Chicago Bears Offense Finds Rhythm, Balance in Week 4 Win over Oakland Raiders
Published by Matt Eurich on October 4, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Some of the NFL‘s best teams are able to get into a rhythm on offense early and play balanced football, and the Chicago Bears did just that in their Week 4 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
After dropping to 0-3 on the season following losses to the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, Chicago came away with a 22-20 win over the now-2-2 Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
Quarterback Jay Cutler missed the second half of Chicago’s loss to Arizona and did not play in the team’s Week 3 game against the Seahawks due to a hamstring injury, but he returned to the field on Sunday afternoon.
Cutler looked a bit stiff at times early in the game, but he did a nice job of avoiding pressure by stepping up in the pocket.
On Chicago’s first drive of the game, Cutler completed three of his four passing attempts for 66 yards, and he hit veteran wide receiver Eddie Royal on a seven-yard touchdown pass for Chicago’s first points on offense since Week 2.
The offense struggled on its next three possessions, but the Bears marched 80 yards down the field on their fourth possession of the game.
Cutler completed all four of his passing attempts on that possession for 56 yards, and he capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Martellus Bennett.
The Bears went into halftime with 16-14 lead, and the offense recorded 239 yards of total offense and had control of the football for nearly 20 minutes in the first half. By comparison, Oakland had just 92 yards of offense and possessed the ball for just under 10 minutes.
Cutler finished the first half with 170 passing yards and two touchdowns after completing 14 of his 19 passing attempts. Running back Matt Forte carried the football 14 times for 69 yards and hauled in two catches for 48 yards in the first half.
Cutler did not look as sharp at the start of the second half as he did at the beginning of the first half, but he was able to get into a rhythm when the offense needed him the most.
After Oakland gained 68 yards on 11 plays late in the fourth quarter and took a 20-19 lead on a 41-yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal, Cutler helped lead the Bears on a 12-play, 48-yard drive to set up kicker Robbie Gould for the game-winning field goal.
The former Vanderbilt Commodore completed five of his eight passing attempts for 41 yards on Chicago’s final offensive drive. Gould easily made the 49-yard field-goal attempt, and the Bears were able to come away with their first victory of the season.
In total, the Bears gained 371 yards of offense on 75 plays. Chicago threw the ball 43 times for 273 yards and ran the football 29 times for 98 yards.
The Bears were forced to throw the football more toward the end of the game, but they did a nice job of utilizing a balanced attack on offense all afternoon.
While Cutler did throw an interception in the fourth quarter on a 3rd-and-1 play that helped set up Janikowski’s go-ahead field goal, the offense showed poise when it got the ball back for the final drive of the game.
After the game, Cutler received praise from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport as well as head coach John Fox, via the Chicago Tribune‘s Rich Campbell:
While the Bears were able to get Cutler back under center on Sunday, they were without No. 1 wide receiver Alshon Jeffery for the third straight game. In addition to Jeffery not playing, the Bears also lost starting center Will Montgomery on the first drive of the game.
According to Campbell, Fox later announced that Montgomery suffered a broken fibula.
After Montgomery went down with his injury, starting left guard Matt Slauson moved to center and backup Patrick Omameh came in for Slauson at guard.
Sunday’s contest was the first time Slauson had played center in the NFL, and he and Cutler had some shaky exchanges in the early going—including a fumble which was recovered by the Raiders.
Even with a patchwork offensive line, the Bears allowed just three sacks and Forte was still able to rush for 91 yards on 25 carries. Backup running backs Jacquizz Rodgers and Jeremy Langford combined for just three carries on the afternoon, but Cutler did a nice job of distributing the football in the passing game.
Bennett hauled in 11 catches on 13 targets for 83 yards and one touchdown, Marquess Wilson caught six passes on nine targets for 80 yards, Forte caught all four passes thrown in his direction for 64 yards and Royal finished with seven catches on 10 targets for 54 yards with one touchdown.
Chicago was not at the top of its game on Sunday offensively, but it showed how well the offense can function when Cutler and company are able to get into a rhythm.
Chicago’s two touchdown drives—as well as the final drive of the game—showed how effective the offense can be when it has a balanced game plan and can move the chains with passes thrown over the middle.
The 1-3 Bears face an uphill battle to get back to .500, but they will be looking for their second win of the season in Week 5 against the 1-3 Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs gave up 445 yards of total offense to the Cincinnati Bengals in their 36-21 loss on Sunday, and the Bears will have a chance to gain yards both through the air and on the ground in Week 5 if they can get into a rhythm like they did at times on Sunday against the Raiders.
Statistical information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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