It was a great start for the Chicago Bears starters. It was a key thing to look forward to as they were set to face the Indianapolis Colts.
It started off well for the Bears defense as Phernell McPhee sacked Andrew Luck on the first drive of the game and forced a three and out. Eric Mariani returned the punt 29 yards and the Bears were in business. Robbie Gould kept his perfect record in the pre-season as he gave the Bears a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with a 50-yard field goal.
The Bears again flustered the Colts and forced another punt back to Chicago. Again the drive ended with a Robbie Gould field goal as Chicago got into the redzone but couldn't finish. The offense looked more in sync compared to the first game against Miami. Jay Cutler looked more comfortable in the pocket. He got the ball out quickly, didn't make any bad decisions, and used his feet to scramble away for a first down. It was a good performance for the QB who is the X-factor for the Chicago Bears.
But the Colts struck back and took the lead thanks to an Andrew Luck five-yard scramble and Andre Johnson caught the two-point conversion to make it 8-6 Colts. Luck found an opening on the right of defense and took full advantage of it and scored.
But again Jay Cutler led the Bears into the redzone, connecting with Martellus Bennett a couple of times to set up the Bears. But they couldn't cash in and had to settle for another Robbie Gould field goal. That was the last piece of action the starters on both sides would see as the backups played the rest of the way.
The Bears forced a turnover as Terrance Mitchell picked off Matt Hasselback but Jimmy Clausen turned it right over with an interception and allowed the Colts to score on an Adam Vinateri field goal to go into the half up, 11-8.
But Chicago came back with a strong drive in the third quarter. Rookie Jeremy Langford started things off with a great run of 46 yards to set things up for the Bears. The Michigan State product is fighting for a backup job for the Bears, and he will get the spot if he continues to show flashes of brilliance. Then Clausen hit Josh Bellamy for a 16-yard touchdown and gave the Bears a 16-11 lead.
Hasselback was later sacked by Sam Acho and fumbled the football right to Eddie Goldman, setting up the Bears inside the Colts 40-yard line. Langford made it 23-11 Chicago as he capped off the drive with a two-yard run. It was a good performance from the rookie and he finished it off with a score.
The Bears next pre-season game will be against the Cincinnati Bengals as the Colts will face the St. Louis Rams next.