TOO HOT
He was hot coming off the bench . . .
Making his first appearance since breaking his ankle in an exhibition game Aug. 12, Rex Grossman started the second half. Grossman’s first play was a 22-yard completion to Muhsin Muhammad. The Bears advanced to the 2-yard line after a couple of runs by Thomas Jones and a 10-yard pass to Justin Gage. A third-down pass intended for Muhammad was intercepted by Atlanta’s Keion Carpenter, but the safety fumbled. Jones rushed for the TD on the next play. Not a bad way to start.
TOO COLD
. . . and he was cold on his way to it
Kyle Orton completed just 2 of 10 passes for 12 yards in one half of duty before being relieved by Grossman. He was sacked once and finished with a 39.6 passer rating. For the season, Orton has a 59.9 passer rating after completing 184 of 354 passes for 1,810 yards. The rookie fourth-round pick from Purdue has thrown nine touchdown passes with 13 interceptions. His future appears, well, up in the air when it comes to playing time the remainder of this season.
JUST RIGHT
The only kick they had–for a while
Robbie Gould provided all the Bears’ scoring in the first half, drilling field goals of 29 and 35 yards for a 6-3 lead. In the third quarter, Gould was good from 39 yards for a 16-3 Bears advantage. He missed from 44 yards with 4 minutes 11 seconds to go. The kick would have matched his season’s best, which he made on his first field-goal attempt as a pro. After a shaky start to the season, the Penn State alum has provided steady results for a pedestrian offense that can use every point it can muster.
