Dallas wins. Chicago loses. The hostile crowd was too much for Jay Cutler and the Bears offense. That nasty Dallas defense led by linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer was just too much for an inexperienced Chicago receiving core--but that's just what most people assumed they would be watching on Sunday afternoon.
But the more football you watch, the more you learn that anything can happen...on any given Sunday.
The Bears played into that football catchphrase yesterday by playing solid in all 3 phases of the game. In fact, even the 4th phase stepped up, as Bears fans that drove down to Texas could be heard and at times even outscreamed the Dallas faithful of over 100,000 strong in that new Cowboys Stadium. As a Bears fan, yesterday's game was not what I expected, but everything I had hoped for.
Chicago hadn't last won in Dallas since 1986. The Monsters of the Midway hadn't started a season 2-0 since they last reached the Super Bowl in 2006. Dallas had lost a painful one to Washington the week before, and were looking to be boosted back to health by way of beating up on a Bears team that nobody expected to go anywhere at all this season. Well, Chicago hasn't gone anywhere yet, but they are quickly erasing reasons to doubt.
In beating Dallas 27-20 on Sunday, Cutler passed for 277 yards with 3 TDs, no pics, and a QB rating of 136.7. WR Devin Hester, who was criticised by the media last week for only making one reception versus Detroit, caught 4 balls for 77 yards and a one handed mid-air touchdown snab that made SportsCenters' Top Ten Plays list. RB Matt Forte and TE Greg Olsen also chipped in a touchdown each and a combined 78 yards receiving. And rounding out the offense was WR Johnny Knox who caught 4 passes worth 86 big ones, including a 59 yard bomb from Cutler that peacefully floated right into Knox's arms.
The way the first two offensive drives went, a fair prediction would have been that Cutler was going to end up in a full body cast and breathing tube. If Cutler wasn't running for his life on every play, then I must've not been watching the right game, 'cause that's sure what it looked like. But everything changed when LT Chris Williams was found being examined by medical personnel. As a replacement, Chicago sent in Kevin Shaffer to play left tackle in place of Williams, who was done for the game, but Shaffer struggled. For this reason, they gave the left tackle spot to Frank Omiyale and then moved Shaffer to right, who was much more comfortable there in his natural position.
I thought Omiyale played one heck of a game; one of the hardest aspects to football is adjusting, and Omiyale seemed to be a master of it after relieving Shaffer. In fact, adjustments proved to be a major headline to this matchup, as O-line Coach Mike Tice had to quickly calm his line and make the necessary changes before any more damage was done in later series'.
Beyond that, Cutler and Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz discovered a new game plan that worked better than the one they initially drew up. Implementing this after realizing the poor protection by the offensive line, Martz had Cutler rely more on quick screens and slants rather than elaborate, drawn out pass plays that required time in the pocket. And whenever they did mix in deep routes, TEs Brandon Manumaleuna and Olsen were kind enough to team up and create a good double tight end set to help make double teams on Dallas's d-line and prevent blitzes.
Forte and Chester Taylor helped with a combined 46 receiving yards, but they only ran for 29 and 6 yards, respectively. So despite the passing game impressing me more and more each week, Chicago's run game continues to fail; other teams will eventually classify Chicago as being a one-demensional offense and thus force the Bears to excercise their backfield, which will be a problem unless they get used to a run game soon.
But besides individual performances, the offense as a whole cooperated well. They adjusted to everything Dallas did, didn't turn the ball over, and they found ways to prevent Dallas from getting a good read on their game plan by switching up their play, most notably speaking of deep passes when Cutler read single man coverage downfield.
As for the 2nd phase, I thought the Bears defense was more amazing than Cutler's squad in some ways. CB Zack Bowman recorded a team high 10 tackles and Tillman made 8 of his own with a forced fumble incuded. But considering the Cowboys were lead by Tony Romo, I think it's most fair to give the defensive game ball to CB D.J. Moore, who picked off Romo twice in this contest to record his first and second career interceptions, both times leading to Chicago scores. And overall, the Bears D allowed only 36 yards rushing on the day and snabbed three takeaways. A very impressive performance indeed.
But because it's not realistic nor reasonable to smile all the time, I must point out the negatives I saw on Sunday. For the defense, despite the three takeaways, there were no sacks. Not that I expect Julius Peppers to flatten the quarterback every game, but I would've liked to see some mixups in the blitzing schemes that could result in either multiple sacks or constant pressure that would've made Romo not be able to let his receivers complete their respective routes.
On the offensive side, besides the early play of the line, Chicago needs much better third down execution. Going 1-11, as they did on Sunday, was unacceptable. Considering fourth downs are meant for punts, if you can't convert on third, then you just limited yourself to having two plays to get a new first (which normally won't be done).
But excluding the fact that Williams and Major Wright were taken out of the game for injuries, the day looked very positive in Chicago.
A 2-0 start is always good, and it feels even better when you're one of only 7 teams in the league that can claim one. But next week, on Monday Night Football, undefeated seasons are on the line for both teams as Chicago takes the field in a grueling matchup with Green Bay under the lights of Soldier Field.
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