Week 1 Game Recap: Chicago Bears 7, Washington Redskins 9

What you need to know

Chicago Bears

The Bears’ offense looked much like last year’s 32nd-ranked offense, scoring only seven points and struggling mightily against the Redskins’ pressure defense. Rookie Kyle Orton started the game and demonstrated some poise and patience in the pocket, but didn’t post solid numbers with 141 yards on 28 attempts, no TDs and an interception. Orton was sacked three times, one of which resulted in the fumble that effectively ended the Bears’ hopes of pulling out the victory. His interception was in the end zone on a ball intended for Muhsin Muhammad, but was tipped by one Redskin before being caught by Lemar Marshall.

Muhammad was a favored target of Orton’s, accounting for six receptions and 59 yards. He was double-covered late in the game, making Orton to look elsewhere or force the ball to his top receiver. Justin Gage started the game, but was not targeted as often as rookie Mark Bradley, but both caught only one pass apiece.

Thomas Jones got the majority of the carries, but struggled mightily with only 31 yards on 15 attempts. He did score the game’s lone TD on a one yard rush set up by a third down pass to Gage. Cedric Benson, the rookie who held out and missed all of the preseason, carried three times for ten yards. The Bears’ rushing offense looked meek against the swarming Redskins defense.

The Bears’ defense was successful at holding the Redskins out of the end zone, but did yield long plays of 41 yards on a Clinton Portis rush and 52 yards on a reception by Santana Moss. Redskin running backs tallied 162 yards on 33 carries for the game. Nathan Vasher intercepted one pass, and had another called back due to a pass interference penalty by Mike Green. The Green penalty set up the Redskins’ first scoring drive.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins did not score a touchdown, lost their starting QB to injury in the second quarter, and yet had enough to beat the Bears to open the season. Patrick Ramsey was injured in the second quarter and did not return, leaving Mark Brunell to lead the team for the rest of the game. Although Ramsey was reportedly cleared to play by the Redskins’ sideline, HC Joe Gibbs stuck with Brunell. Ramsey was not particularly effective, posting 105 yards on six completions in 11 attempts. Nathan Vasher intercepted him on a badly overthrown ball intended for Santana Moss. The Redskins did not score during Ramsey’s time in the game, but they did score three field goals with Brunell under center. Brunell was an even less effective passer than Ramsey, completing eight of 14 passes for only 70 yards, but he did not turn the ball over.

The Redskins’ first scoring drive was set up by a 36 yard pass interference penalty by Mike Green on a pass that was intercepted but reversed by the penalty. The Redskins scored on the following drive after a 23 yard pass play to Chris Cooley brought the Redskins inside the Bears’ 30 yard line. In the fourth quarter, trailing 7-6, the Redskins mounted a 14 play drive to the Bears’ one yard line before kicking the go-ahead FG.

Clinton Portis was effective in the Redskins’ offense, collecting 121 yards on 21 carries. Ladell Betts also saw significant time. He not only rushed 12 times for 41 yards, but also and received more red zone carries and more fourth quarter touches than Portis.

Santana Moss caught four passes for 96 yards, most of which came on a 52 yard crossing pattern before he was caught from behind. Chris Cooley caught three passes out of the backfield, and had a touchdown reception nullified by his own pass interference penalty.

The Redskin rushing defense was stellar, holding Bears’ rushers to only 41 yards on 18 carries for the game. The Bears did score a rushing touchdown from one yard out, but the short drive started in Redskins territory after a Redskins’ special teams fumble.

What you ought to know

QB Kyle Orton, Pass: 15 - 28 - 141 - 0 TD / 1 INT

Orton, starting in his first NFL game, struggled with the Redskins pressure and never really got the Bears’ offense on track. He completed only two of eight passes during the first four drives and the Bears only produced one first down during that time. He connected on four straight passes later in the first half, but a penalty and a sack put an end to the Bears’ fifth drive of the game. The lone touchdown of the game came early in the third quarter, following a Redskins’ fumble at their own 23 yard line on the half’s opening kickoff. Orton completed two of three passes in the red zone, hitting Muhsin Muhammad and Justin Gage on third downs to keep the drive alive. The pass to Gage was completed to the one yard line, and Thomas Jones plunged in for the touchdown on the next play. Orton was sacked three times, the final of which resulted in a fumble and a turnover on the Bears’ last possession. Orton was intercepted late in the third quarter when he forced the ball to Muhammad into triple coverage near the end zone. He was nearly intercepted a second time late in the game on a severely under thrown ball toward Mark Bradley.

RB Thomas Jones, Rush: 15 - 31 - 1, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (4 targets)

Jones had a poor game rushing the ball with an average of 2.1 yards per carry on 15 attempts. He did score the Bears’ lone touchdown of the game on a one yard run early in the third quarter. Jones was also one of Kyle Orton’s favorite targets in the passing game, tying Mark Bradley for second on the team with four targets. None of his touches resulted in a gain of more than eight yards, so his big play potential was bottled up by the Redskin defense. Jones had a run for seven yards and a reception for negative yardage nullified by penalties. He carried the ball three times in the red zone out of the Bears’ six red zone plays for the game.

RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 3 - 10 - 0

Benson watched most of the game from the sidelines, but he did see his first NFL action in the fourth quarter. He entered the game for one series and carried three times for ten yards, but was replaced during the drive by Thomas Jones when the Bears were in a passing situation. Jones, the veteran, is likely favored by the Bears in passing situations due to his experience with picking up blitzes.

RB Marc Edwards, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (2 targets)

Edwards didn’t carry the ball, but did catch one pass on two targets. In other words, he wasn’t much of a factor in the game.

WR Muhsin Muhammad, Rec: 6 - 59 - 0 (12 targets)

Muhammad was clearly Kyle Orton’s favorite target amongst the WR corps, with 12 of the 19 targets to the group. He was also Orton’s primary receiving threat in the red zone, being targeted twice on three passes. Late in the game, the Redskins were clearly keying on Muhammad, bracketing him with double coverage and making Orton force the ball into his top receiver. The Bears may have to spread the ball around a bit more in order to loosen the coverage on Muhammad. He also dropped two passes that he clearly should have caught, and one other that he had his hands on but was a difficult play.

WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets)

Berrian caught the only pass that Kyle Orton threw in his direction for the game. He is the fourth receiver on the Bears behind Muhsin Muhammad, Justin Gage and rookie Mark Bradley.

WR Justin Gage, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets)

Gage started the game and was only targeted twice, resulting in one catch for ten yards. His lone catch was nearly turned into a touchdown as he caught the ball in stride and was stopped on the Redskins’ one yard line. The other pass that was targeted for Gage was batted at the line of scrimmage.

WR Mark Bradley, Rec: 1 - 22 - 0 (4 targets)

Bradley didn’t get the start, but did receive more targets than starter Justin Gage. Orton threw four passes in Bradley’s direction, but he only corralled one ball for 22 yards on a third down play that brought the Bears to the Redskins’ 22 yard line. He wasn’t targeted in the end zone, but was targeted on a long pass late in the fourth quarter, meaning that he could become the Bears’ deep threat.

TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (4 targets)

Clark tallied three catches on the day, and the only ball targeted for him that wasn’t caught was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Orton did not look in his direction during the Bears only scoring drive.

PK Doug Brien 0 - 0 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points

Brien connected on his only opportunity for an extra point.

CHI Rush Defense

The Bears’ rush defense started strong, holding Clinton Portis to seven yards on his first six carries during the first two series of the game. Portis did reach the 100-yard plateau with 121 yards on 21 carries, a 5.7 yard per carry average that was buoyed by a 41 yard burst on the last play of the 3rd quarter. The Redskins netted 161 rushing yards for the game but did not reach the end zone.

CHI Pass Defense

The Bears pass defense was stingy, allowing only 175 yards on 25 attempts. They registered three sacks, one of which resulted in a fumble and sent an injured Patrick Ramsey to the sidelines for the rest of the game. Nathan Vasher intercepted a Ramsey pass in the 1st quarter and later had a second interception called back when Mike Green was called for defensive pass interference. The 36 yard penalty put the Redskins in position for their first score of the game. The Redskins later appeared to score a touchdown on a reception by Chris Cooley, but it was nullified by a pass interference penalty on Cooley.

QB Mark Brunell, Pass: 8 - 14 - 70 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - -2 - 0

Brunell did not start the game, but entered in the second quarter after Patrick Ramsey left with a neck injury. Brunell did not look particularly sharp, only throwing for 70 yards on 14 passes. However, Brunell did not turn the ball over and the Redskins scored all nine of their points for the game while he was in the game. Ramsey was medically cleared to play in the third quarter, but HC Joe Gibbs stuck with Brunell for the rest of the game.

QB Patrick Ramsey, Pass: 6 - 11 - 105 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0

Ramsey started the game and played over a quarter before leaving with a neck injury after being clothes lined by Lance Briggs. The Redskins were held scoreless over the three drives Ramsey was in the game. The last of the three drives ended with Briggs’ sack, which also forced a Ramsey fumble that was recovered by the Bears. Ramsey was sacked twice and was intercepted by Nathan Vasher on a ball that was overthrown to Santana Moss. Ramsey was reportedly cleared to play by the Redskins’ medical staff in the third quarter, but did not re-enter the game as Mark Brunell played the rest of the way.

RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 21 - 121 - 0 (1 targets)

He started slowly with only seven yards on his first six carries, but he became the Redskins’ offensive star of the game with 114 yards on his remaining 15 carries. He did leave the game in the first half for medical purposes, but was only out for a short time. He broke off a long run of 41 on the last play of the third quarter. He only received two red zone carries, two fewer than Ladell Betts’ four. HC Joe Gibbs appeared to favor Betts near the end zone and late in the game as Portis only carried four times in the fourth quarter. Portis was only targeted once in the passing game and he dropped the pass.

RB Ladell Betts, Rush: 12 - 41 - 0

Betts had an unspectacular game but did carry the ball 12 times, more than Clinton Portis’ backup may normally expect. Of particular note, Betts was favored in the red zone with four carries, two more than Portis. Once the Redskins had the lead late in the game, Betts again started seeing more carries than Portis. HC Joe Gibbs’ conservative nature may lead to more playing time for Betts, as he is less likely to fumble than Portis.

WR Santana Moss, Rec: 4 - 96 - 0 (10 targets)

Moss was targeted more than any other Redskin, and accounted for more than half of the targets to the Redskins’ wide receivers. He made more than half of his yardage on one play, a crossing pattern on the right side of the field where he caught the ball and weaved through blockers and defenders until being caught from behind 52 yards later. Moss had 81 yards before Patrick Ramsey’s injury in the second quarter, and only one catch for 15 yards while Brunell was under center. Moss was not targeted in the red zone.

WR David Patten, Rec: 3 - 19 - 0 (5 targets)

Patten was not targeted in the red zone. Of the two passes that was targeted and not completed, one was tipped at the line of scrimmage and the other was called back for an illegal shift. The illegal shift nullified a 15 yard reception for Patten.

WR James Thrash, Rec: 3 - 15 - 0 (3 targets)

Thrash was targeted only in short passing attempts, and was not a red zone target for Redskin QBs Patrick Ramsey and Mark Brunell.

WR Antonio Brown, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets)

Brown caught a pass on a wide receiver screen play that was actually thrown backwards, so it was technically a lateral and treated like a rushing play. He had minimal impact on the game.

TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 3 - 34 - 0 (7 targets)

Cooley did not carry the ball during the game, but he was a valuable weapon in the passing game. His seven targets were second on the Redskins behind Santana Moss and he caught a TD pass that was reversed due to a pass interference penalty. He was targeted on another red zone play on third and goal on the Bears’ 3 yard line. The pass was caught but Cooley was tackled at the one yard line and the go-ahead FG was kicked.

TE Robert Royal, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (2 targets)

Royal caught his lone pass for a first down on what ended up as the Redskins’ winning drive. The play was a play action, fake reverse in the red zone that left Royal wide open for a short pass.

PK John Hall 3 - 3 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 9 points

Hall was perfect on three FG attempts from yardages of 19, 40 and 43 yards. With the score 7-6 in favor of the Bears late in the third quarter, HC Joe Gibbs elected to send Hall out for the go-ahead FG instead of gambling on fourth and one.

WAS Rush Defense

Despite yielding the game’s only TD on a one yard score by Thomas Jones, the Redskins defense was extremely effective at slowing the Bears’ rushing attack for the entire game. Jones gained only 31 yards on 15 carries and the Bears team totaled only 41 rushing yards for the game. None of the Bears’ rushing attempts went for more than eight yards.

WAS Pass Defense

The Redskins pressured Bears’ QB Kyle Orton often, and got to him for three sacks and one interception. Lemar Marshall grabbed the interception on a tipped ball in the direction of Muhsin Muhammad near the end zone. Orton was held to 141 yards passing on 28 attempts for the game. Late in the fourth quarter, with the Bears in desperation mode, the Redskins recorded their final sack of the game and forced a fumble that sealed the win. They held the Bears out of the end zone, but the Bears did complete two of three passes in their only red zone visit before scoring on a rushing attempt.