ARLINGTON, Texas – As the final seconds ticked off the clock Sunday at Cowboys Stadium, receiver Rashied Davis turned toward a large contingent of Bears fans behind the team’s bench and playfully shrieked, “We’ll be back!”
Davis, who of course was referring to a return trip to The House That Jerry Built for Super Bowl XLV in February, was euphoric after the Bears improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2006 by defeating the favored Dallas Cowboys 27-20.
“It was a signature game,” said coach Lovie Smith. “At halftime we talked to the guys about putting their name behind that second-half performance and really the entire game. Dallas is one of the favorites to win the NFC, so we were playing a good football team and wanted to see exactly how we match up.”Smith no doubt was extremely pleased with the results, although things didn’t go well early. An attacking Cowboys defense swarmed Jay Cutler for most of the first quarter and left tackle Chris Williams exited with a hamstring injury on the game’s opening possession.
But the Bears made key adjustments and Cutler made the Cowboys pay. The quarterback was masterful in completing 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a sparkling 136.7 passer rating that was his highest in 18 starts with the Bears.
“The receivers played well,” Smith said. “But it all starts with Jay Cutler. Jay really stayed in there early on and made the big throws that we brought him here to make.”
The Bears defense delivered as well, generating three takeaways, including the first two interceptions of nickel back D.J. Moore’s career. The unit looked better on the field than on the stat sheet, gang-tackling and punishing ballcarriers with hard hits while allowing only one touchdown.
The Cowboys (0-2) compiled 410 total yards, converted 6 of 13 of third-down opportunities (46 percent) and picked up first downs on 10 of 11 drives, with the only exception a one-play possession when they took a knee at the end of the first half. But the Bears made plays on defense when it mattered most.
The first came on Dallas’ first possession of the game when Charles Tillman drilled receiver Miles Austin just as Tony Romo’s pass arrived. The ball caromed off Austin to Moore, who alertly snatched it out of the air and returned the interception 18 yards to the Cowboys 23.
The Bears converted the turnover into Robbie Gould’s 38-yard field goal, but fell behind 7-3 when rookie Dez Bryant returned a low Brad Maynard punt 62 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
The game’s turning point, at least in Cutler’s mind, then occurred less than two minutes later when he beat a blitz with a quick throw to Greg Olsen, who raced for a 39-yard TD to give the Bears a 10-7 lead.
“We were reeling a little bit,” Cutler said. “The crowd was getting into it. [The Cowboys] were getting into it defensively. It just takes one play. We talk about it all the time. It just takes one play to turn the momentum around. We hit Greg, he’s gone and we’re right there in it.”
After initially replacing the injured Williams with Kevin Shaffer, the Bears flip-flopped their tackles, moving Shaffer to right tackle and switching Frank Omiyale from right tackle to the left side.
The Cowboys retook a 14-10 lead on Romo’s 1-yard TD pass to fullback Chris Gronkowski midway through the second quarter. But the Bears responded as Cutler floated a 59-yard bomb deep down the middle to Johnny Knox on third-and-15 and then lofted a 9-yard TD pass to Devin Hester. Hester soared to make a spectacular one-handed catch in the left corner of the end zone, bringing the ball down and barely getting both feet down inbounds. The TD, which was upheld after the Cowboys challenged the call, gave the Bears a 17-14 lead they would not relinquish with 3:38 left in the first half.
“First of all I had to make sure I secured the ball and second of all I had to make sure my feet stayed inbounds,” Hester said. “Other than that, it was a great throw by Jay. All the credit [goes] to the offensive line for holding their blocks and giving Jay the opportunity to put the ball where it needed to be put.”
After Moore’s second interception of a deflected pass—this time the ball bounced off tight end Jason Witten—Gould’s 40-yard field goal widened the margin to 20-14 with :20 left in the half.
David Buehler’s 28-yard field goal drew the Cowboys to within 20-17 on the opening drive of the third quarter. But Buehler missed a 44-yarder that would have tied the game with 7:23 left in the final period.
Instead of keeping the ball on the ground and trying to kill the clock, the Bears came out throwing. Cutler completed four straight passes for 66 yards, capped by a 3-yard TD to Matt Forte, who was split out wide right and beat single coverage by safety Michael Hamlin to make it 27-17 with 5:17 to play.
“That’s Mike [Martz],” Cutler said of the Bears offensive coordinator. “We’re going to be attacking. He’s going to dial up some good ones. By that time I think he had a good feel for what they were doing, when they were going to blitz, when they were going to come off, when they were going to play man.”
Buehler’s 48-yard field goal drew the Cowboys to within 27-20 with 1:17 remaining, but Earl Bennett smothered the subsequent onside kick and the Bears killed the clock to secure the victory.
Smith was especially happy to win in his home state and prove those who doubted his team wrong.
“Whenever you come back home, you want to do well in front of a lot of people that care about you,” said the Bears coach. “There’s a group that’s been trying to tell us what type of team we are. We’ve been saying exactly what type we are, and that’s a good football team. But you have to get wins to validate that. This win I think puts us a little bit closer to more people believing in us.”
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