Prime time not so kind to Chicago Bears
The Bears' patched-together defense struggled to stop Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott and, for the second straight week, was unable to put pressure on a rookie quarterback, this time fourth-round draft pick Dak Prescott.
It resulted in a 31-17 Cowboys victory, which dropped the Bears to 0-3 and elevated the winners to 2-1.
Last week it was Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, who helped engineer a 29-14 defeat of the Bears at Soldier Field in a prime-time Monday night game.
Sunday night wasn't any kinder to the Bears, and Prescott played even more impressively than Wentz had.
Bears tight end Zach Miller caught a pair of TD passes from Brian Hoyer, the second a 6-yarder with 6:28 remaining to make the score respectable.
But by the time Prescott guided the Cowboys to their fourth straight scoring drive at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home team led 24-3 and just 38 seconds remained before halftime.
“In the first half our offense didn't get going and our defense didn't stop them,” Bears coach John Fox said. “We were very poor in the first half. We got better on both sides of the ball in the second half.”
Prescott began the second half with a 49-yard hookup with Terrance Williams, but at the end of the connection Jacoby Glenn forced a fumble that was recovered by Adrian Amos.
The Bears' offense, which had struggled in the first half behind Hoyer, who was filling in for injured Jay Cutler (sprained thumb), immediately took advantage.
Hoyer's 2-yard TD pass to Miller on fourth-and-goal with 7:08 left in the third quarter that cut the Cowboys' lead to 24-10.
Hoyer completed 30 of 49 passes for 317 yards and was not intercepted for a passer rating of 93.7.
After the defense forced a rare three-and-out, the Bears had a chance to chip away at their deficit, but wide receiver Cam Meredith was separated from the football after a short catch, and the Cowboys recovered at the Bears 36.
Again the Bears' defense held, but the Bears' offense did nothing, and that gave Prescott the opportunity to put the cherry on his Sunday. His first NFL TD pass went to Dez Bryant for 17 yards and a 31-10 lead with 9:02 left and gave him a passer rating of 123.6 for the night.
The Cowboys' final first-half scoring drive may have been Prescott's most impressive. The Mississippi State product completed 3 of 4 passes for 33 yards, only occasionally bothered by a Bears pass rush that has yet to show up this season. The one time he was pressured, Prescott scrambled 12 yards to set up Alfred Morris' 3-yard TD run.
The Bears were down 17 points before they dented the scoreboard with Connor Barth's 34-yard field goal with 7:47 left in the first half.
On the first play from scrimmage, Elliott bolted 21 yards, and then Prescott completed all 3 of his passes for 33 yards before sneaking over from a yard out.
On their next possession, the Cowboys settled for Dan Bailey's 49-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
The advantage quickly swelled to 17-0 as the Cowboys scored points on their third straight possession. After a rare incompletion, Prescott completed 3 straight passes including a 29-yarder to Cole Beasley that set up Lance Dunbar's 1-yard scoring run.
At that point the Cowboys had outgained the Bears 201-19. The second-half comeback allowed the Bears to close the yardage gap to 447-390, but the defense never really stopped the Cowboys.
“Not very good,” Fox said of the defense that was missing nose tackle Eddie Goldman and linebacker Danny Trevathan, among others. “We have to look at it and get better.”
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