Bears Defeat Bengals 24-21

The Chicago Bears defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24-21 at Soldier Field. It was Marc Trestman’s first victory as a head coach.

“We kept fighting through it, it’s a credit to each and every guy,” Trestman, who reportedly was handed the game ball by linebacker Lance Briggs, told WBBM-AM 780. “They were good teammates to each other today. They stuck together and were able to find a way to win the game.”

It was not an easy win, but the Bears will take it. Chicago’s defense looked better than the offense, as Charles Tillman intercepted Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton on the Bengals’ first play of the game, which led to a touchdown by Martellus Bennett to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. But the Bengals answered back with back-to-back touchdowns by standout wideout A.J. Green, and the they went into halftime with a 14-10 lead.

The Bears were down 21-10 when Benjarvus Green-Ellis scored a 5-yard touchdown run. Chicago hit right back when Matt Forte scored a touchdown with only a few minutes left in the third to make it 21-17.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler threw an interception, but Cincinnati fumbled the ball and Chicago recovered, which gave Chicago an opportunity to move ahead even though they had to cover 81 yards.

After a few penalties set them back, the Bears ended up with fourth-and-one on the Cincinnati 27. A field goal would not do anything, and they had to go for it. Forte took the ball and picked up 8 yards for a Bears first down. Cutler then threw it to Brandon Marshall, his favorite target, and he scored a 19-yard touchdown to put the Bears ahead 24-21.

The Bengals did not do anything on their next possession, and the Bears took over with 6:38 left in the game. It was a lot of time, but the Bengals did not have a timeout. The Bears successfully ran out the clock to win the game.

Cutler finished the game 21/33 with 242 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Dalton finished 26/33 with 282 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.