It was the perfect start for the Miami Dolphins. On the first drive of the game, starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill drove the offense right down the field for a touchdown. On fourth and goal, he hit Jarvis Landry for six points and raised questions about a rebuilding Chicago Bears defense. Then the Dolphins defense stuffed quarterback Jay Cutler and the Bears offense possessions, and it looked like two teams that were on different levels. But given that it's pre-season, the backups came in and the game started to even out.
After one drive, veteran backup quarterback Matt Moore was inserted into the lineup and the Bears backups on defense came in as well. But Cutler stayed on for another drive with the first team and they drove down the field, leading to a Robbie Gould field goal. Gould was busy tonight as he hit four field goals and looks to be one of the top kickers in the NFL.
Moore drove the Dolphins down the field and Caleb Sturgis added a field goal to give the Dolphins a 10-3 lead. Then backup Jimmy Clausen came in and drove the Bears down the field in the final closing minutes. He connected with Cameron Meredith a couple of times on the drive, but bad time management saw Chicago run out of time in the redzone when halftime struck.
It was an uninspiring performance from the first team but the second team had a chance to change the game in the second half.
Clausen was again good for Chicago in the beginning of the second half, driving Chicago to the redzone in back-to-back possessions, but they had to settle for two Gould field goals to shorten the gap to 10-9.
Then the Bears defense came to life as they picked off third stringer McLeod Bethel-Thompson. This led to one-yard touchdown run by Ka'Deem Carey on fourth and goal, along with a two-point conversion, and Chicago took a 17-10.
Then the defense came back with another interception, this time it was Sam Acho who picked off Bethel-Thompson. Robbie Gould hit another field goal and it was 20-10. Then late in the fourth quarter Senorise Perry capped off the night with a 54-yard touchdown run and clinched the game for Chicago.
Josh Freeman came in for the Dolphins and finished out the game with an interception on the last play of the game, as Chicago starts out the preseason 1-0.
Alshon Jeffery didn't play and head coach John Fox told reporters after that he has a problem with his calf and is in crutches and in a boot. This injury, along with the injury to rookie Kevin White, depletes the Chicago wideout core.
As for Miami, they escaped without an major injury but they will have to work on penalties as they were victims of multiple defensive holding and offside penalties