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Bears good as Gould in overtime

Dec 12, 2008 - 6:25 AM By Scot Marcotte PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Bears parlayed a field goal on the last play of regulation and another one on the first drive in overtime into a 27-24 win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday.

Kyle Orton led the Bears 60 yards in 13 plays before Robbie Gould kicked a 28-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-24 with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

"At that point, your mind's focused on that drive, on those plays and try to get your team into the end zone," Orton said.

The Bears (8-6) won the coin toss in overtime and, aided by a 38-yard pass interference call on safety Roman Harper against Devin Hester, sent Gould out for a 35-yard field goal that won the game with 12:19 left in overtime.

"That's what you live for as a kicker, that's why you practice," Gould said.

Danieal Manning opened the game with an 83-yard kickoff return to put the Bears up by a touchdown.

"When I passed the kicker, I knew it was over," Manning said. "When I didn't see anybody in front or on the side of me, I knew nobody was going to catch me."

The Saints' first touchdown was set up by Orton's fumble when the Bears were pinned at their own 1. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma recovered, setting up Drew Brees' two-yard scoring pass to Pierre Thomas.

Manning continued his Hester-like magic with a 52-yard kickoff return to the Saints' 41 midway through the second quarter. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Matt Forte. The rookie had suffered a toe injury early in the first quarter, but returned for the score.

"When you play 16 games, you're going to get some bruises," Orton said. "It shows his toughness to come back on the field."

Later in the second quarter, the Bears forced the Saints (7-7) to punt from their own 7-yard line, setting the offense up at the New Orleans 42. Orton engineered the scoring drive, scrambling the final six yards for the score with 49 seconds left in the half to make it 21-7.

The Saints made the most of the Bears' three turnovers, scoring on each one.

Late in the third quarter, safety Josh Bullocks picked off Orton's pass that deflected off Rashied Davis. Bullocks returned it 23 yards to the Bears' 45 yard line. Two plays later, Thomas scampered 42 yards for the score.

Orton threw another interception in the fourth quarter, this time to Scott Fujita, setting the Saints up at the Bears' 31. Brees hit Marques Colston for a 22-yard completion on third-and-15, and followed it with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Colston to put the Saints up 24-21 and set the stage for the Bears' rally.

"We lost the battle in the kicking game, and that was clear tonight," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "That cost not only the touchdown, but probably about 120 yards in field position differential. You're not going to win a lot of games playing that way."