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Dan Peters
Sports Editor
Oak Park
Journal
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©
Oak Park Journal photo
Orange Crush... The Bears Flatten the Niner's in another blowout at
home.
by Dan Peters
The Chicago Bears coming off their bye week were one of only 2 NFL
Teams that remained undefeated , the other being the Indianapolis
Colts. The Bears last were 7-0 in the 1985 Super
Bowl season & have gone 7-0 just 4 times in the 87 history of the
franchise.
The Bears were looking to rebound from a sub par performance in their
last game against the Arizona Cardinals on a Monday night.
The offense was nearly non existent. The Bears defense, especially
Brian Urlacher became a possessed player and made key plays and took
over the game and rallied the Bears from 20-0 halftime deficit to
beat the Cardinals 24-23.
Wearing bright orange uniforms and showing their speed on defense and
special teams, the Bears overwhelmed the 49ers from the outset. They
jumped to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and 41-0 halftime cushion before
coasting to a 41-10 victory. The Bears have outscored their opponents
by 121 points thus far, now add 31 points to that statistic
The 49er's came into the game 15 point underdogs to the Bears. Maybe
that was a bit underestimate.
The Bears have trounced nearly every opponent this year at home. But as
we've seen in the past, anything can happen on "Any given Sunday"
The 24 first-quarter points set a franchise record for the opening
period and the 41 in the first half tied a mark set in 1948 against
Washington. The Rout was on!! And the Arizona fiasco is now just
a memory!!
Urlacher again made his presence known early and often today, batting a
pass from 49er's quarterback Alex Smith and then catching it with one
hand as he was being knocked down by the 49ers Justin Smiley.
Urlacher's acrobatic interception, was one of four turnovers the Bears
generated in the first half. All four led to touchdowns
"No one expects us to do what we do. No one wants to give us any
credit," Urlacher said. "Everyone wants to say they didn't play well.
There's a reason they didn't play well."
Grossman rebounded from a four-interception, two-fumble performance at
Arizona to complete 23 of 29 passes for 252 yards against the 49ers'
woeful pass defense. His QB rating was 137.4
"I'm just glad I went out and did what the coaches asked me to do,
respond from having a poor game and learn from some of the mistakes I
made and continue to get better," Grossman said.
The 49ers finally got into Bears territory & it took them nearly 2
quarters to get there, but still no points. Penalties and sloppy play
killed their best drive of the first half.
"Hopefully I will never have to deal with a halftime coming in 41-0
like that," 49er's quarterback Smith said. "We talked about it all
week. This is a team that feeds off turnovers, a team that strives off
turnovers."
"At halftime you just think to yourself, "How did it get out of control
so fast?" said 49ers defensive lineman Bryant Young. "It happened
so fast we were just trying to find a way to get it resolved. ... We
have to give ourselves a chance"
In contrast to the first half, No points scored by either team in the
third quarter.
The Bears were hit with several penalties to start second half, giving
the 49er's a great opportunity to drive into Bears territory , but
several incomplete passes and pressure from the Bears defense and a
face mask penalty stall the drive, putting them out of field goal
range..
San Francisco averted a shutout in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard
field goal by Joe Nedney and a 16-yard TD pass from Smith to Antonio
Bryant.
The only second half points were scored by the 49ers, due in part to
the Bears resting their starters. This has become the norm for the
Bears this year, resting the starters after the game was well in
hand. The game was over by halftime. Who knows, maybe this week against
the Dolphins, the starters may only need to play the first half.
The Rivalry....
Last times these two teams met was Sunday 11/13/05 at Solider Field
(The last time the Bears wore the orange jersey they are wearing today)
The game was most noted for its high winds (30 mph plus). The Bears
defense took over the game to win 17-9. No high winds today just
seasonal temperatures in the 50's and abundance
of sunshine.
The Bears have won three of five games against the 49er's since 2000
with the home team winning each game. The Bears/49er's have met in the
regular season five of the last six seasons, with the exception of
2002. Previously, the two teams went 8 seasons from 1992-1999
without meeting
Bears have won five consecutive regular season games at Soldier Field
going back to 1983.
The 49er's won the 1988 NFC Championship Game advancing to the Super
Bowl. They have not won a regular season game against the Bears since
1974 and are 3-5 at Soldier Field.
Next up ....The
Miami Dolphins Sunday at Soldier Field.
Runs and
Passes Put Numbers on the Board and Set Records for
Totals in
the First Quarter of Play.
© Oak Park Journal photo
© Oak Park Journal photo
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