Bears vs. Cowboys: Chicago Defense Decimates Tony Romo and Dallas Offense
Published by Andrew Garda on October 2, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Hopefully the Vikings fans enjoyed their 24 hours on top of the NFC North because here come the Bears.
Yes, the defense should get a tremendous amount of credit for turning Tony Romo mistakes into points, but it’s what we expect them to do.
The Chicago Bears administered a beating on the Cowboys, mostly on the defensive side of the ball by generating five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
In fairness to Romo, the Bears got an assist from his receivers, most notably Dez Bryant who completely blew a route and tipped up a pass into the hands of a defender.
That said, he still made more than enough boneheaded plays to earn his share of the blame.
Not enough can be said about the season being had by defensive back Tim Jennings, but tonight the big plays were made by Charles Tillman, Major Wright and linebacker Lance Briggs, who ran his interception (yes you read that right) back for a rumbling 74-yard touchdown.
The defense only had one sack, but they were in on Romo all night long and bottled up the talented DeMarco Murray in the backfield.
It was your basic Bears brand of winning. Lots of defense, lots of turnovers.
What shouldn’t be lost in this is the excellent job the offense did as well. Early on they were definitely out of sorts and the sentiment of “oh Goodness, not again” could be seen on Twitter and other social media sites
It culminated in a very annoyed Jay Cutler walking away from offensive coordinator Mike Tice on the sideline, much to Tice‘s apparent shock.
Honestly, and I said as much last week, after this mess of an offensive line I might have blown him off as well.
However, things turned right around in the second half as the offense finally seemed to click.
First, the offensive line played very well. There were plenty of times where Jay Cutler was under fire, but they finished the game strong when they needed to. It’s still an issue, but the improvement is worth noting.
Secondly, there was a question as to whether Jay Cutler was targeting Brandon Marshall too much.
In a vacuum, the answer should be “no.” After all, that’s why you got him. Marshall caught seven passes Monday night for 138 yards and a touchdown. He and Cutler were in sync and looked better than they have all season.
Alshon Jeffery caught three passes for 32 yards, and tight end Kellen Davis, after some early-struggles with drops, played exceptionally well and made some key grabs.
Even Devin Hester got in on the act with a 34-yard touchdown catch. I’m as hard as anyone on Hester and his role in the offense, but he put a nice double move on the defender which was beautiful.
The offense is still a little rough around the edges, but the promise we saw in the preseason was there on the field Monday night, even if the day was largely carried by the defense.
With the schedule the Bears face over the next month, they are primed to make a nice run.
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