Defense lifts Cutler, Bears to victory over Rams

CBSSports.com wire reports
Sep. 23, 2012

CHICAGO -- Major Wright saw Sam Bradford zeroing in on Danny Amendola and knew where the ball was headed.

It ultimately wound up in the end zone, and that was just fine with the Chicago Bears. They got back to winning thanks to their defense, with Wright coming up with the biggest play.

He returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and Chicago beat the St. Louis Rams 23-6 on Sunday.

The defense came to the rescue against the Rams (1-2), holding them to 160 yards and sacking Bradford six times. That was enough on a day when Jay Cutler struggled, and the Bears (2-1) bounced back after an ugly loss to Green Bay the previous week.

The Bears had just kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 13-6 in the fourth quarter before Wright made his key play. Bradford had been hit hard by Israel Idonije and Stephen Paea on the previous play when Tim Jennings deflected a slant intended for Amendola.

Wright caught the ball at the 45 and ran untouched to the end zone, making it a 14-point game and finally giving the Bears some breathing room.

"Sam Bradford was looking his way the whole time," Wright said. "As we were watching film, he is not the type of quarterback that is going to look one way and go back the other way. He was honing in on that side and I was like, 'You know what, let me take a shot over here,' and I ended up taking a shot over there. ... [Jennings] tipped it up and me being in the right spot at the right time [I] took it in."

It wasn't exactly the sort of showing the Bears were looking for after that brutal 23-10 loss to the Packers, but they got by because the defense did its part. For the offense, well, that's two bad outings in a row.

"Some games, we are going to need to score 41," coach Lovie Smith said. "Other games, we're not going to need to. We're going to have to play good, sound football and make the plays when it's required, and it was that type of day."

One positive note for the offense was Cutler appearing to keep his composure in this game. Considering he got sacked seven times, threw four interceptions and berated and bumped left tackle J'Marcus Webb on the sideline, that was an improvement.

Otherwise, there weren't many positives for him.

"Not every game is going to be 41-21," Cutler said, referring to the season-opening win over Indianapolis. "We're not going to come out every game and blow the doors off offensively and defensively. This is what is going to be more likely week in and week out."

Cutler completed 17 of 31 passes for 183 yards. He was sacked twice and threw an interception to Cortland Finnegan, who also delivered a shot after the game.

Asked what he saw from the Bears' quarterback, he said, "Not much. Not much. I think he had 190 yards passing, something like that. And no touchdowns. Typical him."

Brandon Marshall had trouble hanging onto the ball at times and wound up with five receptions for 71 yards after catching just two passes the previous week. Michael Bush ran for 55 yards and a touchdown with Matt Forte sidelined by a sprained right ankle.

"It's not how we wanted to perform, but got a W," Bush said.

Credit for that goes to the defense.

Idonije had 2? sacks, and the Bears simply made it a miserable Bradford, who was 18 of 35 for 152 yards with two interceptions.

Steven Jackson managed just 29 yards rushing after missing most of the previous game with a groin injury and sitting out practice during the week, and Amendola had five catches for 55 yards after tying a club record with 15 catches for 160 yards.

"We definitely didn't play well today," Bradford said. "Give them credit, they played us tough. But I think there are a lot of things when we look at the film that are going to fall on us. Things that we were in control of and just didn't handle. It was a tough game, a lot for us to learn from and move on as a group."

Protection might be at the top of the list. Then again, the Bears had something to do with it, too.

For all the questions surrounding their defensive line, the results so far are good. They came in tied for second in the league with eight sacks and added to their total with another balanced effort.

It's not just Julius Peppers being disruptive; he's getting help, too.

"We're fighting for the sacks," said Paea, who had one. "It's not just one person on the quarterback. It's two or three."

The effort on defense was enough to overcome a subpar performance by the offense.

When the Bears had chances, they simply didn't take advantage. With Chicago leading by four early in the final quarter, a 21-yard scramble by Cutler put the ball on the 6. But the Bears settled for a field goal to make it 13-6 after he overthrew an open Devin Hester in the end zone, the ball going through the receiver's hands as he tried to make a leaping catch.

That drew more groans from an already weary crowd, but the Bears came out on top.

"Most games are like this," Cutler said. "Most games are slug-outs. It's a four-quarter game."

Notes

Jackson said afterward that he wasn't risking further injury by playing and that he "came out of this clean." He added: "I just wish I could have been more productive and help my team win." Finnegan has an interception in each of the three games. Bears FB Evan Rodriguez left with a knee injury early in the game.

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Luck earns first victory, Colts edge Vikes on FG

CBSSports.com wire reports
Sep. 16, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS -- Andrew Luck sure didn't play like a rookie Sunday afternoon.

He looked like a new, younger version of Peyton Manning.

The Colts rookie threw two touchdown passes, took advantage of several key Minnesota penalties and marched Indianapolis 45 yards in 23 seconds to set up Adam Vinatieri for a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, which gave Indianapolis a 23-20 victory over the Vikings in Luck's home debut.

"It's just amazing that the guy's able to go out there and do the things he does as a rookie," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "He certainly had to put the ball on them, and he did."

Many of those wearing No. 18 jerseys in Sunday's crowd had probably forgotten it took Manning a little longer to win his first game. He started 0-4, including two home losses, before finally beating Ryan Leaf and the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 4, 1998.

Luck's older teammates couldn't be happier to get this early win, either, especially after last season's 0-13 start spurred speculation about going winless for the regular season.

The No. 1 draft pick made sure it didn't happen again. Indy's new quarterback finished 20 of 31 for 224 yards on a solid, not spectacular day.

He played the entire second half without three starters on the offensive line, yet managed to move the Colts into field-goal position twice. Luck actually did his most impressive work eluding pass rushers and throwing on the run.

Time after time, he managed to escape trouble, including twice on Indy's winning drive, to complete passes. And when the Vikings made mistakes, he made them pay.

He got a field goal out of a roughing the kicker penalty and a personal foul call, penalties that kept one second-half drive alive, and when the Vikings blew a coverage just before halftime, Luck hooked up with Reggie Wayne for a 30-yard score.

The Vikings (1-1) were frustrated all afternoon.

"We were rushing him. He moved around a lot. It [stinks], missing sacks," defensive end Jared Allen said. "He did a good job. If the guy is not as mobile, we probably have six sacks.

Sure, Luck made a few miscues -- such as taking the 17-yard sack on third-and-5 with 3:00 to play. Or spiking the ball when the clock was already stopped just before Vinatieri came onto the field for his field goal.

But, like Manning, Luck didn't let the miscues bother him.

"I guess some people were under the impression that the clock was going to run, so I guess we looked a little foolish killing the clock when it was already stopped ," Luck said, laughing as he explained why he spiked the ball with 12 seconds to play. "Oh well."

The Colts (1-1) have won three straight home games dating to last season and improved to 10-0 in home games against the Vikings.

After settling for two field goals in the first 54 minutes, quarterback Christian Ponder rallied the Vikings late and got the big break he needed when defensive end Cory Redding batted his fourth-down pass up into the air. Kyle Rudolph got his hands on the ball, too, tipping it up again and toward teammate Stephen Burton, who hung onto the ball for a 7-yard TD. That made it 20-13 with 5:07 to play.

Ponder was 27 of 35 for 245 yards with two TDs, but was sacked four times. Percy Harvin caught 12 passes for 104 yards.

"We had opportunities. We just didn't capitalize on them," Adrian Peterson said after running 16 times for 60 yards and catching three passes for 20 yards.

The Vikings were just getting started, though.

Following the big third-down sack on Luck and a poor punt, Minnesota took over at the Indy 47 with 2:29 to play. The Vikings finally tied the score when Rudolph hung on for a 6-yard TD reception to tie the score with 31 seconds left.

"You want to score and the defense has to go out there and hold in that situation," coach Leslie Frazier said. "That's our league. In that situation where we were, we needed to get the ball in the end zone and we got to go out and play defense."

But 31 seconds was too much time for Luck.

He started the Colts' last series by rolling to the left and hooking up with Donnie Avery for 20 yards. Then he stepped up in the pocket and threw to the right, a 20-yard strike to Wayne. Then he got the Vikings to jump offside, moving the ball to the Minnesota 35, and after the spike, Vinatieri lived up to his nickname as the best clutch kicker in league history.

"The kid's got poise," Wayne said. "He's got some winning in the blood."

Notes

Avery tied his career high with nine receptions. He also had 111 yards. Colts center Samson Satele left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed knee injury. Right tackle Winston Justice and left guard Joe Reitz (knee) were inactive. During one stretch Sunday, the Colts ran 31 plays, compared with four for the Vikings -- including a kneel down at the end of the first half. The Colts have won all three home games (two in the preseason) this year, but have lost all three on road. Blair Walsh has made all six of his field-goal attempts in his first two games, including a 51-yarder to open Sunday's scoring.

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Unflappable Flacco shrugs off drops, achieves statement victory

Take away the drops, and Flacco's stats are 7 of 10 for 92 yards on the final drive. (US Presswire)

PITTSBURGH -- Joe Flacco doesn't get happy, doesn't get mad, doesn't seem to register emotion like a human being registers emotion. He plays football with bland detachment, like a librarian stacking books instead of a quarterback trying to avoid James Harrison.

And that ticks some people off. They don't get it. They can't relate to it. It's spooky to watch, but when it works -- and it worked Sunday night -- it's beautiful to watch. Beautiful and still spooky, because normal people don't handle stress like Joe Flacco handles it.

But a normal person, even a normal NFL quarterback -- even a very good NFL quarterback -- wouldn't have been able to handle the stress Flacco handled Sunday night. There might be only two other quarterbacks in the NFL who could have led the game-winning drive engineered by Flacco on Sunday night, a 92-yard lesson in perseverance that gave the Ravens a last-second, 24-20 victory against the Steelers in a pivotal AFC North game.

Those two other quarterbacks are named Brady and Rodgers, by the way.

Flacco doesn't have the Super Bowl bling of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but he has that ability. His window is closing in Baltimore -- star defensive players Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, not to mention star receiver Anquan Boldin, are in their 30s and can't play at this level for too much longer -- but the window is open this year. And if the Ravens get it done, I promise you this comeback in Pittsburgh will be seen as the launching pad.

This was the kind of victory that can catapult a team into the stratosphere, and the AFC is there for the taking. Unlike the NFC, with the Packers clearly the dominant team, the AFC has no frontrunner. Well, it had no frontrunner until Sunday night, when the Ravens emerged from the pack thanks to their maddeningly cool, sometimes downright cold, quarterback. Joe Cool? Joe Freezing.

He needed every sub-zero degree of body temperature he could muster on a final drive when he was facing 92 yards, the crowd, the Steelers and the butterfingers in his own huddle. And he was facing all of that with only 2:24 to play.

"Joe was the same in the huddle every single play," Ravens receiver Torrey Smith said. "He's the same person he always is."

Before that drive was done, three different Ravens would drop passes from Flacco -- including Smith, who couldn't reel in a 37-yard pass in the end zone with 35 seconds left. The first drop, though, was by running back Ray Rice, who botched an outlet pass with 1:30 left and the Ravens on their own 42. Two plays later, on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 49, Flacco hit Boldin for 10 yards.

"Nobody blinked," Rice said of the drops. "Joe Flacco is going to put the ball in the right place."

After Flacco's fourth-down pass came a short completion to tight end Ed Dickson, then the drop in the end zone by Smith. This was the second ball Smith dropped on the night, the first coming in the second quarter on an out pattern that hit Smith, who wears No. 82, between the "8" and the "2." Had Flacco been throwing a lawn dart, it would have pierced Smith's sternum. It might have killed him.

Flacco? He didn't even look angrily at Smith. Flacco never looks angrily at anyone. He looks sleepy, like he can't be bothered or doesn't even care, although that's obviously not the case. But it is how it looks, and like I said, it's spooky.

So anyway, after the drops by Rice and Smith, Flacco locked in on his best receiver, one of the more sure-handed receivers in the NFL -- Boldin. On second-and-10 from the Steelers' 26, Flacco found Boldin open over the middle hitting him in stride with 16 seconds left at the Steelers' 10.

Boldin dropped it.

Had a doctor strapped a blood-pressure sleeve on Flacco's right arm, at that moment, it probably would have registered 110 over 70. Which is perfect blood pressure. Or maybe it wouldn't have detected any numbers at all. Ice water doesn't generate much pressure, probably. Who knows?

All we know is this: On the next play, the play after Boldin's drop, on third-and-10 from the Steelers' 26, with 16 seconds left and the crowd of 64,851 standing and screaming and the temperature dropping to 40 degrees, Flacco threw a laser into the back of the end zone to the same guy who dropped a potential touchdown moment earlier. This time, Torrey Smith held on.

This time, Joe Flacco showed some emotion. He smiled. May even have screamed. Forgive him, but this was an exciting moment.

The Ravens are now 6-2, tied atop the AFC North -- and all of the AFC, come to think of it -- with the surprising Bengals, a team Baltimore still must play twice. The Ravens have swept the Steelers, meaning Pittsburgh will have to catch the Ravens and then pass them outright to finish ahead of Baltimore in the playoff race.

Don't put anything past the Steelers, though. This is one tough, tough team. They were playing with a makeshift core of linebackers, without receiver Hines Ward after a devastating helmet-to-helmet hit by Ray Lewis early in the second quarter, and with a new punter. But they nearly won this game, rallying from a 16-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, taking a 20-16 lead on Ben Roethlisberger's running 25-yard strike to Mike Wallace with 4:59 left.

After a Baltimore three-and-out, the Steelers had the chance to run out the clock or pad their lead. They reached the Ravens' 29 when Mike Tomlin made a passive-aggressive choice that didn't work at all. Faced with a 46-yard field goal, he hesitated before sending out the kicking team, sending them out so late that Pittsburgh was called for delay of game -- taking the decision out of his hands.

At that point, a punt was the prudent choice, and the Steelers punted. And it worked, with injured Daniel Sepulveda replacement Jeremy Kapinos killing a punt at the Ravens 8.

Now a touchdown would win it for the Ravens. Still, Tomlin liked his odds.

"I made the decision to make them work the length of the field," Tomlin said. "Ultimately, that was probably the best option for us."

Against 28 or 29 quarterbacks, that would have been the winning option. But Flacco's not normal, man. He was dreadful most of the game on first and second downs, when the pressure's low. But on third down, with no margin for error? He was incredible on third down, leading the Ravens to a 14-of-21 conversation rate. That touchdown pass to Smith? That was third down. And it was to Torrey Smith, the most buttery of the Ravens' butterfingers. Flacco's cool like that. He's cold.

"It's not my job to get down on Torrey," Flacco said.

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