A fourth-quarter response from the Chicago Bears was not enough to prevent the Dallas Cowboys from recording a 41-28 victory at Soldier Field.
Despite the emphatic scoreline, the early signs were promising for the Bears as they held off the visitors impressively in a scoreless opening quarter.
Dallas finally made the breakthrough early in the second quarter when DeMarco Murray twice converted with short rushes on fourth down to score the first touchdown of the evening.
Chicago responded well to the setback, with Jay Cutler picking out Martellus Bennett to pull the hosts level.
However, the lead would belong to the Cowboys at the half-time interval thanks to Cole Beasley, who managed to power through two challenges to reach the endzone after being spotted by Tony Romo.
Beasley then started the scoring in a game-changing third quarter by linking with Romo again to collect a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Chicago found it difficult to produce another reaction as Cutler and the Bears offense stuttered, and the Cowboys took full advantage by extending their lead when Romo fired a short pass to Gavin Escobar.
Romo stepped aside late in the third quarter to allow running back Joseph Randle to complete a 17-yard rush to the endzone to make it 35-7 to Dallas.
Cutler finally found his range again in the early stages of the final period to send a touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery, but the frustration was clear for the home fans when Jay Feely's extra point attempt was blocked.
Dallas kicker Dan Bailey continued a perfect night on a personal level by converting a field goal from 35 yards with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Matt Forte managed to lift Chicago spirits by powering into the endzone from a yard out, before repeating the trick moments later to succeed with the two-point conversion attempt.
Options looked limited when Cutler had the ball in his hand just over a minute later, but the Bears quarterback capitalised on the space offered to him by scoring his second touchdown of the season to set up a nervy finish for the visitors.
Dallas would survive the late challenge from the hosts, though, with Bailey scoring another field goal to extend the gap between the two sides to 13 points.
Callum Mulvihill
