Raiders End Bears’ Five-game Winning Streak

Well it’s true when they say all good things must come to an end, and that most certainly was the case for the Chicago Bears. A five-game winning streak came to a halt at the hands of the Oakland Raiders in a 25-20 defeat on the road. Despite having a new quarterback under center who made critical mistakes, the Bears (7- 4) were still in position to come away with the win, but fell short.

Quarterback Caleb Hanie started for the first time in his NFL career and, overall showed that he has room for improvement. The fourth-year pro finished completing 18 of his 36 pass attempts for 254 yards, two touchdowns, and 50 yards rushing on five carries. Unfortunately, three first-half interceptions came along with this solid numbers.

Hanie eventually settled down after the three picks and made some plays to keep the Bears in striking distance. With 4:41 left in the second quarter, Hanie connected with Johnny Knox for a 29-yard touchdown, giving the Bears a 7-6 lead before throwing his third interception in the red zone within the last two minutes of the first half. Thanks to the hustle of offensive lineman Lance Louis saving a touchdown return and the defense’s stinginess, the Raiders were held to a field goal to end the half leading the Bears 12-7.

Johnny Knox was the standout on the offensive side of the ball for Chicago hauling in four catches for a season-high 145 yards. In addition to Knox’s contribution, Marion Barber led the way on the ground with 63 yards on 10 carries.

For the third consecutive game, Matt Forte was held under 100 yards rushing, finishing the game with just 59 yards on 12 carries. Despite the low production the past few weeks, Forte is third in the league in rushing yards (985 yards) and still leads the NFL in total yards from scrimmage (1,475 yards).

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Even with three interceptions, Hanie still pulled it together in the final minutes of the game for a possible comeback victory. However, that dream was dashed when Hanie hesitated in spiking the ball to kill the clock, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty and a 10-second run-off of the clock ending the Bears’ final drive.

Defensively, the Bears did everything that they could to keep the Raiders from blowing them out. Lead by Julius Peppers, Chicago’s defense kept Oakland’s offense out of the end zone for majority of the game, making the Raiders settle for field goals instead. Nevertheless, after holding Oakland to six field goals, the defense just didn’t have enough in them, and finally surrendered a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Chicago’s pass rush was putting relentless pressure on Oakland’s Carson Palmer, sacking him four times. Two of those sack came from Peppers, who was named the NFC’s defensive player of the month for November. The ten-year veteran has now equaled his sack total from last year with eight.

As far as run defense, the Bears did a solid job of that as well. Oakland’s Michael Bush, who has been on a tear running the ball as of late, was held to just 69 yards, but did score the Raiders’ only touchdown late in the game.

As productive as the pass rush and the run defense was, the secondary did let some opportunities get away. Corey Graham did manage to intercept Palmer, getting his third pick in the last three games, but Tim Jennings did fail to keep his hands on a couple of potential interceptions.

Even though the Chicago Bears have added a loss to their record, they are still in good position to grab a wild card spot in the postseason, thanks in part to a Detroit Lions loss to the division-leading Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day. The remainder of Chicago’s schedule still plays to their favor, and with a struggling Kansas City Chiefs team next in line, the Bears just might be in position to start another five-game winning streak.

By Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent