A bad night in the Big Apple as Bears get beaten up in 17-3 loss

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Offensively, this is about as bad as it gets.

Especially if you were a Bears quarterback in Sunday night's 17-3 loss to the Giants.

While the Bears were beaten, quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Todd Collins were beaten up to the tune of an almost-unheard of 10 sacks, 9 in the first half.

Cutler was the unlucky recipient of the first-half onslaught, and somewhere along the way he suffered a concussion that prevented him from coming out for the second half. Cutler was hit so hard and so frequently that not even Bears head coach Lovie Smith was sure which blow did the damage.

"It's hard to say exactly when," Smith said. "We have to protect him more."

It may have been the cumulative effect of overwhelming and incessant pressure that the Bears were helpless to stop. Cutler was able to get rid of the ball only 11 times amid the 9 sacks, and although he completed 8 passes, they totaled just 42 yards. That left the Bears with minus-13 net passing yards at the half and Cutler, who was picked off once, with a passer rating of 40.7.

The Bears came in undefeated and left a damaged team, despite a 3-1 record. For the game, the 2-2 Giants outgained the Bears 372-110 in total yards.

This was a loss so devastating that it may be difficult to come back from.

"We realize how it looked," Smith said, "which was bad. When you get pressure like that, it's tough to do anything."

Collins didn't fare any better in his first appearance as a Bear than Cutler. He completed 4 of 11 passes for 36 yards and was intercepted once, before he, too, was driven from the game with a stinger and a passer rating of 8.1.

It's highly questionable that Cutler will be able to play against the Panthers on Sunday, but Collins said he should be OK.

"My neck's a little stiff, but other than that I'm OK," Collins said. "I didn't do very well. My job is to score points and I didn't do that. I played poorly."

Asked if he would be able to play Sunday, Collins said, "I don't see why not."

Despite the offensive ineptitude, the Bears trailed just 3-0 at halftime and only 10-3 late in the fourth quarter.

The Bears' defense, which played more than well enough to win for most of the game, provided one last gasp for its ailing offense when Zack Bowman punched the ball loose from running back Ahmad Bradshaw as Bradshaw approached the end zone with no one in his path and just over six minutes remaining in the game. The Giants already led 10-3, but Bowman recovered the ball at the 1-yard line, giving the Bears one last chance.

But with an offensive line that was beaten up coming in and suffered another loss during the game when right guard Lance Louis suffered a knee injury, the Bears were unable to gain a single yard.

Brad Maynard's punt from the end zone gave the Giants a short field, and the winners capitalized with a quick touchdown with 4:31 remaining to unceremoniously remove the Bears from the ranks of the unbeaten. Todd Haley's Chiefs (3-0) are the only unbeaten team in the NFL.

In each of the previous two weeks the Bears faced intense pass-rush pressure early in the game, but offensive coordinator Mike Martz made the adjustments that allowed his team to take advantage of aggressive defense.

There were no such adjustments in this prime-time embarrassment. The Bears and Martz never devised an antidote for a pass rush that came in waves and from all directions. What was different about the Giants than what the Cowboys and Packers tried to do?

"That's the question," Smith said. "Sometimes (the adjustments) just don't work. We're pretty critical of what we do, but the Giants came to play tonight."

Burdened by an offense that could barely get out of its own way, the Bears' defense set up the team's first points when safety Chris Harris recovered a fumble at the New York 29-yard line. But the Bears' offense couldn't produce even 1 first down. Robbie Gould's 40-yard field goal narrowed the Giants' lead to 10-3 with 10:58 left in the game.

A Bears defense that went almost two full quarters without allowing the Giants a first down, finally gave in and allowed an 8-play, 90-yard drive that gave the home team a 10-0 lead with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter. Eli Manning passes of 21 yards to Hakeem Nicks and 25 yards to tight end Travis Beckum set the stage for Bradshaw's 4-yard TD run.

An otherwise outstanding defensive effort was tarnished late when the Bears were gashed for runs of 25 yards by Bradshaw and 29 yards by Brandon Jacobs, which helped the Giants pile up 189 yards on the ground, including 142 in the second half.

"We made some plays on defense but not enough," said linebacker Brian Urlacher, who broke up 2 passes, had a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble. "We didn't see this coming."

That's exactly how Cutler felt most of the night.

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<li><a href="/story/?id=412745">Harris returns to action from off the bench <span class="date">[10/4/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=412721">Bears QB Jay Cutler leaves game vs. Giants <span class="date">[10/4/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=412739">Imrem: Time's up for Cutler, Bears QBs <span class="date">[10/3/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=412738">Rozner: Amazing Cutler survived this long <span class="date">[10/3/10]</span></a></li>

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