Cowboys' Struggles Continue, Fall To Bears 31-24: 'I Don't Know How You Come Back From That' - Troy Aikman
CHICAGO (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Cowboys won the toss and elected to go on a 75-yard, 17-play, nearly nine-minute drive that ended in a Ezekiel Elliott rushing touchdown.
On the Chicago Bears first drive, quarterback Mitch Trubisky drove them down into the red zone before throwing an interception to Jordan Lewis inside the 1-yard line.
The Cowboys went three and out and had to punt from inside their end zone and the Bears got the ball near midfield.
The Cowboys led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Less than three minutes in to the second quarter, Trubisky found Allen Robinson on second and goal for a 5-yard touchdown pass tying the game 7-7.
The Cowboys went three and out on their next possession.
The Bears drove down for a 36-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro to give the Bears a 10-7 lead.
The Cowboys Brett Maher then missed a 42-yard field goal attempt on Dallas' next drive.
Visiting kickers are 1 out of 7 at Soldier Field this season on field goal attempts of 40 yards or more.
"The tackling has been not good for the Dallas Cowboys," Joe Buck said on the Thursday Night Football broadcast during the Bears next possession.
"It's been bad all season," Troy Aikman said in response.
The Bears drove 68 yards in a little more than two minutes. That drive ended in a touchdown pass to Robinson with 10 seconds left in the half, giving the Bears a 17-7 lead.
Dak Prescott was a quiet 6 for 13 for 60 yards passing in the first half, with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Trubisky was 12 of 17 for 126 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
The Bears kept the momentum going.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Bears started at their own 16 yard line and drove 84 yards in just under 7 minutes for a touchdown.
Trubisky threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller to give the Bears a 24-7 lead.
When the Cowboys got the ball back, they went three and out and had to punt.
The Cowboys defense stepped up, forcing a three and out for the Bears as they punted for the first time in the game.
However the Cowboys offense stalled out again with another three and out.
But on the Bears next possession, David Montgomery fumbled giving the Cowboys the ball near midfield.
On 4th and 4 Dak Prescott found Michael Gallup for a 21-yard completion.
The drive continued to the Bears 2-yard line with the Cowboys ready to go for it on 4th and 1 when the third quarter came to an end with the Bears still ahead 24-7.
On the first play of the 4th quarter, Elliott ran for a 2-yard touchdown to bring the Cowboys within 10 points trailing 24-14.
On the ensuing kickoff, Maher kicked it out of bounds giving the Bears the ball at their 40-yard line.
Following a pass interference on the Cowboys and a completion down field, Trubisky kept the ball and ran it 23 yards for a touchdown.
CBS 11 sports reporter Keith Russell tweeted from the game, "Did @ChicagoBears #MitchTrubisky really just race 23 yards for a TD??? Is that what it's come to???"
The Bears led 31-14.
"It's just the same story, poor tackling on the back end," Aikman said on the broadcast.
On the Cowboys' next possession an intentional grounding call on Prescott backed the team up and failed to convert a 3rd and 22.
Dallas had to punt from its end zone again after its 5th three and out of the night.
The Bears could not move the ball on their next possession and punted it back to the Cowboys' 7-yard line.
The Cowboys drove to the Bears 48 yard line but could not convert a 4th and 4 and turned the ball over on downs.
"This has been a real eye-opener once again," said Aikman about the Cowboys performance in discussing whether or not head coach Jason Garrett will be able to keep his job through the end of the season.
After another Bears possession went nowhere, the Cowboys went on a drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Amari Cooper, cutting the Bears lead to 31-21 with 4:29 to go in the game.
The Bears ran the ball the first two plays on their next possession and got one yard and the Cowboys burned two timeouts.
But on 3rd and 9, Trubisky completed a short pass to Jesper Horsted for a first down to the Dallas 48-yard line.
The Bears ran the ball and took the clock down to the two-minute warning before having to punt to the Cowboys who were out of timeouts.
CBS 11 sports anchor Bill Jones tweeted the good news for the Cowboys after a night where there had been little.
"Believe it or not, the Cowboys win the NFC East if they win their next 2 games or their last 2 games."
On their final drive the Cowboys drove down for a 31-yard field goal by Maher, but they were unable to recover an onside kick with eight seconds left.
Final Score: Bears 31-24.
The Cowboys, who started the season 3-0, drop to 6-7 and have a half-game NFC East division lead over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Bears move to 7-6.
