Mr. Gould brings home the gold.

Bears claw back from 12, beat Panthers 23-22
by Dan Peters

Good teams find a way to win a game in the National Football league, and today, the Bears were that team today.

If you missed the first three quarters of the game today, you were lucky, unless you were a Panthers fan. The Bears offense was more offensive than anything else. It would start with the protection of Jay Cutler.. It was non –existent. He was rushed into bad plays and sacked six times. Maybe his ribs hurt him more than he thought? At halftime the Bears would have only 49 net yards and -15 passing yards.

Bears center Roberto Garza was quick to say it wasn’t a bad first half for the offense but a bad first three quarters.

“It was ugly,” Garza said. “We just didn’t execute. We didn’t do our techniques. We didn’t play like we’ve played the last couple of weeks. But it’s a tribute to coach (Mike) Tice, Cutler and the receivers, they did a hell of a job of getting points when we needed them and going out there and finishing the game.

Well at least the defense showed up in force. They kept Carolina out of the end zone and forced them to kick field goals. The only touchdown the Panthers scored turned out to be a defensive play that turned out wrong. Newton fumbled the ball in the end zone and when the officials cleared the pile, Murphy had recovered the loose ball and the panthers had a touchdown.

Down by 12 points in the fourth quarter, Cutler finally got the offense on track and got the Bears into the end zone on a 12 yard pass to Kellen Davis to cut the lead to 5.

Making the game changing play..

Carolina got the ball back and 8 seconds later, Jennings picked off Newton’s pass and ran it back 25 yards for the go ahead score. It was pick 6 for Jennings who now has 6 interceptions this season.

''We were down,'' Jennings said. ''We knew we had to score on defense. Our captains rallied up the troops. We knew that if we got our hands on the ball we had to score. That's been our mentality all season. I was able to be in the right position and make a play.''

Carolina would mount a drive to take the lead on a 45 yard field goal by Medlock that hit the upright and went it.

Cutler and the Bears would have one chance to pull of the improbable comeback with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game. The offensive line protected Cutler as he marched the Bears down the field to the Carolina 23. The game would come down to the foot of Robbie Gould.. And he was good as Gold on this attempt and hit the 41 yard field goal as time expired.. Bears win..

''(Cutler) gets up smiling,'' Marshall said. ''I'm sitting here shaking - a little bit of the cold weather, a little bit of (being) nervous - and he just starts smiling like, `Well, here we go.' It just put me at ease right away. The guys feel that vibe and they play off of it.''

Cutler completed 19 of 28 passes for 186 yards after having his ribs bruised by Detroit's Ndamukong Suh on Monday night.

Marshall had 98 yards receiving and Matt Forte ran for 70 yards and a touchdown for Chicago. And with Jennings running back that interception, Chicago's defense has six touchdowns on the season.

"We were just taking turns not making plays, but the thing I like about today was we played from behind," Brandon Marshall said. "Last time we did that we lost (against Green Bay on Sept. 13). It was great work for us. Carolina put it to us, but we responded well that last drive.

Newton threw for 314 yards and Smith added 118 receiving for Carolina. Medlock nailed five field goals, and the numbers would look impressive on paper. ''This was a challenging week, not only for myself, but for any Carolina Panther fan that has been following us,'' Newton said. ''We just have to come out and keep enduring and keep going and keep going. It tells a lot about the teammates and what type of team you have faced with adversity.'

Carolina gained 416 yards and had six sacks against Cutler, with Greg Hardy getting to him three times.

''Not heartbreaking,'' Steve Smith said. ''Tiresome, monotonous, a few guys in here are perturbed and (ticked), but we're beyond heartbreak. We're just getting upset.''

The first three- and- a- half quarters were ugly, but in the end, a good Bears football team would find yet another way to win. And now are 6-1.

A time to panic?

"I don't think you can hit the panic button offensively," Cutler said. "We just need to keep getting better. We have to keep looking at our mistakes, keep improving and keep trying to work on things week-in and week-out."

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Next up, a visit to “Music City” next Sunday to take on the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.