Bears v. 49ers: The numbers

Monday, November 14, 2005 | Dave

Special Teams: The Nathan Vasher Report

Nathan Vasher: 108-yard touchdown on a field-goal return -- the longest play in league history

NFL Records:
108 -- Nathan Vasher, BEARS vs. San Francisco, Nov. 13, 2005, missed field goal return
107 -- Chris McAlister, Baltimore vs. Denver, Sept. 30, 2002, missed field goal return
106 -- Ed Reed, Baltimore vs. Cleveland, Nov. 7, 2004, interception return
106 -- Roy Green, St. Louis vs. Dallas, Oct. 21, 1979, kickoff return
106 -- Noland Smith, Kansas City vs. Denver, Dec. 17, 1967, kickoff return
106 -- Al Carmichael, Green Bay vs. BEARS, Oct. 7, 1956, kickoff return

Franchise Records:
Gale Sayers: 103-yard kickoff return in 1967
Richie Petitbon: 101-yard interception return in 1962
George Halas 98-yard fumble return in 1923.

He suffered leg cramping and needed an oxygen mask after his 108 yrd return
Mike Mulligan described Vasher’s run in terms such as “Denis Savard-style spin-o-rama,� and “Forrest Gump-style�

I think this is the week I finally buy this man’s jersey. It was suggested however I get his number but have “Ball Hawk� on the back instead of his name.

Safety Todd Johnson streak of 24 straight games ended due to a shoulder injury. With him out and Peterson otherwise occupied, Brandon McGowan was active for the first time He had a critical block at the beginning of Vasher's return that allowed Vash to run back across the field to the right side.
The 5-11, 200-pound McGowan, a rookie from Jersey City, N.J., made the team as an undrafted free agent from Maine and has played exclusively on special teams when active.
Again, Brandon McGowan is from Jersey City.

The Mike Green Watch: he had a forced fumble and three tackles.

The effect of the wind (which ranged up to 46 mph during the game) on Robbie Gould’s first field goal attempt was so ridiculous that Bears’ fans couldn’t even be disappointed because they were laughing to hard.

As for the rest of special teams: (by special meaning rides the short bus)

Bobby Wade fumbled three of four punt returns, (which led to two 49er field goals, and one missed field goal which led to Vasher’s record)
On one fumble the ball was recovered by the 49ers on the 2. But the Bears’ D pushed them back 9 yrds before forcing a 29 yrd field goal.
He was ultimately replaced with Rashied Davis.

Offense:

172 total yards on the ground, their third most this season.

Kyle Orton: 8 of 13 for 67 yrds and 1 int. He was not sacked.
He now has 238 passes and 130 completions surpassing the franchise rookie records held by Cade McNown. He has 1,253 yrds which places him third behind McNown and McMahon’s rookie totals (McMahon had 1,501)

Adrian Peterson: 120 yrds on 24 carries, 1 TD and a long of 34.
Ive always liked him but I had my questions about his ability to be an everydown back. I retract them and apologize. In a game where passing wasn’t an option, against a defense that’s great against the run in normal conditions he played amazingly.

Cedric Benson: 50 yrds on 12 carries and a long of 18. He was running well before leaving with 5 minutes left in the second after his leg was bent “grotesquely� according to most papers. It certainly looked cringe-inducing. He could walk in the locker room afterward, but he wore a full leg brace when he left.
One of the things the Bears liked most about Benson was his durability through 1,112 carries in college.

Bryan Johnson's five-yard carry on the first possession was the first run by a Bears fullback since Jason McKie got a carry in last year's opener.

Defense:

49er Quarterback Cody Pickett: 1-of-13 (a franchise low) for 28 yards and 1 interception for a 7.5 passer rating.

The Bears had held an opponent without a completion on three occasions before 1950.

They have only twice allowed less than 28 yrds passing. Atlanta got 16 yrds on 11/24/85 and Green Bay got 17 on 11/4/73.

The Bears’ allowed a season low 161 total offensive yards. That included only 70 yrds on 28 plays (2.5 per play) with no passing yrds in the first half.

The 49ers had 133 rushing yrds (but averaged just 2.9 a carry)

The 49ers were 2-for-16 on third downs,

The Bears have held four opponents without a touchdown this season. It was the fifth time they've held an opponent under 10 points

They have allowed only three touchdowns in their opponents' last 66 possessions.
And they have allowed the fewest points in the league this season (107). (Breaking their tie with the Colts who fell to second with 115 after allowing 17 pts to the Texans.)

Bears Mentioning:

Fred Miller’s streak of 110 consecutive starts ended because of a broken jaw. He will miss next week as well. Miller’s jaw was not broken due to a fall at home, nor because he was drunk (a popular theory) but was broken by Kreutz during a fight between the two.

“It's not the first time Kreutz has injured a teammate. Kreutz had an on-field scuffle with defensive tackle Sekou Wiggs during spring ball at the University of Washington in April 1996. The argument carried into the locker room, where Kreutz fractured Wiggs' jaw in two places -- below the lip and under the right ear -- with a punch.�

Kreutz is not to be fucked with.

Former Bear safety Tony Parrish’s streak of 120 consecutive starts, of which he was very proud, will come to an end as he left the game early with breaks in his right ankle and fibula.
Ending these streaks seems to be a Bears’ trademark as Fred Miller (102), Ruben Brown (80) and John Tait (48) all had streaks of not missing a game because of injury until they came to here.

There was only one more completed passes (9) than there were fumbles (8. 4 of which were lost).

The NFC North went 4-0 yesterday.

The teams the Bears have beaten this season are a combined 18-36

And finally, I cant remember where I found this but im sure it was the Trib or Sun-Times:

“The fifth pick of the draft in 1998, running back Curtis Enis, made the first start of his NFL career in Game 9. He was coming off a breakout game the week before but suffered a severe knee injury that ended his season.

The fourth pick of the draft in 2005, running back Cedric Benson, made the first start of his NFL career in Game 9. He was coming off a breakout game the week before but suffered a knee injury that ended his afternoon.�