The last time the Bears came back after trailing by more than 16 points was a dry, Monday night in Arizona in 2006. Hester was introduced to the world, and Urlacher had the greatest game in his illustrious career that night in the infamous, “They are who we thought they were!” game. We are now 3-140-1 when trailing by 16 or more, but we’re 1-0 at San Fran’s new “Levi’s Stadium.” And with a name like that (in addition to committing 16 penalties for 118 lost yards), San Fran deserved to lose!
Marshall makes the first of his 3 TD catches
The Bears had not won in San Fran since the 1985 season – right before we won the Supa Bow. And we have not traveled well out west since. So it wasn’t surprising when things started out dreadfully awful. We committed a penalty on our opening kickoff return, giving us the ball at our own 7 yard line. After a quick 3-and-out, we punted from our end zone, and the 9ers blocked it, taking over on our 8. It was like if Bambi were tortured before getting killed in the opening credits.
“Mega” punt? More like Smegma Punt, Mega punK, or Pussy Foot!
San Fran scored their first TD just over 2 minutes in. Then they ran it up to 17-0 while we only moved the ball a whopping 32 yards before our final drive of the half – even though we had gotten 2 turnovers. Matt “Only Gaining A Yard Per Carry Is My New” Forte had 8 yards on 8 carries at that point. But with the help of 3 San Fran penalties totaling 20 yards, we put together an 80-yard scoring drive, culminating in an amazing Brandon “Walsh” Marshall TD catch at the end of the half.
Despite their effeminate celebrations, SF looked certain to trounce us
The 9ers came out in the second half and kicked a FG after an 84-yard, 9-minute drive, despite losing yardage on 5 of 14 plays. But that would be it for them offensively. We responded by scoring on our next drive early in the fourth quarter. We then lost Peanut “Butter And Jelly, That’s All I Put In My Belly” Tillman to another triceps injury, and with him being on a one-year deal, we may have seen the last of him in a Bears uni. But his replacement, first round pick Kyle “Utah, Gimme Two” Fuller, filled in nicely by picking off not one, but two passes – both of which led to TD’s.
Offense
We only gained 261 total yards, rushed for only 46, and didn’t score for the first 29:46. Forte had only 36 yards on 21 touches (a 2.1 average), we converted only 3 third downs, and a third of our first downs came off of penalties. But we didn’t turn the ball over once, allowed only 1 sack, and put up 21 points in the fourth quarter alone – all this despite being substantially injured on that side of the ball.
Bennett’s 7 receptions included this go-ahead TD
Before our last drive of the first half, the Butler was just 9 of 19 (47.3%) for 47 yards, 2.5/att, 0 TD, 0 INT and a 54 QBR. He finished 23 of 34 (67.6%) for 176 yards, 0 INT’s, 4 TD’s and a 119.2 QBR. That means he was 14 of 15 (93%) for 129 yards, 4 TD’s and a 142 QBR in the final 32 minutes. This type of performance in this type of comeback is incendiary for the “Cutler for MVP” discussion!
“MVP! MVP! MVP!”
Defense
We allowed 361 total yards, 129 rushing, and the 9ers were 8 of 15 on third and fourth downs. But if you don’t count their early score (when they started with a first and goal), we only allowed one TD the whole game. We seemed to get better as the game went on, making adjustments at half time. And despite dealing with injuries, we shut them down in the second half – and this is a potent offense with more than its share of weapons. Could the problems finally be solved on this side of the ball?!
Chicago’s second “Rookie of the Year” in 2014?
When the dust cleared, we came up with 4 sacks and 4 turnovers. Shea “Yes To The Dress” McClellin and Stephen “Onomato” Paea each had a sack, while Willie “Lead The League In Sacks?” Young got his second and third of the season. “He Went To…” Jared Allen caused a fumble that Danny “Boy, The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling” McCray recovered, Chris “I Get Burned And I Get Hurt” Conte got his second pick of the season before getting hurt again, and Fuller got the first and second picks of his career. Fuller and Ryan “Sounds Like Somebody’s Got A Case Of The” Mundy led us with 7 tackles each.
Allen rebounded from a weak week 1
Special Teams
We punted SIX times to the 9ers’ one, and got a punt blocked from our end zone (and almost had a second one blocked from our end zone!). Not good. Our staff is considering removing this section from future posts because let’s face it, without Seven Hester, Special Teams are pretty irrelevant now.
Outlook
Everyone in our division is 1-1. We are tied with Minnesota at 1-0 in the NFC, giving us both a slight edge. We go to the NYJ, who just lost to GB, on Monday night. You know, we also lost our first game in the 2001 season, and wound up finishing 13-3. I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin.
Is that McClellin AND Conte making a tackle?!
Quotes to Note
Marshall on his first TD catch: “I just threw my hand out there and it stuck.” What is that, humility from an NFL WR?!
Injury report reads: “Broken Heart.”
Kaepernick on his performance: “Terrible.”
There’s nothing like ruining a new stadium’s grand opening!
Supa Bow, Supa BEARS!
BEAR DOWN!
#KyleFullerForPresident
© 2014
Bear Down Baffa 
Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 5:25 pm |
I’m likig that Marshallo guy more and more….add humility and he just moved up another notch. Had not heard the quote about Cutler’s throw just sticking to his glove! What would Cutler do without HIM??? And I felt so sorry for Tillman (tears, real tears)! Then Fuller’s 2 interceptions ….well I’m sure Tillman was happy for him but it just kinda poured salt in his wounds! Almost called it a night in the 3rd quarter….glad I didn’t. GO BEARS!!!
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