OFFENSE:
Kyle Orton: 12 for 26, 137 yrds, 1 TD, 2 interceptions, 1 lost fumble and a 43.3 passer rating.
The Saints’ game was Orton’s eighth straight start, a franchise record for rookie quarterbacks.
Our often maligned rookie QB has won 2 of his 4 road games. The anointed savior in New York, Eli Manning, won his first road game this week too, after losing his first 7.
Moose: 3 receptions for 85 yrds including the crucial 33 yrder in the waning seconds that set up the winning field goal.
Justin Gage: 4 catches for 28 yrds, 1 TD. (His first TD catch in something like 15 games.)
Thomas Jones: 40 yrds on 11 carries. (Left game in 2nd quarter)
This was his eighth start of the season, the most consecutive starts in any season of his career. The streak looks to stop there as he is expected to be out with possible cracked ribs this week.
Adrian Peterson: 58 yrds on 6 carries, 1 TD (his first in 30 games), and 2 tackles on special teams.
Cedric Benson: 79 yrds on 14 carries.
Benson and Peterson each had a career long 36-yard run.
Peterson's 6-yard run gave Bears their only TD in the final 53 minutes 24 seconds of the game..
The Bears are averaging 4.5 yrds a carry and already have over 1,000 yrds rushing. (Jones 753, Benson 187, Peterson 85)
In fact the Bears’ rushing yrds for 2005: 1,046: (130.8 per game)
The Bears’ total rushing yrds in 2004: 1,624 (101.5 per game).
The Bears’ time of possession was 26:18, smallest in a win this season. They have lost two of three times they failed to control ball at least 30 minutes. (falling to Redskins and Bengals, beating Vikings)
DEFENSE
The Good:
Hillenmeyer: 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 pass deflected.
Mike Green: 3 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Briggs: 10 tackles and 1 pass deflected.
C. Harris: 7 tackles, 1 sack, and 49 yrds on 1 fumble recovery.
Vasher: 5 tackles, 1 int, 1 PD, and 1 Forced fumble.
THE MAN HAWKS BALLS as evidenced by this week’s game sealing int.
Vasher (4) and Charles Tillman (3) lead the NFC in interceptions by teammates and are tied for second in the NFL behind the Bengals' Deltha O'Neal (6) and Tory James (4)
The 3 New Orleans drives that started in Chicago territory after turnovers yielded 0 points
The D have scored an NFL-high seven touchdowns on interception returns since the beginning of 2004
The Bears are tied with the Colts for allowing the fewest points (98) in the NFL.
Only two teams (the Bengals (24) and Browns (20)) have scored 20 or more against the Bears this season.
The Bears are the third ranked defense behind the Ravens and Bucs and are in the top 10 in every defensive category. The Bears haven't ended a season as a top five overall D since finishing fourth in 1993.
The Bad:
The Bears’ D entered the game allowing an average of 83 yards rushing. the Saints' resurgent ground game had 104 yards in the first half.
The Saints’ 14-play, 95-yard drive led to their first touchdown in more than eight quarters. They converted 3 third downs on that drive.
The Saints’ also had an 11-play, 80-yard drive in the second half.
Yet the Bears overall were incredibly resistant in the second half allowing 29 rushing yards (only 4 in the third quarter) on 14 attempts and 123 yrds total.
The Bears had allowed only one TD drive longer than 80 yards all season and now have given up three in last five quarters (including the 85 yrder in the fourth quarter at Detroit).
Special Teams:
The Sun- Times Asks, and I second, “Will Gabe Reid please get out of Bobby Wade's way on punt returns?�
Brad Maynard: 44.2 yards on six punts (net)
Robbie Gould: HAD NEVER ATTEMPTED A GAME WINNER not at Penn State, not even in high school.
Misc:
The win can be attributed to the fact that the coaches said sweats would be allowed instead of suits on the flight home if they won. God knows that would’ve motivated me.
LSU’s Tiger Stadium seats 93,000. Attendance was listed as 32,637 (half of the previous weeks 61,643 who turned out for Saban’s return) and on television it looked like the crowd at a high school game.
The Bears released Marc Edwards (which I think is a mistake) and activated Jason McKie. Edwards had 10 catches for 66 yrds and 2 TDs (tied for first on the team) after starting 5 games. And going into this week I believe every catch he had was for either a TD or a 1st down.
McKie has played in 21 in two seasons with the Bears. He appeared in a career-high 15 games in 2004, starting two, and caught 13 passes for 79 yards. He tied for the team lead with two touchdown receptions.
Vic Carucci’s power poll has the Bears moving into the number 10 spot in his top 12. He ranks based on, “Teams that look good enough to be among the 12 playoff qualifiers but not based on conference.� http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9031156
Quote of the week. From Cedric Benson, "I feel more like a tornado waiting to be released, like I'm on a chain and they won't let me go.� Obviously he didn’t major in meterology as I don’t frequently see tornados on chains.
In their 3 away games the 49ers have given up an average of 41.6 points a game as opposed to 24.2 points a game at home. . . better than nothing
November 12, 2005
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