Cutler finds Earl Bennett (#80) for a rare touchdown
Suburban Journals of Chicago photo by Joe Paolela

Bears get off the schnide, get back some pride, and  beat the Rams 17-9

It should have been a blowout, at least on paper. But the Rams who have only won one game this season, kept it close… and another nail-biter for the cold Soldier Field die hard Bears fans. And some even stayed home. There was numerous empty seats today.

The Bears should have scored 28 points as they went 2-for-4 in the red zone. Yes they did find the elusive Red Zone today, but as in the past, penalties and bad play calling kept the point totals down.

Stop the presses… Cutler avoided an interception for the first time in a game. And he played well to boot.

The Rams kept Cutler on his toes and running. His offensive line was non existent again at times, allowing the Rams to beat up and sack Cutler. Just how much more can he take before one of these sacks will hurt him and keep him out of a game?

Cutler hit his targets more often today. He connected with Devin Hester on a third-down fade, however Hester was unable to get both feet down. Hester later left the game with a mild calf strain. No word as of yet how serious it is. Robbie “Pure Gould” connected on a field goal to give the Bears some needed points.

"It just felt like a game early on that was going to be a blowout," linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer said, "and then to let them linger, that was a little disappointing. But we won. That's the only thing I can keep saying: It's nice to win."

Hillenmeyer all but secured victory for the Bears when he picked off a first-down pass by Kyle Boller late in the fourth quarter. The Rams had first-and-10 from their own 45 and more than three minutes remaining, plenty of time to score and attempt a two-point conversion.

Brad Maynard shuffled a pass to tight end Greg Olsen. Instead of
securing three points, the Bears ran a play for no gain.
Suburban Journals of Chicago photo by Joe Paolela

Stumbling and fumbling… again.

On a second-quarter trip to the red zone, Zack Bowman's forced fumble and free safety Al Afalava's midair recovery and 43-yard return -- the Bears were only able move just 6 yards on three attempts from the Rams' 16. They tried some trickery with the field-goal unit, as Brad Maynard shuffled a pass to tight end Greg Olsen. Instead of securing three points, the Bears ran a play for no gain.

"A couple of things we'd like to have back, one being that fake field goal," coach Lovie Smith said. Give Smith some credit, at least he tried some new things.

The Rams kept Cutler on his toes and running.
Suburban Journals of Chicago photos by Joe Paolela

The Bears Defense had its moments and mistakes as well.

The Bears D was by no means flawless. Jamar Williams did his best as Lance Briggs sat out, recording career-high 18 tackles to go with two pass deflections. Williams did a better job than anyone bringing down Rams workhorse Steven Jackson, who managed 112 yards on 28 carries despite missing practice all last week with back issues.

It helped that the Bears' front four put pressure on Boller, sacking the quarterback three times. The Bears yielded just 233 yards after giving up 537 to the Vikings a week ago.

But this was the lowly St Louis Rams. "Anybody in the NFL understands that you

don't really just dominate a game," defensive tackle Tommie Harris said. "Neither one of us are over .500."

The injuries mount again…

The Key injury today, as mentioned earlier, was Devin Hester. He is one of Cutler’s favorite targets. Time will tell just how bad this injury is.

You can blame the rash of all of these injuries on the bad playing surface.

On a day where the Bears honored 9 local High School coaches for their outstanding efforts this past season, they even said the playing surface was like playing on painted dirt, a quagmire, so to speak. I am not fan of the artificial playing surface, but its time to save money and injuries and install the new surface at Soldier Field.

Yes it was a win. And may well be the last of the season, as the Bears remaining opponents have much more than pride to play for. The Packers are up next with Wild Card implications on the line. Then a trip to Baltimore to face the Ravens. Again the Ravens are playing for a Wild Card birth. Then we have to face Brett Favre here as the year comes to an end. For the Vikings, home field may be at stake if the Saints should falter.

The one bright spot, we finish the season at Ford Field in January. At least the Bears should start out the New Year with a victory, and build on that for the 2010 season.

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