Chicago vs Buffalo final score: Bills beat Bears on Carpenter’s FG in OT, 23-20

The first overtime of the 2014 NFL season came in Soldier Field as the Chicago Bears came back late in the fourth quarter to force the extra frame against the Buffalo Bills and begin the season with a nail-biter for two teams with two different sets of expectations.

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After the bills forced a punt from the Bears on the opening possession in overtime, the Bills turned to their veteran running back as Fred Jackson’s 38-yard run to the one-yard line of Chicago effectively ended the game.

Buffalo centered the ball and set the stage for Dan Carpenter to win with a 27-yard field goal that sailed through the uprights and Buffalo defeats Chicago, 23-20.

The Bears began the 2014 season with high expectations in Year 2 under head Marc Trestman after an offseason that overhauled the porous defense of a year ago. Buffalo is trying to end the NFL’s longest playoff drought and begin the season with a big win against a team with aspirations of advancing deep in the NFC playoffs.

The Bears started the scoring when tight end Martellus Bennett from 12 yards out after a four-play scoring drive covered 66 yards in 1:55 as the Bears made it look easy against the Bills defense.

However, the rest of the first half belonged to the Bills as quarterback EJ Manuel ran in for the Bills first touchdown of the season from two yards out to tie the game at seven.

After a fumble from Brandon Marshall gave the Bills possession with favorable field position, Carpenter booted a 50-yard field goal to give Buffalo a 10-7 lead.

Buffalo forced another turnover as former Bears cornerback and special teams ace, Corey Graham, picked off a pass from Jay Cutler and returned it 45 yards to the Bears seven-yard line where Manuel found C.J. Spiller on the next play to give the Bills a 17-7 lead at halftime.

The Bears snapped the string of 17 unanswered points with a Robbie Gould field goal from 41 yards out and Brandon Marshall scored an 11-yard touchdown from Cutler on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter to tie the game at 17 entering the fourth quarter.

With the Bears driving midway through the fourth quarter and poised to at least set up for a potential go-ahead field goal attempt, Cutler rolled out to his right and forced a throw over the middle and into the waiting arms of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kyle Williams who recorded his first career interception.

Buffalo would take the lead on a 22-yard field goal from Carpenter after the Bears kept them out of the end zone and gave the offense a chance to answer with a score of their own to force overtime.

Matt Forte was the Bears go-to weapon on the ensuing 12-play drive that saw him go over 150 yards from scrimmage on the day. The Bills defense knocked a pass away from Marshall in the end zone and on 3rd-and-1 forced an incompletion which forced Gould to kick the tying field goal from 37 yards out and force overtime.

Forte finished with 82 rushing yards and 87 receiving yards on eight catches to lead the team in all three categories. Cutler was 34-of-49 with 349 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Bears loss also came at a cost as they lost starting left guard Matt Slauson and center Roberto Garza and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery to injury. The extent of their injuries are unknown but Jeffery was running up and down the sideline in the second half trying to loosen up his ailing hamstring.

Jackson led the Bills with 61 yards rushing and Anthony Dixon and Spiller added 60 and 53 yards, respectively. Robert Woods led the team in receiving with four catches for 78 yards. First round pick, Sammy Watkins had three grabs for 33 yards on a quiet debut for the No. 4 overall pick.

Manuel shook a poor preseason to throw for 173 yards on 16-of-22 passing and one touchdown and one interception. The most important stat for him on the day was one win as Buffalo picks up a much-needed win to get their season some early momentum.