Morning Box Score: Bears Edge Vikings In OT
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 29, 2009 4:00PM
Last night's game was, in a way, a microcosm of the Bears' 2009 season: excellent potential ultimately squandered. The difference, though, was that the Bears managed to win, stunning the favored Vikings 36-30 in overtime, and left Bears fans thinking what could have been while it left Vikings fan wondering what they've gotten themselves in to with another Favre December swoon. The Bears used three Robbie Gould field goals and a Jay Cutler touchdown pass to Greg Olsen to build a 16-0 lead which would be extended to 23-6 late in the third quarter as they used a big pass interference call to set up another Cutler TD pass to Desmond Clark. And it was then the Bears found themselves on the brink of a great collapse as the Vikings rallied for 17 straight points to tie the game at 23-23 and the Bears found themselves without cornerback Charles Tillman (ribs) and wide receiver Johnny Knox (ankle) who were both knocked out of the game. But the Bears found a way to fight back, thanks in large part to Danieal Manning's 59-yard kickoff return that set up another Cutler TD pass to give the Bears a 30-23 lead. And yet, once more, Brett Favre found a way to keep his team in the game, taking the Vikings down the field and throwing a stunning fourth down touchdown pass to Sidney Rice with just seconds left in the game.
And this is where the Bears showed a difference than the Bears team we've watched all year: they showed resilience. A huge Cutler completion to Devin Aromashodu on the opening play of overtime seemed to set the Bears up for a game-winning field goal only to see Gould miss wide right. A killer, right? Not for the Bears defense, who got a pair of big sacks on the ensuing Vikings possession to give the Ball back to Cutler and the offense and, after a three-and-out, forced the game-changing fumble when Hunter Hillenmeyer forced Adrian Peterson to fumble on the Vikings' 39 yard line. Cutler then put the dagger in the Vikings' heart by once again finding Aromashodu for the game-winning touchdown pass.
So what can Bears fans take away from the game? Well, first the good: Jay Cutler was 20 of 35 for 273 yards, four touchdowns, and only one interception (the Bears' only turnover). And while the rushing game left a lot to be desired - Matt Forte averaged only 3.5 yards per carry for 74 total yards on 21 carries - four different receivers caught touchdown passes with Aromashodu being Cutler's favorite target (7 catches, 150 yards) and continues his late season emergence. But what about the bad?
While the defense had some key sacks and the fumble in overtime, it still allowed the Vikings to rack up 423 yards of total offense and gave up 30 second-half points after holding the Vikings scoreless in the first half. As the Trib's David Haugh points out, it's all perspective whether you see last night's victory as a positive sign of things to come or a bad sign of failed potential.
A city starving for the playoffs must demand to know, if the Bears can look this good against a quality team, why have they looked so bad so often the rest of the season?The better the Bears played, the more they looked like a team with the most unrealized talent in the league. The more they relished how competitive they played, the more they must have regretted how badly their season went.
Does beating a Super Bowl-caliber team create more faith in Smith's coaching ability or doubt?
Last night's victory did have playoff implications, but not for the Bears (Drew Brees will be sending Cutler some a "Thank You" six-pack of Abita because the NFC road to the Super Bowl now goes through New Orleans due to the victory.) Whether the victory - combined with what one would hope would be an impending victory over the Lions - will help save Lovie Smith's job - not to mention Ron Turner's - is anyone's guess. Do the Bears make smaller coaching changes and hope a Knox-Bennett-Aromashodu-Hester receiving core will be good enough targets to help Cutler to a rebound season next year? Is the defense so bad without Urlacher that they need to make a splash with a big free agent signing to help? Or do they clean house and hope that 2010 is as good a rebuilding year as can be hoped for? We won't know for another week, but in the meantime, we expect plenty of speculation.