Bears Take Advantage of Five Giant Turnovers

The Chicago Bears stole the New York Giants’ early-season formula for success -- again and again and ....

The Bears forced five turnovers, including three consecutive plays in a 20-point explosion late in the first half, in beating the Giants, 28-21, on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

“We made plays when we really needed to,” said defensive end Alex Brown, who had four of the Bears’ seven sacks. “They scored two quick touchdowns, but we knew we had to stay in our gap and play ball. They couldn’t drive the ball on us. We got a sack, we got a turnover, and things kind of rolled from there.”

Rookie Craig Krenzel threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to ignite the rally and Anthony Thomas scored on runs of 4 and 41 yards as Chicago (3-5) won its second straight game and handed the Giants (5-3) their second straight home loss.

“They played the kind of game we have been playing, let the other guy lose the game,” Giant Coach Tom Coughlin said.

What made the defeat more frustrating was NFC East leader Philadelphia (7-1) lost earlier in the day.

The Giants also have to worry about a pectoral injury to All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan, who left in the third quarter.

New York, which came into the game with an NFC-best plus-12 takeaway differential, self-destructed after taking an early 14-0 lead on touchdown runs of one and three yards by Tiki Barber.

Another 13-yard run by Barber seemed to give New York a 21-0 lead later in the quarter, but the play was called back by a holding penalty against Amani Toomer.

Three plays later, Chicago cornerback Jerry Azumah sacked Kurt Warner and forced a fumble that Nathan Vasher recovered.

The Giants’ offense ground to a halt after that.

New York, which had 14 penalties for 109 yards, didn’t get on the board again until Warner, who was 18 for 36 for 195 yards, threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey with 1:56 to play.

The Giants got a final chance when Jack Brewer recovered an onside kick at their 40. But Warner was sacked two more times, and the Bears ran out the clock.

Besides Strahan, the Giants lost defensive end Keith Washington with a strained knee. New York also lost offensive left tackle Luke Petitgout with a concussion in the second half.

Washington 17, Detroit 10 -- Clinton Portis ran for 147 yards on 34 carries and threw a tiebreaking touchdown pass to lead the Redskins over the Lions in Detroit.

Detroit (4-4) rallied late, but its hopes for a tying drive ended at the Washington 20 as time expired.

“Too little. Too late,” Lion Coach Steve Mariucci said.

With consecutive 21-yard gains to open the second half, Portis became the first player to run for 100 yards against Detroit this season.

His powerful runs with sharp cutbacks set up his 15-yard pass to Laveranues Coles that gave Washington (3-5) a 10-3 lead.

Taylor Jacobs blocked a punt and Walt Harris scooped up the ball and returned it 13 yards to put the Redskins ahead by 14 later in the third quarter.

Seattle 42, San Francisco 27 -- Simplicity agrees with the Seahawks. Their stripped-down game plan was still too complicated for the 49ers.

Darrell Jackson caught two long touchdown passes from Matt Hasselbeck, and Shaun Alexander rushed for 160 yards and two scores for Seattle in its victory in San Francisco.

Koren Robinson also caught a touchdown pass for the Seahawks (5-3), who stayed atop the NFC West with their second victory after three straight losses.

Coach Mike Holmgren stuck with the plan that stopped the skid last week against Carolina, sacrificing much of his beloved West Coast gadgetry to keep his talented skill players working at a brisk pace in a straightforward scheme.

Seattle didn’t need much trickery to extend the woeful 49ers’ worst start since 1979. Hasselbeck was 17 for 28 for 285 yards and the Seahawks marched to 453 yards of offense.

Jerry Rice caught a five-yard pass, but wasn’t a factor in Seattle’s game plan. The relatively sparse crowd at Candlestick Park gave an ovation to the longtime 49er star in perhaps his last game in San Francisco.

Tim Rattay passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns for the 49ers (1-7), who wasted an impressive offensive performance with dismal defense in their fourth straight loss to Seattle under Coach Dennis Erickson.