Were you sweating after that one? I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing for that last two minutes. It grew more uncomfortable than it needed to be, but the Bears pulled out a win on London Sunday afternoon, getting out early on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and hanging onto that lead for dear life. It took a helluva effort from Matt Forte and actual catches from Roy Williams, but Chicago got on the board early and played enough defense to keep the Bucs from completing the comeback late.
(4-3) Chicago Bears 24
(4-3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18
After swapping punts with the Bucs, the Bears wasted no time in getting Matt Forte going. Handing it off several times on the drive, Forte got a key outside block from Matt Spaeth on his 32-yard score, putting the Bears ahead for good. But the game wasn’t without its negatives, positives, and plain old “what the FUCK was that” moments.
On the drive following their score, Chicago’s offense went on a putrid streak. A high pass from Jay Cutler to Marion Barber tipped off the running back’s hands and into the mitts of Tanard Jackson for a 42 yard return. On the VERY next play, Josh Freeman throws a ball deep over the middle that Chris Conte simply removes from Mike Williams’ grasp for should have been a momentum-changing interception. Instead, a Matt Forte run on the following play was held up in the endzone by Ronde “Old Man” Barber for a safety, getting the Bucs two points and the ball. It was a frantic and freakish series of plays that gave the Bucs the opportunity to jump ahead with a score. Thankfully Chicago’s defense kept the Buccaneers in check for most of the afternoon.
Early on in the game Lovie Smith kept safeties Chris Conte and Chris Harris (back from deactivation thanks to a Major Wright injury) ridiculously deep, keeping the big play in front of them at the sake of underneath throws. Josh Freeman began to figure out the soft spots in the cover-two as the game went on, putting up 13 points in the final quarter, but not without making his fair share of mistakes. Chicago scrambled to the ball on defense, which contributed to their four interceptions of Josh Freeman, including the game-sealing pick from D.J. Moore as the Buccaneers were driving for the win down six with less than two minutes to go. Even though their intensity let up with a late lead, the Bear defense was good enough to get the job done. That’s what matters.
Offensively, there were a few bone-headed moments from Mike Martz and company, but for the most part it was a positive outing. Matt Forte churned up 145 rushing yards, driving up the price of his next contract, whenever it is. Marion Barber got in on the fun as well, rushing 6 times for 39 yards, the bulk of which came on a 29 yarder in the first half, before he went in for a 12 yard score in the third quarter. What really surprised me was the play of Roy Williams, who actually caught most of the passes thrown his way, contrary to his season play thus far. He even snagged his first TD as a Bear on an underthrown ball from Cutler that looked like a surefire Williams drop. Instead Williams slowed up, made the catch and then turned on the juice (or whatever he has left) on his way to the 25 yard score. Johnny Knox and Devin Hester made big grabs as well, taking advantage of a slow Tampa secondary.
As for Jay himself, he had a so-so outing. He didn’t complete an overly high percentage of his passes, but he made accurate throws and good decisions when it counted. He definitely made a crappy throw while taking a sack, leading to a Corey Lynch interception and a Kellen Winslow TD early in the fourth quarter. After a failed two-point conversion, the Bears let Tampa get within three after a deep Freeman pass to Dezmon Briscoe. (Yeah, who?) After that, Chicago brought the ball back down in the red zone thanks to an idiotic face mask penalty on Bucs corner Aqib Talib that let the Bears avoid a field goal… only to run three straight plays and settle for a field goal, allowing Tamp the chance at a game-winning drive. Too close my friends, too close.
Notes of Note:-Even after exchanging tweets with @JPHuber, I’m resolute in my opinion that the Bears will be content to just slap the franchise tag on Matt Forte and pay him the $8 million guaranteed next season. His price is escalating with every big performance and the Bears aren’t likely to meet the demands.
-The London weather was gorgeous and was never even close to a factor. No one really had a “home field” crowd either.
-This was a pretty big game for the Bears, as they hold tie-breakers over Atlanta and Tampa and gained a game on the Lions, who dropped one to Atlanta, conveniently enough.
I certainly didn’t need the added heart attacks, but I’m glad the Bears held tough and came out of this trip with a win. They’re headed into a bye week that should allow some key players to get healthy and some line-ups to be reset. 4-3 after seven weeks ain’t too bad Bears fans. Enjoy it.
Bear Down and Happy Jay Cutler Day!
