The Bears defensive line had to win this game. Had. To. I mean, the Colts had a new center and two new guards, so, this was a game that should’ve sent Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek to the Hall of Fame, presented by Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye. It didn’t happen in that order, but Ogunleye threw down Joseph Addai for a safety one play after rookie defensive tackle Marcus Harrison sacked Peyton Manning.
Matt Forte’s 50-yard TD run was sprung by a knee-capping block from Roberto Garza and then Forte flat outran Colts safety Bob Sanders at the end. This might turn out to be the most significant play of the year. It might be the point where we look back and say the Bears backed up all the much-mocked, “We get off the bus running.”
I can’t say enough about Kyle Orton’s game, especially his third-down passes to tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark into the red zone that led to 10 points. Even if the quarterback derby was rigged, it was rigged for the right guy. For one game, anyway.
The Bears had a great first half, taking a stunning 15-6 lead and surprising control of the game, but then Devin Hester tried to get tricky. He took the kickoff deep in the end zone, then waited, then ran out, and was taken down at the Bears’ 3. The Bears had momentum and the ball and Hester spit it up, the Bears punting to give the Colts the ball around midfield and then getting strafed for a Manning TD drive. Tricky, meet stupid.
Two series later, Charles Tillman stripped Marvin Harrison when the Colts were starting a drive that could’ve given them the lead and really rubbed in Hester’s stupidity. Lance Briggs scooped it up and ran it back for a score, powering into the end zone like a Lamborghini on the Edens.
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srosenbloom@tribune.com
