Bears Suffer Big Upset Loss at Redskins
The Chicago Bears lost a heartbreaker to the Washington Redskins 45-41 on a last-minute touchdown run by Roy Helu to put the Skins ahead to stay. The loss was a double whammy for the Bears as starting quarterback Jay Cutler went down in the first half with an injured groin.
The Bears could have taken sole possession of the NFC North lead because the Detroit Lions also lost a tough one to the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24.
Helu scored three touchdowns on the day in a game where the Redskins and Bears piled up some big offensive numbers. It looked all day like the team with the ball last was going to win. Technically that was not the case as the Bears had 45 seconds left to try and pull the game out, but the Skins had the last offensive series with enough time to win the game and they did. The Bears had just gone ahead 41-38 with just under 4:00 to play. The Bears were then left with the decision to try and stop Robert Griffin III and the Washington offense, or let them score with enough time left to try and pull the game out in the finals seconds. They elected to try to stop the Skins but could not.
RGIII has some good numbers going 18 of 29 for 298 yards and two touchdowns and another 84 yards on the ground on 11 attempts. Josh McCown came in for Cutler and went 14 for 20 for 204 yards and one touchdown. The loss dropped the Bears to 4-3 and Washington improved to 2-4.
The Bengals and Lions also combined for some huge passing numbers also as the Bengals won on a last second field goal by Mike Nugent from 54 yards. Matthew Stafford was 28-51 for 357 yards and three touchdowns and Andy Dalton of the Bengals went 24-34 for 372 yards and three touchdowns. Nugent’s field goal improved the Bengals to 5-2 while answering the age old question about whether Tigers or Lions are the baddest cats in the jungle.
The big winner in the NFC North today stands to be the Green Bay Packers who can move into first place with a win over the Cleveland Browns. The Packers lead the Browns as of this writing 17-6 late in the third quarter.
A. J. Green and Calvin Johnson renewed their Georgia Bulldogs vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rivalry. Green, of Georgia (where he caught some balls from Stafford) had six catches for 155 yards and a touchdown for the Bengals while Johnson snagged nine balls for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
As is so often the case when the Bulldogs and Jackets square off in college football, the Dogs came out on top here too. Unless of course you count the former Bulldog Stafford. Reggie Bush had 20 rushing attempts on the day and the Bengals bottled him up holding him to 50 yards. His longest run of the day went for seven yards.
All that is left now is to see if the Pack can hold on and watch Monday night as Josh Freeman makes his Minnesota Vikings debut against the winless New York Giants.
