QUARTERBACK
A-
Rex Grossman completed 15 of 27 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, and Brian Griese finished with a 4-for-4 fourth quarter. The game was also Grossman’s third in the last four without an interception and the first time in his career he has gone turnover-free for two straight games.
RUNNING BACKS
A-
Thomas Jones caught four passes and slashed for 109 yards on 22 carries, his first 100-yard day this year and his best day of hitting holes and breaking tackles. Cedric Benson scored his first two touchdowns and finished with 48 yards plus two receptions.
RECEIVERS
A
Bernard Berrian caught a 62-yard pass and scored on an 8-yarder, his fourth TD in five games, while totaling 97 yards on four receptions. Rashied Davis made a tough catch in traffic for a 15-yard touchdown and sustained a drive with a 19-yard grab of a deflection. Every receiver caught at least one pass.
OFFENSIVE LINE
A
The Bears dominated at the point of attack and held a blitzing front seven to two sacks while keying 155 rushing yards by the running backs. Center Olin Kreutz adjusted the blocking properly and allowed little penetration.
DEFENSIVE LINE
A+
Mark Anderson broke up a pass and sacked J.P. Losman in a span of five plays. He added a second sack and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter. Alex Brown picked up a sack, intercepted the second pass of his career and deflected a pass. Tank Johnson forced an incompletion with a crushing hit on Losman and had a second QB hit.
LINEBACKERS
A
Lance Briggs set up a touchdown with an 18-yard return of an interception and deflected a second pass. Brian Urlacher was credited with five tackles and deflected a pass. Buffalo’s Willis McGahee was leading the NFL with 389 yards in four games, but the Bears held him to 50.
DEFENSIVE SECONDARY
A
Ricky Manning Jr. intercepted his team-high third pass of the season and broke up his third pass of the year. Lee Evans caught nine passes, but tackling in the secondary was superb and limited Evans to 10.4 yards per catch. Charles Tillman had four solo tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
A
Robbie Gould converted three field goals from beyond 40 yards, giving him 10 in a row from that distance, and now has 17 in a row overall this season. Devin Hester set up a scoring drive with a 21-yard punt return. Brendon Ayanbadejo recovered a botched fake punt to set up the first score. Israel Idonije recovered a fumbled kickoff. Brad Maynard put two of three punts inside the 20.
COACHING
A
Outstanding job of keeping a 4-0 team motivated and focused a week after destroying the NFC champions. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner gave Grossman chances to settle in and pummeled Buffalo with 36 runs by backs in another balanced game. Special teams attacked and created scoring opportunities, while the defense sometimes blitzed, sometimes dropped into coverage, unhinging quarterback J.P. Losman.
