MILWAUKEE—As last-second, game-winning 3-pointers go, this one wasn’t the prettiest, at least not like the winning shot at the buzzer here by Derrick Rose two seasons ago. But it got the job done, and that’s the only thing that mattered to Mike Dunleavy and the Bulls.At this point, the Bulls will take whatever offense they can get.Dunleavy banked in a three-pointer with 5.8 seconds left and Joakim Noah came up with a block on the other end, leading the Bulls to a 91-90 comeback victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.Dunleavy said he had to change the angle of his shot to avoid the reach of his defender, 6-foot-11 forward John Henson.

“He’s so long so if I would have shot my normal shot, he might have got a piece of it,” Dunleavy said. “So basically what I’m saying is, I took a bad shot and it went in.”

Trailing by two in the final seconds, the Bulls came up with a tie-up on the defensive end and won the jump ball, allowing Dunleavy to hit a high-arching 3 that banged off the glass, then in, for the lead.Noah then blocked O.J. Mayo’s shot to preserve the lead — and a victory that appeared unlikely just seconds before.

“You could see his rhythm coming offensively,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Noah. “Defensively, he’s been terrific from the start of the season but offensively, you can see his timing is back.”

Noah scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds — both season highs — for the Bulls, who ended a three-game losing streak. The Bulls scored fewer than 80 points in all three of those losses — including one to Milwaukee in the United Center on Tuesday.Jimmy Butler scored 16 points in his return from injury.

“I felt all right,” Butler said. “Rusty. Out of shape. Terrible. But I’m glad my guys pulled this win out.”

Carlos Boozer scored 14 points and added 12 rebounds.Gary Neal scored 17 points and Henson added 15 for the Bucks, who appeared to have the game won when Khris Middleton hit a desperation shot with 29.8 seconds left. Instead, it was another disappointment.

“It wasn’t even really supposed to get to that point, but we made some mistakes, critical mistakes, and that’s what happens,” Henson said.

And to make matters worse for the Bucks, a crowd filled with traveling Bulls fans made it sound like a home game at times for the Bulls — especially at the end, when Dunleavy’s shot set off a thunderous ovation.That’s not a new phenomenon when the Bulls visit Milwaukee — but to Henson, it is somewhat annoying.

“A little bit, man,” Henson said. “But, hey, they’re an hour away. It was a Bulls crowd.”

Milwaukee went on a 12-4 run to take an 11-point lead with 7:37 remaining. The Bulls chipped away at the lead, but Henson passed to a wide-open Ekpe Udoh on the baseline and Udoh delivered an emphatic dunk for an 88-83 lead with 1:30 left.Mayo then fouled Dunleavy on a three-point attempt, and Dunleavy hit all three free throws to cut the lead to two. After a Milwaukee miss, Boozer made a game-tying jumper with 54.9 seconds left.Middleton then hit a desperation shot with the clock running out, giving Milwaukee a two-point lead. Butler was called for traveling on the other end and the game appeared to be all but over — but it was only setting the stage for Dunleavy’s big moment.

“He hit a tough shot,” Bucks coach Larry Drew said. “It wasn’t an easy shot. It was a contested shot. But I’ll say it again: It should not have come down it (that). We were in position where we should have closed that game out.”

While Derrick Rose’s season-ending knee injury has garnered the most attention, it hasn’t been the only critical injury for the Bulls this season.Butler missed 11 games because of a toe injury and the Bulls are still without Luol Deng, who remains sidelined with a sore left Achilles.The Bulls added some depth earlier in the day Friday, signing free agent guard D.J. Augustin. Augustin was scoreless in 11-plus minutes in his Bulls debut.

NOTES—Drew said guard/forward Carlos Delfino will have surgery on his right foot in his native Argentina on Saturday. There is no timeline for his return.. Larry Sanders has been fitted with a protective glove and cleared to resume some basketball activities, but there is no timeline for his return from a thumb injury. … Thibodeau said Deng is feeling better and could be available for Saturday’s game.

It looks like Brian Urlacher won’t get his wish. The Bears have named quarterback Jay Cutler the Week 15 starter vs. the Browns despite the stellar play of backup Josh McCown in recent weeks.This development shouldn’t come as a surprise; coach Marc Trestman said as much following the team’s 45-28 victory over the Cowboys Monday night.

“There’s no change in the plan,” he said. “When Jay is ready to play, he’ll be playing.”

And now that Jay’s ready, he’ll be playing.Whether you think it’s the right move or not, Trestman handled this perfectly. He’s made his intentions clear, his players have echoed those sentiments, and there is no confusion inside Halas Hall, even if outsiders disagree.Still, Cutler is in the final year of his contract and the Bears will have to decide this offseason whether to re-up him at a steep price, or to go in a different direction. If it’s the latter — and there was a report Wednesday that that could be the case — the team could turn to McCown in the short term while they find and groom their next young franchise quarterback

ROSEMONT—Cleveland Melvin scored 19 points and DePaul beat the Florida Atlantic Owls 81-70 on Thursday night, giving the Blue Demons their 1,400th win in program history.Sandi Marcius added a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Billy Garrett added 14 for the Blue Demons, who had lost three of four. DePaul (5-4) also started a stretch of three games in seven days, which picks up Sunday when it hosts Chicago State and then Houston Baptist on Wednesday.Melvin recovered from a rough outing last Friday against Arizona State, when he shot 2 of 12 for seven points in DePaul’s 78-56 loss. On Thursday, he shot 7 for 13 for the Blue Demons, who were 32 of 61 (52.5 percent) as a team during their first game in six days.Brandon Young, DePaul’s leading scorer, was back in the lineup after missing last Friday’s game with a sprained ankle and had 12. Marcius, a senior forward, topped the career high he set Dec. 1 against Oregon State when he scored 15 points on 6 of 6 shooting.Florida Atlantic (3-7) was led by Pablo Bertone’s 30 points, and Jackson Trapp had 17. The Owls had won two straight over Central Florida and Jacksonville after six consecutive losses, but couldn’t push their winning streak to three despite shooting 45.5 percent.Bertone, the reigning Conference USA player of the week, hit 11 of 22 and couldn’t help the Owls overcome a 38-29 rebounding deficit before fouling out with 11.7 seconds remaining.FAU was also looking for its first win somewhere other than its Boca Raton campus, but dropped to 0-7 away from home.DePaul, meanwhile, is trying to reverse the program’s decline but reached a milestone Thursday. A one-time power, the Blue Demons extended their all-time record to 1,400-905. They haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2004, and aren’t expected to contend for another this season out of the new-look Big East.On Thursday, they overcame a slow first-half start but still managed to lead going into the break.Florida Atlantic took an eight-point lead with 6:08 left in the half on a Bertone free throw, but the Blue Demons ended the period on a 17-8 run, capped off by Melvin’s tip-in of his own layup to beat the buzzer.DePaul took its first double-digit lead with 2:37 left on Garrett’s 3-pointer, but the Owls got to within seven on a Bertone three-point play 21 seconds later. That, though, was as close as FAU got.

Thursday Night—DENVER over San Diego

Sunday–

New Orleans over ST.LOUIS

ATLANTA over Washington

San Francisco over TAMPA BAY

Seattle over NY GIANTS

Kansas City over OAKLAND

INDIANAPOLIS over Houston

JACKSONVILLE over Buffalo

New England over MIAMI

CAROLINA over NY Jets

Arizona over TENNESSEE

Sun Night—Cincinnati over PITTSBURGH

NFC NORTH—

Mon Night—DETROIT over Baltimore

DALLAS over Green Bay

Philadelphia over MINNESOTA

Bears over CLEVELAND

Last Week: Les 13-3 Adam 11-5

Total through Week 14: Les 139-68-1 Adam 141-66-1

Home Teams in ALL CAPS

There was a long slap shot, and then a nifty wraparound and a short-handed score off a 2-on-1 break. Once the Blackhawks started rolling, Ray Emery never stood a chance. Duncan Keith and Andrew Shaw scored in a 39-second span at the start of the Hawks five-goal second period Wednesday night, sparking the Blackhawks to a 7-2 victory over Emery and the Philadelphia Flyers. Patrick Sharp had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who has won three in a row after a three-game losing streak. Michal Handzus scored a short-handed goal in the second and Marian Hossa had three assists, helping rookie goaltender Antti Raanta win his second consecutive start in place of injured Corey Crawford.

“We have a quiet confidence we can score goals,” Keith said. “Our talk in the room is more about playing the right way, being good defensively, being hard on pucks, checking well. We know our offense is going to take care of itself if we play that way.”

The seven goals set a season high for the Blackhawks (23-6-5), who have scored 19 times during their winning streak and lead the NHL with 129 goals. Shaw’s sharp wraparound at 1:22 of the second made it six players with at least 10 goals for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are once again on top of the league standings with 51 points.

“It’s a credit to our team game,” Sharp said. “We know we’ve got guys in here that can put up big numbers and score goals. But when we’re playing well in all three zones, that’s when our offense usually clicks.”

Emery was pulled in the third period of his first start in Chicago since he teamed with Crawford to give the Blackhawks one of the best goaltending tandems in the league last season. Emery went 17-1 with a sparkling 1.94 goals-against average during his second year with the Hawks and then signed a free-agent deal with Philadelphia in July.He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd when he was recognized on the overhead scoreboard during the first period. But his ninth start of the season took a turn for the worse when the Hawks turned up the pressure in the second.Jakub Voracek and Steve Downie scored power-play goals for the Flyers (13-15-3), who have lost three in a row and went 2-3-1 on a six-game road trip.

“We made a few stupid mistakes,” forward Wayne Simmonds said. “We weren’t looking behind our backs and when you play a team like that they’re going to capitalize.”

Voracek’s wrister at 12:31 helped Philadelphia to a 1-0 lead after one period. The Blackhawks were coming off a 6-2 victory at Dallas on Tuesday night and looked a bit listless at the start of their first game against the Flyers since Jan. 5, 2012. That all changed in the second. Keith got it started with a big drive past Emery just 43 seconds into the period. Then came Shaw’s goal, and Handzus made it 3-1 when he scored his third on a break with Marcus Kruger.Downie’s third goal momentarily slowed the Blackhawks’ run. Kris Versteeg beat Emery off a terrific pass from Brandon Saad, and Sharp’s slap shot went off Jonathan Toews and in to make it 5-2 at 14:15.

“Great second period for us,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said, “and it kind of went from there.”

Emery departed after Brent Seabrook scored on a slap shot 65 seconds into the third. Emery finished with 12 saves.

“You’re going to be frustrated,” Emery said. “There’s an old saying, `You show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.'”

Raanta made 28 stops to improve to 5-0-1. He drew a large ovation from the crowd when he stopped Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl on a pair of short-handed breakaways in rapid succession in the third.

NOTES—Blackhawks F Bryan Bickell (lower body) skated Wednesday morning and could practice with the team on Friday. “Showed good progress,” Quenneville said. … The Flyers scratched LW Tye McGinn and defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Hal Gill. … Defensemen Michael Kostka and Michal Rozsival, along with Crawford, were the Blackhawks’ scratches. Crawford is out with a lower-body injury.

NEW YORK—Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York Knicks pulled out an 83-78 victory against the Bulls on Wednesday night after blowing a 23-point lead. Amare Stoudemire made the tiebreaking jumper with 2:35 left and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who ended a two-game losing streak but made it harder on themselves than necessary with some sloppy second-half offense.Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored 20 points for the Bulls, who have lost three straight and five of six. They are having a dreadful time scoring, topping out at 75 points in their previous two games and barely surpassing that in this one.Joakim Noah had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his return after missing a game with a bruised right thigh, but Luol Deng missed his third consecutive game with a sore left Achilles.Already without Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, the Bulls gave up a 19-0 run in the second quarter.The Knicks were without Raymond Felton, who was resting a sore left hamstring that has bothered him repeatedly this season and could be out now for what coach Mike Woodson said would “probably be a little while.” Fellow starting guard Iman Shumpert joined him among the injured in the third quarter after bruising his left knee during a collision.The Knicks led by 12 points at halftime and were cruising with a lead of as much as 23 in the third quarter before handing the Bulls a chance to come back by committing five turnovers in less than 2 minutes late in the period. That allowed the Bulls to pull within 68-54 heading to the fourth.The Bulls then held the Knicks to three field goals in the first 9-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, outscoring them 20-6 to tie it at 74 on Noah’s follow shot with 3:39 remaining. Stoudemire broke the tie with his jumper, and Anthony made it 78-74 with two free throws with 1:29 to go before the Bulls turned it over to end the comeback hopes. The Bulls led 17-15 after one quarter, then needed more than half the second to make its first basket. The Knicks scored the first 19 points while the Bulls were missing their first 11 shots, taking a 34-17 lead before Dunleavy ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining. Stoudemire was a catalyst in the spurt while playing on both nights of back-to-back games for the first time this season. He was playing restricted minutes and was forced to sit out some games earlier this season following summer knee surgery, but has progressed past that and was on the court for 29 minutes. Both teams reached the second round of last season’s playoffs but have been wrecked early this season by injuries, with the Bulls losing Rose again and the Knicks going most of the season without Tyson Chandler. The Knicks have been far worse than expected, creating a strange situation before this game where both coaches were asked about the Knicks coaching job.There’s frequent speculation that Woodson’s job is in jeopardy, and he acknowledged that the Knicks aren’t playing as well as last season, though added he thinks they can once they get healthy. Meanwhile, an ESPN.com story suggested that the Knicks would try to get Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who was an assistant here under Jeff Van Gundy.

“I don’t pay any attention to any of that stuff,” Thibodeau said. “To me, the only thing I have to do is concentrate on our team, our next opponent, our improvement, and never get away from that. You know, there’s a lot of stuff that gets thrown out there … so if you pay any attention, it does no good.”

Thibodeau went on to say how much he liked his team, and the Bulls gave him plenty to like with a gritty second-half comeback attempt that just fell short. Carlos Boozer finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

NOTES—The Bulls had won the previous six meetings. They beat the Knicks 11 straight times in the regular season from 1990-92, the longest winning streak in a series that dates to 1966.

DALLAS—Patrick Sharp scored twice, extending his domination of the Dallas Stars, and the Blackhawks cruised to a 6-2 victory Tuesday night. Brandon Saad also scored two goals for the Blackhawks, who have won three of the four games between the teams. One victory was in a shootout.Sharp has four goals and four assists against the Stars this season. In his last eight games versus Dallas, he has eight goals and seven assists.Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks. Defenseman Michael Kostka returned after missing 24 games because of a foot injury to score the first goal. The Central Division-leading Blackhawks (22-6-5) reached six goals for the fifth time this season, and second in a row. They defeated Florida 6-2 on Sunday. Dallas has given up six goals in three different losses. For the Stars (14-10-5), Antoine Roussel scored a second-period goal to end goalie Antti Raanta’s shutout bid. Roussel was credited with another goal when he deflected Sergei Gonchar‘s drive into the net with 19 seconds remaining in the game. Raanta finished with 27 saves for his fourth win.Dan Ellis replaced Stars starter Kari Lehtonen after he gave up four goals in the first 28:20.The Hawks dominated the first period, with 14 shots on goal to four for the Stars. The Blackhawks scored barely 2 minutes into the game.Kostka drove the puck from the top of the right circle toward a crowd in front of Lehtonen. The deflected puck slid toward the right post. Lehtonen smothered the puck with his glove, and the goal light did not go on.After a video review, referee Kelly Sutherland announced that the puck had crossed the goal line. Kostka had his second goal of the season, in just his third game.Seconds after the Stars’ Dustin Jeffrey sent a close-in attempt wide left, the Blackhawks quickly moved the puck up ice. Kane skated in on a breakaway and beat Lehtonen at 12:05 for his 17th goal and a 2-0 lead.It could have been worse for the Stars. The Hawks had a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:55 midway through the first. Dallas killed both penalties — with Cody Eakin, Alex Goligoski and Jamie Oleksiak on the ice for all but a few seconds.The Blackhawks went up 3-0 on Saad’s first goal 2:46 into the second period. Kostka took a shot from a narrow angle, Dallas couldn’t control the rebound and Saad poked the puck in from in front of the net.Sharp then scored two goals less than 3 minutes apart for a 5-0 lead. His first, on a power play at 8:20, brought Ellis in to replace Lehtonen. Sharp then took a long pass from Duncan Keith at the Dallas blue line and beat both Goligoski and Ellis for his second goal of the game and 14th this season at 11:08.The period ended 6-1 after Roussel’s first goal and Saad’s second, at 19:15.

NOTES—Raanta started in goal because Corey Crawford reportedly sustained a groin injury Sunday against Florida. Raanta replaced Crawford in the first period vs. the Panthers and earned a victory. The Blackhawks recalled rookie Kent Simpson from Rockford of the American Hockey League to back up Raanta; Crawford did not travel to Dallas. … The Stars’ power-play woes continued. They failed to score on their five power plays, dropping their home success rate to 1-for-47 (2 percent). The Hawks was 1 for 5 with the man advantage.

John Henson cracked a smile as he headed down the court after his desperate turnaround splashed through the net.It was that kind of night for Milwaukee.Henson had 25 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots, and the Bucks beat the Bulls 78-74 on Tuesday in a matchup of slumping teams racked by injuries.

”We just kept fighting,” Henson said. ”Man, we just kept fighting. As a young team, a scrappy team out here, that’s what we got to do.”

Brandon Knight added 19 points and 10 boards for Milwaukee, which had dropped three of four. O.J. Mayo was just 2 for 12 from the field, but had seven assists and made a couple of big plays in the fourth quarter.Milwaukee only used nine players due to injuries, and Miroslav Raduljica logged all of 83 seconds. The Bulls went with an eight-man rotation after Joakim Noah was sidelined by a bruised right thigh.

”It doesn’t matter,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. ”Everyone who’s called upon is capable of doing their job. Eighteen turnovers hurt us. In the first half we had great ball movement with 14 assists. In the second half, we have to do better.”

Mike Dunleavy scored 18 of his 24 points in the second quarter, but the Bulls struggled on offense in the latter part of their fourth loss in five games. Carlos Boozer, the only starter from the season opener at Miami, had 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Bucks trailed by seven at halftime, but cut the deficit to two heading to the fourth quarter, and then opened the final period with a 10-2 run. Henson’s dunk over Tony Snell off a pass from Mayo made it 65-59 with 8:30 to go. The Bulls had a chance after Dunleavy made a 3 to trim Milwaukee’s lead to 73-72 with 1:59 remaining. But Henson responded with a long turnaround jumper as the shot clock expired, prompting the wide grin as he headed back to play defense.

”I guess the basketball gods were with us tonight,” Bucks coach Larry Drew said. ”It was a hope and a prayer. It went in.”

Ekpe Udoh then blocked Snell’s 3-point attempt, and the Bucks held on for their third road win of the season. hibodeau said Noah aggravated the injury during the morning shootaround. He said he thinks the big man will be able to travel to New York for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks.

Luol Deng (left calf tightness) and Jimmy Butler (sprained right big toe) were ruled out earlier in the day. Derrick Rose is likely out for the season after right knee surgery.

”They’re missing guys. We’re missing guys,” Knight said. ”But at the end of the day, that’s how it’s going to be [in] NBA basketball. You’re never going to have all your guys, more than likely.”

It was the same problem on the other side for Milwaukee, which was without reserve guard Gary Neal due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Neal, who played seven minutes in the Bucks’ 90-82 loss to Brooklyn on Saturday, did not make the trip to the U.C. Center Zaza Pachulia broke his right foot in last week’s 105-98 loss to Detroit, and the Bucks also are playing without injured starters Larry Sanders (thumb) and Caron Butler (knee). All those injuries took a toll on both teams, especially early on. The Bulls shot 25 percent (6 for 24) in the first quarter, and the Bucks struggled to 33 percent (7 for 21) in the second quarter. Dunleavy helped his team find its stride after the sloppy start. He had 10 points in a 12-2 spurt that gave the Bulls a 40-31 lead with 2:44 left in the first half. Dunleavy was 7 for 7 from the field and 3 for 4 at the line in the second quarter. Snell had nine first-half points as the Bulls carried a 42-35 lead into the break.

NOTES—It was the first game of the season between the teams. They split four games last season, with the two wins for each side coming on the road. … Bulls rookie Erik Murphy made a jumper in the first quarter for his first NBA basket. He played 10 minutes after playing just 15 minutes all season coming into the night.

CHAMPAIGN—Illinois didn’t play quite as rough as it did in its last home game, a 57-55 escape against Indiana Purdue-Fort Worth on Nov. 29, but the Illini still have some ragged edges in their game.Tuesday, John Groce’s club had to hold off a late charge against Dartmouth for a 72-65 win in Illinois’ last non-conference home game of the season.Rayvonte Rice scored 13 points, including a 3-pointer that helped put Illinois up by double digits late. Jon Ekey also hit a big 3 late in the game as part of his 11 points. Nnanna Egwu and Joseph Bertrand added 11 points each as well, and freshman Malcolm Hill chipped in 10 in a balanced attack by the Illini (9-1).Dartmouth (3-4) was led by 17 points from both Gabas Maldunas and Connor Boehm and 14 from Eli Harrison. Boehm and Maldunas also grabbed nine rebounds each.Illinois was outrebounded by Dartmouth, 33-27, but the Illini offset that deficit by shooting 52 percent from the field.Boehm (6-feet, 7-inches) and Maldunas (6-9) gave the Illini frontcourt of Egwu and Ekey fits most of the night. Egwu (6-11) and Ekey (6-7) combined for just seven rebounds.

”We let it into the post too easily but they also played very well,” Groce said. ”Boehm played really well. He’s an Illinois kid and probably wanted to play well, but I was really impressed by Maldunas. He drove the ball really well to the basket.

Egwu added the Illini have to be more mature in game preparation, not just for big-name opponents, but also for teams with mediocre records.

”We just didn’t have enough firepower to come up with two three four stops in a row. They have a lot of answers.”

Rice’s 3-pointer put the Illini up 11 with just more than four minutes to go, and another 3 by Ekey pushed the lead to 14 with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left but Dartmouth’s Boehm hit a layup, Harrison hit two 3-pointers and Alex Mitola added a layup to cut the lead to just five, 67-62, with 25 seconds to go.

”We’ve got to have some better play and close the game out by our older guys,” Groce said. ”They know that.”

Groce credited Kendrick Nunn, Maverick Morgan, Jaylon Tate and Hill for their perseverance in the win.

”Without them, I don’t think we win this game,” Groce said. ”They were ready to go tonight.”

Hill livened the crowd in the first half when he drove to the basket just before slipping a pass behind the back of Dartmouth’s John Golden. Egwu was waiting and laid the ball up as he was fouled. He made the free throw just before Hill thrilled again on the next possession. Hill hit a long 3-pointer from the right wing. He hit another 3 to give the Illini a 37-25 lead near the end of the first half. Though out-rebounded in the first half, Illinois shot the ball well enough to build a 39-27 lead at the break.Boehm and Maldunas kept the Big Green within striking distance in the first half with eight points each from the blocks. Illinois had trouble defending the Dartmouth post players all night.

Neither the brutal cold nor the league’s worst defense could stop Josh McCown and the Bears.Instead, the Bears jumped right back into the playoff race.McCown threw for a career-high four touchdowns, and the Bears scored on their first eight possessions to grab a share of the NFC North lead with a 45-28 victory against the Dallas Cowboys on a frigid Monday night.The Bears (7-6) retired Hall of Famer Mike Ditka’s number at halftime and pulled even with Detroit in the division race on a night when the game-time temperature was in single digits and the wind chill factor was below zero.The loss left Dallas (7-6) a game behind Philadelphia in the NFC East and owner Jerry Jones calling for more aggressive play-calling on defense.The bone-chilling conditions didn’t stop McCown from throwing for 348 yards or keep the Bears from running away with a lopsided victory.It was one they desperately needed after back-to-back losses, and although Detroit holds the head-to-head sweep, the Bears are back in the thick of the playoff race.

“All we could do is try to beat the Dallas Cowboys,” coach Marc Trestman said. “We kept it as simple as that. We didn’t get into all the hypotheticals and all the things that go into winning or losing a game.”

Alshon Jeffery’s leaping catch between two defenders in the corner of the end zone in the closing seconds of the second quarter gave the Bears a 24-14 lead, and they continued to pour it on in the second half after a gut-wrenching overtime loss at Minnesota last week.McCown, making his fourth consecutive start with Jay Cutler sidelined by a high left ankle sprain, completed 27 of 36 passes. And for that, DeMarcus Ware blamed Dallas’ defense.

“If you were back there quarterbacking and we played the way we played you probably would have five touchdowns,” he said.

McCown, meanwhile, insisted he’s still the backup. And Trestman said the plan with Cutler hasn’t changed.

“We’ll see where Jay is this week,” he said. “He’ll have to be released by the doctors and when Jay is ready to play, he’ll be playing.”

Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 100 yards, and Jeffery added 84 yards receiving after breaking his own team record the previous week with 249.Matt Forte chipped in with 102 yards rushing and 73 receiving, and the Bears racked up 490 yards in all.

“Basically, we will have to make some adjustments in what we are doing defensively,” Jones said. “What that usually means is taking more risks on defense. But if you’re going to have the kind of match like we had tonight or certainly in New Orleans you have to take some risks. We have to double up and I’m sure that will be part of the plan on defense; more risks.”

Tony Romo threw for three touchdowns but completed just 11 of 20 passes for 104 yards for Dallas. DeMarco Murray ran for 146 yards against the league’s worst run defense, but the Cowboys were overmatched after winning two straight.They also lost linebacker Sean Lee to another injury — this time a neck issue after making a tackle in the third quarter. He missed the previous two games with a hamstring problem.

“Certainly, it was a disappointing loss and the loss stings,” coach Jason Garrett said. “The worst thing we can do is have a hangover after this loss.”

The game-time temperature was 8 degrees with the wind chill at minus 9, but the freezing conditions did nothing to slow either team in the early going. Garrett said both teams handled it well.Murray burned the Bears for 52 yards on six carries on the game’s opening possession to set up a 2-yard scoring pass from Romo to Dez Bryant, but the Bears scored just about every time they got the ball.After Bryant’s TD, McCown tied it with a 4-yard pass to Earl Bennett and put the Bears ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter with a 7-yard scramble, leaping at the goal line and getting spun in midair.Jason Witten tied it at 14 when he dragged Major Wright across the goal line on a 10-yard touchdown catch, but the Bears grabbed a three-point lead on Robbie Gould’s 27-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining in the half.Jeffery added to it with that neat catch after Dallas was forced to punt.

“I’m just trying to give him a chance to go up and make the play but not really put the ball in jeopardy, so to speak,” McCown said. “My part was relative easy to the catch.”

NOTES—The record low temperature for a Bears home game is 2 degrees against Green Bay on Dec. 22, 2008. The lowest wind chill was minus-15 against the Packers on Dec. 18, 1983. … There was a moment of silence for Nelson Mandela before the game.