Bears Have Good Second Half In Win, Rams Drop Loss To Titans

Jimmy Clausen outplayed Jay Cutler in the red zone Saturday night. Their performances aren't raising any red flags in Chicago, though.

After Cutler led the Bears to three field goals in a mistake-prone first half, his backup, Clausen, made amends for one big mistake by leading Chicago to two second-half touchdowns and a 23-11 victory at Indianapolis.

Cutler's touchdown run was called back because of a penalty, the Bears twice settled for field goals after moving inside the Colts 10-yard line, and Clausen's interception late in the first half set up Adam Vinatieri's 25-yard go-ahead field goal.

Clausen was better in the second half. He wiped out the Colts' 11-9 halftime lead by throwing a 12 -yard TD pass to Joshua Bellamy midway through the third quarter, and watched with delight as Jeremy Langford ended the next Chicago series by breaking a tackle and scoring on a 2-yard run to make it 23-11 with 2:00 left in the third.

Titans 27, Rams 14

Marcus Mariota had every reason to struggle when the communicator device in the Tennessee quarterback's helmet quit working two plays into the first drive of his second preseason game. Not a problem for the rookie.

Mariota turned in a clean performance in his home debut, Tennessee cornerback Perrish Cox returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown and the Titans beat St. Louis 27-14 on Sunday night to spoil Rams coach Jeff Fisher's return to town.

A week after Mariota was sacked, threw an interception and lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, the No. 2 pick overall out of Oregon was 5 of 8 for 58 yards with no turnovers. Titans teammate Dexter McCluster dropped Mariota's pass in the end zone, while Rams safety Mark Barron had a chance at a would-be interception off the rookie.

Saturday, August 22 Scoreboard

Carolina 31, Miami 30

Philadelphia 40, Baltimore 17

Chicago 23, Indianapolis 11

New York Giants 22, Jacksonville 12

New England 26, New Orleans 24

Minnesota 20, Oakland 12

Denver 14, Houston 10

San Diego 22, Arizona 19

Sunday, August 23 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 24, Green Bay 19

Tennessee 27, St. Louis 14

San Francisco 23, Dallas 6

Monday, August 24 Schedule (Time Central)

Cincinnati at Tampa Bay 7 p.m.