The Bears Den: October 29, 2012 - Week 8 News and Notes

Gould's field goal lifts Bears over Panthers 23-22 - Bears trailed 19-7 in the fourth period when the game turned in a big way.

Cutler says he would have booed Bears too - Tyler Dunne: Chicago moves to 6-1 after comeback win over struggling Carolina.

Brad Biggs: 10 thoughts - Ten thoughts after the Chicago Bears’ 23-22 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday that keeps them in sole possession of first place atop the NFC North at 6-1, the second-best record in the conference.

Team report - News and notes from the game.

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Bears 23, Panthers 22

Game box score - Game and player stats, play by play and drive logs.

Larry Mayer's game blog - When the Panthers went 16-7 ahead with 6:47 in Q3, they'd outgained the Bears 306-57. That's before Steve Smiths' 47-yard reception.

Bears rally late in 23-22 win over Panthers - Larry Mayer: Badly outplayed by the Panthers for three and half quarters, the Bears suddenly came to life like a horror movie monster who was mistakenly presumed dead. More game news and notes (but, sadly, no more horror references) from El Mayer.

Bears steal win from Panthers - Dan Hanzus: Cutler went 6-of-7 passing for 52 yards on the final drive, driving a dagger into a 1-6 Panthers team that can safely look ahead to 2013.

Gould’s last-second FG gives Bears 23-22 comeback win over Panthers - Sean Jensen: Robbie Gould hit a 41-yard field goal as time expired and gave the Bears a heart-pounding 23-22 comeback win over the Panthers. The Bears improve to 6-1, as the Panthers drop to 1-6.

Bear neccessities: Defense, Cutler star late - The two things that have been integral to the Bears' success this season, defensive scoring and Jay Cutler’s fourth-quarter success, came through one more time in a win over the Panthers.

No 'deserves' in Bears’ reaching 6-1 with fifth straight win - Moon Mullin: It wasn't pretty, but a 41-yard field goal from Robbie Gould as time expired gave the Bears a 23-22 win Sunday at Soldier Field. Jay Cutler threw for a score and Tim Jennings returned an INT for a touchdown.

NFCN Blog Rapid Reaction - Michael C. Wright: The Bears escaped with a win on a last-second field goal. Halftime adjustments - Guys, let's not use empty backfields ever again.

[Video] NFL.com game highlights - The Bears escaped an upset with a late Robbie Gould field goal to defeat the Panthers 23-22 at home.

Bears find beauty in the big picture - Jon Greenberg: The Bears didn't need to apologize for escaping with an ugly win over Carolina.

Ugly win a welcome result for Bears - Brad Biggs: As Julius Peppers entered the locker room, he spoke for nearly everyone in the organization and probably its fan base when he exclaimed, "Winning ugly." It trumps the alternative -- being on the losing side of an ugly win.

It doesn't matter how Bears won, they won - David Haugh: Championship teams find ways to win on their worst days the way the Bears did in beating the Panthers 23-22 on Sunday.

[Video] Haugh & Biggs' postgame analysis - Thoughts on Bears' 23-22 comeback win.

Good teams win bad games like these - Adam Hoge: Sunday's 23-22 win over the lowly Panthers won't go down in the history books as a memorable Bears victory, but it was a victory, and that's what matters.

[Video] View from the Moon - MM's breakdown of the Bears' sluggish start and eventual hot finish.

Q1 Game observations - David Haugh: In a gesture that illustrated how much emphasis Lovie Smith wants on the underperforming third phase, the Bears introduced their special teams before Sunday's game against the Panthers.

Q2 Game observations - Dan Pompei: The no-call after Chris Conte's post-play collision with Louis Murphy was the proper call. Conte couldn't stop his momentum after the play. But it was close, which is why a flag came out.

Q3 Game observations - Vaughn McClure: Hester had a bad drop on third down that forced the Bears to give the ball up. A catch would have given a struggling Bears offense a much-needed boost. Safe to say the Bears need rookie Alshon Jeffery back.

Robbie Gould makes up for missed FG, hits winner - Vaughn McClure: Robbie Gould needed a pat on the back. Even better, he received some words of encouragement from veteran special teams ace Eric Weems.

View from the Press Box - Dionne Miller: The Bears hadn't been in a hole as bad as Sunday since Week 2 in Green Bay. And Sunday they showed fight. They didn't give up, or turn on each other. They fought through and came away with the win.

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Offense

Despite Cutler’s ‘boo-worthy performance,’ QB still finds way to win - Rick Telander: Jay Cutler was so bad in the first half I thought maybe the Bears would start running the single wing, with four guys in the backfield and Matt Forte taking snaps. But then he did what a winning QB must do. Win.

Cutler shows leadership during winning drive - Melissa Isaacson: Bears fans have seen QBs struggle before, but at least Jay Cutler can triumph in the end.

Cutler turns terrible performance into winning one - Dan Pompei: Almost any QB can put together three miserable quarters as Cutler did Sunday. But there aren't many who can put together the game-winning drive.

Mercurial Cutler winning at an impressive rate - Moon Mullin: Say what you will about Jay Cutler's facial expressions and attitude, but since the end of 2009, the Bears QB has done one thing consistently well: win. Sunday vs. Carolina, he was critical in doing just that.

[Video] Game recap - Jeff Dickerson discusses Jay Cutler's performance in the Bears' 23-22 win over the Panthers. Josina Anderson, how you doin'?

Cutler wins hearts of ‘f—ing fans’ - Dan Bernstein blabbers about something trivial.

Jay Cutler says Bears offense deserved halftime boos - Michael C. Wright: Offense's issues, however, seemed a distant memory once the Bears took possession with 2:27 left to play at their own 22.

[Video] Jim Miller: 15 on 6 - Jim Miller breaks down Jay Cutler's numbers (19 of 28), which were slightly skewed because of five dropped passes.

Bennett emerges at most important time - Scott Powers: At times missing in action, especially in the first half, but performing impressively with the game on the line, Earl Bennett's performance reflected that of the entire Bears’ offense.

Kellen Davis’ late TD catch helped Bears gain much-needed momentum - Adam L. Jahns: Catch helped spark an offense which had only 49 net yards in the first half.

Kellen Davis gets it done for Bears - Vaughn McClure: TE was targeted with one pass Sunday, and he made that one opportunity count by scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Plus, game notes.

Bonus pic - Was Davis doing his best David Tyree catch impersonation?

Bears' OL struggles, perseveres - Scott Powers: The Bears' OL was building some confidence during a four-game win streak. On Sunday, that confidence quickly was challenged as Carolina sacked Cutler on the game's first play, and five more times before the half.

Least Valuable Players - Carolina's Greg Hardy led all defenders with three sacks in Week 8, and he's only had nine sacks in his three-year career before facing the worst pass-blocking line in the NFL over the last few seasons.

Gould finds redemption with game-winner - Jeff Dickerson: Gould's 10th career game-winner helped him atone for an earlier Q4 mistake when he tried to compensate for the wind and pushed a 33-yard kick wide right with the Bears trailing 19-7.

Matt Bowen's playbook - Breaking down five big plays from the Week 8 schedule, including the Bears' two-minute drill.

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Defense

Jennings limited damage from Panthers' Smith - Jeff Dickerson: Steve Smith got his yards, but Tim Jennings kept the damage to a minimum.

Tim Jennings comes up big when it matters most - Sean Jensen: There’s an undeniable truth about Jennings, one he reinforced in spades Sunday against the Panthers at Soldier Field: He is resilient.

Pick-six by Tim Jennings a stroke of genius - Fred Mitchell: The Bears defense has been putting crucial points on the board, and this week it was Tim Jennings with a fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown.

[Video] PGL analysis - The PGL crew pick their MVPs from Sunday's narrow win over the Panthers. #26 features heavily.

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Game grades & further analysis

Moon Mullin's grades: Offense - The showings would have been a whole lot worse if not for the fourth-quarter comeback from Jay Cutler and Co.

Moon Mullin's grades: Defense - The DL and LBs struggled, but the Bears' secondary and special teams were superb.

Michael C. Wright's Report Card - Grading the Bears in their 23-22 victory over the Panthers.

Grading the Bears - Mark Potash hands out Cs and Bs to the CBs (as in Chicago Bears, not cornerbacks).

Adam Hoge's grades - The Bears deserve a lot of credit for playing through a sluggish game and pulling out a win, but that doesn't mean they grade out well.

Adam Hoge's game notes - Cutler and Marshall seemed somewhat surprised at the coverage the Panthers used on the Bears' game-winning drive. Plus, more game news and notes.

Smith vs. Rivera: Advantage Lovie - Moon Mullin: They've only met twice as opposing head coaches, but so far, Lovie Smith his holding a big advantage over his former defensive coordinator. Sunday's win provided several moments of irony that favored the Bears.

Five things we learned - Jeff Dickerson's five things we learned about the Bears on Sunday.

Brad Biggs' Four downs - #1: Just win, baby.

3 Bears - Tim Jennings is too hot, Chris Conte is too cold, and Earl Bennett is just right.

Bears’ poor play is turning out to be the anomaly - Rick Morrissey: The difficult games against good teams are about to start piling up. And being god-awful for three quarters isn’t going to cut it.

Do Bears have an incentive clause for aggravation? - Steve Rosenbloom: Should it take this kind of struggle just to edge one of the worst teams in the league at home?

Bears quotes - Bears players talk about Sunday's 23-22 victory over the Panthers.

Photos - Not part of the action, but the giant Jenga set is pretty neat...

Because we face a team from Tennessee next, it's time for Ronkowski's guest "COUNTRY-BLUEGRASS MUSIC WEEK!!! - You've been waiting all Monday for some Hank Williams, right?"