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Rapid Reaction: Bears 41, Jaguars 3
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bear...s-27-jaguars-3
Rapid Reaction: Bears 41, Jaguars 3
October, 7, 2012Oct 7
6:14
PM CT
By Michael C. Wright | ESPNChicago.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Chicago Bears scored 38 second-half points to turn a competitive 3-3 affair at the half into a 41-3 slaughter on the strength of two Jay Cutler touchdown passes and a pair of defensive touchdowns from Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs.
Over the last six days, the Bears have racked up four defensive touchdowns with Tillman and Briggs chipping in two apiece dating back to the club's Monday night victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 1
Four of the club's TDs against the Jaguars came in the fourth quarter alone.
Let's look at this thing a little closer.
What it means: The Bears accomplished their goal of going into their week off with a 4-1 record, and will be tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the division lead. In addition, the Bears extended their NFC North lead over the Green Bay Packers to two games. Such a lead could come in handy down the stretch.
Slow start for Cutler: Jay Cutler completed 10 of 20 passes for 110 yards and an interception to go with a passer rating of 45.8 in the first half as the Bears sputtered on offense, converting just 2 of 7 on third down.
But the quarterback rebounded to throw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall.
As Cutler caught fire, his passer rating improved to 88.8 as he hit Jeffery for a 10-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a slant route defended by Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis, and later a 24-yard scoring strike to Marshall. By the 12-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Bears had improved their third-down conversion rate to 50 percent.
Cutler finished the game having completed 23 of 39 for 292 yards.
Carimi's struggles continue: Carimi played a major role in the club squandering what should have been a touchdown drive in the third quarter with a couple of false-start penalties that moved the team from the Jacksonville 3 to the 13, and forced it to settle for Robbie Gould's second field goal of the day.
The Carimi false starts came during a drive in which he also gave up a sack to Austen Lance for a 5-yard loss.
Deja vu: In what looked like a repeat of Chicago's win over the Dallas Cowboys, cornerback Tillman and linebacker Briggs returned their second interceptions for touchdowns in six days Sunday courtesy of Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The defensive TD marked the fourth for the club over the last two games, and the Bears have proven that when the defense scores, good things transpire.
Since 2004, the Bears own a 21-5 record when the defense scores a TD. The Bears are 18-2 under those circumstances over the last seven seasons.
Tillman scored Chicago's first touchdown with 5:04 left in the third quarter to give the Bears a 13-3 lead after Gould's extra point. The INT came on what might have been a communication mishap between Gabbert and receiver Justin Blackmon.
Tillman now has 32 career interceptions, with seven returned for touchdowns. Tillman's seven TDs go down as the most defensive touchdowns in franchise history.
Briggs' score came in the fourth quarter on a 36-yard return.
Here's a breakdown of Chicago's defensive touchdowns since 2004: 28 TDs total; 23 interception return TDs, 7 fumble return TDs; 26 games in which the defense scored a TD.
More sacks: Jacksonville's offensive line for the most part kept the defensive line of the Bears in check until the second half when Briggs and Corey Wootton (two sacks) dropped Gabbert to run up the club's season sack total to 18.
Considering the Jaguars started off the game converting 4 of 8 on third down, the Bears applied the pressure at just the right time.
Briggs' sack in the third quarter marked just the second by a player not on the defensive line. Interestingly, 15 of the team's sacks have come from the defensive line. Briggs and strong side linebacker Nick Roach are the only players that aren't members of the defensive line to nab sacks.
What's next: Plenty of rest for the Bears which will take off Monday and Tuesday before returning to the Halas Hall on Wednesday. The Bears are idle this week, and don't return to action until they face the Detroit Lions in a Monday night matchup at Soldier Field on Oct. 22.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nf...meId=321007030 Bears 41, Jaguars 3
Associated Press
Bears Roll Jaguars For 4th Straight Win
Jay Cutler threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears over the Jaguars 41-3.
Bears Roll Jaguars For 4th Straight WinBears Roll Jaguars For 4th Straight Win
Bears Roll Jaguars For 4th Straight Win
Jay Cutler threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears over the Jaguars 41-3.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Chicago Bears are turning their defense into a scoring offense.Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs returned interceptions for touchdowns -- their second in six days -- and the Bears used stifling defense to overwhelm the Jacksonville Jaguars 41-3 Sunday.The Bears (4-1) scored 38 unanswered points, including 35 in the second half, to win their third consecutive game. The streak has everything to do with defense.Chicago has returned five interceptions for touchdowns in the last three weeks.Tillman and Briggs returned two of the team's five interceptions for touchdowns in Monday night's 34-18 victory at Dallas. Safety Major Wright returned one the previous week against St. Louis.Tillman's second interception return for a TD this season -- a 36-yarder in the third quarter -- was a history maker. It was the first time since 1950 that Chicago returned interceptions for touchdowns in three consecutive games.It also proved to be the decisive play in a game that saw as many punts (six) as points in the first half.The Jaguars (1-4) never recovered and played the final quarter amid a chorus of boos. Jacksonville now heads into its bye week with serious questions about what owner Shad Khan will do with general manager Gene Smith, quarterback Blaine Gabbert and maybe even first-year coach Mike Mularkey.Khan kept Smith during the ownership change and allowed him to handle the coaching search.The Jaguars have been awful in three home games this season. They managed 117 yards in the home opener against Houston, 212 yards last week against Cincinnati and finished with 188 yards Sunday.Gabbert completed 17 of 33 passes for 142 yards, with the two interceptions. The Bears stacked the line of scrimmage, clearly wanting to shut down Maurice Jones-Drew. It worked, as Jones-Drew finished with 56 yards on 12 carries.Tillman's touchdown seemed to sap the life out of the Jaguars, who then allowed consecutive scoring drives after playing stout defense in the first half.Jay Cutler hooked up with rookie Alshon Jeffery for a 10-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter, and then found Brandon Marshall for a 24-yarder with 8:37 remaining.Briggs' score came after that, a 36-yard return that made it 34-3.Cutler completed 23 of 39 passes for 292 yards, with two TDs and an interception. Jason Campbell played the final few minutes of the game.Marshall caught 12 passes for 144 yards. Matt Forte ran 22 times for 107 yards.Few outsiders gave Jacksonville a chance, calling this an obvious mismatch. The only thing that seemingly gave the Jaguars a chance was catching Chicago on a short week. The Bears got home from Dallas early Tuesday and were back on a plane Saturday.As surprising as the Jaguars were early, they were equally disappointing late.
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Best half of Bears football I have seen in a ton of years.
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Probably since the 05 sb, when the Bears D and ST's just stole a game in AZ.
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Junior Member
seems almost a kind of repeat like the Cowboys game, the first half a grind for anything to happen, but the 2nd half the Bears dominate. Cutler was pulled near game end and the bears pulled yet another touchdown....,hehe. Looks like we are seeing a theme about the bears, but we will have to see them versus one of the leading teams now, especially the Vikings and I still want to see a GB rematch. Whats up with GB? Losing again to Indy the bears beat bad? GB fans must be livid....hehe Bears are looking good, I still think the offense needs some help still tho, defense looking good. Jacksonville cheerleaders look good tho, check their web... http://www.jaguars.com/cheerleaders/ wow, no game till the 22nd vs Detroit monday night
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I love armando Allen as the 3rd back. He's a homerun guy, he won't constantly get you 3-4-5 yards, but he'll get you 1-3 yards most the time; then blam 40+yd TD.
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High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
The Benjamin 
Benji,
Great one !
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Mike Martz is probably kicking the dog after seeing a happy Jay.
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High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
Riczaj01 I love armando Allen as the 3rd back. He's a homerun guy, he won't constantly get you 3-4-5 yards, but he'll get you 1-3 yards most the time; then blam 40+yd TD.
It would be nice if we can develop him into our sproles
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