Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Rex Grossman threw for 252 yards and three
touchdowns -- two to Desmond Clark -- as the Chicago Bears pounded the
helpless San Francisco 49ers, 41-10, at Soldier Field.
The game was decided early as Chicago held a 24-0 lead by the end of the first
quarter, a new franchise mark for points scored in the opening frame.
The Bears' lead ballooned to 41-0 by halftime and the first-half outburst tied
a franchise record for points scored in the first half. The mark was
originally set on November 28, 1948 against Washington.
"We played well today and I definitely don't think we have played our best
game," Grossman said. "This was a fun game and now we are moving on to Miami
next week."
Thomas Jones rushed for 111 yards and a score for the Bears (7-0), who have
won their first seven games to open a season for the first time since 1985.
That club went on to finish 15-1 en route to winning Super Bowl XX.
Clark ended with six catches for 86 yards and Muhsin Muhammad added a
touchdown catch in the win.
"It was just a great effort," Muhammad said. "We just executed and we had a
short field a lot today."
Frank Gore paced the San Francisco offense with 111 yards rushing and Alex
Smith threw for just 146 yards on 16-of-26 passing for the 49ers (2-5), who
were coming off the bye week and have lost four of their last five games.
"This was tough," Smith said. "I think we are going in the right direction but
this was a game where we could showcase ourselves and to come out and put our
self in that big of a hole was very frustrating."
The Bears came out with a purpose after their offensive struggles two weeks
ago. Prior to having the bye last week, Chicago had to erase a 20-point
deficit to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.
Against Arizona, Grossman threw for just 144 yards and was intercepted four
times as Chicago racked up just 168 yards of net offense. Against the 49ers,
Chicago had 402 yards of net offense as Grossman completed an efficient 23-
of-29 passes without an interception.
After Robbie Gould gave the Bears a three-point lead with a 43-yard field goal
on their opening drive, Maurice Hicks muffed the resulting kickoff and Cameron
Worrell recovered for the Bears on the 15-yard line.
On Chicago's third play of the ensuing possession, Jones went up the middle
before bouncing back out to the right side for a seven-yard touchdown, putting
the Bears ahead 10-0 less than five minutes into the game.
Chicago continued to pour it on in the first as Brian Urlacher intercepted
Smith at the San Francisco 41-yard line. The Bears quickly drove down the
field and Grossman made it a 17-0 lead with a five-yard touchdown pass to
Muhammad with 1:55 to go.
San Francisco's third turnover of the game led to another Bears touchdown as
Smith was hit by Ian Scott and fumbled, which was recovered by Tommie Harris.
That eventually led to Cedric Benson's one-yard TD run to gave the Bears a 24-
point lead.
Chicago made it a 31-0 game early in the second on Grossman's one-yard TD pass
to Clark on fourth down with 10:33 left in the second quarter and Gould added
a 36-yard field goal with 3:15 remaining until halftime.
The Bears' last points of the first half came from Grossman as he hooked up
with Clark again, this time for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds to
go.
The 49ers ended Chicago's shutout bid with a nine-play, 94-yard drive that
culminated with a 23-yard field goal by Joe Nedney. The big play on the march
was a 53-yard run by Gore that put San Francisco on the Bears nine.
Smith later got San Francisco into the end zone with a 16-yard touchdown pass
to Antonio Bryant with 6:49 remaining in the fourth, accounting for the final
score.
'I'm very disappointed in the loss," said San Francisco coach Mike Nolan. "In
particular the way we played in the first half. We certainly showed a lack of
maturity in the first half as far as responding to adversity."
