The Dallas Cowboys held off a furious fourth quarter rally by the Chicago Bears en route to a 41-28 victory at Soldier Field. Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick helped close the door on the Bears comeback hopes with his words and a late fourth quarter interception. The $3.51 million cornerback sure earned his paycheck tonight with 9 tackles, 1 interception, solid coverage, and leadership.
As for the Bears (5-8 overall), they were fighting for their playoff lives before this game. Now with this loss, their playoffs hopes are on life support. They are now in third place in the NFC North behind the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. The Bears’ chances of making the playoffs REALLY don’t look good.
The Cowboys (9-4) once again showed off their offensive prowess as they put a beat down on the Bears’ 26th ranked defense, especially in the second half. Once upon a time it was 14-7 Dallas at halftime, then all of a sudden the score ballooned to 35-7. It’s been that type of season for the Bears. This game produced 69 combined points for both squads and 773 combined yards by both teams as well, but there were no points scored in the first quarter.
Someone finally scored in the second quarter. That someone was Dallas star running back DeMarco Murray (32 carries for 179 yards and 1 touchdown). The running back ran forward then cut to his left, then he followed blocks by tight ends James Hanna and Gavin Escobar into the end zone. That 1 yard scoring run gave Dallas a 7-0 lead with 10:50 left in the second quarter.
Bears tight end Martellus Bennett tied the game up with a 12 yard leaping reception in the end zone between double coverage. It was 7-7 with 6:13 left in the first half. Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley (3 catches for 42 yards and 2 scores) latched onto his second touchdown reception of the season, when he caught quarterback Tony Romo’s pass at the CHI 5 yard line, and then he had to fight through tackles by free safety Chris Conte and inside linebacker Jonathan Bostic just to get into the end zone. That 13 yard scoring reception gave Dallas a 14-7 lead with eight seconds left in the first half.
Romo who went 21 of 26 for 205 yards and 3 touchdown passes with no interceptions, led Dallas’ 21-point third quarter blitz on the Bears’ defense. It all started when Romo who was heavily pressured by defensive end Willie Young and inside linebacker Christian Jones, threw a pass that looked like it was going out bounds. The pass ended up in the hands of Beasley who again had to deal with Conte just to get into the end zone, this time on the right corner of the end zone near the pylon. It was 21-7 Dallas with 12:32 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, Escobar got behind the Bears defense to catch a 6 yard Romo touchdown pass. That was Escobar’s only catch of the game and his fourth touchdown reception of the season. It was 28-7 Dallas with 8:02 left in the third quarter. Dallas second leading rusher Joseph Randle furthered Chicago’s misery, when he followed a Tyron Smith block into the end zone for a 17 yard touchdown run. It was 35-7 at this point.
Chicago wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (6 catches for 95 yards and 1 score) once again showed off his world-class hands, when he ran down the sideline and eventually caught a Jay Cutler (32 of 46 for 341 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception) pass versus cornerback Brandon Carr who never really had good coverage on the play. That 27 yard score cut Dallas’s lead to 35-14 with 14:53 left in the game.
Down 38-14, Bears running back Matt Forte fought through Dallas linebacker Anthony Spencer’s tackle to get into the end zone from 1 yard out. It was 38-21 Dallas with 7:17 left in the game. Just when the nation thought the Bears were dead, they went on a 21-point run in the fourth quarter. This rally included a successful on-side kick by Jay Feely that was first touched by Escobar,who caught Feely’s kick then let the ball slip through his hands. The ball was eventually recovered at the 50 yard line by second string Bears tight end Dante Rosario.
That fumble recovery by Rosario led to a well-blocked 10 yard touchdown run by Cutler which cut the Cowboys’ lead to 38-28 with 6:09 left to go in the game. After that score, Scandrick went on a sideline tirade that needed to be instituted. What he did was what leaders do and it was apparent Dallas heard him, because they recovered the Bears’ next onside kick which led to a successful 27 yard Dan Bailey field goal. It was now 41-28 Dallas with around 3:40 left in the game.
Then later in the quarter Scandrick adhered to his own sideline admonishment of his teammates, when he jumped in front of Bears receiver Josh Morgan and intercepted Cutler’s pass in the end zone. There was only 1:29 left in the game when Scandrick intercepted that pass. On the ensuing drive, the Cowboys ran one play and then executed two Romo kneel downs to end the game.
