CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With quarterback Jay Cutler watching from the sideline in street clothes, the Bears turned to a successful old formula to thump the Carolina Panthers Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
Matt Forte rushed for 101 of his career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, while the defense generated three takeaways and didn’t allow a TD for the first time this season in a 23-6 victory.
Matt Forte's second TD run of the first quarter, a career-long 68 yarder, helped the Bears beat the Panthers 23-6 Sunday. “That was definitely old school Bear ball right there for sure where you ran the football, played great defense, got some takeaways and the special teams contributed,” said coach Lovie Smith.
“We know how to win games that way, and it was good to see that we could still do that.”
The road win over the Panthers, coupled with Green Bay’s 16-13 overtime loss at Washington, enabled the Bears (4-1) to take a one-game lead over the Packers (3-2) atop the NFC North Division.
The Bears overcame a poor performance by veteran quarterback Todd Collins. Making his first NFL start since 2007, Cutler’s replacement completed just 6 of 16 passes for 32 yards with four interceptions and a 6.2 passer rating before getting yanked late in the third quarter in favor of Caleb Hanie.
With Cutler out due to a concussion he suffered last weekend in a loss to the Giants, the Bears committed to the run early. After Danieal Manning returned the opening kickoff 62 yards to the Panthers’ 38, Forte’s 18-yard TD run around left end gave the Bears an early 7-0 lead.
John Kasay’s 24-yard field goal drew the Panthers to within 7-3. But Forte’s career-long 68-yard TD run on the Bears’ next play widened the margin to 14-3 midway through the first quarter.
“When you lose your quarterback, you have to have a little but different game plan going in,” Smith said. “Coming in, we wanted to run the football, try to establish the run a little but to take a little bit of the pressure off the passing game. I thought we did a good job of that.”
Forte, whose 166 yards came on 22 carries, teamed with Chester Taylor (43 yards on 18 attempts) to help the Bears compile 218 yards on the ground, their highest output since they had 223 in a 1990 win over the Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Chicago passing attack mustered just 29 net yards in the game.
“The running game was our offense today,” said tight end Greg Olsen. “We didn’t really do much through the air because I really don’t think we needed to. With the way our backs were running, especially Matt, and with the special teams and defense giving us good field position, I don’t really think we had to push the issue too much in the pass game.”
Julius Peppers enjoyed a happy homecoming against his former team, producing a highlight reel play in the first quarter. The star defensive end leaped high to deflect rookie Jimmy Clausen’s pass and then made a diving interception in traffic, catching the ball just before it hit the ground at the Carolina 27.
The Bears converted the turnover into Robbie Gould’s 28-yard field goal, increasing their lead to 17-3 with 4:37 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Panthers gained 60 yards on their opening drive on eight straight running plays, the Bears held Carolina to just 87 yards and six first downs on 14 possessions the rest of the game.
Bears linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa sacks Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. The defense, which had recorded four sacks in its first four games, had five Sunday. Israel Idonije led the way with three, while linebackers Lance Briggs and Pisa Tinoisamoa had one apiece.
“The defense from start to finish—the front, the linebackers and the back end—played well,” Smith said. “We had good pressure on the quarterback. Whenever you play a young quarterback, you have to be able to make him make some big throws.”
Clausen completed just 9 of 22 passes for 61 yards with one interception and a 29.7 passer rating before being replaced by Matt Moore late in the game.
The Bears had a chance to open the game by scoring on their first four possessions after Devin Hester’s 50-yard punt return to the Carolina 9. But on third-and-goal from the 1, Collins’ short pass over the middle was intercepted by defensive tackle Ed Johnson.
Collins threw two more interceptions in the second quarter—giving him three on four possessions—but the Bears maintained their 17-3 lead at halftime. Smith didn’t put Hanie in the game until late in the third quarter after Collins had been picked off for the fourth time.
“We were in control of the game for the most part then,” Smith said when asked why Hanie didn’t open the second half. “We knew that we were committed to the run, so we felt like we could keep going and [we] wanted Todd to finish up on a high note. But it got to the point where we just felt like we couldn’t let them back in the game. We said last week that Todd was next up. We felt good about Caleb playing, and Caleb came in and did a good job.”
Hanie mostly handed the ball off, though he did complete 2 of 3 passes for 19 yards.
Kasay’s 53-yard field goal drew the Panthers to within 17-6 late in the third quarter. But Gould answered with 53- and 43-yarders. Brian Urlacher and Charles Tillman then intercepted Moore passes on Carolina’s final two possessions to cap the victory.
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