Unbearable Recap: Bears Drop Cowboys to 0-2

The discouraging trend continued, the home opener showing similar traits to those in the season-opening loss to Washington - mistakes and sloppy play. The offense repeatedly hurt itself with turnovers and stalled drives while the defense did their best to keep the team in the game, but even they fell susceptible to the big play as Chicago took away a 27-20 victory in front of a crowd of 85,168.
Statistically, the Cowboys out gained the Bears in total football jerseys
yards, 410 to 308, and earned more first downs, 23 to 14. Dallas also enjoyed the time of possession advantage, 33:40 to 26:20, but as was the case a week ago, they couldn't convert those numbers on the field to points on the board.
Quarterback Tony Room, in particular, wasn't sharp despite totaling 374 passing yards. He threw behind several receivers and tossed two interceptions, both of which eventually led to field goals.
From the beginning the Cowboys put themselves in troubling positions. Three of Chicago's first-quarter possessions started on their own 37, the Cowboys' 23 and the Bears' 42, so not surprisingly, after 15 minutes of play the visitors were ahead, 10-7.
The first of those points came after Miles Austin was hit hard on a short pass to the left side, the deflected ball intercepted by the Bears' Charles Tillman. The cornerback returned it down to the Dallas 23, but the defense held, Chicago forced to kick a 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Dallas turned the momentum, though, when the Bears were forced to punt on their next series. Rookie Dees Bryant took the return back 62 yards, joking the punter at the end to race down the left sideline for his first NFL score.
But, the Cowboys' 7-3 lead was short lived. After David Buehler tried a pooch kick behind the initial line of defenders, Chicago started near midfield with a 19-yard pass to Devin Hester moving them to the Dallas 39. Then, with middle linebackers Brady James and Keith Brooking both blitzing up the middle, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler found Greg Olsen on a hot route in their absence over the middle, the tight end racing to the end zone for the touchdown and the 10-7 lead after the first quarter.
Dallas seemed to be figuring things out on offense as the second quarter Cowboys jersey
got underway. Room marched the team down to the Chicago 1-yard line and after a dive over the top by Marion Barber failed, fullback Chris Gronkowski slipped out to the left side of the end zone for a wide-open touchdown and a 14-10 advantage.
However, the Bears counterpunched. Facing a third and 15 on their next possession, and already 0-for-3 on third-down tries, Cutler threw a bomb to a streaking Hester down the middle for a big 59-yard gain. Three plays later, he found Hester again, this time the receiver making a beautiful catch in the left corner of the end zone to retake the lead, 17-14.
That total increased to 20-14 following another Dallas turnover. After moving from their own 20 out to the Chicago 46, Room threw behind tight end Jason Written on third and 10, the pass ricocheting off Whitten’s hands and into the waiting arms of cornerback D.J. Moore. Given a short field with just over a minute to play, Cutler was able to get to the Cowboys' 22 before Robbie Gould converted a 40-yard field goal for the halftime lead.
Dallas responded with their opening drive of the second half, moving 56 yards in eight plays before David Buehler hit his first official NFL field goal, a 28-yarder to narrow the score to 20-17, where it remained heading into the fourth quarter.
Needing another field goal to tie it, the Cowboys pushed their second series of the final frame to the Chicago 26 when Buehler came out for a 44-yard attempt. He missed badly to the left.

From there, Cutler and the Bears quickly moved into Dallas territory, a 38-yard catch-run by Hester doing most of the damage, setting Chicago up with a first and goal at the 3-yard line. On the next play, Cutler lofted one to running back Matt Forte in the end zone, the visitors' advantage now 27-17 with 5:16 remaining.
And then with the Cowboys marching, the offense again was its own worst enemy. Having worked their way into Bears territory, Room hit Roy Williams on the left side for a short gain. But the receiver, in trying to get out of bounds, instead was stood up and had the ball stripped, Chicago's Brian Ulcer recovering.
The Bears were unable to do anything with the ball, but by the time the Dallas offense was back out on the field, there was only 2:45 left in the game. Room and Co. drove 50 yards in eight plays in just 1:28 before Buehler hit a 48-yard field goal to pull within Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
seven points, 27-20.
Dallas then attempted an onside kick, but Chicago's Earl Bennett came down with the ball, the Bears taking possession at the Dallas 43 with 1:16 left in the game. With the Cowboys owning only one timeout, Cutler simply took three knees and the game was over.
Dropping to 0-2 for the first time since 2001, the Cowboys must regroup before heading to Houston to take on the rising Texans, their last game before the bye week.