Colts 7, Bears 0, 14:58 left in the half

Tony Dungy is in the Little League Hall of Excellence. I guess "fame" isn't really a thing you get from Little League. My mistake, Vinatieri kicked the PAT, the backup is handling kickoffs, and his onside kick attempt is perfect, and Matt Giordano fields it, seemingly recovering it right on the 40. But the refs pick nits, and it's a five-yard penalty. The re-kick goes to Danieal Manning, who finds a seam up the middle, has only the kicker to beat, but has to slow up enough to get around him that Giordano chases him down at the Colts' 20. Giordano was the guy who tackled Hester into the end zone in the Super Bowl. He's all over the place. Benson up the middle for no gain, then Grossman goes to I think Olsen in the right flat for a gain of two. Quick pass to Davis on the right side and Giordano makes a solid 1-on-1 tackle there. My guy the non-pizza dude is all over the place. Gould nails the 32 or 33-yarder (not sure which, it varies between 17 and 18 yards from the line of scrimmage).

Colts 7, Bears 3, 12:44 left in the half

T.J. Rushing lets the kick bounce over his head, fields it inside the 5, is hit inside the 15, lunges to the 19 and tries to stretch the ball past the 20. The refs aren't having it. Anyway, going back a series, the Bears might need to study where they broke down on that onside kick the last time, because I think the refs blew the call. Peyton is done for the night, 5-for-8 for 60-some yards (forgot the exact digit in the ones place). As Mike Tirico said, now playing for the Colts is the Maytag repairman of the NFL, Jim Sorgi. I'd love to have his job. Watch football from the sidelines and get paid six figures to do it. Run gets not much, Sorgi gets sacked by Israel Idonije and an incomplete pass bring up 4th and 19. Devin Hester goes back to the 25 to field the kick, gets a block from Jamar Williams, finds a lane, and is destined for the end zone, but trips on the backs of the feet of Brandon Rideau ahead of him and falls at the 24. D'oh!

Grossman checks down to Jason McKie for five, another pass to Berrian for a first down, then Benson gets seven on first and Grossman throws one at the goal line where only Muhsin Muhammad can get it, but it goes off Moose's hands. Pass interference, however, so the Bears have it on the 1. Good throw by Rex there, maybe he's settled a little? Colts call timeout. And of course, just as I say that, another fumbled snap and the Bears recover for a loss of three. Benson gets that three back, 3rd and goal from the 1. Unreal. I think we're at the point where Rex only needs an end zone interception to make this the worst he has played ever. Quarterback sneak and Rex not only holds on to the snap, but holds onto the ball as he dives through the line for a touchdown. PAT is good.

Bears 10, Colts 7, 8:05 left in the half

Anthony, anyone who brings fart jokes into this forum is not only welcome, but lauded. Ricky Manning Jr. strips the ball from T.J. Rushing, the Bears recover and Brian Griese takes over at the 24. He hands off to Adrian Peterson, who gets three. Griese sails G-Reg heading toward the end zone. Griese drops back, steps up in the pocket and hits Hester over the middle, and Hester lunges inside the 10, 1st and goal from the 9. Quick slant to Berrian and the Bears are up a couple of scores. The way Griese looked there isn't gonna quiet the "Bench Rex" crowd.

Bears 17, Colts 7, 6:41 left in the half

Kick is returned to the 31, from where Sorgi sails tight end Ben Utecht over the middle. The booth guys are talking Michael Vick. Kenton Keith, you know, Ol' Man Keith's kid, takes it around left end for nine, then Sorgi makes a great throw to Aaron Moorehead (who's actually the son of someone known to Bears fans) under tight coverage to the Bears' 34. Not 100 percent on who was covering there, but not much more he could have done there. Pass over the middle gets seven, and I've gotta stay glued to the set here because the announcing is focusing only on Vick. Another pass to Moorehead, this one at the sticks on the left side, and he gets a few more to the 16, from where Keith gets seven. Sorgi hits Moorehead on a fade in the back left corner of the end zone, and undrafted free agent Greg Fassitt out of Grambling never looked back in his coverage. Gotta look back, buddy. PAT is good.

Bears 17, Colts 14, 2:57 left in the half

Kick is returned to the 29, Adrian Peterson steps out of a tackle in the backfield and reverses field to the right and gets four. I still like Peterson, but Thomas Jones would have cut out of that backfield hit before it even happened and gotten a big gainer to the right side. Griese hits tight end John Gilmore over the middle for the first down, two minute warning. This just in: . From the 42, Griese dumps off to Peterson, who steps out of a tackle and gets the first down at the Colts' 48. Griese to Rideau on the right sideline for seven, and he slides forward for the first at the 38. Griese hits G-Reg in the teeth of pressure for a gain of 35. Griese out of the shotgun makes a great throw to Rideau up the right side and it just goes off Rideau's hands. Rideau's jersey was grabbed there, but no call, then another pass of Rideau's hands and Robbie Gould attempting a 53-yarder, wide right with 1:10 left in the game.

So judging by this half and the results from the first preseason game, Rex needs to light it up against the 49ers on Saturday to swing the sentiments of Bears fans in his favor. He has the starting job, but it'll be last year all over again if he doesn't torch the Niners. The Colts put together a few passes to get to the Bears' 27. One pass was to Ohio State product Anthony Gonzalez, who I thought was rather impressive with the Buckeyes. Don't think it's quite fair that the Colts get to add yet another receiving weapon like Gonzalez. The Bears aren't exactly lacking for receivers these days, just a confidence-instilling guy to get the ball to them. A penalty, then a couple of passes puts the Colts around the 20 (18, actually), they call a timeout and will kick a field goal, which is good as time expires.

Halftime: Bears 17, Colts 17

Halftime thoughts: Even if Rex plays well on Saturday, his detractors will still say, "Yeah, but it was against the 49ers. He buckled against a good team." Basically, this has to be the worst game he plays, by far, for the rest of the season. If he repeats this performance in the regular season, it'll be interesting to see what the Bears do, especially with the way Griese has played these first two games. But again, Griese is not in the team's long-term plans, so Grossman would have to do something absolutely heinous for three or four games in a row to have the Bears dip into the well. Stay tuned, should be interesting. Meanwhile, the special teams has not only ramped up its coverage, forcing a fumble and stifling any returns, but it's dished out a pair of returns deep into Colts territory, and only one of those was by Devin Hester. He's just so much fun to watch. I can't really put it any other way.

THIRD QUARTER

Jaws is analyzing Rex's mistakes, and I missed it because I had switched to Comcast Sports Net to see the U.S. Cellular head groundskeeper explain how he makes the green stripes in the outfield. Keith returns it 26 yards to the 29 and we start that bastion of exciting football, the second half of a preseason game. Sorgi sails an open receiver past the sticks, then is almost tackled by Antonio Garay before he can make a handoff. Instead, the running back (not sure who) gets dropped for a loss of five, then a dump-off to DeDe Dorsey gets six and the Colts will punt. Berrian catches the punt fairly at the 31, and the booth guys will talk to Rexy when we come back from Cialis ads.

Griese to G-Reg on the right side and he gets just shy of the sticks, maybe the first down. Rex: "The first [fumbled snap] was a miscommunication with the cadence and the second one just hit a sweat spot on my hands. We'll get it fixed for the season, I promise." As for the pick, he explained that the DB jumped the route and he didn't read it properly. "We did okay, we would have liked to have a sustained drive in there. … The biggest thing I want to do is eliminate turnovers, I didn't do that tonight, obviously." He said "clean slate" about six times. A few plays, including a penalty, have 3rd and long, but then Peterson gets an 11-yard gain for first down, then Griese hits Mike Hass for 23 yards to the Colts' 40. Griese finds Brandon Rideau all by himself inside the 5, but underthrows him, so Rideau makes a sliding catch and the Bears have 1st and goal on the 1. The booth has had some problems with Rideau, calling him "Ridoo" and "Brian Rideau." Peterson gets the touchdown. PAT good by Nick Novak.

Bears 24, Colts 17, 9:21 left in the third quarter

Ben Bohn, that baby is Cooperstown Collection authentic. I buy about one hat every two years and I go for the high quality stuff. Kickoff is returned somewhere and some things happen that lead up to a Kevin Payne interception. David Haugh said that Payne wasn't looking too impressive, not bad, but not great. But he's played well in both games, and I guess that's when it counts.

Kyle Orton and Garrett Wolfe both in the game, and Orton's arm combined with Wolfe's legs get the Bears from the Colts' 47 to the 22, 3rd and 9. The play collapses and Orton scrambles forward for about five, and the field goal unit will come on. It is good by Nick Novak.