Peanut Saves the Day
Great game! The battle for first in the Black and Blue division lived up to the hype as the Bears won a thriller in OT, 19-13. This is the way football is supposed to be played (with the exception of the dome part). Both teams kept laying hit after vicious hit, and there's going to be a lot of sore bones at practice facilities in both Detroit and Chicago tomorrow. Jeff Garcia especially took a pounding by the Bears, but he was like a Timex watch out there. He took a lickin', but kept on tickin'. He kept on tickin' all the way to Overtime, when he threw a dumb pass right to Charles Tillman, who ran it back 22 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Peanut really saved the day for the offense, which was explosive for one quarter but otherwise empty for the rest of the game. Orton looked like Tom Brady in the second quarter, but otherwise looked like, well, Kyle Orton for the rest of the day. Still, his final stats looked impressive enough. 230 yards, 7.3 yards per attempt, a TD to Moose, and no picks or fumbles. Any Bear fan disappointed in that performance should have his head examined.
Elsewhere on offense, Mark Bradley really had a coming out party with 5 catches for 88 yards. Unfortunately he twisted his knee and I think he may be out for a while. He had one of those turf injuries that just screamed MCL. Hopefully it's just a sprain, but I'm expecting the worst. Thomas Jones also got nicked in the ribs today, but it doesn't sound like a long-term injury. Adrian Peterson got the bulk of the work with Jones out, and Cedric Benson took advantage of his limited opportunity with a pair of really nice runs. Maybe he'll get more than three carries next week. At this rate, he'll finish the season earning $300,000 per carry. But back to the real MVPs of the day....
Urlacher, Ogunleye, Briggs, Hillenmeyer, Scott, Tank, Chris and Tommie Harris, Alex and Mike Brown...these guys were all over the field. They gave up some first downs and a few scores (first TD allowed in 10 quarters), but otherwise were just mauling the Lions all day. They seriously laid the smack down. Just a fun, fun, game to watch.
Special Teams again was excellent. Brad Maynard is a stud, constantly pinning the Lions deep. Azumah averaged 40 yards per kick return, and you can't get much better than that.
So the Bears sit alone in first place today. Favre threw five picks, Culpepper was seriously injured, and the Lions are now two games behind Chicago. Dare I say it, but the NFC North is the Bears to lose. GO BEARS!