Chicago Bears: Team Effort in Victory Over Philadelphia Eagles
by Sean Kane
A second NFC east beast was toppled on Sunday. No one thought that coming out of this weekend that the Cowboys and Eagles would see losses from the Redskins and the Bears. The old adage, however, “Defense wins championships†proved true. The Skins held the Cowboys offense off the field, keeping the football in Jason Campbell’s hands for 38 minutes. The defense came up with big stops in the second half batting down balls directed at TO and getting a timely INT from Romo. They controlled the game, then grabbed a break when Sam Hurd couldn’t handle a well placed onside kick. The Skins showed a lot of good stuff and played a perfectly executed game and got the ‘W’.
Well, the Bears got the W. There was some good stuff but there was some bad stuff, too.
They survived on big plays in the first half and made the Eagles play from behind. The Eagles didn’t look like the same team that was jacked up for Dallas and Pittsburgh. After two tough weeks the squad was a half a step behind Bears’ receivers and the offensive line missed working for Brian Westbrook desperately. They played at a deficit the whole night after Orton tossed three TDs in the first half.. They could have taken a lead with a few field goals. Akers, who is usually automatic, missed two chances, though, and kept the Eagles behind.
With the lead, the offense had a chance to step up and try to toss a nail at the coffin after a Kevin Payne interception put them on the Eagles’ eleven yard line, in the third quarter. Orton didn’t want to stray too far from the heart pumping gameplan, though. So, he gave the ball right back to the Eagles on a terrible second down pass to the end zone. Then, Kevin Jones and Orton decided to try and throw the game completely by botching a handoff, giving it to McNabb again. The offense finished with 4 turnovers in all and any football team knows it’s tough to win when your team is guaranteed to give the ball up at least twice a game, like they have in the last three games.
The Eagles got their big chance in the 4th quarter but the Bears’ defense did their part, again, but the offense had to step up to finish the game in order to get the win. Without that first down, there was a good chance that McNabb and the Eagles would be jacked up to get back on the field and steal one from back from the Bears. They produced a huge goal line stand shutting down the chance for a winning touchdown. Madden got a boner, from this thing of beauty that stuffed Buckhalter 3 times. With the pride of the Bears D on the line, the boner was the most startling part of the whole incident. It was a big stop but the follow up was the key.
The reality is that the stop wouldn’t really mean anything if the offense handed the ball to Brad Maynard in the endzone 3 plays later. Then, the Eagles would have gotten back on the field with 3 minutes and a short field, playing against a defense that has not shown the endurance to make big stops late in the game. My faith would have been slim and my heart rate rising. Instead, Ron Turner and the offensive line showed what could have been the most inspiring play of the game. On 3rd and 4, I sat watching skeptically, saying to my buddy, “Well, Reid isn’t that upset. Orton has to convert this 3rd down. He knows he’s getting the ball back.†Andy Reid would be upset, in fact, because Ron Turner went with what works. Instead of trying to make Orton find someone in the face of a pass rush, he gave the ball to Matt Forte. With all of the second level of the defense looking pass Forte popped through the line and stumbled across the 15 yard line, getting the first down.
That was the play. That was the Bears’ team finishing the game.
The offensive leadup to that fourth quarter third down conversion made Bears’ fans real scared. There was no reason to think that Orton would get the job done. No one in the country was thinking, “You gotta put it in Orton’s hands.†So, we didn’t. Turner made the right choice. We gave the ball to Matt Forte and it worked. He is the most reliable offensive weapon we have had to date, and it was certainly the right call.
Orton under center leaves a lot of questions for the Bears but to get through September 2-2 with wins over Indy and Philly you begin to think, if the Bears get a few breaks, step up on defense and run the ball when they have to, they could win a few more games than expected. Better than expected is better than nothing.
[tags]chicago bears, nfl, philadelphia eagles, football[/tags]
Tags: Chicago Bears, kyle orton, matt forte, Philadelphia Eagles, Ron Turner
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