Dallas shows superiority over Bears in 34-10 win

Passing game? Decided edge Dallas. Defense? Clear edge to Dallas as well.

<p class="MsoNormal">Special teams? No big deal.

<p class="MsoNormal">Add it up, and the Dallas Cowboys showed superiority where it counted in a big-build-up, early-season showdown Sunday at Soldier Field.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Chicago Bears realize they have more to worry about than possible home-field advantage in the playoffs after dropping a 34-10 decision to Dallas.

<p class="MsoNormal">Like making the playoffs. Like getting healthy. Like finding confidence offensively.

<p class="MsoNormal">"We have to come to practice tomorrow (today), have a team meeting, work out, watch the tape, learn from it and get better, realize we're a good football team and fix our problems," Bears quarterback Rex Grossman said.

<p class="MsoNormal">"We HAVE to start playing better. Everyone realizes that. This week, we're going to determine how we're going to do that."

<p class="MsoNormal">They know their offense doesn't rate with one as revved up as the Cowboys' right now.

<p class="MsoNormal">They now don't know what kind of defense they have, not after Lance Briggs, Nathan Vasher and Tommie Harris all were banged up in the demoralizing loss.

<p class="MsoNormal">Devin Hester also had three cases of the dropsies, which the Bears will have to hope wasn't an indication of future difficulties.

<p class="MsoNormal">The win left Dallas as the only unbeaten team in the NFC along with Green Bay, both 3-0. Chicago dropped to 1-2 heading into a Sunday game at 2-1 Detroit.

<p class="MsoNormal">Quarterback Tony Romo clearly outplayed Grossman in one of the evening's top storylines. It wasn't so much what Grossman didn't do as much as it was what Romo did.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the second half, Romo did pretty much anything he wanted.

<p class="MsoNormal">A depleted Bears defense didn't help.

<p class="MsoNormal">"We knew coming in he (Romo) was good, but he was better than what we saw (on tape)," head coach Lovie Smith said.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Chicago offense was out of sync nearly all evening.

<p class="MsoNormal">"We haven't gotten anything going yet," Smith said. "We're better than we've shown."

<p class="MsoNormal">"It's on my shoulders as well," Grossman said. "I have to start taking care of the ball and making plays."

<p class="MsoNormal">Will Smith start making changes?

<p class="MsoNormal">"Rex Grossman is our quarterback," he said. "We don't make decisions until we watch the video. I'm sure he'll take a lot of the blame."

<p class="MsoNormal">Smith said all he was going to give was "the standard answers," and that "change could come at all positions."

<p class="MsoNormal">Whatever Smith decides, the team can't keep getting outgained 431-239 like it did Sunday. Dallas had the ball for 35 minutes, 21 seconds, picking up 300 net yards in the air.

<p class="MsoNormal">Chicago had 75 yards rushing, 195 passing and four turnovers.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Turnovers are killing us," he said. "We didn't get a lot done, whether it was bad passes or dropped balls."

<p class="MsoNormal">The two teams began the night playing copycat as long as they could.

<p class="MsoNormal">Chicago kicked a field goal; Dallas kicked one. Dallas missed a great scoring chance; Chicago did likewise.

<p class="MsoNormal">Dallas went on a long touchdown drive; Chicago followed suit.

<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, Chicago blinked.

<p class="MsoNormal">"Tonight," Smith said, "was their night."

<p class="MsoNormal">Dallas went on two long touchdown marches to open the second half, and Chicago couldn't keep up.

<p class="MsoNormal">Romo finished 22-of-35 for 329 yards, two scores, one interception and a QB rating of 100.8.

<p class="MsoNormal">He hit Jason Witten and Marion Barber for touchdowns, while Barber also tallied on a 1-yard run. Corner Anthony Henry returned an interception 28 yards for another score, and Nick Folk nailed two field goals.

<p class="MsoNormal">The first half proved nothing. Both teams traded field goals and missed scoring opportunities.

<p class="MsoNormal">Robbie Gould connected from 20 yards for a 3-0 lead at 3:09 of the first quarter, only to have Folk knot it 3-3 with a 30-yarder at 8:49 of the second quarter.

<p class="MsoNormal">Dallas wideout Patrick Crayton dropped an easy potential 5-yard touchdown pass in the end zone late in the first half. Then Chicago's Israel Idonije blocked a field-goal attempt on the next play, with Adam Archuleta returning the ball to the Cowboy 46. But the Bears ended up trying a fake field goal from 53 yards that resulted in an incomplete pass by Gould.

<p class="MsoNormal">Chicago's defense put Dallas in third-and-long on every series of the first half - 3-10, 3-15, 3-20, 1-20, 3-10, 3-18 and 2-20. The Cowboys only converted on first-and-20.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bernard Berrian was the offensive star before halftime with five catches for 62 yards. But he dropped a wide-open pass inside the Dallas 20 in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

<p class="MsoNormal">Reed Schreck is the NFL writer for the Rockford Register Star. Contact him at 815-987-1381 or rschreck@rrstar.com.

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