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Quick Take: Are the Bears serious? No question about it!

"No running room here!!!" says Adewale Ogunleye.

It was over when ...

Kyle Orten was picked twice in his first two passing attempts and the Bears were down 0-14 after just 3:02 in the first quarter. Coach Smith was about to call Rex Grossmann’s number but showed confidence in his starter and it paid of. Orten was 20 for 34 afterwards, threw for three touchdowns and 259 yards and sealed the 29-23 victory over the Cowboys.

Game ball

Adewale Ogunleye recorded just one tackle but it was the game breaker. The Bears defensive end stopped running back Marion Barber in the end zone and fired up his team-mates. His two points on the scoreboard were the first on a 20-0 run in the second quarter that gave the Bears an unexpected halftime lead. 

Key stat

The Bears defence picked Romo three times – MLB Brian Urlacher recorded not just an interception but also a team leading 10 tackles and a sack. The secondary played well in the cover 2 scheme and prevented the long ball on Terrell Owens.

Noteworthy

The Bears had two comeback kids on their roster. Next to Orten his Tight End Greg Olsen dropped three easy balls and came back with his third TD-grab in as many games. Also the big old fellow Marty Booker was crucial on third downs and had a season high 4 catches for 69 yards.

Shaun Hill converted just 7 passes, but three of them for touchdowns, as the San Francisco 49ers improved to 3-0 by holding off the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18 on the road. His most important completion of the day probably came in the final minute of the game when Hill connected with well-covered FB Michael Robinson in the flat on 3rd-and-3 for a first-down that allowed the Niners to run out the clock.

In a meeting of two sack-happy defenses, both quarterbacks were on their heels all afternoon. OLB Manny Lawson recorded six(!) of the 49ers total of eight sacks, coming up only one shy of the NFL's single-game sack record set by former Chiefs great Derrick Thomas.

Meanwhile, the hard-hitting Steeler defense forced Shaun Hil to the ground five times. Despite crushing hits, both teams stayed turnover-free until the fourth quarter. Down 10-7 entering the final stanza, the Niners turned the tide with a quick 79-TD drive. After colliding with Frank Gore, Hill rolled out of the pocket and found his wide-open RB downfield for a 42-yard TD pass to put the Niners back in the lead, 14-7, early in the fourth. The blitzing Niner defense then forced  Ben Roethlisberger into back-to-back interceptions, and Hill and his offense managed to capitalize on the second pick with the QB finding Vernon Davis on a 7-yard out route in the corner of the Steelers' end zone to extend the lead to 10.

Trying to milk the clock with just over three minutes left, a fumble by Gore at midfield put Pittsburgh back in business. On a 4th-and-15 with less than two minutes to go, Roethlisberger sent Santonio Holmes to the house with a 38-yard-bomb down the left sideline. Jeff Reid's ensuing kickoff pinned the Niners deep in their own territory, but Hill's crucial third-down completion to Robinson sealed San Francisco's victory.

One very good half was enough to see the Bengals despatch the Seahawks, 21-0. All of the points were scored in the first half, with Carson Palmer connecting with his WRs for 2 TDs, and Cedric Benson running for another. After that, the Bengals offense went onto cruise control, and the defense took over.

Cincinnati had 4 sacks (including 2 by DE Robert Geathers), and SS Chris Crocker intercepted Matt Hasselbeck twice in the second half to seal the Bengals' second win of the season, leaving them atop the AFC North for the time being. Benson registered his second straight 100 yard game, although his average yards per run still leave much to be desired.

Football is so simple:

A) Turnovers: The Rams won the turnover battle against the Bucs 4:1.

B) Rushing the ball: The Rams produced nearly 200y on the ground and rushed for 4TD.

The pictures show the big hole from the O-line (even the FB had some problems to find an unblocked target) on Jackass 51y TD run in the 4th Quarter.

C) TE catching a short TD pass: Fitting into the game plan the TE Randy Mc Michael caught the one and only TD pass from Marc Bulger.

D) Pass Rush: The left side of the D-line combined for 7 sacks. 3 from a relentless Leonard Little in part time duty, 2 from the solid Victor Adeyanju and yes, Moose911 can play producing 5 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 fumble recovery with his player of choice LDT Adam Carriker.

The score: TB vs. Rams 10:41