Backup quarterback Shaun Hill - subbing for Matthew Stafford, who had suffered a game-ending shoulder injury on a sack by Julius Peppers near the end of the first half - got the visitors to the Bears' 25.

Then, with 24 seconds remaining, 6-foot-5 Calvin Johnson outleaped Bears cornerback Zack Bowman in the end zone, made the catch, got both feet down, slipped to the ground and then lost possession of the ball as his right hand hit the ground.

It was ruled an incomplete pass, challenged by the Lions but upheld upon review because: "He has got to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire process of the catch," according to referee Gene Steratore.

At first, Bowman assumed the Bears had lost.

"But I turned around and the official was saying incomplete pass," Bowman said. "Hey, great call."

Mike Martz made more than his share of great calls in his first game as the Bears' offensive coordinator. And Cutler executed the offense, guiding laserlike passes all over the field, completing 23 of 35 for 372 yards and a 108.3 passer rating.

But his only interception led to the Lions' first-quarter touchdown, and a Forte fumble led to the Lions' second-quarter score that put them ahead 14-3.

A Greg Olsen fumble killed a Bears scoring opportunity at the Lions' 12 early in the second quarter. Cutler also lost a fumble when he was sacked late in the third quarter, but cornerback Charles Tillman got the ball back and stopped a Lions scoring threat with an interception 2 yards from the end zone.

The Martz-Cutler collaboration piled up 463 yards of total offense, but it stopped itself with turnovers more often than the Lions' defense did.

"Yeah, it was the turnovers," Cutler said. "I think all the guys in the huddle knew it. We're on the verge of becoming a very good offense. We've just got to clean some things up."

About the only time the offense didn't move the ball effectively was after linebacker Lance Briggs forced a fumble and recovered it inside the Lions' 1-yard line with 10:37 left in the game and the Bears trailing 14-13.

Two Forte runs and an incomplete pass left the Bears facing fourth down and rather than take the easy field goal and the 2-point lead they went for it on fourth down. Forte got stuffed again.

"I felt like we were playing great defense," coach Lovie Smith said. "The worst-case scenario would have been for us not to get it and have them backed up.

"I felt like we could still make them punt and get good field position. It's a field-position game throughout. I make that call every time."

Two possessions later, the Bears did utilize a short field for the game-winning 56-yard drive that ended with Forte's breathtaking TD grab.

"Anytime I can get Matt 1-on-1 on a linebacker or a safety, I'm going to go ahead and give him a look," Cutler said. "He did a great job turning the corner and made a great catch for us."

"I saw the ball out of the corner of my eye," Forte said. "It was to my back shoulder, so I turned around and caught it. I actually landed on the ball and knocked the wind out of me."

After a few more anxious moments, Forte and the Bears could all breathe easy, even if it was a less-than-artistic triumph.

"A win's a win," Cutler said. "We're going to take it any way we can get it."

Bears cornerback Charles Tillman eludes a tackle by Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson after intercepting a pass in the second half. Associated Press

Bears report card

GAME BALL: Jay Cutler

In his first official outing with the Mike Martz playbook on his side, Cutler completed 23 of 35 passes for 372 yards and 2 touchdowns. He rifled deep balls and showed a deft touch on screen passes. Cutler's yardage total was his best with the Bears as well as a franchise record for an opener.

QB (4 balls)

Aside from a few throws that left WR Devin Aromashodu wide open to huge hits from Lions defensive backs, Cutler displayed excellent accuracy and took what the defense gave him. He scrambled well and appeared as though he could have done so even more. His lone interception was a bad choice as he threw downfield to Johnny Knox in the middle of four blue jerseys.

RB (3.5 balls)

This ranking would have been more than the maximum balls allowed, but Matt Forte fumbled two of them away. Forte, apparently channeling Marshall Faulk, was unbelievable as a receiver out of the backfield. He caught all 7 passes Cutler threw his way and turned them into 151 yards and both of the Bears' touchdowns. Chester Taylor supplemented Forte as planned with 73 total yards on 12 touches.

WR (3 balls)

Aromashodu was Cutler's hot receiver as he had 10 passes thrown his way. He snagged 5 for 71 yards, including the first one that he tipped to himself for 20 yards. Johnny Knox caught 3 passes, but earned Cutler's ire for not taking a route deep when the QB thought he had his defender beat. Devin Hester caught a pass on the game's seventh play and didn't see the ball again. Oh, and Greg Olsen fumbled inside the Lions' 10.

OL (3 balls)

It'd be nice to reward the embattled line after 463 yards of total offense, but there were still too many mistakes. How can you not score on first-and-goal from the 1? Cutler took 4 sacks and spent too much of his day wearing DE Kyle Vanden Bosch. Roberto Garza picked up a holding penalty early and a false start late that fortunately proved not crucial. Olin Kreutz delivered key blocks on the Bears' successful screen plays.

DL (4 balls)

Julius Peppers registered his first sack, his first forced fumble and his first broken quarterback in a Bears uniform. Mike Anderson and Israel Idonije knifed into the backfield to deliver tackles for loss. Tommie Harris recovered Peppers' forced fumble and received credit for a quarterback hurry. The Bears trusted backup Matt Toeaina enough that he was in for at least one of Detroit's defining plays from the Bears' 25-yard line.

LB (4.5 balls)

Since Lance Briggs seems to thrive on negative ink for momentum, we'll stop short of giving the linebackers a perfect mark. Briggs delivered one of Week 1's highlight plays when he roared in on the snap and slapped the ball away from QB Shaun Hill before he could hand it off. Did we mention Briggs also recovered the fumble on Detroit's 1-yard line? Brian Urlacher, playing for the first time in 364 days, made up for lost time with 8 tackles, 1 sack and 2 other tackles for loss.

Secondary (3.5 balls)

Detroit super-stud Calvin Johnson didn't catch his first pass until just more than five minutes remained in the third quarter. He finished with 4 grabs for 45 yards. Charles Tillman won a nudge-fest with Johnson, which led to the Lion slipping down and Tillman picking off his 23rd career interception. Danieal Manning got destroyed trying to get to the hole on Jahvid Best's first-quarter touchdown run. Rookie Major Wright saw a fistful of snaps at safety, but didn't tally any stats.

Special teams (3 balls)

The Bears blew decent field position twice as Rashied Davis and Garrett Wolfe picked up penalties on Devin Hester punt returns. Davis' was a 15-yarder for blocking a dude who was already out of bounds. Robbie Gould hit both of his short field-goal attempts, but Brad Maynard averaged just 25.6 net yards on his 5 punts. He struggled to find the range on his coffin-corner attempts.

Coaching (3 balls)

Going to side with Lovie on this one: Going for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8:58 to go made sense, mostly because the defense had been so dominant against the Lions' backup quarterback. Didn't like the Bears getting caught in "Cover 3" on the Calvin Johnson touchdown catch that wasn't. You know the Lions are going to look for him - you can't have your free safety in the middle third of the field dealing with a receiver who's not getting the ball.

<h1>More Coverage</h1>

<h2>Photo Galleries</h2>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407574">Images: Bears vs. Lions, Game 1 </a></li>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407564">Kreutz calls goal-line failure 'embarrassing' [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407580">Catching a big break [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407564">How was that not a catch? Referee Gene Steratore explains [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407580">Briggs fires back at critics [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407579">Schwartz: We didn't finish with the football [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407553">Stafford leaves with shoulder injury [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407589">Rozner: In the process, Bears get a gift [9/12/10]</a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=407591">Imrem: This victory just could be fool's gold [9/12/10]</a></li>

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