For the first 10 minutes of today’s Bear’s season opener, a sense of shock and despair hung over Soldier Field like a thick fog. After Bear’s quarterback, Jay Cutler, was sacked in the first play of the game and then intercepted only minutes later in what turned into a Colt’s touchdown, all of the excitement and anticipation of the upcoming season seemed to drain out of Soldier Field like air out of a balloon. Thankfully, the buzz kill was temporary. The Bear’s offense found their mojo half way into the first quarter and finally looked like the team we kept hearing about these last few weeks, ultimately routing rookie Andrew Luck and the Colts, 41-21.
What You Need to Know:
- Cutler and the offense were able to turn things around after the disastrous opening 5 minutes of the game. Cutler immediately turned to his old teammate, wide receiver Brandon Marshall for a 13-yard pass that turned into a scoring drive and helped even things up to 7-7 by the end of the 1st. Cutler then began to spread the love around to other receivers including his old favorite (and college teammate at Vanderbilt) Earl Bennett. Overall, Cutler had a huge gamecompleting 21 of 35 passes for 333 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Jay Cutler
- Top scorers were Brandon Marshall with 1 touchdown and running backs Matt Forte and Michael Bush. As expected the two backs split time on the field with Forte getting the most carries (16) and longer runs, but it was newbie Micheal Bush that saw the most time in the end zone on short yard carries for 2 touchdowns.
- The Bear’s Offensive Line looked good as the game progressed giving Cutler ample time to unload the ball and proved very affective against the pass rush (the pressure put on the QB from the opponent’s defense).
- The Bear’s D came through as expected forcing 5 turnovers and keeping the pressure on Colt’s rookie QB, Andrew Luck in his big debut as the Colt’s new quarterback. Luck was intercepted 3 times – 2 of them by Bear’s cornerback, Tim Jennings.
Tim Jennings: Photo Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE
- Brian Urlacher did start and played the majority of the game, despite all of the speculation this week on whether his knee was ready. But by the time the Bears were up by 20 pts in the 3rd quarter, Urlacher was pulled in order to give him rest before the Packers game on Thursday. Nick Roach moved into Urlacher’s middle linebacker position and Geno Hayes into Roach’s.
- The only bad news, cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tilman left the game in the 1st quarter with a leg injury. If Tilman’s injury proves serious, this could be a bad blow to the Bear’s secondary (term used for corner backs and safeties – the second line of defense).
Your Take Away Piece: “A very ugly start to a huge win. The offense looked fantastic and even without Urlacher in the 4th quarter, the defense looked great. A big mental win at home and a great start to the season. Bring on the Packers!”
What’s Next: A very short week of recovery time for the Bears as they head to Green Bay on Thursday for a match-up against division rivals, the Green Bay Packers. The Packers lost their opener at home today against the San Francisco 49ers and will be hungry for a win. Looking for something fun to do for Bears/Packers? Join us for Game Day 101 at Rockit Burger Bar on Thursday night. Enjoy cocktails and Rockit’s Game Day grub while learning the fundamentals of NFL: strategy, lingo, positions and more, all with a woman’s point of view! More details HERE.
