SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 20, 2011
Jay Cutler threw two touchdowns and ran for another and the host Chicago Bears used a dominating fourth quarter to post their fifth straight win, 31-20 over the reeling San Diego Chargers on Sunday.
Chicago has won five straight for the first time since its Super Bowl season of 2006, while San Diego (4-6) has dropped five straight for the first time since 2003.
Johnny Knox and Kellen Davis had touchdown catches for the Bears (7-3), who took control by scoring twice in a span of 54 seconds in the third quarter.
San Diego ran just four plays in the fourth quarter. Two of them were interceptions by Philip Rivers, who killed any chances of a comeback by the Chargers after playing a mistake-free for 3 1/2 quarters.
Rivers was intercepted in the end zone by Major Wright just two plays after Antoine Cason’s 64-yard interception return gave San Diego the ball at the Chicago 16-yard line with just under 10 minutes left.
He threw another with 1:44 to play after a risky fake punt by the Bears failed. Rivers now has thrown a career-high 17 picks and leads the league with 21 turnovers.
They wasted a big game from Vincent Jackson, who had seven catches for 165 yards and a touchdown.
San Diego was victimized by an old division rival. Cutler, who had a memorable shouting match with Rivers on Christmas Eve in 2007 as a member of the Denver Broncos, improved to 2-4 vs. the Chargers.
Cutler’s 1-yard touchdown plunge gave the Bears a 24-17 lead with 5:47 left. Ryan Mathews fumbled on the Chargers’ next possession, and two plays later Cutler found Knox in the back of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown and a 31-17 lead.
Despite another defeat, the Chargers are just two games back of the Raiders (6-4) in the AFC West.