Surprises and shocks from Week 2 of the NFL season
By Andrew Garda
San Francisco Folds, Chicago Holds
One of two games featuring epic collapses (hello Jets-Packers), the Niners seemed to be in control after three quarters Sunday night. Unfortunately, you have to play all four quarters and that last one was a doozy.
Maybe 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s turnovers finally caught up to the offense, or maybe the offense didn’t try and salt the clock away enough with Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde.
Really, you could begin to track the comeback to when bears quarterback Jay Cutler got hammered by defensive end Quinton Dial. I’m not sure I agree the hit was a penalty, but the fact remains that flag or no, Cutler seemed to come back off the turf fired up.
He threw a 17-yard touchdown to Brandon Marshall a couple of plays after that to end the half and when the Bears came out for the third quarter, they seemed awake for the first time. The defense was able to shut the Niners offense down and then the floodgates broke in the fourth quarter.
It’s hard to balance this Bears team out with what we saw in Week 1, and it’s impossible to fathom the Niners defensive collapse in Week 2 compared to their manhandling of Dallas on the road in Week 1.
But credit to the Bears—they never folded.