Bears special teams shine against Colts
If the Chicago Bears' offensive and defensive starters had played like this in the Super Bowl, the Indianapolis Colts probably still would have won.
The Bears' special teams were clearly superior and productive in Monday night's preseason game, helping Chicago manage a 27-24 victory over a team it much rather would have beaten in February in Miami instead, of course.
In the much-hyped matchup at the RCA Dome, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was mistake-free and kept having his choice of throwing to a wide-open Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne while playing one quarter. He finished 5-of-8 for 61 yards and an 85.9 quarterback rating. Bears quarterback Rex Grossman fumbled three times, losing one, and threw an interception during his five series. He did guide the Bears to 10 points on drives of 5 and 24 yards set up by Chicago's special teams, putting up final numbers of 9-of-11 for 59 yards and a 51.1 quarterback rating.
"You're going to have adversity at times," Grossman said of the pick and fumbled snaps. He blamed the first fumble on crowd noise and the second on sweat on his wrist. Several times after the game he said it wasn't a problem before and won't be again.
He said his interception was the "most disappointing" play, coming on his second series. He marched the Bears to the Colts 25 on the game's first possession before being sacked, fumbling and turning the ball over.
"It wasn't your typical game," said Grossman, an Indiana native from Bloomington. "In the back of your mind, you wanted to get back at them a little bit" for the Super Bowl defeat.
Going into the evening, what Bears fans wanted to see were 1) no one get hurt, 2) Grossman play reasonably well and 3) the defense have an answer, or at least a clue, against Manning.
Final tabulation? Only receiver Brandon Rideau (ankle) was injured; Grossman's play was erratic at best, and Manning's still Manning, preseason or Super Bowl.
Chicago can return home with special teams coach Dave Toub all smiles. He saw Danieal Manning return a kickoff 72 yards and then Devin Hester take a punt 50 yards. Ricky Manning Jr. jarred the ball loose on a kickoff, causing a fumble recovered by Mike Hass at the Colt 24.
"It feels good to get a good return in," Hester said of his first preseason try. "We came out aggressive to set the tone. We are just looking to bigger and better things during the upcoming season."
Said head coach Lovie Smith: "I do like what Danieal and Devin did."
Those three plays set up Chicago's first 17 points, coming in a span of 6:03 of the second quarter. Robbie Gould hit a 32-yard field goal at 12:44, Grossman sneaked the ball in from the 1 at 8:05 and Brian Griese connected with Bernard Berrian on a 9-yard scoring play at 6:41.
Griese's three drives resulted in two touchdowns, the second capped by a one-yard run by Adrian Peterson. The other possession concluded with Robbie Gould missing a 53-yard field goal try.
Kyle Orton directed the Bears to a 35-yard field goal by Nick Novak on his first opportunity.
Producing defensive highlights were Adewale Ogunleye sacking Manning, and Antonio Garay and Israel Idonije sharing a sack of Jim Sorgi. Rookie safety Kevin Payne had a diving interception of Sorgi, and corners Corey Graham and Tim Mixon intercepted Josh Betts.
Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer knocked down a fourth-down pass to Joseph Addai at the goal-line to prevent a Manning touchdown pass on the Colts' second possession.
"I liked the way the defense stopped them early," Smith said. "I also liked what some of our young players did," mentioning Payne and Graham.
Fourth-string quarterback Chris Leak, who led Florida to the NCAA championship, entered with 4:23 to go to see his first professional action.