Chicago falls to undefeated Titans

For the second time this season the Chicago Bears failed to string together a three-game winning streak. The Tennessee Titans (9-0) handed the Bears (5-4) their fourth loss of the season in a close, yet one-sided battle.

Rex Grossman was given the nod to start after Kyle Orton was deemed unable to play just before kickoff. Grossman looked sharp leading the Bears on their first offensive possession—a 14-play, 75-yard drive, which resulted in a five-yard touchdown pass to rookie Matt Forte. Unfortunately, things went downhill for Chicago’s offense afterwards. The six-year pro out of Florida was very inconsistent throwing the ball throughout the game, leading receivers too much and once throwing an interception off of his back foot under pressure. Grossman missed a golden opportunity to steal the momentum from the Titans when he overthrew Devin Hester in the third quarter that would have resulted in a touchdown. The former Florida Gator finished the game 20-37 for 173 yards with two touchdowns (one rushing) and one interception. The running game was decent with Forte rushing for 72 of the Bears 78 yards. In addition, the second-round pick from Tulane caught a team-high seven passes for 54 yards. Hester had 54 yards receiving as well.

The Monsters of the Midway surprisingly held the Tennessee running game to just 20 yards as a team. Too bad they weren’t as successful in defending the pass. For the fourth straight game, the Bears defense has allowed their opposing quarterback to amass a season-high for passing yards—making Matt Ryan, Gus Frerotte, Dan Orlovsky, and Kerry Collins look like Joe Montana, John Elway, Warren Moon and Troy Aikman. Collins carved up the Bears by completing 30 out of 41 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. And to add insult to injury, the Chicago pass rush was highly ineffective, mainly due to Collins’ three-step and five-step drops and quick decision-making. Collins went untouched for the majority of his 41 pass attempts. The only sack recorded by the Bears was by Adewale Ogunleye late in the game.

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Though Hester did show some sighs of his old self in the return game, the special teams were just as bad as the offense and defense. Robbie Gould had his only field goal attempt blocked. And for the first time this season, Brad Maynard couldn’t place any of his eight punts inside the 20-yard line; thanks to the seven possessions that where started deep in their own territory (14, 2, 2, 9, 2, 16, and 17).

Inconsistent play in the passing game on both sides of the ball plus bad field position equals to a well-deserved loss against a perfect team. With this defeat, the Chicago Bears are once again tied for first place in the NFC North with the Minnesota Vikings, whom they will face in three weeks. But until then, Chicago will have to concentrate on their biggest rival, the Green Bay Packers.

By Clyde A. Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent