I have a terrible confession to make.
After Bears’ QB Rex Grossman threw his fourth interception with about six minutes left in last night’s nationally-televised game against the Arizona Cardinals, I turned off the TV and went to bed. With the Bears down 23-10, I figured the game was over.
I was in bed only a few minutes when I heard a neighbor start yelling. But it was a yell of excitement, not pain. So I got up and checked on the Bears game – just in case. Bears’ rookie Devon Hester had just returned a punt for 83 yards to tie the score. With the ensuing extra point, the Bears were ahead 24-23 with less than three minutes remaining in the game. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Less then four minutes had elapsed on the game clock since I turned off the tube, and I’m thinking to myself, “How did this happen? These guys were dead to the world.”
Thanks to their highly-touted defense, the Bears scored two of their touchdowns courtesy of fumble recoveries. The third touchdown came on Hester’s punt return. Add a Bobbie Gould field goal, and the Bears scored 24 points without an offensive score. Once again, the Bears D and special teams bailed out the offense, as they always seem to do.
The Bears were so thoroughly outplayed last night that they did not deserve to win. But somehow they did. Miracle finishes like this happen to good teams. And when Cardinals' kicker Neil Rackers missed a 40-yard field goal attempt with 52 seconds left, when he had not missed a field goal of 50 yards or less all season, the Bears celebrated a most unlikely victory. At 6-0, they remain the only unbeaten team in the NFC.
After seeing a miracle finish like this, I had to wonder -- is it dumb luck or is it destiny? Maybe this is the Bears’ year after all.
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