Despite the brutally icy chill sweeping off of Lake Michigan, one could not have asked for a better game than this. Al Michaels himself could not have scripted it any better if he tried. As a die-hard Eagles fan, I arrived at Soldier Field on a frigid Monday night, to support the Chicago Bears for one reason, and one reason only. I desperately needed the Bears to beat the Minnesota Vikings, so that my Philadelphia Eagles would have a shot at grabbing the #2 Seed in the NFC playoffs. As unlikely a proposition as this may have seemed going into the game, I knew it was a definite possibility.
Enter a Bears team with nothing to play for other than pride. They are matched up against a division rival Vikings team that most thought were the class of the NFC. The Bears completely dominated the first half, with stifling defense and by controlling both lines of scrimmage. Favre and the Vikings didn't challenge the Bears at all down the field. Due to predictable play calling, they rarely sustained drives. When they finally did get something going, the Bears got pressure on Favre and recovered a fumble. This came after an almost identical play was ruled an incomplete forward pass.
The Vikings could not run the ball, and they could not pass it. In fact, they struggled to do much of anything. As a result, they produced 84 yards of total offense in the First Half. The Bears capitalized on the Vikings’ inability to find any continuity on offense. Robbie Gould kicked three field goals, and Jay Cutler found his favorite target, Greg Olsen, in the back of the end zone with a 7-yard touchdown toss.
When the first half came to an end, the temperature was dropping faster than Adrian Peterson drops the ball, but the fans at Soldier Field were feeling good. The Bears clung to a 16-0 lead, and it appeared as if they were well in control of the game. But that is why they play four quarters, and that is what I love about football. When one team appears completely dominating the flow and tempo of a game, the other team will often head to the locker room to make some well-needed halftime adjustments. When these adjustments are effective, you will often find yourself watching a completely different football game in the third quarter.
That is exactly what happened on this chilly Monday evening. The Vikings came out of the locker room as a completely different team. They opened up the passing game, started playing defense, and played with a chip on their shoulder. They allowed Brett Favre to call more audible plays at the line of scrimmage, and suddenly looked like the team that went 10-1 to start the season. As a result, we got one of the most entertaining football games that I have ever seen – certainly the best game that I have ever been to. To say that this was a tale of two halves (as Brett Favre did in his post-game press conference) would be an understatement.
Early in the Third Quarter, a defensive pass interference call against the Bears set up the Vikings’ first touchdown. Adrian Peterson plowed through the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings their first points of the game. The Bears blocked the extra point and led 16-6. On the very next play, Danieal Manning returned the kick-off 57 yards to set up the Bears deep in Vikings territory. Manning had two big kick-off returns in the game, each one netting nearly 60 yards.
On the ensuing drive, a Vikings’ pass interference call gave the Bears a First and Goal at the Vikings’ 4-yard line. The Bears capitalized two plays later, as Cutler connected with his other Tight End, Desmond Clark, for a 2-yard touchdown pass. This put the Bears ahead 23-6, with 6 minutes and 30 seconds left in the Third Quarter. Bears fans were feeling pretty good at the time, pretty despite the lack of feeling in their fingers and toes.
At that moment, Favre was unleashed, the Vikings’ defense came alive, and the momentum of the game completely shifted. The Vikings roared back with a drive that was capped by a 6-yard Brett Favre touchdown pass to Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe, narrowing the margin to 23-13. On the Bears next drive, Cornerback Cedric Griffin intercepted Jay Cutler at the end of the Third Quarter. This set up a 41-yard Ryan Longwell Field Goal, bringing the score to 23-16. The fans at Soldier Field were starting to get nervous, to say the least.
Cutler had arguably his best game of the season, despite a few ill-advised passes. He missed a couple of open receivers, and one of his passes resulted in the interception that allowed the Vikings to come within 7 points of tying the game. Overall, Cutler ended up 273 yards passing, 4 Touchdowns, and 1 Interception. Even with these numbers, the Bears stalled on their next drive. Cutler was sacked, and the Bears were forced to punt.
The Vikings marched down the field, and Adrian Peterson carried the ball into the end zone from the 1-Yard line again, this time nearly untouched. The Vikings had tied the game at 23-23 with nearly six minutes to go in the game. The momentum was clearly on their side, and just when everyone thought that the Bears were letting the game slip away, Danieal Manning stepped up with a 59-yard kick-off return to give the Bears’ offense a spark. It worked, and the Bears struck quickly. On the second play from scrimmage, Cutler made a beautiful touchdown throw to Earl Bennett over the top of the safety to give the Bears the lead 30-23, with five minutes to go in the game.
The Bears needed their defense to step up and stop Brett Favre and the Vikings from scoring a touchdown. If they got the ball back, they could almost certainly run out the clock and secure a victory. Everyone at Soldier Field held their breath at times, and cheered as loud as they could at others. Suddenly the cold was no longer a factor. Some prayed for an interception, while others prayed for another fumble.
The Vikings then responded with a 14-play drive that ended regulation in dramatic fashion. It was their most methodical drive of the game, and one that culminated with a 4 and Goal play from the Bears’ 6-Yard line, with 22 seconds left to play in the game. Brett Favre dropped back and threw an end zone fade pass to Sidney Rice, who made an amazing leaping grab over the head of Cornerback Corey Graham. Rice got two feet down, barely, maintained possession of the ball, and tied the game for the Vikings.
The Bears won the toss in overtime, and had a chance to win the game on their first possession. Robbie Gould lined up for a 45-yard line field goal, and just barely pushed the ball to the right, giving the Vikings a chance to win it. But the Vikings went backwards after two sacks on consecutive plays, and the Bears got another shot. The Bears then went 3-and-out, and punted back to the Vikings. At this point, most fans were nearly frozen and were hoping for anyone to end the game.
Little did the fans know that they would soon get their wish! On the Vikings next possession, Peterson caught a ball out of the backfield and turned it up the field for a nice gain. Linebacker, Hunter Hillenmeyer, pursued Peterson and stripped the ball. The Bears’ Nick Roach recovered Adrian Peterson’s fumble at the Vikings’ 39-yard line. The fans at Soldier Field went wild. Everyone screamed at the top of the their lungs, and eagerly anticipated a Bears’ win. Peterson had done what he is famous for doing, and that is fumbling. This time, he fumbled away the game for the Vikings.
The Vikings defensive coordinator must have thought that the Bears would play it safe. He assumed that they would call some conservative plays to push the ball into field goal range for another Robbie Gould attempt. So, they loaded eight men in the box, and Jay Cutler checked off of the coverage by calling an audible play that would prove to be the game winner. Cutler dropped back, and the blitz was picked up well. He fired a bullet to the end zone, and young wide receiver, Devin Aromashodu used his speed to fly past the Vikings’ corner, Antoine Winfield. Aromashodu caught the 39-yard game-winning touchdown pass in overtime as the crowd at Soldier Field erupted with screams and cheers! People were hugging complete strangers out of sheer joy. Aromashodu ended up with 7 catches for 150 yards, and a touchdown. He may very well be the target of the future for Jay Cutler.
The Bears had done it. They had beaten their division rival in overtime, shown that they do have some character, and that they will not go quietly into the night. Cutler redeemed himself, at least for a week. Many believe that this performance may have saved Coach Lovie Smith’s job, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, the Bears have given the Eagles an opportunity to capture the #2 Seed in the NFC. They have regained some of their pride, and left people wondering if the Vikings are truly an elite team. The Bears did one more very important thing – they allowed us to go home and warm up by the fire, reminiscing about a truly remarkable and exciting game.