Bears Victorious in London

Despite the concern of their late arrival in London, the Chicago Bears still managed not to let the drastic time difference faze them and came away with a 24-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bears (4-3) have stringed together consecutive wins for the first time this season, and seem to be clicking in all three phases of the game at this point.

Running back Matt Forte is still showing everyone why his is worthy of a new contract. The fourth-year pro rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, and added 38 yards receiving to his total yards from scrimmage for the game. Forte now is the first player in the NFL since 2004 to have amassed 1,000 total yards from scrimmage in the first seven games of a regular season.

In addition to Forte’s contribution on the ground, back-up running back Marion Barber had 39 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own.

Jay Cutler chipped in with a solid outing connecting on 17 of his 32 pass attempts for 226 yards and one touchdown, and two interceptions. Cutler seemed to revert to the old habit of throwing off his back foot, which resulted in the interceptions, and some other poor footwork. Nevertheless, Cutler still managed to spread the ball to six different receivers.

Former Dallas Cowboy receiver Roy Williams is looking more and more comfortable in the offense as the weeks go on. Williams scored his first touchdown in a Bears uniform, and had four catches for 59 yards (all team-highs).

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The defense dominated for the majority of the game, but in the fourth quarter let the Bucs cut into their 16-point lead.

Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs, who was named NFC defensive player of the week, led the way with 10 tackles, a tackle-for-loss, and one of Chicago’s four interceptions. The other three takeaways were by Brian Urlacher, rookie Chris Conte, and D.J. Moore. Moore’s pick at the end of the game sealed the victory for the Bears.

Chicago only managed one sack, which was by Amobi Okoye, but did have constant pressure on Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman all day.

After being over .500 for the first time since Week 1, the Chicago Bears will now go into their bye week. It was at this point last season that the Bears were 4-3 going into an idle week and came back and to win the NFC North championship, and almost went to the Super Bowl.

With the steady improvement of the offense, the right adjustments on defense, and the continued dominance of the special teams, history just might have a chance of repeating itself. We’ll just have to wait and see.

By Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent