ARLINGTON—For the first time,the Bears visited Jerry Jones oversized Palace in it’s second season,and for the initial time since 1986,the beat the Dallas Cowboys down here 27-20. Jay Cutler’s three yard touchdown pass to Matt Forte with 5:16 left,proved to be the game winner.The Bears won the turnover battle 3-0 en route to this upset victory against a Dallas team that could be overrated. After the Bears received the opening kickoff,they began at their own 38. After a five yard pickup by Forte, Anthony Spencer sacked Cutler for a seven yard loss.That killed the drive and Brad Maynard had to punt,which he did 35 yards to the Dallas 25.After a Tony Romo pass which Miles Austin caught,Charles Tillman knocked the ball loose it and D.J.Moore intercepted it, and returned it 19 yards to the Dallas 23. Forte ran six yards to the Dallas 17.The drive then stalled at the 20,so Robbie Gould kicked a 38 yard field goal.Chris Williams and Major Wright both went out with hamstring injuries and were ruled out for the game.After each team was forced to punt, Maynard kicked it to Dez Bryant and he ran to the near side,got free with only Gould to beat,and zig-zagged past him around the Bears 35 and took it the distance for a 62 yard TD to give the Cowboys a sudden 7-3 lead.David Buehler then tried to catch the Bears off guard with an onside kick that he ‘popped up’ but Tim Jennings ‘fair caught’ it at the Bears 42. That move backfired on the Cowboys however. After a quick pass to Devin Hester got the ball to the Dallas 39, Cutler threw a quick pass over the middle to Greg Olsen who avoided two tacklers and scored untouched with 1:09 left in the quarter and the Bears again lead, 10-7.On the next Dallas series,Romo found Roy Williams for 19 yards to the Bears 41.,then he hit Jason Witten for 16 more to the 25.Miles Austin went high to grab a second down pass for 7 yards to the Bears 11 for a first down.A screen pass to Chris Gronkowski got the ball to the five,and after he lost the ball and the Bears recovered, but it was ruled down by contact. Lovie Smith promply threw his first red challeng flag of the season,and in turn LOST his first challenge! Marian Barber ran for three yards to the two. Barber again carried to the one for a first and goal. Barber tried to leap over the line and was stopped for no gain.Finnaly on second and goal, Romo on a well designed play action, had a wide open Grankowski and simply tossed it to him for the first Cowboys offensive score of the game,and they regained the lead 14-10.This drive lasted 7:53 and covered 73 yards in 13 plays. The Bears took over at their own 26.On a third an long, Cutler hit Johnny Knox for 59 yards to the Cowboys 20.He beat Mike Jenkins. Chester Taylor next grabbed a screen for nine yards to the 11. Forte picked up a first and goal to the 9.On the next play Hester made a one handed grab and was ruled just in bounds for a TD,but Dallas challenged that, and like Smith, Wade Phillips came up 0-1 in that department.The Bears went 74 yards in just six plays,using 4:38 off the clock to take a 17-14 lead. Romo then again had a pass picked off by Moore and he returned it twenty yards to the Dallas 47. Forte grabbed a quick 14 yard pass to the 33. Cutler then hit Earl Bennett for seven to the 26.Another pass to Bennett set up a fourth and one at the 24.Cutler exacuted a QB sneak for the first down at the 22.Thre incomplted passes later Gould kicked a 40 yd field goal with :20 left and the Bears took a 20-14 lead into halftime.
Dallas received te second half kickoff, and got to the Bears 16 after a 20 yard pass to Roy Williams. The Bears stopped the drive at the ten and David Buehler got the Cowboys within 20-17 with a 28 yard chip shot.That’s how the third quarter ended. The Bears wrapped this one up with a 66 yard,four play drive in which Cutler found Forte from the 3. The Cowboys added a 48 yard field goal by Buehler with 1:17 left,but the Bears recovered the on-side kick and ran out the clock.
NOTES—The Bears are 2-0 for the first time since their 2006 NFC Championship season….The hole in the roof was closed with temperatures at kickoff being 87* and with them expected to reach the middle to upper 90’s outside here in the Metroplex.
LES