"We go into the game trying to run the football," coach Lovie Smith said. "We have to be able to establish the run for us to be successful. We were able to do that. The offensive line did a super job of

blocking, giving our running backs, especially Matt Forte (123 yards on 23 carries), an opportunity to do his thing."

The Bears rushed for 47 more yards vs. the Colts than they did against any of their 16 opponents last season, and they only ran more than 34 times in a game once in 2007, when they were last in the NFL with a 3.1-yard average and 30th in total rushing yards.

"We really ran the football at them," QB Kyle Orton said. "Any time we do that, control the clock and make key plays in the passing game, we're going to be right there."

--LB Lance Briggs busted out an old running back move when he tried to use a stiff-arm en route to his 21-yard touchdown run with a fumble late in the third quarter Sunday night.

"Oh man, I learned that way back in the day," Briggs said. "Back in high school days, back when it was still working. I wanted to see if it still worked, but it had a little rust on it. It was nice. It's been a while since the stiff-arm worked."

Coach Lovie Smith was just happy to see the defense get another score after defensive end Adewale Ogunleye tackled Joseph Addai in the end zone for a safety.

"It was a great job by Lance of getting the ball in the end zone," Smith said. "He went back to his old Pop Warner days, probably, when he played running back, to get it in."

Briggs actually converted from fullback to linebacker after his freshman year at Arizona. At Elk Grove High School in Sacramento, Calif., he played both positions and also returned punts and kickoffs.

--In his first game as a pro, DT Marcus Harrison got his first NFL sack, and it came against future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

"It feels wonderful," said the 6-foot-3, 310-pound third-round pick from Arkansas. "I didn't think it'd go down like that, but it did, so it feels great."

Harrison started for the Razorbacks as a true freshman, but his role with the Bears will be to play in a four-man rotation and allow starters Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek some down time.

"It's different because I'm just trying to get better to fit in the rotation so I can get in there and keep those veteran guys fresh," Harrison said. "It's actually a privilege to just be out there playing with those guys."