Bears D Overcomes Newton, Panthers in Comeback Win

Despite the Bears offense line giving up six sacks in the first half and Jay Cutler losing two fumbles and an interception, the Bears still managed to pull out a victory against the Carolina Panthers. The Bears offense line looked like they did in the Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and had a tough time containing Panthers DT Greg Hardy who had 3 of the Panthers six sacks. That left it on the defense and Robbie Gould to bail them out.

The Bears defense stepped up to challenge late in the fourth quarter with the Bears trailing 19-14.  Tim Jennings came up with a interception returned for a touchdown, his second pick of the game, to give the Bears the lead late in the fourth quarter.  The Bears went for a two point conversion but failed, leaving them clinging to a 20-19 lead.

Cam Newton led the Panthers down the field to answer back and take the lead, although they were held to a 45-yard Justin Medlock field goal with 2:27 left in the game, taking the lead 22-20.  Newton had a solid day except for the turnovers as he was harassed by the Bears defense.  He finished 20 of 39 for 314 yards, with no TDs and 2 INTs.  He also added 5 rushes for 37 yards and had two fumbles, although Carolina recovered both of them.

Cutler and the Bears offense pulled things together in the crunch, rallying for a 9 play, 55 yard drive to set up a game winning GW 41 yard field goal by Robbie Gould.

Gould wasn’t the only one who stepped up, as the Cutler-to-Brandon Marshall connection set up game winning field goal.  Brandon Marshall was two yards shy of hitting the century mark with 9 receptions for 98 yards.  Matt Forte also had a solid game with 15 rushes for 70yds and a TD to help the Bears survive a scare by Carolina.

Tim Jennings wasn’t the only one who had a big day on defense. Julius Peppers had the defense’s only two sacks on Newton.

The offense and defense didn’t play as well as they have at other times this season, but made the necessary plays down the stretch to win the game and send Newton and the Panthers to 1-6 while the Bears move to 6-1.

The Bears will hit the road next week to take on the Titans and will need to put a better performance on the field if they want to continue this winning streak.