Jay Cutler returned from injury with a impressive performance. He fell while trying to grab a catch in the first quarter and landed on the field clutching his ankle in pain. “I want to get in there, do as much as possible and get out as quickly as possible”, said Cutler of injuries.
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Cutler looked mobile and at ease throughout the game, but still threw a fourth quarter interception, picked off by Raiders safety Charles Woodson.
After the Janikowski kick, the Bears kick-started their winning drive with Cutler’s fourth-down completion to tight end Martellus Bennett, who caught 11 passes, second highest total of his career, for 83 yards.
McPhee knifed inside rookie tight end Clive Walford to dump Helu for a 1-yard loss at the 23-yard line, forcing the Raiders to settle for a 41-yard field by Sebastian Janikowski with 2:05 to play and give the Raiders a 20-19 lead.
The Bears are happy to have Cutler back as he gives them the best chance to win games.
“I thought we were going to get the Cutler of old”, Tuck said.
Oakland travels the Chicago Bears on Sunday and in turn of a given customary crashes of helmets and buds, the Raiders educate had a unusual proposal.
“You can always second-guess the call whether it’s run or pass, it was definitely there if we executed the play”, Del Rio said.
Del Rio said the philosophy of whether to score the touchdown or kick a field goal depends on different factors, and he pointed to the third-and-2 play and another on the ensuing sequence that decided the game.
“This was just one of those old-fashioned National Football League fights down to the wire”, Carr said. Last week, in his absence, the Bears ran two plays from opponent’s territory and punted on 10-of-10 drives in a 26-0 loss against the Seattle Seahawks.
Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, second from left, watches the… None of us our flawless.
Chicago traded pass rusher Jared Allen to Carolina after he was largely ineffective the past two years. Slaw (Matt Slauson) went over to center, a lot of moving parts out there.
Oakland heads into the Chicago game with the 13th-ranked run defense, giving up 275 yards on the ground in the first three games.
If the Raiders are to take a big step forward in 2015 and contend for a playoff spot, they’ll need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.
Cutler did not look as sharp at the start of the second half as he did at the beginning of the first half, but he was able to get into a rhythm when the offense needed him the most.
On the first play after the kickoff, Carr threw a pass right into the hands of running back Lativius Murray, but Murray failed to catch it and instead deflected it right to linebacker Pernell McPhee.
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But the Raiders insisted they did not consider the previously winless Bears a bunch of losers. “When you see people have success, that team is doing everything they can to correct it, so I feel like this week will still be a challenge”. The Raiders have been struggling with the tight end coverage, and it certainly did not improve at all against the Bears on Sunday.
