Bears show they are better than Buffalo 22-19 in Canada

TORONTO—Pretty is wasn’t,but the Bears made just a couple of more plays late and won their first regular season game outside the United States 22-19 over the winless Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre to finish the first half of the season 5-3.The Bills won the coin toss but deferred,so the Bears got to receive Rian Lindell’s kickoff and Danieal Manning returned the kickoff 15 yards to his 22, Matt Forte got 7 yards on first down,but got nailed for a loss of one by Marcus Stroud.On third down,Forte was nailed by Paul Posluszny for no gain and Brad Maynard punted 38 yards to the Bills 33.Fred Jackson was nailed by Julius Peppers for no gain and then by Lance Briggs for a loss of two.Ryan Fitzpatrick’s first pass was forced into the ground and Brian Moorman kicked to Devin Hester,who slipped,and only got three yards to his 34.Forte rushed for a pair,then caught a pass for 1, and Cutler missed Hester up the middle forcing another Meynard punt which Roscoe Parrish returned six yards to his 31.On a second down,Fitzpatrick hit Parrish for 11 for the game’s initianl first down.Jackson then put on a neat mopve for six up the middle.An a creen,Parrish picked up 13 before Chris Harris stopped him.The next pass to Parrish was stopped by Harris for a three yard loss,and Jackson ran up the middle for two,leaving a third and eleven at the Bears 40,but a false start moved the ball back five yards.After Jackson got 2 on a screen, Moorman punted away from Hester who watched it roll dead at the Bears 19.Chester Taylor on his first carry got one yard.Then on an empty backfield set up, Cutler was left wide open and ran for 18 yards.Taylor was able to escape a sure loss and pick up one yard.Cutler then found Earl Bennett who made a leaping grab at the Bears 48 for ten yards.On a third and four, Cutler his Johnny Knox for 24 yards to the Bills 21.Hester on an end around lost a yard.Tarloy was able to get four to the Buffalo 18 as the first quarter ended.

A false start forced the Bears back to the 23.A pass to Taylor went for just five yards,but an illegal hands to the face gave the Bears an automatic first down at the 18.That break kep the drive going and allowed the Bears to score on foreign soil in regular season play for the first time ever.Taylor was tackled for no gain.Then on a creen,Taylor broke a tackle and picked up 14 to the four yard line for a first and goal,but another false start moved it back to the nine.After an incompleted pass to Greg Olsen,Cutler hit Forte for four yards to the five.On the next play Curler found Olsen with a quick five yard TD pass to make it 7-0 Bears with 12:06 to go in the first half. Robbie Gould’s kickoff went out of bounds,so the Bills got to start at their own 40.On first down a long pass from Fitzpatrick to Spiller was nullified by a holding call,but he then hit David Martin for 11.On first down a long pass from Fitzpatrick to Spiller was nullified by a holding call,but he then hit David Martin for 11.But that drive died and Moorman punted to Hester who fair-caught at his 13.A 26 hyard Cutler to Bennett pass moved the ball to midfield. Then Cutler found Knox at the Bills 38 for 12.Cutler scrambled for 14 and slid to the 21 of Buffalo.Taylor slipped with the handoff for a two yard loss.An illegal shift moved the ball back to the 28.Cutler found Bennett at the 14 for 14 yards as the two minute warning was reached.Two more false starts on the Bears pushed them back to the 24.After an incomplted try to Forte in the end zone,Gould missed a 42 yard field goal wide right with 1:45 left in the half.On first down,Fitzpatrick ran out of bounds and was touched by Peanut Tillman for a 15 yard personal foul moving the ball to the Bears 46.On fourth and 3,the Bills went for it,and Fitzpatrick hit David Nelson for ten, then he hit Jackson at the 21.A first down pass to Jackson followed with :27 left at the 14.On a third down from the Bears 14,Buffalo 14,Fitzpatrick found Parrish at the two and he was able to strech across the goal line to tie the game at 7-7 with :11 to go and at halftime.

Since Buffalo deferred on the opening coin toss,they received the second half kickoff which Gould booted deep enough into the end zone for a touch back.The Bills pikced up a pair of first downs,the second on a 13 yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Johnson at the Bears 49.Then Parrish brought in a 9 yard pass at the 39.On a third and 1,Jackson fumbled when hit by Peppers and Tillman recovered for the Bears at the 40.The Bears went the 60 yards in nin plays,taking 4:54. They moved the ball to the Buffalo 26 thanks in part to a 7 yard Cutler to Olsen pass.Forte then ran 22 yard to the Bills 4 for a first and goal.Taylor ran three yards to the one,then scored untouched to give the Bears the lead back with 6:18 to go in the third quarter. The Bills started at their twenty again.They picked up two first downs to the Bears 49,helped by a Bears penalty.Then,Johnson caught one for 45 yards,avoided three tackles and got to the Bears four.Jackson then bowled over for the touchdown,but Israel Idonije,in his home County of Canada,blocked the extra point by Lindell to allow the Bears to retain a one point lead 14-13 with 2:59 left in the third period.Cutler found Hester for 16 yards to the Bears 38 to start the drive.He then found Brendoln Manumalenuna at the 48 for ten more as the third quarter ended.After a pass interference gave the Bears a first down,Cutler was sacked for the first time in the game,Spencer Johnson with the sack,and also forcing a fumble and recovered the ball at the Bills 49.A pass to Lee Evans picked up a first down at the Bears 40.C.J.Spiller got five up the middle.Then on a draw play Spiller broke through for 15 to the 20.A pass to Evans followed to the Bears 7 for a first and goal.Then a short pass to Johnson to the one,and Corey McIntyre scored on the next play also Jackson was stopped by Idonije on a two point try.The Bills took a 19-14 lead with 10:24 to play.After nearly having a pass picked off,Cutler and the Bears went three and out and Maynard punted to the ball dead at the Bills 29.On first down,Fitzpatrick went for a long pass to Steve Jophnson and Tim Jennings jumped in front of it,picked it off and returned it 39 yards to the Buffalo 23.Two plays later,it was third and ten,and Cutler found Olsen at the five for a first and goal.After an incompleted pass and a two yd gain, Cutler hit Bennett for a four yard TD pass with 6:41 left and Forte ran in the two point conversion to give the Bears a 22-19 edge with 6:41 to go.Gould kicked off to Spiller who downed it.The Bills picked up one first down. On a third down Steve Johnson caught a 14 yard pass to get a first at the Bears 44,but the Bills would turn the ball over on downs to the Bears at the 44 with 2:20 left and two timeouts remaing for Buffalo.The Bears got the ball and had to punt and Maynard put the ball dead just outside the Buffalo one yard line with 1:04 left and no Bills timeout remaining.

NOTES—When Idonije blocked Lindell’s PAT try in the third quarter, it was the first miss of Lindell’s career after 321 successfull attempts which was an NFL record…..Attendance was 50,746.

LES