National Football League

QB victorious but a Todd bit chagrined

Published Oct. 12, 2010 10:18 p.m. ET

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Bears coach Lovie Smith said quarterback Todd Collins ''did some good things.''

After throwing four interceptions Sunday, including one on third-and-goal at the 1, having two passes batted at the line, overthrowing open receivers downfield, getting sacked twice, throwing six passes that neither team caught and getting pulled in the third quarter with a 6.2 passer rating (0.0 on third downs), even Collins probably would like to know what those good things were.

''It was probably my worst game ever, since I've been playing any sport,'' the 38-year-old Collins said. ''It's not like it was a surprise getting pulled. It's disappointing. But I was most disappointed in how I played.''

After Jay Cutler suffered a concussion against the New York Giants last week that forced him to miss Sunday's game, Smith and offensive coordinator Mike Martz turned to the veteran Collins over Caleb Hanie.

But even with a conservative game plan loaded with running plays that worked to near perfection in the first quarter -- Matt Forte had touchdown runs of 18 and 68 yards in the first 7:25 of the game -- Collins was either so rusty or so ill-prepared he could not avoid disaster.

Collins' biggest error came with the Bears leading 17-3 and ready to blow the game open with a first-and-goal at the 1 late in the first quarter.

After Chester Taylor was stopped for no gain, Martz turned to Collins. But his pass for Johnny Knox in the end zone was intercepted by 6-2, 296-pound defensive tackle Ed Johnson.

And as Collins said afterward, ''it continued to get worse.'' He completed 6 of 16 passes for 32 yards with four interceptions. His rating was the lowest for a Bears ''winning'' quarterback since Rex Grossman's 1.3 against the Vikings in 2006.

''Too many turnovers -- that was probably obvious,'' Smith said when asked about Collins' performance. ''But early on he did some good things. He was in control, and we took a 17-3 lead.''

Smith said it was too early to speculate whether Collins or Hanie would start Sunday against the visiting Seahawks if Cutler can't play.

Hanie replaced Collins at the end of the third quarter. He was 2-for-3 for 19 yards and an 84.0 rating.

''I was excited to get the opportunity to get in there and make a couple of plays and show them what I could do,'' Hanie said. ''It was good to get a little bit of work and be ready for next time.''

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