The Bears recovered from a disastrous start to take a 34-21 lead over the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth quarter on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Down 7-0 in the first four minutes, the Bears built a comfortable enough lead in the third quarter that linebacker Brian Urlacher, recovering from a knee injury, was taken out of the game after the Bears took a 31-14 lead on Matt Forte’s 6-yard touchdown run. The Bears play the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night at Lambeau Field.
Cornerback Charles Tillman left the game in the first half with a leg injury and did not return.
Jay Cutler, who threw an interception that was returned three yards for a touchdown by Colts linebacker Jerrell Freeman just 3:37 seconds into the game, found his groove, leading three touchdown drives in the first half as the Bears took a 24-14 lead.
Cutler was 1-of-10 for 13 yards in the Bears’ first four series. But he threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall and completed 18-of-23 passes for 256 yards through three quarters.
Marshall had eight catches for 97 yards through three quarters.
After the Cutler interception, the Bears did not have a turnover and had four takeaways in building the 34-14 lead. Tim Jennings had a leaping interception of a deep pass by Colts rookie Andrew Luck in the first quarter. J.T. Thomas forced a fumble on a kickoff and Kelvin Hayden recovered.
Tim Jennings tipped a Luck pass for Reggie Wayne in the end zone and safety Chris Conte intercepted it and returned 35 yards. Corey Wootton forced Luck to fumble on a pass attempt and the ball was retrieved by Julius Peppers, who had his back on the ground but still managed to make the play.
