Bears Overcome Shaky Start to Roll Past Luck and Colts 41-21
Sep 9, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Indianapolis Colts cornerback Jerraud Powers (25) breaks up a pass intended for Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) during the first quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE
The first couple of offensive series for the Bears made it seem like it was going to be a long day. On the first play from scrimmage, Robert Mathis beat J’Webb Nation and Kellen Davis to sack Cutler. Gabe Carimi committed a false start on the next play and a couple of plays later, Roberto Garza rolled a snap back to Cutler. Bears punt after a tri-fecta of offensive line suckiness.
The next time the Bears had the ball, pinned deep in the shadow of their own end zone again, Cutler tried to hit Matt Forte on a little swing pass, which was promptly intercepted and walked in for a quick 7-0 lead for the visiting Colts. Can you really call it a pick-6 when it’s that close? Should be more of a pick 3.5. It was mostly downhill from there for the Colts, as the Bears re-grouped and went on to roll Indianapolis 41-21 to spoil rookie Andrew Luck’s debut.
Jay Cutler threw for over 300 yards, with 119 of them going to Brandon Marshall. At times, it seemed like Cutler wasn’t aware of any other offensive players on the field, as he continued to try to force feed the ball into his old buddy. The offense gained some semblance of balance with multiple players scoring TD’s including Michael Bush with 2 TD’s, Matt Forte with 1, Brandon Marshall with one and a bomb to Alshon Jeffery late in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach.
Andrew Luck looked like a typical rookie QB. He had flashes of good play, but was eager to turn the ball over. Tim Jennings had two interceptions for the Bears and tipped another Luck pass to teammate Chris Conte in the end zone to assist on another. All in all, the Colts had 5 turnovers. Or as Lovie Smith would tell you, the Bears had 5 takeaways.
Plenty more coverage including thoughts on Brian Urlacher, the tight ends, and post-game comments from the players to follow later tonight. Oh, and the Packers game is 4 days away! For now, the Bears are 1-0 and all is right with the world.