The Chicago Bears won their first game of the NFL season this evening, beating the Oakland Raiders 22-20 at Soldier Field.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler returned to the starting lineup and he found Eddie Royal for an early seven-yard touchdown, but the Raiders blocked Robbie Gould's extra point attempt.
Oakland replied in the second quarter as Derek Carr would throw it to first-round pick Amari Cooper for a 25-yard touchdown pass that was initially ruled incomplete but was overturned thanks to Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio correctly challenging the call.
Cutler then fumbled the football and the Raiders punished that mistake, with Roy Helu running in the four-yard score to give the AFC West team the lead.
Chicago replied quickly through Martellus Bennett, who capped off an 80-yard drive before Gould scored a field goal to put the Bears back in the lead after Pernell McPhee intercepted Carr on the next possession.
Running back Matt Forte fumbled the ball early in the second half but the Raiders had to settle for a Sebastian Janikowski field goal after they had a touchdown pass rightfully reversed courtesy of Seth Roberts being out of bounds.
Gould put the home team back in the lead after nailing a 54-yard field goal that gave the Bears a 19-17 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Latavius Murray then fumbled a pitch play that was pounced on by Sam Acho, but Cutler was picked off by veteran safety Charles Woodson just moments later.
The Raiders capitalised on that play by driving back down the field and Janikowski put his 41-yard field goal straight through the goalposts.
Chicago would move slowly down the field in the final minutes and that allowed Gould to kick the 49-yard winning field goal with two seconds left to snap the Bears' three-game losing streak.
The loss puts the Raiders at 2-2 while the Bears finally get off the mark and sit at 1-3 in the NFC North.
Nathan Staples
