| Jay Cutler celebrates with Brian Urlacher after the Bears scored a touchdown against the Titans on Sunday. (AP) |
The Chicago Bears' defense continued doing what it's done all year, while special teams and finally the offense got involved making big plays in a 51-20 rout of the Tennessee Titans.
It's only a suggestion but CB Charles Tillman might want to consider a post-football career as a boxer after he punched the football loose four more times Sunday to completely disrupt Tennessee's offense, and then Brian Urlacher became the seventh Bears defender to return an INT for a TD.
When Urlacher made the TD return, it meant the Bears defense had scored as many TDs as it had allowed on the season, an incredible statistic considering the season is half over.
Devin Hester, Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Matt Forte all made their presence felt in performance even more dominant than the season-opening win over Indianapolis.
Offense: A
The only flaws were an average performance in the red zone and three sacks of Cutler allowed, including one for a lost fumble. Cutler continued his fourth-quarter dominance and the offense gained more confidence as the game continued. Marshall's 122 yards on nine catches brought his season yardage total to 797 -- 70 more than any wideout had for the team for the entire 2011 season. The running game worked so well Forte could get only 12 carries on the night Still, there is a need for the offense to start faster than it did Sunday and in most games this season. Previous game's grade: C-
Defense: A+
The effort was marred only by an 80-yard fourth-quarter TD run Chris Johnson made against a defense using almost all substitutes at the time. Only the Bears' defensive team statistics will be hurt by this. So much is going well for the defense that even when it gets two D-linemen removed from the game by injuries, both of them -- Israel Idonije (knee) and Henry Melton (back) -- returned and appear fine. Previous game's grade: C+
Special teams: A
Who could have expected the first Bears punt return for a TD this year would be by Corey Wootton, off a punt block by Sherrick McManis? Even Hester got in on the fun with a 44-yard return that very nearly broke for a TD. Kicker Robbie Gould shook off the disappointing missed 33-yard field goal last week to make three short ones on Sunday. The special teams had a difficult challenge, facing the fourth-ranked special teams unit in the league. They result was a resounding victory. Previous game's grade: B-
Coaching: A-
Mike Tice seemed to bow to criticism of the offense with a screen pass and perfectly executed draw play by Forte. Some of the credit for the defense's incredible turnover run has to go to Rod Marinelli and Lovie Smith, who routinely have players practicing fumble and INT returns in practice. Previous game's grade: C-
Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.