CHICAGO – The Bears shot themselves in the foot so many times Sunday that it looked like they were wearing Crocs by the end of their regular-season opener at Soldier Field. But Jay Cutler and his teammates weren’t about to apologize following a 19-14 victory over the Detroit Lions.
“A win’s a win,” said the Bears quarterback, who completed 23 of 32 passes for 372 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a 108.3 passer rating. “We’re going to take it any way we can get it.”
The Bears held decisive advantages in total yards (463-168) and first downs (23-13). But they committed four turnovers, failed to get into the end zone on four plays from the Lions’ 1-yard line while trailing 14-13 early in the fourth quarter, and had to sweat out a late replay review before securing the victory.
The Bears scored the game’s final 16 points, rallying from a 14-3 deficit, but it certainly wasn’t easy.
After Cutler’s 28-yard TD pass to Matt Forte in the left corner of the end zone finally put the Bears ahead 19-14 with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter, the Lions appeared to take the lead on Shaun Hill’s apparent 25-yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson in the right corner of the end zone with just :24 to play.
Johnson, who outleaped Zackary Bowman, caught the ball and landed with two feet in the end zone. But the ball squirted out of Johnson’s right hand as he fell to the ground. After a brief conference, the officials ruled it an incomplete pass, and the call was upheld following a replay review.
“The ruling is that in order for the catch to be completed, he has got to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire process of the catch,” referee Gene Steratore told a pool reporter after the game.
“We don’t play with the two feet or one knee or anything of that scenario. We’re talking about the process of the catch. He’s catching the football. As he goes to the ground, he must maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire process. The process was not finished until he finished that roll.”
Safety Danieal Manning broke up Hill passes intended for Johnson on third and fourth down, clinching a win that put the Bears (1-0) in a first-place tie atop the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers (1-0).
“It’s a great start to a great season, and there’s more to come from here,” said Forte, who scored both Bears touchdowns, the first coming on an 89-yard screen pass late in the first half.
The Bears marched 65 yards on the game’s opening possession, but settled for Robbie Gould’s 20-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead after Forte was thrown for a one-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1.
Chicago then turned the ball over on three of its next four possessions. Cutler’s pass over the middle intended for Johnny Knox was deflected by Julian Peterson and C.C. Brown before it was intercepted by Aaron Berry. Greg Olsen and Forte then lost fumbles on receptions at the Detroit 8 and 27, respectively.“We moved the ball quite a bit throughout the game,” said coach Lovie Smith. “But it’s a turnover game. That turnover ratio is always big on who wins the football game, and that hurt us quite a bit early on.”
The Lions converted two of the turnovers into Jahvid Best touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards, taking a 14-3 lead with 1:30 left in the first half before 59,281 disappointed fans.
“When you turn the ball over like that, it’s hard to win games, and we got lucky today,” Forte said. “We’ve got to control the ball, control the clock and have minimal turnovers—actually none at all.”
Trailing by 11 points, things looked bleak for the Bears when their third holding penalty backed them up to their own 11. But Forte energized his team and the crowd by taking a screen pass from Cutler to the right, picking up an Olin Kreutz block and tiptoeing down the right sideline for a TD.
The 89-yard reception tied for the Bears’ longest play from scrimmage in Soldier Field history, equaling Vince Evans’ 89-yard TD pass to Rickey Watts on Sept. 21, 1980.
Julius Peppers followed with a blindside sack of Matthew Stafford, forcing a fumble that Tommie Harris returned nine yards to the Lions 22. Stafford hurt his shoulder on the play, knocking him out of the game after completing 11 of 15 passes for 83 yards and an 86.3 passer rating.
Gould’s 31-yard field goal on the final play of the half then gave the Bears 10 points in just 1:03, cutting the deficit to a much more manageable 14-13.
After falling behind 14-3, the Bears defense played exceptionally well, forcing three turnovers and five three-and-outs on eight possessions until Detroit’s final drive of the game.
It appeared the Bears would take the lead when Lance Briggs timed a blitz perfectly, knifing between the center and guard and stripping the ball from Hill as he tried to hand it off. Briggs recovered the loose ball at the Detroit 1.
But the Bears failed to get in the end zone on four straight plays. After Forte was stopped for no gain and Cutler threw the ball away, Forte was again stuffed for no gain on back-to-back plays.
The defense kept forcing Detroit punts without permitting a first down, and the offense finally cashed in as Forte beat single coverage from Peterson to haul in the go-ahead TD pass from Cutler.
“Anytime I can get Matt one-on-one on a linebacker or a safety, I’m going to go ahead and give him a look,” Cutler said. “He did a great job of turning the corner and made a great catch for us.”
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