Morning Box Score: Bears Corral Rams
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Dec 7, 2009 4:00PM
Continuing their domination of one-win teams, the Bears beat the lowly St. Louis Rams 17-9 at Soldier Field on Sunday. Given the line-up shifts on the offensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary, the Bears hoped to benefit from playing a weak opponent, and they don't come any weaker than a 1-10 team. Even so, the Bears had to overcome a less than stellar performance on Sunday to improve their record to 5-7. Is one win enough to quiet those calling for Lovie Smith's head? Probably not.
While management hasn't heeded the suggestions to explore other options on the sidelines, perhaps some of those whose jobs hang in the balance do listen when one of the team's top players speaks out. Brian Urlacher's outburst earlier this week about the team's straying from its offensive identity might have shamed Ron Turner into returning to the running game. In spite of a Matt Forte fumble on the team's opening drive, the Bears ran the ball 38 times on Sunday -- the most since their 2008 opener. Forte ran for 91 yards on 24 carries, which was his second best output of the season. Kahlil Bell also touched the ball 11 times, rushing for 35 yards. But the Bears managed only 3.2 yards a carry, which doesn't exactly count as establishing a running game. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler had an Orton-like day, completing 8 of 17 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions. While the offense managed a grand total of 248 yards and 17 points, that was enough against the Rams.
The defense held the Rams to only three field goals on Sunday, in spite of some shuffling in the line-up. Now playing without any of their starting linebackers due to Lance Briggs' injury, the middle of the Bears defense had perhaps the best performance of any part of the team. Replacing Briggs in the line-up, Jamar Williams had 18 tackles and deflected two passes, while Hunter Hillenmeyer's interception in the fourth quarter finally put the game away. Rookie safety Al Afalava, who moved from strong safety to free safety this week, recovered a fumble and rumbled 43 yards with the ball. But the defense also allowed Stephen Jackson, the Rams' only offensive weapon, to rush for 112 yards despite missing the whole week of practice due to injury.
Each of the Bears' five victories have come against an opponent who entered the game with exactly one win -- 1-0 Pittsburgh, 1-1 Seattle, 1-2 Detroit, 1-6 Cleveland and 1-10 St. Louis. With no more one-win teams on their schedule, can the Bears eke out another win this year? Their best hope is probably their finale against the Detroit Lions, who have currently won two games. On the other hand, Lovie Smith learned early on that a win over Green Bay goes a long way with the fans when leading a bad team, and the Packers are up next week.