Without a doubt, this was the most complete game I’ve seen these Bears play all season. It couldn’t have come at a better time either. With all of the hype surrounding Mike Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, the opposite result would not have been surprising. Instead, the Bears dominated the Eagles in every phase of the game en route to a 31-26 win to rise to 8-3. Respect it!
(8-3) Chicago Bears 31
(7-4) Philadelphia Eagles 26
AP Photo
There were so many positives to take from this win; it’ll be hard to fit them all into one recap. But here it goes…
Jay Cutler was phenomenal. He was as efficient as he’s ever been in a Bear uniform, completing 14 of his 21 passes for 247 yards and a whopping four touchdowns. He made smart decisions with the football on nearly every play, either making the perfect throw or scrambling for first down yardage. This was the Jay Cutler we all wanted to see after that trade. He out-played Vick at every turn. Cutler had plenty of help from Matt Forte 117 yards, which included a 61 yard scamper to set up Earl Bennett’s first touchdown.
What was extraordinarily surprising today was the Bear offense. They rattled off several plays of over 25 yards, beating the Eagles routinely down the field. Cutler spread the ball around, with Bennett snagging two scores on his four receptions and Devin Hester and Johnny Knox catching three apiece. Working off of short fields thanks to a solid day of kick returns, the Bears had the Eagles where they wanted them all day and took advantage of their corners. Greg Olsen may have had only one catch, but he was in the thick of plenty of scuffles and recovered a Knox fumble that would have stalled a scoring drive.
Defensively I’m not sure there was a lot more the Bears could have done. They kept Vick in check better than anyone else has all season and made him dink and dunk down the field, closing off the big plays to him and those speedy receivers. Julius Peppers never gave up on a play, always around the ball at the end of a play. Chicago’s defense sacked Vick four times on the day, hit him another seven times and held him under 50 yards rushing. That’s a win in my book. Tommie Harris even showed up with a tipped ball that led to Chris Harris’ interception, the first of Vick’s season. Lovie’s cover-two kept a lid on the Eagles’ big play passing attack, making them earn every yard they got while the offense lit it up. With a late score (what a throw that was) the Eagles made it close, but they were fighting from behind the whole game. Keeping DeSean Jackson in check was huge. Vick couldn’t complete more than two passes to him.
Jay’s only “mistake” may have been his penalty late in the game after arguing a non-call. I don’t mind it though. It was after a failed third down anyway and wasn’t costing the Bears field position in a close game. I saw a few “immature” comments that always come out when Jay gets mad, but this worked for me. I like him fiery. If he’s mad, he’s not sulking.
Speaking on the negatives, the offensive line had its issues. But that’s to be expected at this point. All we can hope is for exactly what happened today. The Bears adjusted to the pressure and relied on the run to pull some off that pressure of Cutler, who excelled when he had time to throw.
This was by far the best game I’ve seen the Bears play this season. They made a statement win over a supposedly superior NFC opponent on a day when the Packers lost. It couldn’t be any better. Bear down and happy Jay Cutler day.
