That didn't quite live up to the hype. After the Patriots’ very first drive, it was all downhill on the snowy Solider Field surface. The winds were high and the footing was precarious, but that didn’t seem to slow down the vaunted Patriot offense at all as they proceeded to beat the Bears on nearly every single play and tally more than 400 yards of offense and 26 points in the second quarter.
AP Photos
(11-2) New England Patriots 36
(9-4) Chicago Bears 7
Every time the Bears almost made a game-changing play, the Patriots would come right back on the next play and burn them for a long gain or a score. That’s how they operate. Tom Brady was masterful, cutting the wind with each of his throws to wide open receivers who found the holes in a defense that couldn’t get any pressure on number twelve. The Patriots’ return men gashed the Bear kick coverage units routinely, setting up Brady with excellent field position. As soon as the Patriots got up two scores, I had little faith in a comeback. Bill Belichick doesn’t lose when you give him a lead.
On offense the Bears could barely do better than a three-and-out for most of the night. Receivers (especially running backs) dropped too many passes and they committed too many turnovers. Cutler’s first pick was bad, but by that time the game was out of hand and he was just trying to force something down the field. With all the pressure he was under, I couldn’t care less. I’m not going to go over all the details and minutiae. The Bears lost to a better team today that had been steam-rolling their opponents one-by-one. Tom Brady is that good.
Very quickly, the positive coming out of this game could be seen on one drive. A 61-yard Devin Hester return led to a 30 yard Matt Forte run to the goal line, where Chester Taylor took a hand-off for his third rushing score of the year. Late in the game the Bears got some garbage yardage, but it didn’t mean anything by then. The damage had been done. Besides the decent play of Brian Urlacher, that was it.
No need to discuss further. It was one bad loss that, at the end of the day, doesn’t really hurt, thanks to a just-as-humiliating loss by the Packers to the Lions. At 9-4 the Bears must regroup and prepare for the Minnesota Vikings, wherever they’ll be playing.
Bear down and happy Jay Cutler day.
Keywords: Bil Belichick, Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears, Devin Hester, Jay Cutler, Joe Anello, Lovie Smith, New England Patriots, NFL, Tom Brady
