The Bears knew they would have to put some kind of pressure on Tom Brady and also not turn the ball over. In the first half, the didn’t and they did in those two departments,and the New England Patriots hammered the Bears 36-7 to bring the Bears five game winning streak to a grinding halt.Some marquee game huh? Since Green Bay lost 7-3 in Detroit, the Bears kept their one game NFC North lead on the Packers who will visit these Pats next week while the Bears will face the Vikings at a location not known at this time since the Metrodome’s roof collapsed causing Monday night’s Vikes-Giants game to be moved to Ford Field in Detroit.
With awful conditions, 26* temperatures and +9* wind chill factor with NW winds blowing at 32 MPH, the Bears won the toss,deferred and New England received and started on their own 31.After a five yard pass from Brady to Wes Welker, BenJarvus Green-Ellis was hit for a 3 yard loss,and Brady was then sacked by Israel Idonoje for a two yard loss.This was the Bears last ‘stop’ of the first half. Zoltan Mesko punted to Devin Hester who returned 17 yards to his 46.Matt Forte gained three on first down.He then picked six to the Patriots 45.But then on a pitch out, Forte lost two and Brad Maynard had to punt.It was downed by Corey Graham at the New England 15.The Bears had zero pass rush on Brady on the next two New England drives,and he burned the cover-two to a crisp. Brady started it by going right back to Welker for eight yards. Green-Ellis then hit a big hole off left guard for 12 to the Pats 34. After an incompleted pass that Julius Peppers broke up,Brady again threw an incomlepted pass.But with way too much time and no pass rush,Brady hit Welker for 17 and a first down at the Bears 48. Green-Ellis rushed for 2 on first down, then on a screen pass Danny Woodhead was hit by Brian Urlacher for a loss of 12.But on third down, again no pass rush and Brady hit Deion Branch at the Bears 34.Brady then hit Welker at the 20 and he broke two tackles and got to the ten for a first and goal. Woodhead gained three to the 7. Brady then tried to hit Branch,Urlacher deflected it and Chris Harris just missed a pick. On third down Brady hit Rob Gronkowski between defenders to make it 7-0 with 5:47 left in the first quarter. The kickoff was fumbled by Rashied Davis but Earl Bennett fell on it Bears 26.On first down, Jay Cutler threw his first pass,and hit Greg Olsen for six. Forte than ran around the left side,but Roberto Garza was called for holding,making it second and fourteen at the 18.Cutler could not any receivers and was sacked for a four yard loss back to the 14. Cutler kept the drive alive with a 19 yard pass to Johnny Knox at the Bears 33. Cutler again was flushed from the pocket,but this time he gained seven to his own 40. Fotre then slide threw a hole on the left side for five and a first down at the Bears 45. Forte ran off the left side for four,but on second down Forte was stopped for a gain of just two. Cutler tried to hit Bennett,but the pass was a bit over thrown and Maynard punted for the second time and it was downed by C.Graham at the 12 as the first quarter ended.Brady hit Welker on first down for 12 to the 25. Green-Ellis broke off an 11 yarder through a hole of the left side.On second down, Green-Ellis was slowed and tackled by Idonije for just a one yard gain. Brady hit Branch on second down for eight to the NE 45.Sammy Morris picked up the first down to his won 47.Brady’s first down pass was knocked down by Peppers,but he then found a wide open Welker on the left side for 19 to the Bears 34. Green-Ellis then busted through for nine. Woodhead picked up another first down by getting five to the Bears 20. Green-Ellis broke a tackle and only C.Harris prevented a TD. It became first and goal at the 3.Woodhead broke two tackles and scored to make it 14-0 with 10:16 left in the half. S.Graham’s kickoff was returned by Danieal Manning 33 yards to his 38. On first down,this game started to totally get out of control when Cutler hit Knox was was tackled by Devin McCourty,and fumbled as he was going down, Gary Guyton picked it up and ran untouched to score and make it 21-0. Lovie Smith did challenge the call on the field,but Referee Mike Carey ruled that Knox was on McCourty’s foot,rather than the ground as the ball came out,so the call stood and it was 21-0. Manning had another decent return,of 40 yards to the Bears 45.Chester Taylor on first down lost a yard to the 44.Cutler,again had no open receiver and ran for twelve,but holding was called on Brandon Manumaleuna and it became second and 21. After two incompleted passes, Maynard punted for the third time, and Julian Edelman picked his way for 42 yards to the Bears 30.Two running plays set up a third and four,on which Green-Ellis got the first down to the Bears 20.On first down,Brady’s pass was broken up by Nick Roach.Woodhead on a draw play gained three to the 17.Brady hit Woodhead for four,and on fourth down, Shayne Graham kicked a 30 yard field goal that barely made it into the stiff wind over the cross bar.On first down, Cutler fumbled the snap and it was recovered by Jerod Mayo at the Bears 9.After a two yard pickup by Woodhead,Brady threw an incompletion,and on third down, the Bears actually rushed Brady and forced him to throw one into the ground. S.Graham then booted a 25 yard field goal to turn this into a 27-0 rout.Another Bears three and out forced Maynard to punt and Edelman went all 71 yards,yet only a holding call on the Patriots nullified it and the ball was placed at the NE 20.On the last play of the half,the Bears were caught napping when Brady threw to Branch who side stepped two Bears defenders and ran down the west sideline 59 yards to score on the last play of the half. Graham’s PAT was wide right,but it was 33-0 at halftime and a good majority of spectators headed for the exits. This was also the most points the Bears have ever given up in any first half.
Manning returned the second half kickoff 25 yards to his own 35,but the Bears went three and out. Maynard bobbled the snap,picked it up and he got a short squib kick to the NE 37 for just 19 yards. Brady quickly hit Branch at the Bears 43 for twenty yards.Green-Ellis then ran on the left side for 13 to the 30.Brady then hit Gronkowski for 15 to the fifteen, and then hit him again at the 11. Green-Ellis was stopped for no gain, and on third down, missed on a pass to Green-Ellis. Graham then kicked a 29 yard field goal.Hester returned the kickoff 61 yards to the Pats 35.On a screen pass Cutler hit Forte for 32 yards to the NE three yard line.After an incompleted pass, Forte got to the 1 yard line.Taylor then scored around left end to finally get the Bears on the scoreboard. The Patriots again moved the ball but on a fourth downb,were stopped and the Bears took over at their own 28.Cutler started hitting receivers and thanks also to a pass interference on Darius Butler,the Bears got a first down at the NE 26.Cutler then threw an interception right to Guyton as the Pats took over at their 30. The third quarter ended with the Patroits ahead 36-7,although the Bears won that quarter 7-3. Too bad this isn’t the old CBA.The Bears held again,forcing a Mesko punt for just the second time in the game and he kicked it into the end zone,giving the Bears the ball at their twenty.They drove down to the New England ten for a first and goal.after a 33 yard Cutler to Bennett pass. On second down, Cutler scrambled and threw a pass right into the hands of Brandon Meriweather to end that scoring chance. The game ended with no additional scoring.
NOTES—The Patriots had as many points in the first half(33)as the Bears had net yards(also 33)…..They only announced that there were 6,186 no shows of the 62,347 tickets sold for this game.In the final two minutes,there were no more than 4,000 left in Solder Field……Brady was 27-40 for 369 yds, 2 TD and 0 Interceptions.His QB rating was 113.4….Cutler was 12-26 for 152 yds, was sacked twice and had a Passer Rating of 32.9.
LES