Bears fall at home in close fashion

by Chris Bearman

Blogger, Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Bears under the guidance of coach Bob Winuvas have gone now 1-2 in 3 games. Both home games have been last second heartbreakers, as the fans of Chicago went home disappointed in their team after a 20-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

The game started off promising, with the defense harrassing young Brock Osweiler into bad throws and decisions. On Chicago's first offensive drive, Andy Dalton deftly guided the team down the field close enough for a Reynaldo Ball 1 yard toss run and a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

No scoring by either team would take place until midway through the second quarter, when Andy Dalton would find Kevin White for a 6 yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 advantage.

The Browns would finally muster a solid enough drive to get into field goal range, and Dustin Hopkins would nail a 27 yard field goal with under 30 seconds left to shorten the lead to 14-3.

The third quarter would see the Browns' relentless blitz-happy technique take their toll, as the Bears' offense would stagnate under the constant pressure. The only scoring done by the Bears would be on their first drive of the second half, when Marquette King would nail a 28 yard attempt to extend the lead to 17-7. The Browns would get 33 and 35 yard field goals from Dustin Hopkins, however, to shorten the lead to 17-14 going into the fourth quarter.

The key play for the Browns would come late in the 4th quarter, as a 4th and 3 toss play to Eddie Lacy would get 5 yards and a crucial first down.

"He ran wide as he could then finally turned upfield for the first. Our defense couldn't get that wide that fast," Coach Winuvas said of the play.

Extending the drive, the Browns would hit paydirt on the next play, when Osweiler would complete a 22 yard pass to Elisha Greene. A successful 2 point conversion would tie the game at 17.

More pressure and another failed Bears' drive would give the Browns the ball back with under 2 minutes to play. Osweiler would go spread for a few plays, and guide the offense into field goal range, and, with 1 second left, would send Hopkins out to kick the game winning 31 yard field goal for the 20-17 final.

For the Browns, Brock Osweiler went 13 of 27 for 176 yards and a touchdown on the day. The running game was held pretty much in check, with Eddie Lacy getting 10 carries for 46 yards on the day. Josh Gordon was held in check most of the game (1 catch for 33 yards), but Marcus Wheaton (4/53) and Elisha Greene (3/52/1 TD) made up for it. Defensively, safety Tashaun Gipson led a blitz-happy Browns attack with 5 tackles, while Barkevious Mingo contributed a sack.

For the Bears, Andy Dalton was solid but unspectacular, going 17 of 24 for 173 yards and a touchdown on the day. The run game was held in check thanks to the defense of Cleveland, with Reynaldo Ball getting 9 carries for only 21 yards. Rookie Johnathan Bass did have 57 yards on 4 rushes, but 52 of them came on a big play early in the second quarter. Alshon Jeffery had 6 catches for 65 yards, but Kevin White (5/46/1 TD) had the only touchdown. Defensively, Pernell McPhee (2 tackles, 1 sack) had the only sack of Osweiler on the day, while Kam Chancellor (5 tackles) led the Bears in tackles.

"I can't say much about this game. It hurts to lose like that. We shouldn't have lost like that. That's all I am going to say on the matter. We're now focusing on the Minnesota Vikings," was Coach Winuvas' short and sweet answer on the game.

The Bears (3-6) will travel to Minnesota to take on the division-leading Vikings, while the Browns (5-4) will host the Ravens next week.

Can Coach Winuvas get the ship righted on offense and get more points out of this unit? Can he get the defense to play better than they have? We have 7 weeks to find out.