Rest assured, I do not believe I, or anyone, can give an adequate answer to the question the title of this article asks. What the question is meant to bring to light is the fact that our beloved Chicago teams have had a pretty rough year on the injury front. We aren’t talking about bench warmers going down either. While all of us superstitious sports fans have been wondering if Calvin Johnson will break the semi-creepy, though semi-explainable, “Madden Curse,” we in Chicago have to wonder when one of our teams will break this injury “curse” that has happened to befall our teams in the last year.

It all started innocently enough during the Chicago Bears November 20th game against the San Diego Chargers –which culminated in a 31-20 Bears victory. It also culminated with Jay Cutler fracturing his thumb and losing the remainder of the season because of it. “Don’t worry!” many of us said. “Remember how Caleb Hanie performed in the NFC Championship?” Well, good old Caleb didn’t win a single game. Shortly after Cutler, Matt Forte went down for the season. Despite the promising 7-3 start (and the best looking Bears team in a while), they finished 8-8 with no playoff appearance.

Well, that is unfortunate, but hey, it happens. Enter the NHL season.

The Chicago Blackhawks were a good team. I would not say they were a great team. However, they battled the Phoenix Coyotes hard for six games. In Game 3, Marian Hossa was leveled on a cheap shot from Raffi Torres. Hossa did not return in the series. For the second consecutive year, the Blackhawks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. I’m not saying Hossa’s presence would have altered the outcome necessarily, but it was still a significant loss.

Two teams with significant injuries? Well, that’s unlikely, but it happens. Right? Enter the NBA season.

I would say this was the hardest development for Chicago sports fans. The Chicago Bulls enjoyed an entirely successful regular season (50-16), and were even able to do it without Derrick Rose for 27 of those games –going 18-9. As the playoffs approached, the Bulls were finally healthy and ready for a run. “Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls: Round 2,” they said. “The Bulls might have enough to beat the Heat this year,” they said. Well, Rose went down in Game 1 (and Joakim Noah in Game 3) against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Bulls never got the chance to take on the big, bad Heat –losing to the 76ers in six games.

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous.

That leaves our beloved Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. While the Cubs have dealt with some injuries, the good news is that I don’t think there is any season-altering injury on the horizon. It’s not because I think it won’t happen, it’s because the Cubs are in last place (15-22) and most likely won’t be in contention long enough to have a injury cut down their playoff hopes. The White Sox, while just 17-21, might be a little better, but I’m not holding my breath there either.

Forget the “Madden Curse,” the Chicago teams have their own series of unfortunate events to deal with.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago sports fan, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed most of the major sports throughout.

Sources

Chicago Injuries

MLB Standings

Injury Report -MLB

The Bears have had chances to win every game during this playoff-crushing four-game losing streak. Chicago points that out at every opportunity.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chicago Bears linebackers Lance Briggs (55) and Brian Urlacher (54) go through drills before the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011, in Chicago.

Brian Urlacher wasn’t in much of a mood to talk Sunday. He said a simple “No” to three straight questions after the 38-14 loss to Seattle on Sunday before I asked him how frustrating this four-game losing streak was.

“I don’t know what happened to us,” Urlacher replied. “We’ve been in all these football games, with chances to win all of them. This one got ugly late, but it’s not like we’re getting destroyed out there. We had a chance to win most every football game we’re in. We’ve just got to find a way to win these games. That’s what’s disappointing. We had a chance to do that and just aren’t doing that.”

Indeed, the Bears led 14-7 at the half. But after gaining only 84 yards the entire first half, Seattle outscored Chicago 31-0 in the second half. Some of that was due to Caleb Hanie interceptions, but the Seahawks also moved the ball so much better in the second half. The game changed even before Hanie started throwing interceptions to every Seahawk in sight. Seattle tied the game with a touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half. From then on out, the game was Seattle’s.

What happened?

It’s simple: Seattle changed its game plan and Chicago didn’t.

“They saw we were in more man to man, so they came out running more boots than they did the first half and throwing the ball more,” said cornerback Tim Jennings, who was burned on a long touchdown pass. “They came out with a whole different game plan.”

Seattle is not exactly the most imaginative team in the NFL, but even the Seahawks adjust better than the Bears. Nor is this only a Lovie Smith problem. From Dave Wannstedt to Dick Jauron to Lovie Smith, the Bears have been behind the curve for 20 years in halftime adjustments or surprising game plans. The one exception is special teams, where the Bears have been as good and innovative as anyone, but it would be nice if just once we could read about the Bears catching another team off guard, rather than the other way around.

Oh, wait. It did happen once. Chicago completely surprised Philadelphia by rolling its cornerbacks up at the line of scrimmage and playing aggressive pass defense. That worked great for three weeks in a row and helped the Bears get to 7-3, when for a brief moment they looked like they might be the second-best team in the NFC behind Green Bay.

It’s way past time to pull another surprise. Chicago has so many problems without Jay Cutler. Caleb Hanie (or perhaps Josh McCown) at quarterback. J’Marcus Webb and Lance Louis at offensive tackle. Roy Williams and Dane Sanzenbacher at receiver. Jerry Angelo at GM. With problems everywhere they look, the Bears can’t afford to be out-coached, too.

LAKE FOREST — The list of Tim Tebow believers has slowly grown for several weeks now, and some of them will suit up against him Sunday in Denver.

“He’s a big man, very physical, and boy he doesn’t shy away from contact. We respect that,” Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. “He’s nimble and he’s a fighter; how can you not respect that?”

Respect for Tebow is widespread among Chicago players and coaches. The second-year former Heisman winner from Florida supplanted former Bear Kyle Orton as the Broncos’ starting quarterback in their mid-October bye week, and he’s led Denver to a 6-1 record and a five-game winning streak that has the Broncos tied for first in the AFC West.

“It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a fun ride for us,” Tebow said in a teleconference. “You have something special when you have a team that, when adversity hits and obstacles hit in a game, we grow closer together.”

The Broncos have transformed their offense with Tebow under center, and they’ve morphed from one of the league’s worst all-around offenses into the league’s top rushing attack. Tebow is leading the only true option-offense in the NFL in decades.

“With the naysayers, I just want to prove them wrong and it fires me up a little. And the people that support me, I want to prove them right,” Tebow said. “I’m not going to lie and say that doesn’t fire me up, people saying I’m not an NFL quarterback.”

There have been plenty of those, and he gave them fuel for the fire after completing just 30 passes in Denver’s last four games. The Broncos won all four, however, including a 17-10 win over the Chiefs on Oct. 13 during which Tebow was 2-for-8 for 69 yards.

He has thrown for a modest average of 139 yards in his seven starts, but has 10 touchdowns and just one interception. He has also rushed for 5.7 yards per carry and made stirring comebacks look routine.

Denver scored 15 points in the last three minutes and then won in overtime to beat Miami to start Tebow’s 6-1 streak. The last three weeks, Denver has, in order, scored the winning points with 58 seconds left, in overtime and on the last play of the game.

“It’s hard not to hear about what Tebow’s doing over there because he gets a lot of publicity. It seems like everywhere you turn around, for awhile there, everybody was evaluating him and figuring out if he is good enough to do it,” Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie said. “They’ve won five games with him in a row, so they’re doing it their way.”

Lately he’s shown that if you focus too much on Tebow’s running ability, and the rest of the Broncos rushing attack, that’s when he’ll hurt you with his arm. He has completed just 47.5 percent of his passes this year, but passed for 220 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-32 win over Minnesota last week. He was 10-for-15 and finished with a career-high 149.3 passer rating.

“If they run the ball so many times in a row, you have to be alert that there is play-action coming off that run,” said safety Craig Steltz, who had 11 tackles last week. “You have to continue to read keys because that’s where big plays happen, guys misread their keys or eyes are in the backfield and someone’s running free down the field.”

The Bears have already beaten two teams led by running quarterbacks, but even Philadelphia’s Michael Vick and Carolina’s Cam Newton are nothing like what the Bears are expecting to see at Mile High Stadium.

“We just have to dust off some rules, clean some things up and go play our defense,” Marinelli said. “The biggest thing is that they run the ball with power too; it’s not just option.”

Bears linebacker Lance Briggs thinks he knows the key.

“Just get him down,” Briggs added. “It’s important to just get that guy down.”
Easy to say for Briggs, but we’ll see how easy it will be for the seven-time Pro Bowler and the Bears defense.

Reach staff reporter Jay Taft at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.

The way the Minnesota Vikings have played this year and the benching of their quarterback Donovan McNabb in mid-October seemed to have created a bubble that finally burst on Thursday.

According to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com, the Vikings granted McNabb’s request to release him during practice. After McNabb took reps with the third team, he had a conversation with coach Leslie Frazier, and, soon after, the request was granted.

The way the Minnesota Vikings have played this year and the benching of their quarterback Donovan McNabb in mid-October seemed to have created a bubble that finally burst on Thursday with McNabb’s release. (Reuters/Chris Keane)

McNabb, who was traded from the Washington Redskins to the Vikings in the offseason to be their starter after the team didn’t offer an extension to Tarvaris Jackson, has been relatively overshadowed by rookie Christian Ponder ever since a gruesome 39-10 loss at the Chicago Bears in Week 6. McNabb’s fate as backup was truly sealed the week after when the Vikings played the Green Bay Packers, albeit a 33-27 loss. Ponder’s first career pass that game resulted in a Michael Jenkins 72-yard touchdown and, two plays later, the rookie hit Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone for a short touchdown.

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At the time of his benching, the long-time Philadelphia Eagle said he still had a lot of football left in him. Frazier, whose relationship with McNabb coincidentally dates back to their Philadelphia days, even lobbied for McNabb to be the Vikings starter, to bridge this summer’s lockout gap until Ponder was fully ready to take control rather than rebuild.

Nevertheless, today was a culmination of declining doubt in Frazier’s heart that McNabb wasn’t the answer after all and that Ponder, although he may have been thrown into the lions in his first start, was readier than previously thought.

“You don’t want to be (in) Week 8 or 9 and flip-flopping quarterbacks,” he said to reporters in a press conference the day after he made the decision to bench McNabb and go with Ponder. “Once a decision is made, if we were to decide to go with Christian, you’d like to be able to say that this is the way to go. You don’t want to be, in my mind, going back and forth.”

In hindsight, we can now say Frazier was a man of his word in the benching respect. But, remember when he said the benching gave the team the best chance to win? Well, it hasn’t…yet. With McNabb under center, the Vikings went 1-4. With Ponder, they have gone 1-4. Still, there are games left to be played.

McNabb has 24 hours to clear waivers until teams can put a claim on him. According to La Canfora, McNabb, whose salary with the Vikings this year was $5 million, will cost $1.5 million for the rest of the season for the team that claims him.

Reports say that the most sensible destination for him would be his hometown Chicago Bears, who, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, holds the 24^th waiver claim. The Bears currently have backup Caleb Hanie under center after starter Jay Cutler had season-ending thumb surgery and could use McNabb to bolster their chances of getting into the playoffs.

McNabb has played in five NFC Championship Games and started a Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles. He ended this season with 1,026 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions with a quarterback rating of 82.9.

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(The following article was started by a life-long Chicago Bears fan, my husband, and finished by me, his wife. He was just so depressed and drunk, he couldn’t keep going and, well, you’ll see, I guess.)

This article was going to be about the reeling San Diego Chargers and the rolling Chicago Bears (see that? how witty that alliteration was? see?), but none of that matters now because Jay Cutler’s(notes) thumb is broken.

(The author pauses to take a long pull from the fifth of cheap hooch standing next to his computer monitor.)

I was going to go on and on about how Chargers GM Alex Smith needs to be fired as soon as he gets off the plane in San Diego, and that idiot-in-search-of-a-village Norv Turner needs to be denied entry to the stinkin’ plane, but none of that matters now, because Jay Cutler’s thumb is broken.

I would have loved to have waxed poetically about how this Bears team methodically slapped around a desperate Chargers squad clawing and scratching for a victory. I would have enjoyed raving about the Bears’ position in the NFC Wildcard race (hint: very nearly the catbird’s seat), gloating about tie-breakers over teams that won on Sunday (see: Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons), crowing about receivers being taken off the milk carton (Johnny Knox(notes), please pick up the white courtesy phone).

(The author takes another long pull.)

I’d have loved to do all that, but none of that matters now.

See, Jay Cutler’s thumb is broken.

That means that the most frightening words in the English language for a Chicago Bears fan are about to get uttered in the next week unless something seriously drastic happens, and those words (God forgive me for stringing them together) are as follows:

Now starting at quarterback for the Chicago Bears: Caleb Hanie(notes).

That flushing sound you just heard was our season going right down the ol’ porcelain convenience.

Caleb His Own Self Hanie will run out to left guard or wherever it is that hopelessly inept backup quarterbacks go when they are suddenly thrust into duty, and the hopes and prayers of a suddenly-distraught Bear Nation will ride on his hilariously inadequate shoulders.

(The author starts in on another bottle of cheap hooch.)

Caleb Hanie.

This ain’t Joe Montana giving way to Steve Young, it’s Joe Montana giving way to Steve Ramsey.

This ain’t Phil Simms going down and Jeff Hostetler stepping up; it’s Simms going down and getting replaced by whoever the worst quarterback in NFL history named Jeff happens to be.

Caleb By God Hanie.

Maybe we can call Brett Favre(notes).

Seriously? I actually thought about Brett Favre?

(The author takes another long pull. His wife removes his belt and a few sharp objects laying around.)

See, see, waht’s so wrong about this, see, is that this Bears team was startingg to play like a, a, what-its-name, juggernaut, yeah, like a big ol’ jug of lug nuts getting dropped upside somebody’s fool head but NOOOOO…Cutler hadda go and be a HERO and try TACKLING somebbody an’ an’ an’ now its

(The author wept aloud and passed out. His wife finished the article for him.)

Hi!

My husband couldn’t finish this piece, and some nice men from Yahoo! asked me if I was more emotionally-stable and able to finish the article, so here’s the finish.

The Chicago Bears beat the San Diego Chargers 31-20 on Sunday, but my husband couldn’t stop crying and drinking when he heard about their quarterback (?) breaking his thumb.

I have no idea why he’s so upset. The Bears have a spare guy for in case their regular guy gets hurt. So, now that guy gets to play.

What’s the worst thing that can happen?

Sources:

Yahoo! Sports

NFL.com

CBS Sports, “Chicago Bears vs. San Diego Chargers,” Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: Julius Peppers (DE – CHI), Lance Briggs (LB – CHI), Devin Hester (WR – CHI), Matt Toeaina (DT – CHI), Matt Forte (RB – CHI), D.J. Moore (CB – CHI), Gabe Carimi (OT – CHI), Anthony Walters (S – CHI), San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears injury report is out for their Week 11 matchup against the San Diego Chargers (4-5). The Bears (6-3) should have the services of All-Pro kick returner Devin Hester, who returned his12th punt for a touchdown last Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

Hester has been struggling with an ankle injury since the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10 and has been limited in practice throughout the week, but is listed as probable for Sunday.

The Bears star running back, Matt Forte, was also listed as probable after being limited in only Wednesday’s practice, and he should be able to play.

The defense should have defensive tackle Matt Toeaina back in the line rotation as Toeaina has practiced all week and was removed from the injury report this Friday. The Samoan starting lineman has been struggling with a knee injury this season, limiting him to six games this year.

Julius Peppers and Lance Briggs both made appearances on the injury report again this week, but since both have not missed any games despite their injuries in past weeks, it seems likely they will play again this week too.

Here is the full Bears Week 11 injury report, via their official website:

For all of its great play in the first half of the season, one of the hot topics surrounding the Detroit Lions defense was about the big run plays it gave up.

Detroit’s defense did a good job of shutting down opposing running backs, but seemed to slip up a couple of times a game, and opponents capitalized.

Well, the Chicago Bears can relate to the big-play curse.

In the teams’ first meeting, the Lions scored on an 88-yard run by Jahvid Best and a 73-yard reception by Calvin Johnson.

”It was ugly,” linebacker Brian Urlacher said in the Chicago Sun-Times. ”They had three plays for over 200 yards. So that can’t happen. If we’re gonna give that up again, we’re not gonna play well. So we’ve gotta eliminate those, and just do what we’ve been doing: run to the football, make plays, and have fun.”

The other half of the Bears’ dynamic linebacking duo, Lance Briggs, called the game a wake-up call. Limiting the big plays been a big part of their three-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s game against the Lions, who will be without the services of Best.

Chicago’s defense has allowed 33 percent fewer yards per play in the last three games than the first five. The Bears limited Philadelphia’s league-leading offense to 330 yards, despite the Eagles’ 449-yard per game average in their win on Monday Night Football last week.

Read More: Julius Peppers (DE – CHI), Devin Hester (WR – CHI), Matt Toeaina (DT – CHI), Kellen Davis (TE – CHI), Major Wright (S – CHI), Gabe Carimi (OT – CHI), Kyle Adams (TE – CHI), Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for their game against the Detroit Lions this weekend, but their player with the most gears — kick-returning wide receiver Devin Hester — was once again on Thursday’s practice report. Hester could be key against the Lions considering both their kicker and punter are dealing with injury issues.

The Bears didn’t practice on Wednesday, but Hester was given the designation of Did Not Practice on Wednesday’s mandatory injury report regardless. On Thursday, though, he actually didn’t practice — and it caught the Chicago Tribune a bit off guard.

Devin Hester said he expected to be OK when he pulled a slipper on his left foot Monday night in the locker room in Philadelphia, but the Chicago Bears wide receiver didn’t practice Thursday at Halas Hall.

Hester suffered a sprained left ankle in the fourth quarter of the victory over the Eagles. He had an Ace bandage wrap on it after the game, not a walking boot that is often used for more serious injuries.

Defensive end Julius Pepppers and offensive tackle Gabe Carimi also missed practice for the second straight day while defensive tackle Matt Toeaina didn’t practice after he was given the designation as a full participant in Wednesday’s (non)practice.

The full injury report from Thursday is included below.

The upset of the Philadelphia Eagles by the Chicago Bears is now two days old. I’ve watched the Bears beat Michael Vick four straight times. It would seem that the Bears have positioned themselves for a postseason appearance. Who was most responsible for helping to cement this win for Chicago?

After the win I sat scratching my head and finishing my pizza trying to figure out the reason for the improvement in Chicago’s play.

Overall I would agree the defense has improved. In fact, as was repeated time and time again, as a result of facing Cam Newton, the Bears have honed their defensive skills against running quarterbacks.

Certainly the Bears’ offense has begun to come together. I would guess that most Chicago fans would say that despite his two fumbles, Matt Forte was the reason for the victory over the Eagles as well as the overall improvement of the offense. I don’t agree.

Anyone watching the game had to see a confidence in Jay Cutler. There was something extra on his passes and he didn’t loft the ball into the Eagles’ hands as he sometimes does with opponents’ defenses. The reason was the return of Earl Bennett.

Earl Bennett(notes) and Jay Cutler(notes) were teammates in college. Cutler has faith in Bennett. In the game against the Eagles Bennett was the Bears’ leading receiver with five catches for 95 yards.

However the reason I believe that Earl Bennett was the key to the Bears’ victory, was that he plays a role in an area where the Bears often fail and that is picking up third downs. It wasn’t just the fact that catches were made, it was when they were made; Bennett helped keep drives alive.

Throughout my 55-years as a Chicago Bears’ fan and middle school coach I never tire of watching players like Bennett. They are players who by virtue of their specific talent help a team win and frankly I’m not sure the Bears would have won without Bennett.

References:

ESPN Website, “Cam Newton Statistics”

NFL.com Website, “Jay Cutler Statistics”

ESPN Website, “Matt Forte Website”

Mike Vick Website, “Mike Vick Bio”

Chicago Tribune Website, “Bennett back and contributes in a big way”

Chicago Bears’ Website, “Chicago Bears”

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

PHILADELPHIA –

Feeling disrespected and overlooked, the Chicago Bears made the Philadelphia Eagles look like a noncontender.

Jay Cutler threw a go-ahead 5-yard TD pass to Earl Bennett, Matt Forte ran for 133 yards, and the Bears rallied to beat the Eagles 30-24 on Monday night.

“The Chicago Bears should not be 8-point underdogs in a game like this on the road. And our guys played like they felt that way,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We feel like we have a pretty good team that is not getting a lot of respect.”

It was a crushing loss for Michael Vick and the Eagles (3-5), who blew a fourth-quarter lead for the fourth time this season. Jeremy Maclin fell down and was tackled at the Chicago 30 after a 9-yard catch on fourth and 10 with just under two minutes left, and the Bears ran out the clock.

The defending NFC East champions trail the New York Giants (6-2) by three games in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations.

“You can’t let opportunities like this slip away,” Vick said. “Whatever happened tonight that can be corrected has to be corrected.”

Chicago (5-3) won its third consecutive game, but remains third in the NFC North behind Green Bay (8-0) and Detroit (6-2).

“We knew it was going to be a fourth-quarter game. And the defense kept us in it, and gave us a chance,” Cutler said.

After LeSean McCoy’s 33-yard touchdown run following Forte’s second fumble gave the Eagles a 24-17 lead in the third quarter, the Bears answered with 13 consecutive points.

Robbie Gould kicked a 38-yard field goal to cut it to 24-20, and then Chicago’s defense forced a punt after three plays.

The Bears drove 51 yards for the go-ahead score, with Cutler tossing a 5-yard TD pass to Bennett over Asante Samuel for a 27-24 lead.

“All you ever hear is DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and all of the plays that they can make,” Bennett said of Philadelphia’s standout receivers. “So, we just wanted to go out there, make some plays, and prove the critics wrong.”

The Eagles reached the Bears 42 on their next drive. On fourth and 6, punter Chas Henry bounced a pass to a wide-open Colt Anderson on a fake punt and Chicago took over.

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Feeling disrespected and overlooked, the Chicago Bears
made the Philadelphia Eagles look like a non-contender.

Jay Cutler(notes) threw a go-ahead 5-yard TD pass to Earl Bennett(notes), Matt Forte(notes) ran
for 133 yards and the Bears rallied to beat the Eagles 30-24 on Monday night.

“The Chicago Bears should not be 8-point underdogs in a game like this on
the road. And our guys played like they felt that way,” Bears coach Lovie Smith
said. “We feel like we have a pretty good team that is not getting a lot of
respect.”

It was a crushing loss for Michael Vick(notes) and the Eagles (3-5), who blew a
fourth-quarter lead for the fourth time this season. Jeremy Maclin(notes) fell down and
was tackled at the Chicago 30 after a 9-yard catch on fourth-and-10 with just
under two minutes left, and the Bears ran out the clock.

The defending NFC East champions trail the New York Giants (6-2) by three
games in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations.

“You can’t let opportunities like this slip away,” Vick said. “Whatever
happened tonight that can be corrected has to be corrected.”

Chicago (5-3) won its third straight game, but remains third in the NFC
North behind Green Bay (8-0) and Detroit (6-2).

“We knew it was going to be a fourth-quarter game. And the defense kept us
in it, and gave us a chance,” Cutler said.

After LeSean McCoy’s(notes) 33-yard touchdown run following Forte’s second fumble
gave the Eagles a 24-17 lead in the third quarter, the Bears answered with 13
straight points.

Robbie Gould(notes) kicked a 38-yard field goal to cut it to 24-20, and then
Chicago’s defense forced a punt after three plays.

The Bears drove 51 yards for the go-ahead score, with Cutler tossing a
5-yard TD pass to Bennett over Asante Samuel(notes) for a 27-24 lead.

“All you ever hear is DeSean Jackson(notes) and Jeremy Maclin and all of the plays
that they can make,” Bennett said of Philadelphia’s standout receivers. “So,
we just wanted to go out there, make some plays, and prove the critics wrong.”

The Eagles reached the Bears 42 on their next drive. On fourth-and-6, punter
Chas Henry(notes) bounced a pass to a wide-open Colt Anderson(notes) and Chicago took over.

Henry, recruited as a quarterback at Florida, spent a lot of time throwing
passes to long snapper Jon Dorenbos(notes) on the sideline in the second quarter,
presumably warming up for the fake punt. He got his chance and badly underthrew
the pass.

“Pretty seldom do we have a guy completely uncovered and have a chance to
make a big play. We didn’t execute,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said.

The Bears took advantage. A pass interference penalty on Nnamdi Asomugha(notes) at
the Eagles 7 prolonged the drive. The defense stiffened and Gould hit a
22-yarder to extend the lead to 30-24.

Trent Cole(notes) knocked the ball loose from Forte following a 6-yard run midway
through the third quarter, and Mike Patterson(notes) recovered at the Bears 41. Forte
was originally ruled down, but the play was overturned when the Eagles
challenged.

Two plays later, McCoy sprinted down the left side and into the end zone to
score for the eighth straight game, tying Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren’s club
record.

In a matchup featuring two of the game’s best running backs, Forte outplayed
McCoy except for the two fumbles.

McCoy had 71 yards rushing.

The Eagles tied it at 17 on Ronnie Brown’s(notes) 4-yard TD run that capped an
80-yard drive to open the second half. The TD was Brown’s first since joining
the Eagles. Brown was one of six former Pro Bowl players acquired by
Philadelphia in the offseason. He hadn’t made much of a contribution and was
traded to Detroit last month only to have the deal voided because Jerome
Harrison(notes) didn’t pass a physical.

The Bears took a 17-10 halftime lead on Marion Barber’s(notes) 2-yard TD run after
a costly fumble by Jackson.

Jackson, a Pro Bowl punt returner, was stripped by Corey Graham(notes) and the
Bears recovered at the Eagles 9 with a minute left in the second quarter.

A roughing-the-passer penalty on Jason Babin(notes) gave Chicago a first down at
the Eagles 2 after Cutler threw an incomplete pass on third down. Barber then
ran in from the 2.

Cutler threw a 5-yard TD pass to Matt Spaeth(notes) and Gould kicked a 51-yard
field goal to help the Bears build an early 10-0 advantage.

Rookie Alex Henery(notes) kicked a career-best 47-yard field goal for the Eagles,
and the defense made a big play on Chicago’s ensuing series late in the second
quarter.

Forte caught a short pass from Cutler, but Brian Rolle(notes) punched the ball out.
Rolle picked it up and ran 22 yards for a TD that tied it at 10.

Helped by a pass interference call on Major Wright(notes) that kept their second
drive going, the Eagles reached the Bears 19 early in the second quarter. But
Vick made a poor throw into double coverage that was picked off by Wright, who
returned it 36 yards to the Bears 48.

The teams met for the fifth straight year. Chicago has won four of those
games. Beloved former Eagles coach Buddy Ryan was honored at halftime.

Vick was 21 of 38 for 213 yards and one interception. He fell to 0-4 as a
starter against the Bears.

Cutler was 18 of 32 for 208 yards and two TDs.

Ryan, who is battling cancer, was Chicago’s defensive coordinator during
their Super Bowl championship season in 1985. He came to Philadelphia the next
season and led the Eagles to the playoffs from 1988-90.

Ryan got a loud ovation and fans chanted “Buddy! Buddy!”

NOTES: Eagles FS Nate Allen(notes) left with a concussion. … Bears return
specialist Devin Hester(notes) left with an ankle injury. … Reid coaches his 200th
regular-season game.

Matt Forte, Jay Cutler and the Bears just want a little respect!
(Matt Slocum – AP)
The Chicago Bears went into Philadelphia on Monday night as 8-point underdogs.

The Bears entered with a 4-3 record, having won three of four. The Eagles came in at 3-4 with a modest two-game win streak.

Based on talent alone, the Eagles should have been given the edge on their home turf. But eight points?

That didn’t sit too well with the Bears, who did their best to change NFC perceptions with a come-from-behind 30-24 win.

“The Chicago Bears should not be 8-point underdogs in a game like this on the road. And our guys played like they felt that way,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We feel like we have a pretty good team that is not getting a lot of respect.”

When they play the way they did Monday, there’s little doubt the Bears deserve more respect than they’re getting.

Jay Cutler threw for a pair of touchdowns — including the go-ahead score with 2:21 left — and running back Matt Forte continued his campaign for a first Pro Bowl bid with yet another 100-yard day.

Forte, who last week said his team was “grinding (him) into a pulp,” bounced back from a pair of early fumbles to rush for 133 yards on 24 carries against the Eagles porous run defense. He’s now second in the NFL (behind Eagles RB LeSean McCoy) with 805 rushing yards.

Don’t look now, but the Bears are smack dab in the middle of the playoff hunt. They’re currently one game behind the Detroit Lions for second place in the NFC North… and look who’s coming to Soldier Field on Sunday.

The Lions rode a raucous Monday night crowd to a 24-13 win in Week 5, but the Bears have now won three straight with Forte’s 365 yards during that stretch.

With the loss, the Eagles fell to 3-5 and now trail the NFC East leading Giants by three games.