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 But, despite the after-effects of a hamstring injury that kept him
out of a game last week, Cutler instead played the hero instead of
the goat. He drove the Bears 48 yards in the last two minutes,
Robbie Gould kicked his third field goal of the game, a 49-yarder
with two seconds remaining, and the Bears beat the Raiders, 22-20,
for their first victory of the season.
Cutler deferred credit to a jury-rigged offensive line, juggled
because of injuries, but the difference in the game was the patience
he showed - maybe because the hamstring forced him to - in
completing 28 of 43 passes, including 5 of 8 on the winning drive.
"There were a lot of moving parts up there, and those guys held
their own," said Cutler, who acknowledged that he was limited "a
little bit" physically by the hamstring and deliberately kept
himself from trying to scramble out of the pocket.
"He's a tough son of a bug," Chicago coach John Fox said of his
quarterback. "He's got an injury that some lesser guys might not
have been out there."
Chicago started the game with a backup replacing injured left tackle
Jermon Bushrod and then had to juggle further when center Will
Montgomery suffered an apparent broken leg on the third play from
scrimmage. As a result, left guard Matt Slauson slid into the center
spot and that may have been at least partially responsible for a
fumbled snap that led to an Oakland touchdown.
But staying in the pocket may prove the best strategy for Cutler,
even when his hamstring is fully healthy, because it reduces the
margin for error.
Instead, it appeared it was the Raiders who made the most grievous
error by settling for a field goal with 2:05 remaining to take a
20-19 lead and effect the sixth lead change of the game, rather than
play aggressively for a touchdown that might have made a Chicago
comeback more difficult.
After they got to the Bears' 33-yard line with more than four
minutes remaining, Oakland did not throw another pass, instead
calling four consecutive running plays before Sebastian Janikowski
kicked a 41-yard field goal.
"They were pretty conservative," Cutler said.
Oakland coach Jack Del Rio defended the play calling, saying, "I
think we felt like we were moving it pretty good and thought we had
a better shot to move the sticks on that third-and-two."
One problem for the Raiders was that, by that point in the game, Del
Rio already had benched his leading rusher, Latavius Murray, because
of a lost fumble and two dropped passes, one of which Murray bounced
into an interception.
After the Janikowski kick, the Bears kick-started their winning
drive with Cutler's fourth down completion to tight end Martellus
Bennett, who caught 11 passes, second highest total of his career,
for 83 yards.
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With the Bears essentially conceding the sideline passes to Cutler -
allowing not only completions but clock stappages - the Bears had
plenty of time to work downfield. Cutler found Matt Forte for seven
yards and then Marquess Wilson for six on 3rd-and-3.
After a downfield shot fell incomplete, Eddie Royal made a nifty
sideline catch for 12 yards and then Wilson, who earlier on the
drive dropped a pass, made a fingertip grab for nine.
That was pretty much all Chicago needed and, after running Forte
into the line for two, the Bears called on Gould - who, to that
point had been the difference in the game due to a blocked extra
point.
Gould, whose other field goals were from 19 and 54 yards, nailed the
winning kick with plenty to spare.
"It was awesome when we were celebrating with two seconds left on
the clock," Gould said. "Those are the type of wins you want to see,
and usually, those type of wins catapult a team and give them a lot
of confidence for the next week."
There were "a couple of areas that will stand out," Del Rio said,
and the most that gnawed on him most clearly was his team's
third-down defense. The Bears, who had converted only 16 of 42 third
downs into first downs in their three losses, were 10 for 17 in this
game.
"They played well, and we didn't play as well as we're capable of,"
Del Rio said. "These things happen. They get paid, too."
NOTES: QB Jay Cutler returned to the lineup after missing one game
but the Bears played without three injured regulars including No. 1
wideout Alshon Jeffery. Also missing were OLT Jermon Bushrod and NT
Jeremiah Ratliff. ... The Bears lost C Will Montgomery with an ankle
injury on the third play of the game, causing shuffling on the line.
LG Matt Slauson moved to center and Patrick Omameh went in at left
guard. ... Oakland WR Michael Crabtree left the game with an ankle
injury in the second quarter but returned. ... Bears FS Antrell
Rolle was injured (ankle) on the first play of the third quarter and
did not return.
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