[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Chicago Bears are coming into the 2014 season with a revamped defense to go along with a high powered offense and playoff aspirations. Sunday’s season opener at Soldier Field didn’t go as well as they had planned as the Bears were stunned 23-20 in overtime to an upstart Buffalo Bills team.
Game one really didn’t go as planned as the Bears start the season 0-1. The defense got little pressure throughout the game and quarterback Jay Cutler made some questionable throws as he was picked off twice despite tossing for 349 yards and two touchdowns.
The worst of the defensive plays for the Bears came in the overtime period as Bills running back Fred Jackson scampered 38 yards down the left sideline and stiff armed Bears safety Chris Conte out of the way twice before being knocked out of bounds at the 1 yard line.
A few plays after that Jackson run, Bills quarterback EJ Manuel put Buffalo in position for kicker Dan Carpenter to nail the 27-yarder and give Buffalo a stunning 23-20 victory.
The Bears offense came out gunning to start the game as Cutler hit Brandon Marshall, then tossed a beautiful over the shoulder pass to Alshon Jeffery for a 44 yard gain before finding Martellus Bennett for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Other scoring drives by the Bears resulted in Marshall snagging an 11-yard strike from Cutler and kicker Robbie Gould nailing field goals from 41 and 37 yards out.
Chicago’s Matt Forte finished the game with 82 rushing yards and 87 receiving yards. Marshall grabbed eight balls for 71 yards and the 1 touchdown and Jeffery added 71 receiving yards to the offense.
The Bears offense was slowed by various injuries during the game as guard Matt Slauson and center Roberto Garza left with ankle injuries. Jeffery spent most of the second half on the sideline with a hamstring injury and Brandon Marshall was hampered by an ankle injury as well. None of those injuries appear serious.
