The Chicago Bears scored 13 unanswered points in the 4th quarter under Kyle Orton to snatch a close victory last night. All three of the Bears QBs looked pretty good last night. Rex Grossman started the game and he was very efficient hitting 8 of 10 passes for 50 yards. Brian Griese replaced him and he looked outstanding completing 6 of 7 passes for 72 yards and a TD. But it was Kyle Orton who led the Bears to victory as he completed 16 of 25 passes for 151 yards and a TD. Cedric Benson was the only running back that looked good for the Bears last night as he carried the ball 5 times for 23 yards (4.6 ypc). Backup RB Adrian Peterson had a night to forget as he carried the ball 6 times for 10 yards (1.7 ypc). Rookie Garrett Wolfe found the NFL a little harder than the MAC Conference as he carried the ball 7 times for only 15 yards (2.1 ypc). WR Mark Bradley looked outstanding as he caught 2 passes for 47 yards (23.5 avg). TE John Gilmore (4 rec, 43 yards) and WR Brandon Rideau (3 rec, 43 yards) were also standouts last night. The Bears running game looked stuck in neutral last night as they carried the ball 21 times for 57 yards (2.7 ypc) but they were exceptional throwing the football as they completed 30 of 42 passes for 264 yards.

The defense looked sharp as they held the Texans to 75 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.0 ypc) and they completed 20 of 38 passes for 160 yards. The Bears looked good as it only seems like they need to work on their running game on offense in the next three weeks to be ready for the season.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/live/NFL_20070811_CHI@HOU

Jason McKie did a good job of paving the way for Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson to get all the glory that comes with effective running. McKie played in 15 games (12 starts) with the Bears last season and he carried the ball 8 times for 18 yards (2.3 ypc) and he also caught 25 passes for 162 yards (5.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs. Look for him to be a little more involved with the offense this season because of the lack of depth at tailback for the Bears. He has now played in 45 games (16 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the football 12 times for 41 yards (3.4 ypc) and he also has caught 43 passes for 254 yards (5.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs. McKie has also returned 7 kickoffs for 105 yards (15.0 avg). Obafemi Ayanbadejo will be the #2 fullback when he returns after 4 games due to a league suspension for substance abuse. He played in 14 games (0 starts) last season for the Cardinals and he carried the ball 9 times for 37 yards (4.1 ypc) and he caught 17 passes for 139 yards (8.2 avg). Ayanbadejo also made 9 tackles on special teams last year. It’s possible that he could push McKie for the starting job at fullback when he returns. He has now played in 101 games (18 starts) and he has carried the football 123 times for 413 yards (3.4 ypc) with 5 TD runs and he also has caught 130 passes for 885 yards (6.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs. He also is a special teams ace with 62 career tackles. Jon Goldsberry will be the #3 fullback on the roster for the Bears. They picked him up after the Bucs released him. He has played two seasons in the NFL but he has yet to appear in a regular season game.

The NFL has suspended fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo for 4 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The Bears new about the suspension before they signed him so this shouldn’t effect his standing with the Chicago Bears.

The Bears have traded reserve cornerback Dante Wesley to the Patriots for an undisclosed draft pick. Wesley was expendable as he played in 13 games for the Bears last season and he made 10 tackles. The Bears likely won’t miss Wesley much.

Robbie Gould covered up for a lot of bad offense last season for the Bears with his strong leg. He made 88.9% of his field goals and he nailed all 47 of his extra points last season as he finished with 143 points which led all NFL kickers in points. Goould nailed 20 of 22 field goals of 39 yards or under and he converted an amazing 12 of 14 on kicks of 40+ yards.

Gould has now played in 29 NFL games and he has scored 225 points for an average of 7.8 points per game. Gould has now hit 53 of 63 (84.1%) of his field goals and 66 of 67 extra points. Look for Gould to have another monster season in 2007.