Monday night was supposed to be a battle between two quarterbacks out to prove they were better than what they have shown. Jay Cutler took a step in the right direction and Tony Romo again crumbled under the pressure.
The Bears defense was flat-out dominating in Monday night’s 34-18 victory, intercepting Romo five times, with two being returned for touchdowns.
Romo’s first interception occurred in the second quarter when receiver Dez Bryant appeared to run the wrong route and cornerback Charles Tillman picked it off and returned it 25-yards for the score.
Romo answered back with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin with just seconds remaining in the second quarter to go into halftime down 10-7.
The Bears opened up the third quarter with Cutler picking up first downs with an 11-yarder and 16-yarder to Alshon Jeffery, a 10-yarder to Brandon Marshall and capping it off with a beautifully thrown 34-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester.
Following the Hester touchdown the Cowboys moved the ball down field before Romo was picked off by Major Wright on the Chicago 6-yard line. The Bears’ possession was short lived with Cutler getting sacked by DeMarcus Ware who also forced a fumble that was recovered by the Cowboys at the Chicago 27-yard line.
The momentum gained by the Cowboys on the fumble recovery was short lived when Romo, who was forced up the field by Henry Melton, made an ill-advised shovel pass towards tight end Jason Witten and was picked off by Lance Briggs who ran it all the way in for a 74-yard touchdown, giving the Bears a 24-7 lead.
The Bears put another field goal on the board at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go up 27-10 following a 78-yard drive that ended after a pass interference call was taken away after a review because of a tipped ball.
The Cowboys’ first possession of the fourth quarter again resulted in a Romo interception as D.J. Moore picked off a ball intended for Miles Austin. Cutler connected with tight end Kellen Davis on a key third down for a 25-yard gain that ultimately led to a touchdown pass from Cutler to Brandon Marshall for 31-yards to go up 34-10.
The Bears’ defense was not finished as it picked off Romo for a fifth time with Major Wright again coming up with the interception at the Dallas 20-yard line. Former Bear Kyle Orton came in to relieve Romo, leading the Cowboys down the field on a 10 play, 89 yard drive resulting in a touchdown to Witten and then connecting with Bryant on the two-point conversion to make the final score 34-18.
Game Notes:
Matt Forte returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game, finishing with 13 carries for 52 yards…Cutler had his best statistical game of the year going 18-24 for 275 yards with one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 140.1…Henry Melton had the Bears lone sack for the night…Charles Tillman’s second quarter interception was the 31st of his career…Bears improve to 45-9 in the Lovie Smith era when winning the turnover battle.
Matt Eurich is a contributor to Bearsbacker.com. Follow Bears Backer on Facebook and Twitter for up to the minute news about the Bears. Also, check out Matt’s work onBleacherreport.com and follow him on Twitter @MattEurich
