TOO HOT
Thomas Jones, running back
His fourth-quarter touchdown came on a 16- yard burst up the middle, showing the ease with which the offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and the speed with which Jones hit holes. Jones accounted for all the yardage on the Bears’ final scoring drive, ripping off a 22-yard run–his longest on the day–before the 16-yard scamper. He ran inside and outside with equal success, averaging 7 yards per carry en route to 139 yards and two touchdowns. Jones’ performance will continue to force management to bring rookie Cedric Benson along slowly. “In this offense, once you get that run game going, everything feeds off of that,” quarterback Kyle Orton said. “As an offense, we came out and executed in all phases.”
TOO COLD
Doug Brien, kicker
The kicker excelled in the area where he had questions marks and bombed in the area where he didn’t. He got solid depth consistently on his kickoffs, which was a problem area during the exhibition schedule. But after making his first field-goal attempt, a 48-yarder, he missed a 48-yarder wide left and a 36-yarder wide right. Brien practiced at Soldier Field on Thursday morning to get accustomed to the tricky wind conditions. The veteran kicked a 28-yard field goal against Buffalo during the preseason, but that game didn’t have the 14- m.p.h. southwest wind that Sunday provided. “The first 48-yarder felt good,” Brien said. “Not the other ones. It’s a new Soldier Field, a brand new field.”
JUST RIGHT
Terrence Metcalf, guard
The Lions’ Shaun Rogers is a Pro Bowl defensive tackle and is widely considered one of the premier run stoppers in the league. Metcalf, who surrendered 22 pounds to Rogers, won the individual matchup. “We knew we were going against an outstanding defensive front,” Metcalf said. “We just focused on what we had to do. Coaches believed in me. My teammates believed in me. I just did my job.” One week after rushing for 41 yards against Washington, the Bears gained 187 yards on the ground. “We talked all week about the two guys (Rogers and Dan Wilkinson) up front and being able to neutralize them,” quarterback Kyle Orton said. “We really dominated the line of scrimmage.”
