The Good
A lot of things went right for the Bears, so this section could be filled, so I am just going to single out a few.
Matt Forte. Forte's performance allows the Bears to continue to run the type of game plan they want to run. His 123 yard performance allowed the Bears to keep the Colts offense off the field, score points and eat up the clock. If Forte continues this Orton's life just got a lot easier. The Colts had more yards of offense (by a small bit), but the Bears held the ball for 31:44 versus the Colts 28:16.
Defensive Pressure. Possibly the key to the game. The Bears showed blitz almost all game and brought it a lot. They kept in Manning's face most of the night. Even when they weren't getting to him they were making him move around and forcing him to get rid of the ball before his receivers could get down field. Every defensive line player, linebacker and some secondary spent some time in the Colts backfield.
Charles Tillman. I thought Peanut had a really solid game. Aside from the forced fumble he had on Colts receiver Marvin Harrison, but he had 6 tackles and did a good job keeping guys in front of him and wrapping up on tackles. He is one of the most underrated CBs in the league.
Roll Call. Most comments in the game thread this week went to...........halfblindcubbiegirl with 122 comments. Following were nbt (88), tempchad (86), tfrabotta (83) and Hester18 (80).
The Bad
Colts coaching/Clock management. This is probably the first and likely the last time this might be written. Manning burned two timeouts in quick succession. Tony Dungy wasted two timeouts on challenges that were not really that questionable.
ESPN Experts.....Again
Bad Calls. The Refs made some questionable calls early on in this game. They called horrible pass interference call on, I believe Charles Tillman. They also gave the ball back to the Colts on a clear fumble from what the announcers described as not knowing who had the ball. When do they ever know on pile ups? You have to go with who came out with the ball.
The Ugly
Bears mistakes. The Bears played real good ball, but there were still some things that need to get cleaned up and some mental mistakes. John St. Clair was burned on a horrible spin move, despite what Al Michaels said, by Dwight Freeney. Tait was burned a few times. Olin Kruetz was called for multiple penalties. A Bears player, Ogunleye? was called for head butting on one of the Colts drives.
Maybe if he flexed less, he would have spent less time chasing Forte.
Bob Sanders. I am not taking anything away from him as a player and I agree that his biceps are impressive, but is flexing the only thing he knows how to do? He does it before the game, during the game and during commercials. Let it alone. One day somebody is going to run over him and turn around and give it back to him.
Devin Hester. He didn't get too many shots at a run back, so he decided to try and create an opportunity and instead gave the Bears horrible field position that led to a punt and good field position to the Colts that led to a score.