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Things did not start out particularly well for the Buffalo Bills in the first half against the Chicago Bears, but they certainly ended well. Buffalo leads Chicago, 17-7, at halftime at Soldier Field.
Chicago took an early 7-0 lead within the first four minutes of the game. Following a quick Bills three-and-out, Jay Cutler completed his first five passes, including a 44-yarder to Alshon Jeffery that preceded a 12-yard scoring strike to Martellus Bennett.
On the very next possession, however, EJ Manuel and the Bills marched right down the field for an equalizing touchdown, which Manuel ran in himself from two yards out. Since that possession, it has been all Buffalo.
Two Bears turnovers have helped Buffalo build its 10-point lead. Leodis McKelvin forced a Brandon Marshall fumble, which rookie linebacker Preston Brown recovered and returned into Bears territory. That set up a 50-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter for a 10-7 lead. Then, later in the second quarter, Corey Graham jumped a seam route throw from Jay Cutler to Bennett and returned it deep into Bears territory; on the next play, Manuel hit C.J. Spiller on a designed rollout for an easy seven-yard score.
At the break, Manuel has completed 10-of-12 passes for 97 yards, with touchdowns on the ground and through the air, while the Bills have accumulated 197 yards of total offense. On the flip side, the Bears have 202 yards of offense - with 160 of those coming through the air - but the turnovers have killed them to this point.
This is your open thread for the second half of this Bills-Bears game. Will this be another prototypical Bills choke-away loss, or will they continue their strong play and pick up their first win ever in Soldier Field? Time will tell. Let's go, Buffalo.