A battle of two first place 7-3 teams took place Sunday at Soldier Field as Comeback player of the Year candidate Michael Vick came to town to play the Chicago Bears.  The Eagles came in to this game looking to win their fourth straight over a formidable opponent.  Michael Vick had yet to throw an interception and his worst quarterback rating of the year has been 84, which just so happens to be Jay Cutler’s overall season rating. “We know what everyone is saying.  As they’ve been talking about us, we’ve been atop the division.  We’re a confident football team,” Coach Smith said afterward.

The proverbial rabbit’s foot the Bears have had in their pocket all year came in handy again earlier this week as they would find out top corner Asante Samuel would miss this game with a foot injury.  So, the offense let out a sigh of relief.  The defense, however, would still have to defend against Vick, the deadly wideout duo of Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, and the running game of LeSean McCoy.  With the game getting flexed to a late start, fans and maybe even some of the team taking the field could keep an eye on the early match-up of NFC powerhouses Atlanta and Green Bay.  Atlanta Falcons place kicker Matt Bryant drilled a forty-seven yard field goal with ten seconds left in the game to give Atlanta the 20-17 victory putting the Bears in first place by half a game.  With sole possession of first place at stake there was one thing left to do.  Let the battle begin.

With only a field goal put on the board by Philadelphia six minutes into the game, Jay Cutler and the Bears took over from the Eagles twenty-one.  Cutler handed the ball off to Matt Forte for a sixty-one yard scamper putting the Bears inside the Philly ten yard line.  Two plays later Jay Cutler found Earl Bennett for a ten yard strike in the endzone to put the Bears on top 7-3.  A mere four minutes later the Bears would strike gold again as Cutler found Johnnie Knox for six.  The offensive line did their job giving Cutler plenty of time in the pocket allowing the play to develop in front of him.  Give Eagles corner Joselio Hanson an assist as he slipped and never recovered.  An ecstatic Soldier Field had just seen their Bears score twice in the red zone on offense, just one of the major criticisms directed at the Chicago offense this year.

The second quarter began with the Eagles needing a score to keep the game at hand.  Philadelphia picked up at the Bears nineteen as time expired in the first and didn’t waste much time putting six on the board.  Vick found Jeremy Maclin making the game 14-10 after the David Akers extra point.  Another Philadelphia field goal cut the lead to one with eight minutes left to play in the half.  A Chicago three and out left them inside their own ten before Brad Maynard was forced to punt.  A worried Chicago crowd watched Michael Vick march to the Bears four yard line.  While the Bears had done a solid job shutting down DeSean Jackson to this point, Jeremy Maclin was still out there and Vick was trying to find him in the end zone.  The often criticized Tommie Harris got his hand in there and deflected Vick’s pass in the air with Chris Harris awaiting it in the end zone.  He ran it back to the thirty-seven and set the Bears offense up for a two-minute drill to end the half.  Yet another big play by the offense put Cutler in excellent position to score and extend their lead before the half.  They would do just that as Earl Bennett caught his second touchdown of the game capping a six play, sixty-three yard drive in just over a minute.   Chicago would have three red zone touchdowns and an eight point lead heading to the locker room only to return to the field in the third to get the ball right back.  “The score right before the half and getting the ball back is huge,” Cutler said.

A nice return from Devin Hester to start the third quarter put the Bears close to midfield.  It was Devin Hester again who would make the key play on the drive taking a short pass thirty-four yards down to the Eagles eighteen, which set up a Greg Olsen touchdown in the back of the endzone.  Before you could say cheesesteak, Chicago extended their lead to 28-13.  Perhaps the most critical drive of the game came after a Philadelphia three and out in which the Bears held the ball for a remarkable seventeen plays and ten minutes.  The drive resulted in just a field goal, but the points were secondary.  The drive kept Michael Vick and the Philadelphia offense off the field and it also allowed the defensive unit to rest up for the all important final frame.

With the defense appearing to have kept Michael Vick at bay, all appeared great on the lakefront.  The Eagles mustered up two field goals and trailed 31-19 with just over four minutes left in the game.  Philadelphia refused to go down without a fight.  The Eagles got the ball at their own thirty-two and promptly went downfield in two and a half minutes scoring six on a thirty yard strike from Vick to tight end Brent Celek, who had beaten Brian Urlacher in coverage.  With the ever so tricky onside kick recovery waiting in the wings, Johnnie Knox leapt in the air to recover before Philadelphia could get to it.  Knox fell to the ground, placed the ball down, and ran off the field in celebration.  The Eagles picked it up as Knox had appeared to go to the ground without being touched, which would result in a fumble.  Thanks to the multiple angle replay showing an Eagles defender ever so slightly grazing Knox’s cleat as he was on the ground, the Bears escaped 31-26.  First place was all theirs and there was nothing anyone could do about it. 

Wide receiver Earl Bennett echoed his coaches’ sentiment, “Everybody on this team believes we’re the best team in the NFL.  We have to continue to move forward from here.”

In spite of the nationwide negativity, there are things you can’t take away from this team.  Their defense and special teams have been potent and crucial to their success all year.  More importantly, they are on a four game winning streak and do in fact hold a one-game edge over Green Bay in the NFC North.  With all the positives going in the Bears' direction, they still have a long road ahead of them.  “We have to keep winning and not worry about anyone else.  We can’t hang our hat on this one.  There’s a lot of football left to play,” said Cutler.

More of that football will be played when the team travels to Detroit this weekend to face the 2-9 Lions in an attempt to extend their win streak and maintain their division lead.