The Chicago Bears squeezed past the Carolina Panthers 23-22 to improve to 6-1 and 4-0 at Soldier Field.

Running back Matt Forte took the lead early in the first quarter on a 13 yard rushing touchdown. Forte had 70 yards on 15 rushes along with his one touchdown. Forte also caught five passes for 24 yards.

In the 2nd quarter, after a Jay Cutler fumble the Carolina Panthers responded; Cam Newton scrambled and dove in the end-zone but was hit and fumbled. Luckily the ball was recovered by Louis Murphy for the touchdown to go ahead 10-7.

The Panthers took advantage of Chicago’s weak offensive line and sacked Jay Cutler six times in the first half. Panthers kicker, Justin Medlock kicked three consecutive field goals to pull ahead 19-7.

In the 4th quarter, Jay Cutler put the Bears back on board. Cutler and tight-end Kellen Davis connected on a 12 yard-pass for his only reception of the day. The touchdown cut the Bears deficit to 19-14.

On the ensuing drive, on 1st and 10 on Carolinas 20 yard-line Newton dropped back to hit wideout Steve Smith who slipped, Tim Jennings jumped the rout and intercepted the pass to take it back for seven and give the Bears the late 20-19 lead. Jennings recorded two interceptions, a total of six on the year.

The Panthers almost responded with an incredible catch by Smith, but the veteran was unable to hang onto the ball. As a result, Medlock kicked a 45 yard field goal off the goal pole to go back ahead 22-20.

Cutler and Brandon Marshall connected four times on the final drive to help push the Bears into field goal range. On 2nd and 7 with four seconds left, Robbie Gould nailed a 41 yard field goal for the win.

Cutler finished the game completing 19-of-28 passes for 186 yards one touchdown, one interception and two fumbles. Cutler favorite target Marshall, caught nine passes for 98 yards.

Newton completed 20-of-39 passes for 314 yards threw two interceptions and two fumbles. Steve Smith, caught seven passes for 118 yards.

Carolina will head to FedEx field next week to take on the Washington Redskins. The Bears will be on the road next week against the Tennessee Titans as they look to stay atop the NFC North division with the Vikings and Packers breathing right behind their necks.

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A highly anticipated offensive shoot-out at Lambeau Field turned into a  defensive gridlock on Thursday night. The Green Bay Packers defense had a huge target on their back following their weak performance in Week 1 against the 49ers. In Thursday nights rivalry game against the Chicago Bears, the Packers defense completely shut down the Bears explosive offense to earn an encouraging 23-10 victory.

The rampant defense of the Packers held the Bears to just 168 total yards. Jay Cutler was completely flustered by Green Bay’s aggressive defense, only throwing for 126 yards and one touchdown, whilst also giving up four interceptions. Cutler was also sacked seven times, and is now 0-3 at Lambeau Field. Green Bay also limited Chicago’s run game, especially after Matt Forte left the game in the 3rd quarter with an ankle injury.

Packers linebacker, Clay Matthews, had seven tackles, and 3.5 sacks. Matthews has already matched the amount of sacks he had last year in the first two games of the season, and should continue to harass quarterbacks all season. The secondary also shone with Tramon Williams picking up two interceptions, whilst Charles Woodson and rookie Jerron McMillian also both picked off Cutler. The Packers secondary was also able to lock-up Bears star wideout Brandon Marshall, and limited him to two receptions for 24 yards. Marshall had a touchdown opportunity in the 3rd quarter however, but was not able to hang onto the ball.

Interestingly enough, Green Bay’s punter, Tim Masthay, threw a touchdown pass before Aaron Rodgers. In the second quarter, on a fake field goal, Masthay pitched the ball to Tom Crabtree who followed his blockers all the way for seven. Rodgers finally threw his first and only touchdown pass of the game in the fourth quarter to veteran wideout Donald Driver. Rodgers finished the game completing 22 of 32 passes for 219 yards, one touchdown and one interception. In addition, the Packers run game proved to be far more effective than in Week 1, as they rushed for a total of 106 yards, and Cedric Benson lead the team with 20 carries for 81 yards. Benson also had four receptions for 35 yards.

Green Bay has now extended their winning streak against the Bears to five games. The Packers handled the pressure of an expectant home crowd extremely well to earn their first win of the season. Green Bay will be on the road for their next game, a tough clash with the Seattle Seahawks on September 24th. The Bears will be back at Soldier Field, September 23rd, against the St.Louis Rams.

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The Chicago Bears (4-3) posted a hard-fought 24-18 victory over elected home side Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) in the 5^th NFL International Series at Wembley, London.

The Bucs (who played at Wembley as recently as 2009, when they took on the New England Patriots) were welcomed to the field with rapturous applause as tight end Kellen Winslow Jr ran out onto the ‘hallowed turf’ bearing the Union Jack. The Bears, who played at Wembley 25 years ago in the inaugural American Bowl, were enjoying a large amount of support, with a significant contingent of the near 77,000 crowd seemingly Chicago fans.

The game started with a 3 and out from the Bears offence, and they looked as if the occasion, likened to a Superbowl in atmosphere by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Richard Dent, may have unnerved them somewhat. If they were slightly overawed, they soon overcame it, and the league leading Matt Forte, who has 908 yards rushing already this season, ran in a 32-yard TD to give the Bears the lead.

Forte went on to enjoy a monster performance in London, rushing for 145 yards on just 25 carries. An injury to running back Earnest Graham sent things from bad to worse for the Bucs, leaving only the inexperienced Kregg Lumpkin active. Veteran cornerback Ronde Barber did pull back two points for the Bucs when he tackled Forte in the endzone for a safety.

The much maligned Chicago offensive line, who had given up 19 sacks on Jay Cutler so far this season, put in a strong performance, allowing Cutler to find Roy Williams on the 25-yard TD pass in the second quarter. Although Cutler was being given better protection than he has had all season, the story of the game was the Bears work running the football.

Marion Barber collected the 50^th rushing TD of his career as he powered into the endzone from 12 yards out. The Bears were then close to adding to their lead when Lance Briggs intercepted on Freeman’s first pass after the Barber TD and, despite the linebacker taking the ball all the way to the endzone, a Chicago player was called for a push in the back, and Briggs’s celebrations were cut short.

The game was brought back to life early in the fourth quarter as Winsow collected a TD pass, and although Freeman, who coincidentally made his first ever NFL appearance at Wembley two years previously, failed to find Mike Williams for the extra two, and the Bucs were looking a threat in the deep for the first time in the game.

A fourth quarter comeback continued to look on the cards as Freeman, who was showing a composure in the fourth that he had lacked throughout the game, found Dezmon Briscoe for the 24-yard TD and the Bucs kicked the extra point to cut the Bears lead to three points.

The Bears then kicked a field goal to establish a six point lead, and with less than two minutes left in the game, the Bucs began a drive on their own 28 yard line. Although they looked dangerous, recording consecutive first downs, D.J. Moore grabbed an interception with around a minute to play to effectively end the game.

The Bears will fly home hoping that their offensive line has turned a corner, with good performances against both the Vikings and now the Bucs, and that Forte can carry on running the ball with the same effectiveness that has seen him lead the NFL in rushing yards so far this season.

Head Coach Raheem Morris and the Bucs will be disappointed that they could not complete their fourth quarter comeback, but cannot be too aggrieved, as Tampa Bay did not turn up in their first three quarters.

They leave London in better spirits than two years ago, when they were on the end of a 35-7 demolition by the Patriots, and Morris will see a lot of potential on his side as they head into their bye-week.

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