Chicago Bears vs. New York Jets Game Review

The Chicago Bears, coming into this game with a 10-4 record and having just clinched the NFC North the previous week against the Minnesota Vikings, hosted the 10-4 New Jets at Solider Field. After a dogfight, the Bears ended up winning the game 38-34.

The Jets needed to win to help keep their playoff hopes alive and they fought hard in order to keep pace with the Bears, who showed an unusual amount of offense in this game (the Jets did manage to earn a spot in the playoffs despite the loss) but in the end they came up short. 

The Bears needed to win and get some help in order to secure the second—and quite possibly even the first—seed in the NFC Playoffs. With the win, they are that much closer to securing that home game and a bye, which would be huge.

So how did the Bears manage to win this game?  What did the Jets do to Chicago’s defense to score so many points?  Do Bear’s fans have something to worry about (with the Bears' defense)?
Let’s find out in this extended review of the Bears game against the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.

Scoring Summary

The Bears managed to get on the board first after a 37-yard field goal by kicker Robbie Gould early in the first quarter to make it 3-0.  Chicago would make it 10-0 after running back Matt Forte rushed 22 yards into the end zone for the last score of the first quarter.

New York would get on the board in the second quarter after running back Shonn Greene ran in from three yards out to make it 10-7.  The Jets defense would make it 14-10 after Dwight Lowery intercepted a Jay Cutler pass and ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown.  

Things got a little more out of control after running back LaDanlian Tomlinson ran three yards into the end zone to put the Jets up 21-10.

It seemed like the Bears couldn’t do anything to stop them.  But the Bears did manage to catch up to them a little after Cutler ran it into the end zone from two yards out to make it 21-17.  The Jets pulled away just a little bit more towards the end of the first half after kicker Nick Folk hit a 26 yard field goal to put the Jets up 24-17 heading in at the half.

The Bears started things out strong in the third quarter as Cutler hit wide receiver Johnny Knox for a 40 yard touchdown which helped tie the game at 24 a piece.

The Bears would go up by seven after Devin Hester caught a 25 yard touchdown pass from Cutler, making it 31-24.  The Jets would tie it up though, as quarterback Mark Sanchez hit wide receiver Santonio Holmes on a 23 yard touchdown pass to tie it back up at 31 a piece.

Chicago would move ahead of the Jets for good after Knox caught his second touchdown pass of the game, this one for 26 yards, to put the Bears ahead 38-31.

The Jets would tack on a 34 yard Folk field goal to make it 38-34. A last ditch attempt to win the game fell short though as Sanchez was intercepted by safety Chris Harris to seal the game for the Bears and send them to 11-4.

Stud of the Game

You really have to hand it to Cutler, he’s been playing some great football since the Bears bye week and has managed to throw six touchdown passes (plus run for another) in two games.  He has finally become the quarterback that everyone thought that he would be. His development will mean big things for the Bears in the playoffs.

Dud of the Game

The Bears defense struggled at times against the Jets' passing game as New York used the same formula that the Patriots did to beat the Bears (short quick passes and use the slant often to help gain yards).  Chicago’s front four was not getting much pressure on Sanchez and this allowed him to complete passes down the field, picking Chicago’s defense apart.  Had they been able to put pressure on him, this game wouldn’t have been the shootout that it was.

Analysis

With the NFC North already won, there were those who felt that the Bears would lie down in this game and not risk trying to get anyone injured as they headed towards the playoffs.  But this team came in wanting to win this game, and they played like it.  It was nice to see that kind of effort out of their offense on Sunday.

It seems that teams may have found a magic way of beating the Bears defense as both the Patriots and now the Jets figured out that quick short passes in the seams of the Bear’s defense was the beat way to gain yards.  We saw the Patriots exploit these gaps, and the Jets were able to follow a similar game plan and accomplish the same thing.

This was helped by the fact that the Bears' front four were unable to get adequate pressure on Sanchez during the game.  Had they been able to, then they wouldn’t have had near the trouble that they did defending against New York’s offense.

The defense did do a nice job of keeping the Jets' rushing attack from beating them up too bad though, and that was a huge plus.  They also generated some key turnovers that helped the Bears win the game.

The offense was pretty much on target for most of the game except for a Cutler hiccup (when he threw the interception that lead to the Lowery touchdown) and they were able to keep pace with the Jets' offense.  It was very nice to see that Cutler was on target with his receivers (and that his receivers were running the right routes and were on target with him) as his ability to throw the ball down the field and connect was huge.

The running game also got going well, as Forte has over 100 yards and was able to help the Bears control the ball and the clock during important parts of this game.  The Bears did get Forte’s counterpart, Chester Taylor, involved in the offense a little bit as well, but he was only able to gain four yards on four carries. Cutler was able to run for a touchdown in this game at a critical point in the contest.

Special teams continues to be a huge part of the Bears' ability to win games. Each time the Bears got their hands on the ball (on that unit) they were able to do something very positive with it.  Hester had a nice return later in the game and do something positive each and every time he gets his hands on the ball.  He is truly amazing.

The coaching staff didn’t let their players lie down in this game, which was very nice to see.  They did have something to play for and the players stayed on track and didn’t go out and lose this game.  That was impressive.

Next Up

The Bears will travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers this coming Sunday.  A full preview of this game will be coming at the end of the week.  Stay tuned!