CHICAGO – If Sunday’s NFC showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles was indeed a statement game for the Bears, they delivered a powerful one with an exclamation point to boot.
Jay Cutler tied a career-high with four touchdown passes and Chris Harris highlighted a clutch effort by the defense with a momentum-swinging interception in an entertaining 31-26 win at Soldier Field.
“I think it’s a statement for the team,” said linebacker Lance Briggs. “Every week is a statement. I don’t know if we’re not given enough credit or whatever it is, but the character on the team week-in and week-out has been great.”
The victory in a battle of first-place teams gave the Bears (8-3) a one-game lead atop the NFC North over the Green Bay Packers (7-4), who lost to the Falcons 20-17 earlier in the day in Atlanta. Chicago has now won four straight games in the same season for the first time since 2006.
Once again directing a balanced offense, Cutler completed 14 of 21 passes for 247 yards and a career-high 146.2 passer rating. He tossed two scoring passes to Earl Bennett and one each to Johnny Knox and Greg Olsen in the game’s first 32 minutes to help the Bears surge to a 31-13 lead.
“Jay Cutler was outstanding throughout,” said coach Lovie Smith. “Whether he was throwing the football or taking off running with the ball, I just felt like he was in total control of our offense.”
Matt Forte rushed for 117 yards on 14 carries, including a 61-yard dash that set up a first-quarter touchdown. The Bears compiled a season-high in points Sunday and didn't commit any turnovers against an Eagles team that had entered the contest leading the NFL with 26 takeaways.
While the Bears offense scored three touchdowns on four red-zone trips, the Chicago defense allowed only one TD on five Eagles possessions inside-the-20. One of those drives ended with the play of the game as Harris became the first NFL player to intercept a Michael Vick pass this season.
Trailing 14-13, Philadelphia faced second-and-goal at the Chicago 4 when Tommie Harris bolted up the middle and deflected Vick’s pass intended for Jeremy Maclin. The ball fluttered into the end zone, where Chris Harris picked it off and returned it 39 yards to the Chicago 37.
Vick had entered the game leading the NFL with a 108.7 passer rating, having thrown for 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in seven starts this season.
“I wanted to be the first one to pick him, get it on his résumé,” said Chris Harris. “We were in cover-one, single high safety. I was the middle-field safety, just reading his eyes. We got great pressure up front. Tommie ended up tipping it and I saw it and got it and then got a few extra yards.”
The Bears converted the only takeaway of the game into Cutler’s 6-yard TD pass to Bennett, increasing their lead to 21-13 with :38 left in the half. Four plays before the score, Bennett took a short pass from Cutler and broke two tackles en route to a 30-yard gain to the Philadelphia 20.
“When you get into the two-minute drill, you want to go down and you want to score,” said Bennett, who caught two TD passes for the first time in his three-year NFL career. “That’s something I really thrive on, run after the catch. I feel like I’m bigger than everybody else and they can’t tackle me.”
Vick completed 29 of 44 passes for 333 yards with 2 TDs, 1 interception and a 94.2 passer rating. He also rushed for 44 yards on nine carries. But the Bears sacked the elusive Eagles quarterback four times, with all four starting defensive linemen recording at least half a sack.
“Guys came in today, put their hats on, punched in the clock and were ready to work,” said defensive end Israel Idonije. “We knew it was going to be a full day of running, working and changing direction. If you miss one tackle, the next guy’s got to come. It was a challenge and a competition that we were excited about as a group up front, and man, it was a good day.”
After David Akers’ 45-yard field goal gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, Cutler tossed TD passes of 10 yards to Bennett and 20 yards to Knox to put the Bears ahead 14-3 by the end of the first quarter.
The Eagles dominated the second period, closing to within 14-13 on Vick’s 8-yard TD pass to Maclin and Akers’ 36-yard field goal. It appeared that Philadelphia would then take the lead late in the first half before Chris Harris picked off Vick and Cutler connected with Bennett for another score.
Devin Hester returned the second-half kickoff 46 yards and followed with a 34-yard reception, setting up Cutler’s 9-yard TD pass to Olsen.
After the Eagles went three-and-out, the Bears capped a methodical 17-play, 83-yard drive that burned 10:05 off the clock with Robbie Gould’s 23-yard field goal, extending their lead to 31-13.
Philadelphia closed to within 31-19 on Akers’ field goals of 22 and 36 yards before Vick lofted a 30-yard TD pass to Brent Celek into triple coverage on fourth-and-10, cutting the deficit to 31-26 with 1:48 left.
But Knox recovered the ensuing onside kick, clinching the victory.
While Smith declined to call Sunday’s game a litmus test, the Bears coach is certainly pleased with the progress his team has made in winning all of its November games for the first time since 2005.
“We’ve taken steps each week,” Smith said. “Even the times when we lost, we found out something that we needed to know about our football team.
"So, yes, I would definitely say our arrow’s pointed up when you win four games in a row the way we have. We talked early about getting in position in October and making that run in November. That’s exactly what the guys are doing.”
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