page_title: 2014 Chicago Bears season
section_title: Week 1: vs. Buffalo Bills
hierarchical_section_title: 2014 Chicago Bears season / Regular season / Game summaries / Week 1: vs. Buffalo Bills
caption_attribution_description: east side of Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois. Taken October, 2006. Photographer: Robert Rice
context_page_description: The 2014 Chicago Bears season was the franchise's 95th season in the National Football League, as well as the second under head coach Marc Trestman. The Bears failed to qualify for the playoffs after being eliminated from contention in week fourteen, their fourth consecutive season without making the postseason.
  The Bears entered 2014 with hopes of improving their 8–8 record in 2013. After losing the season opener to the Buffalo Bills, the Bears won their next two games. However, this would be the only week of 2014 that the Bears had a winning record, as they fell to 3–5 upon reaching the bye week. The Bears lost three of those games by more than one touchdown, and allowed more than 50 points in consecutive games against the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. The Bears won two straight games after the loss to the Packers, but ended the season with five consecutive losses, all but two by more than two scores. The Bears ended the season 5–11, their first losing season since 2009 and first season with more than ten losses since 2004.
  General manager Phil Emery was fired on December 29, and Trestman was fired later in the day.
context_section_description: The Bears opened the season at home against the Buffalo Bills, who had a record of 6–10 in 2013. Entering the game, the Bears were 54–35–5 in season openers, the most wins of any team, and they had not lost an opening game since 2009, the most in the NFC and second-most in the NFL behind the New England Patriots. The Bears were 7–4 against the Bills, with their last meeting being a 22–19 victory in Toronto in 2010, while winning 40–7 in the last game between the two at Soldier Field; the Bears had won all five meetings between the two in Chicago. When comparing the two teams in 2013 statistically, the Bears had the advantage in three offensive categories (points scored, total offense, and passing offense), while the Bills had the second-best rushing offense, compared to the Bears' 16th-ranked rushing game. On defense, the Bears were outmatched in all three categories (total defense, rushing defense, and passing defense), but are one spot higher than Buffalo in turnover ratio (+5 to +3). Scout.com's Jeremy Stoltz writes that one of the players the Bears must contain is the defensive tackle duo of Mario Williams and Marcell Dareus, who had a combined 139 total tackles, 18.0 sacks and two forced fumbles during 2013. While the Bears' offensive line boasted the fourth-least sacks, none of the five starters played in the preseason. As a result, to combat the rush, the Bears need Jay Cutler to release the ball quickly. For the Bears' defense, Stoltz stated all the Bears needed to do was stop Buffalo's running backs Fred Jackson and C. J. Spiller, as the Bills had the second-best rushing attack in the league. The Bears were favored to win by seven points, the third-largest spread of the week. Matt Forté, Charles Tillman, and Robbie Gould were the captains for the game. David Fales, Kelvin Hayden, Tony Fiammetta, Khaseem Greene, Charles Leno Jr., David Bass and Cornelius Washington were inactive for the game.
  The Bears won the coin toss, and elected to kick. After Buffalo punted, Chicago scored on Cutler's 12-yard touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett, which the Bills retaliated with E. J. Manuel's two-yard touchdown run. On the Bears' first drive of the second quarter, Brandon Marshall fumbled, with linebacker Preston Brown recovering; the Bills would score on Dan Carpenter's 50-yard field goal. Afterwards, Cutler was intercepted by former Bear Corey Graham after Bennett did not "turn to look for the ball in time", with the Bills again capitalizing on the takeaway, with Manuel's seven-yard touchdown pass to Spiller, and the half ended with Buffalo leading 17–7. On the Bears' first possession of the third quarter, Gould kicked a five-yard field goal, and on the Bills' first drive of the half, Chris Conte read a pass intended for Marquise Goodwin, stepping in front of the pass to intercept the ball. On Chicago's ensuing drive, the offense rallied to tie the score on Cutler's 11-yard touchdown pass to Marshall. In the fourth quarter, the Bears drove from their own six-yard line to reach the Buffalo 34, but Cutler's forced pass intended for Bennett was intercepted by Kyle Williams; Carpenter would kick a 33-yard field goal, which the Bears responded with Gould's 37-yarder. The Bills would kneel to end regulation with a 20–20 score. After the Bears went three-and-out, the Bills started on their own 22-yard line, but drove to the Bears' 39. On the next play, Jackson found a hole in the line of scrimmage, getting past Lance Briggs. Conte reached Jackson at the 20-yard line, but was stiff-armed; Conte attempted to tackle again, but was knocked down, with Jackson being pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line. Two plays later, Carpenter kicked the game-winning 27-yard field goal.
  Four of the Bears' offensive starters suffered injuries during the game: Roberto Garza (right ankle) and Matt Slauson (left ankle) did not play after the first half, Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) departed in the third quarter, while Marshall (right ankle) was hurt after being tackled. Conte received scrutiny after the game for failing to tackle Jackson, but defended
caption: The Bears played all of their home games at Soldier Field
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