[Wade3]

DEFENSE STEPS UP FOR THE BEARS
Indianapolis Colts 12-27 Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears had their defense to thank for a huge victory over Indianapolis Colts in week 1 of the NFL 2016 season. With football finally back, fans were clamoring up and down the country to get their fix of football following the seven month sabbatical with those at Soldier Field treated to a fascinating, high-paced encounter.

Colts won the coin flip and chose to put Andrew Luck and his new-look offensive line out on the field first. They managed to get the ball down to about the 30 yard line before a key tackle by Shea McLellin, 1 of 10 for the linebacker, on Donte Moncrief prevented a 1st down being granted. The Colts opted for the field goal as Shaun Suisham put them up 3-0 early into the match. The Bears responded poorly however, with Jay Cutler, as he's been prone to do, stepping up and throwing an interception into the waiting hands of Vontae Davis. Newly-acquired QB Geno Smith looked on from the sideline with some maybe feeling Cutler could be pulled from the game. That wasn't to be the case but more on that later. Luckily for the Bears, the Colts failed to do anything with their excellent field position and punted away. The Bears decided to run the ball for a successive amount of times on their next possession before Cutler threw a touchdown pass inside the redzone to Eddie Royal for a 7-3 lead.

The second quarter began with the Colts struggling to move the ball on offense. The frustration was so much for coach Chuck Pagano that he opted for a fake punt on 4th and 7 but, unsurprisingly, failed to get any success from the trick play. This would lead to the Bears offense starting in FG position and they decided to play it conservatively to allow Robbie Gould to step up and kick the Bears 10-3 in front. The Colts offensive struggles were the theme of the game, Luck not being giving enough time in the pocket nor did he have any clear no.1 option to throw to. Eric Berry, a new member of the Bears, had an exceptional game as did both inside linebackers of Jon Bostic and Rolando McClain. Aldon Smith, the 102m man, had four tackles as all defenders played effectively as a unit.

The first drive of the second half for Cutler & co. led to a Lamar Miller touchdown from the redzone. Miller & Jeremy Langford look to be a good 1-2 punch for the Bears and with Bear Pascoe also possessing the ability to gain yards for the offense, they seem to be set in the running game. Luck would go 3-and-out again before Cutler threw another interception, though this time it was on a 3rd-and-long with it giving the Bears better field position than a punt would have. Still, it's a sign that he might not be able to lead a team as talented as the Bears into the playoffs. The third quarter was about to close before a Luck pass from 30 yards in his own half landed in the hands of Moncrief for the touchdown. And the Colts had life again. It was a harsh one for the Bears to give up, a SS blitz had left Moncrief in a bunch of space to make a play and luckily for the Colts he took advantage of it.

Soldier Field was a tense stadium as the fourth quarter began but another good possession by the Bears showed there was little need to worry. A pass by Cutler inside his own half, looked to have been overthrown, was hauled in by Eddie Royal fantastically to push the wide receiver into 100 yards for the game. Miller was only too happy to rush in another TD and put the Bears up 2 scores, 24-10. Luck would get the ball and enough time to mount a comeback but he got desperate and threw the ball into the hands of Ryan Mundy for an interception that basically ended the game. Robbie Gould would get another FG from the ensuing possession before a Roy Miller safety on Cutler would see the game out, 27-12.

Indianapolis Colts at Chicago Bears
Sep 11, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Indianapolis Colts (0-0)	3	0	7	2	12
Chicago Bears (0-0)	7	3	7	10	27

Team Stats Comparison
	IND	CHI
Total Offense	250	391
Rushing Yards	71	174
Passing Yards	179	217
First Downs	14	17
Punt Return Yards	7	39
Kick Return Yards	60	51
Total Yards	317	481
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Converstion	5	7
4th Down Conversion	0	2
2-Point Conversion	0	0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	100	75
Penalties	11	25
Posession Time	22:14	25:46

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		IND	CHI
	(IND) Shaun Suisham FG	3	0
	(CHI) Eddie Royal TD	3	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		IND	CHI
	(CHI) Robbie Gould FG	3	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		IND	CHI
	(CHI) Lamar Miller rush TD	3	17
	(IND) Donte Moncrief TD	10	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		IND	CHI
	(CHI) Lamar Miller rush TD	10	24
	(CHI) Robbie Gould FG	10	27
	(IND) Roy Miller safety	12	27

Indianapolis Colts

Chicago Bears PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jay Cutler 17/27 234 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Lamar Miller 18 101 5.6 2 Jeremy Langford 20 72 3.6 0 Bear Pascoe 1 10 10.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Lamar Miller 5 31 6.2 0 Eddie Royal 4 100 25.0 1 Kevin White 3 53 17.7 0 Alshon Jeffery 2 17 8.5 0 Jeremy Langford 2 26 13.0 0 Martellus Bennett 1 7 7.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Shea McLellin 10 1 0 0 Eric Berry 8 0 0 0 Jon Bostic 7 0 0 0 Rolando McClain 7 0 0 0 Ryan Mundy 2 0 1 0 Aldon Smith 4 0 0 0