"I see a very fast defense. I see a defense capable of creating a lot of turnovers. I see a defense that makes you execute offensively and don't give up any huge gaping holes, or busted assignments, big plays. It makes you be really sound as an offense. You really have to protect the ball because these guys fly to the ball, do a good job of stripping the ball, creating tip balls, and getting a lot of turnovers."
That is what Peyton Manning had to say about the Chicago Bears defense in an interview last Wednesday.
I guess he was right, the Bears looked fast, capable of creating turnovers, and ready to strip the ball.
That is why the Chicago Bears won Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts in a 29-13 victory.
The Bears win ended Indy's remarkable streak of 21 consecutive victories prior to November.
It was the Colts' first game in their brand new stadium.
The Bears ruined that debut at Lucas Oil Stadium, which replaced the RCA Dome.
This definitely looked like the Chicago Bears of 2006, not of 2007, where injuries and many other factors made them weak and vulnerable.
Peanut Tillman was stripping the ball out of WR's hands because the defense was forcing Peyton Manning to put the ball in the air.
They played the game they wanted to play at Super Bowl 41, run it down their throats, control time of possession and create turnovers.
The opening drive for the Colts looked like is was going to be a touchdown, but the Bears D hung tough and held them to a field goal.
The Bears rookie RB Matt Forte out of Tulane had a great start to his NFL career by juking Colts players including S Antoine Bethea out of their spikes repeatedly.
Bethea was completely burned on a 50 yard TD run by Forte.
The Bears were up 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
In the 2nd quarter Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to make it 7-6 and Robbie Gould soon kicked a field goal to make 10-6.
Rookie DT Marcus Harrison from Alabama made a great play and sacked Peyton Manning for a ten yard loss, pushing the Colts backed to their one or two yard line.
The next play Adewale Ogunleye tackled RB Joseph Addai in the end zone for a safety, making it a 12-6 game.
It made me think of what a good trade the Bears made acquiring Ogunleye for Booker and now we have them both.
The tight end's Greg Olsen and Dez Clark led the Bears in receiving.
Robbie Gould kicked a short field goal before halftime making it 15-6.
The third quarter came and the Bears were receiving the kickoff when Devin Hester tried to pull a David Copperfield with an ill timed delayed return attempt.
It looked like the missed field goal play against the NY Giants in 2006, where he returned it all the way, except this time it failed and he made it only out to the five yard line.
The Bears punted after failing to get a first down and Manning led the Colts down the field goal for their only real drive, which ended with a TD throw to Reggie Wayne.
The score was now 15-13 and the Colts were right in the game, and it looked like they were going to come back and win as expected.
But no.
Charles "Peanut" Tillman stripped the ball from Marvin Harrison and LB Lance Briggs took it to the house for a TD.
That made it 22-13.
The Bears were surprisingly dominating.
The Bears shattered the Colts hopes of a comeback with a one-yard TD run by FB Jason McKie, after a well managed drive by Kyle Orton with eight minutes left.
The Bears later stuffed the Colts on a 4th and 1.
Game Over!
Brian Urlacher (8) and Charles Tillman (6) led the Bears in tackles.
The defense took advantage of C Jeff Saturday out of the lineup and they brought pressure all night up the middle, shutting down the run.
Urlacher on supposedly stunning the Colts:
“We expected to win, “It’s not an upset to us. We practiced hard the last two weeks getting ready for this game. We’re a good football team.”
Orton on Matt Forte's game:
“He did an unbelievable job for his first game. He made a cut going to the right and then back to the left that was big league. He played great and didn’t seem fazed at all.”
Peyton Manning on the game:
"It's a real disappointing feeling. Whether it's the first game of the season in a new stadium or the 15th game ... it's real disappointing to lose. It took me a little time to get into a rhythm; I felt like our offense gave them the safety, the turnover and then turning the ball over on downs. I was really trying to be smart with the ball. In the second half, what the Bears did is what they usually do to win-they created turnovers. That's something that we thrive on not doing."
Lovie Smith on the game:
"It's one win, "You don't win championships the first quarter of the season. As much as anything, it's the way we played."
''We've seen flashes of that throughout the preseason and throughout training camp. Our offensive line did a super job of opening holes for all our running backs.''
Mike Brown on the defense:
''Our defense, when we play well, usually we have a pretty good game. Like we've been telling you guys, we played pretty vanilla in the preseason, and the package that we have is pretty good. It helps us play aggressive and with a lot of energy. It was a good night for us.''
Upset?
No one picked the Bears to win this game, but I knew they weren't as bad as many said they were.
All of the question marks they had on offense, o-line, running backs, quarterbacks, wide receivers were answered atleast for now.
Many thought the D had lost a step because of the vanilla play in the preseason.
I thought the offense was going to be better this season, with all there play makers and if only the defense could stay healthy this team could be good.
Who needs decrepit WR Muhsin Muhammad and no hands WR Bernard Berrian, i thought Chicago is where receivers go to die.
Orton's Stats:
He was 13-21 for 150 yards, not TD's and no INT's and a QB rating of 83.4.
Forte's Stats:
He had 23 rushes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while Kevin Jones had 13 carries for 45 yards.
Forte is the only Chicago Bear to ever rush for that many yards in his debut game.
What did Rex do?
Rex Grossman watched Kyle Orton control the game and make no turnovers.
Peyton Manning Rusty?
You can say Manning was rusty, but what I saw was a defense that looked like they did back in the 2006 season.
What's Next?
The Bears will face the Carolina Panthers, who beat the San Diego Chargers with two seconds left on the clock, with a clutch catch from backup TE Dante Rosario.
They will face-off against the Panthers at 1:00 ET on Sunday.
Starting fullback Jason McKie is battling a quad injury, so the Bears promoted practice squad fullback Jason Davis.
Jed Collins: SI Grade, 3.25
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