LDN - Sports

Bears beat Bengals to halt five-game skid

[December 11, 2017] CINCINNATI -- In recent weeks, Chicago Bears head coach John Fox has talked about the growth of his young team, but it has fallen on deaf ears as the losses continued to mount.

On Sunday, the Bears finally got a win to help legitimize that improvement.

Mitchell Trubisky passed for 271 yards and a touchdown and Jordan Howard rushed for 147 yards and two scores, lifting Chicago to a 33-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.

Howard became the first Bears running back to run for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons.

"Jordan ran pretty violent," said Fox. "He ran angry. When he does that, you see results."

Kendall Wright had 10 catches for 107 yards, helping Chicago (4-9) snap a five-game losing streak. Tarik Cohen ran for 80 yards for the Bears, who rushed for 228 yards.

"Today we came out and executed as a football team, all three phases," Fox said. "Our guys responded well. It's good to see them experience the results of their hard work. That's gratifying as a coach."

Cincinnati (5-8) was minus four defensive starters, including top tacklers Vontaze Burfict and Nick Vigil, but it was a miserable afternoon for the Bengals and quarterback Andy Dalton, who passed for 141 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Dalton was sacked twice.

"I'm at a loss for words," said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis.

Giovani Bernard rushed for 62 yards on 11 carries for the Bengals while starting in place of rookie Joe Mixon, who was out with a concussion.

"It's frustrating, because we're a better team than we played out there today," said Bernard. "We're banged up, but guys have to step up."

The Bears' offense has struggled mightily with fewer than 150 total yards the past two weeks, but they moved the ball effectively on their first possession Sunday against the depleted Cincinnati defense.

Chicago drove 51 yards in four plays in one minute and six seconds, going ahead 6-0 when Howard sprinted through a gaping hole for a 21-yard touchdown run.

"That was really big," Trubisky said. "We want to start fast and finish fast. That's how you want to operate, go down and get into the end zone on the first drive."

Former Bengal Mike Nugent's point-after attempt hit the upright.

Bernard's 21-yard run helped set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Brandon LaFell, putting Cincinnati ahead 7-6.

In the second quarter, the Bears had a touchdown called back by an illegal block and then settled for a 34-yard field goal by Nugent to go ahead 9-7.

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Bears running back Tarik Cohen (29) runs against Cincinnati Bengals cornerback William Jackson (22) during the first half at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

For Chicago, which has lost six games by eight points or fewer, not cashing in on a red-zone opportunity is not ideal. It happened again just before halftime when the Bears had first-and-goal at the 9-yard line, but settled for a 27-yarder by Nugent to go ahead 12-7.

But Trubisky gained confidence as the game went on.

He scored on a 4-yard run to cap a 76-yard drive in the third quarter, while cornerback Eddie Jackson's second interception of the season helped set up a 1-yard touchdown strike to tight end Adam Shaheen.

"We knew they (Bengals) were banged up on that side of the ball," Trubisky said. "We wanted to take advantage of that, focus on ourselves and execute."

Jackson made another big play when he stripped wide receiver A.J. Green and recovered near the sideline. The play occurred at the Chicago sideline, giving Fox a clear view.

"I didn't have to take the time to wait on anybody (to challenge)," said Fox, who had lost an earlier challenge.

The ruling of a completed catch with Green being out of bounds before ther strip was overturned, and moments later, Howard scored on an 8-yard run to wrap up the scoring.

Sunday's loss was the playoff death knell for Cincinnati, which had overcome an 0-3 start to get back in the race before a devastating loss to Pittsburgh last week.

"It's embarrassing to do this at home," said Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap. "This was pretty bad. I didn't expect this."

NOTES: Bears RB Jordan Howard has a league-leading 12 100-yard rushing games since the start of last season. ... The Bears eclipsed 200 yards rushing for the fourth time this season. ... Bengals QB Andy Dalton's league-leading streak of passes without an interception ended at 193. ... Bengals DT Ryan Glasgow made his first start of the season in place of Geno Atkins, who is battling a toe injury. ... Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict and RB Joe Mixon were inactive due to concussions suffered in Monday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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