RSSThe Bears Topple the Cards On a Kick
Oct 17
Sports Bears, Cardinals, Football, NFL Comments Off
The Chicago Bears were undefeated going into tonight’s Monday Night Football game. The Arizona Cardinals marched into the game with a record of 1 and 4, and promptly marched right over the Chicago Bears in the first half. It was stunning, unexpected and unpredictable. Arizona had hoped for a turn around of fortunes and installed rookie Matt Leinart (Heisman Trophy Winner, played for USC during their record 19-game winning streak) as their starting quarterback last week.
There were moments where the game could go either way. The Cardinals had three Bears’ turnovers to capitalize on in the first half, and only managed two field goals. They could easily have made it a four-possession game before the Bears even scored, and probably could have used every point to secure their confidence. To put it mildly, this was not a team with a history of success.
The second half was a better story for Chicago. Tackle Mark Anderson knocked the ball from Leinart’s hands with :08 seconds left on the third quarter, and Mike Brown picked it up for the touchdown. Chicago got possession of the ball with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, needing two touchdowns to steal the game back from the Cardinals.
The Chicago Bears came into the game undefeated this season. They flirted with respectability last season, but emerged this year as solid team on both sides of the ball under coach Lovie Smith. Quarterback Rex Grossman came back from successive injuries to lead the offense with solid play and a rocket throwing arm.
In the fourth quarter, unbelievably, Bears quarterback Rex Grossman gave up the ball again. His third interception of the game. And then, unbelievably, Bears quarterback Rex Grossman gave up the ball again. His fourth interception of the game. Bad decisions, turnovers, and lack of composure killed the Bears. But still not out of the game with five minutes to go as the Bears scored another defensive touchdown.
The Cardinals sole goal with three and a half minutes left was to extend the drive long enough to kill the clock. That didn’t work, spectacularly, as Bears punt returner Devin Hester carried the punt back for another touchdown, tying the score before the extra point. The Bears launched an unbelievable comeback down from twenty points, and now the Cards had a little less than three minutes to drive down the field and score, hopefully without leaving any time on the clock to give the Bears hope.
It looked good on the last drive. The Cardinals’ game hinged on Matt Leinart’s composure from start to finish. He came through, but his kicker shanked the field goal with one minute to go, giving the ball back to the Bears to run out the clock. A completely devasting ending for Arizona.
Bears 24, Cardinals 23 (Final)
