Chicago Bears Shutout The Miami Dolphins 16-0 In South Beach
Published by Jake Perper on November 19, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Bears put together their first shutout victory since 2006 last night. They defeated the Miami Dolphins 16-0, but most importantly shut them down completely in all aspects of the football game.
They allowed the Dolphins to convert only one third down conversion out of 11 attempts. They held the Dolphins under 200 yards of offense for the entire game.
The Dolphins’ gameplan might have been questionable considering they ran the ball seven times for a total of 12 yards. They gave third-string QB Tyler Thigpen the ball and said throw it around. Thigpen was 17-of-29 for 187 and one interception. Thigpen was also sacked six times, three of which came in garbage time.
Considering the Bears had the ball for 37 minutes of the game and ran 68 plays in that time that didn’t allow the Dolphins to run many plays. The Dolphins actually ran only 48 plays in the entire game.
The Bears defense and running game took this game over. They took advantage of the Dolphins confusing gameplan and played Bears football. Great defense and solid running led the Bears to so many victories over the years, and the Bears are back at it once again.
Matt Forte had 97 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown with two minutes left in the quarter to put the Bears up 16-0.
Three field goals by Robbie Gould came before the Forte touchdown.
The Bears were great on defense and pounded the ball on offense. Those are the keys to Bears football, and they are back to playing it again.
Down the stretch, the Bears will need this type of play. Three home games against the Eagles, Patriots and Jets will be tough. Three road games against NFC North opponents Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay will be tough as well.
The remaining six games will show how good the Bears really are. If they can continue to play great defense and convert third downs on offense, they will be able to compete in all of those games. Sunday night’s game against Miami shows that they are a good team, but we just don’t know how good they really are just yet.
Playing against Philadelphia next week won’t be easy.
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Jake Perper is the creator of www.BearsBacker.com and also covers the Bears for www.NFLTouchdown.com andNFLBlogblitz.
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