It took Mike Tomczak 55 minutes 32 seconds to set things up for Doug Flutie Sunday.
”Then he choked,” said Tomczak.
The Bears were in a mood to joke after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-3. It was difficult to tell what made them smile most.
Walter Payton gained 139 yards in 20 carries behind blocking and cutting that left Bucs sprawled in his wake as if they were paying homage. Dislocated big toes could become the latest Bear fad.
Tomczak scored his first pro touchdown and threw his first pro touchdown pass, to Willie Gault in the first quarter, allowing the Bear defense to toy with Tampa Bay quarterback Steve Young.
Kevin Butler connected on his 14th, 15th and 16th field goals in a row, all club records.
The Bears entered the game wounded and left relatively healthy. Compared to the hapless Bucs, they were positively cured.
Tampa Bay lost running back Nathan Wonsley on the first play with a neck injury and tight end Jerry Bell in the second quarter with a dislocated and fractured ankle. Wide receiver Leonard Harris (hamstring) and running back James Wilder (ribs) aggravated injuries and couldn`t finish.
The Bears didn`t miss quarterback Jim McMahon (shoulder) or middle linebacker Mike Singletary (groin). Linebacker Otis Wilson (knee) and defensive tackle William Perry (knee) played most of the game without further damage, they said. Perry had two of the team`s five sacks.
Ron Rivera played another solid game in Singletary`s place. The Bucs made 115 of their 272 yards on third down, usually when Rivera and Wilson weren`t playing.
It was the fifth time in seven weeks the Bears have held an opponent to a touchdown or less.
”We did a lot of good things,” said coach Mike Ditka.
Best of all, the Bears get to play the Bucs again in a month.
Tomczak responded to the pressure of his third pro start and first in seven weeks by completing 11 of 24 passes for 265 yards. He was sacked once and threw one interception on a tipped ball.
Ditka had promised to run the ball against the worst-ranked defense in the league, so he opened the game with three straight passes that loosened up everybody.
”I wanted to throw it right off,” Ditka said. ”I`ve been unfair to Mike and to Steve (Fuller) because I say I`m going to run it with them in there. But you have to let the quarterback get into the game. It`s for confidence. Especially Mike. He hasn`t played in a long time.”
Tomczak hit Gault on a 17-yard pass on the first play. After an incompletion to Gault, Payton ran 57 yards with a screen pass to show he wasn`t bothered by a metal plate to protect the dislocated joint on the big toe of his right foot.
”Tampa Bay is last in the league against the rush, but they play a lot of zone defense,” Tomczak said. ”That first play we worked on all week. If I could complete that pass, it would boost my confidence. Our offensive line went after them and I had a great supporting cast.”
Tomczak completed the initial 92-yard drive with a TD sneak that marked the first time all season the Bears have scored a touchdown on their opening possession.
After a routinely spectacular tackle by linebacker Wilber Marshall forced a Tampa Bay punt, Tomczak made it 14-0 on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Gault.
Gault ran a crossing pattern after reading that the free safety was dropping deep. Tomczak read it, too, and threw a perfect pass.
”My job was easy,” Tomczak said. ”Just put some air under it and let the speedster go after it.”
Gault caught four passes for 116 yards including a 50-yarder on an audible by Tomczak that got Flutie into the game with 4:28 to play.
In five games since Gault had 7 catches for 174 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had caught only 8 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown.
”We have to get the ball to Willie,” Ditka said. ”If we get 200 yards passing, I`d be the happiest guy in the world. If we can run for 175 or 200 and pass for the same, we`d be a good team.”
The Bears had 176 running and 258 passing against the Bucs with one phase complementing the other.
”They all backed up after that first series to prevent the long pass,”
said tackle Keith Van Horne.
Despite the early lead, the offense was unable to control the clock and the defense was unable to control Young on third down. But the Bucs were the only ones to feel the heat.
”It was a pleasure to play them,” Young said. ”A great learning experience. The front four seems to get a great push and all together. Some teams are stronger on one side. This team comes all together.”
Ditka chastised himself for some questionable play-calling early, including a 15-yard loss by Gault on a reverse he called ”stupidity.”
Ditka`s confidence in Tomczak grew enough during the game to go for points from the Bears` 1-yard line with 1:16 left in the half.
A 23-yard pass to tight end Tim Wrightman on third down got them out of the hole and Butler eventually kicked a 25-yard field goal after a 91-yard drive.
Ditka said he ”just wanted to have a little fun” when he put in Flutie, this year`s Fridge, at the 17-yard line late in the game.
Flutie handed off three times for a first down, scrambled for a loss on a broken play and threw an incompletion intended for Emery Moorehead in the end zone.
”The game was over and they wanted to give Doug or Steve a chance,”
Tomczak said. ”Doug went in there and he choked. I was teasing him. That will probably be the most talked-about incompletion in NFL history.
”I knew he was coming in. Mike said we needed one more drive and then we`d let him hand the ball off and get some confidence.”
Tomczak`s confidence was already fortified.
Tomczak compared the pressure to a high school game he played as a senior for Thornton Fractional North against Bremen, not that he was comparing Tampa Bay to Bremen.
”I called my Dad from O`Hare before we left and said I`d give it my all,” Tomczak said. ”He said, `Remember the Bremen game when our backs were against the wall.` ”
Tomczak`s dad, Ron, was the T.F. North coach who won that day.
Tomczak admitted that his future was ”in the back of my mind,” because the Bears will keep four quarterbacks only temporarily.
”But I thought if I go out there with the attitude that if I don`t perform well my career is history, then I won`t perform well,” Tomczak said. ”I thrive on pressure. It was a big steppingstone. It boosted my stock up a bit.
”But I can`t rest on this game alone. We have a big game against Atlanta next week. Then when Jim comes back, we`ll see what happens.”
Will it be Tomczak or McMahon next week?
”I don`t know what`s going to happen with Jim,” Ditka said. ”He`s going to pick up the ball on Wednesday and see what happens. Depending on what happens, we`ll give him the opportunity to play if he wants the opportunity. If not, we`ll hold him out another week.
”Probably, that might be the best idea.”
Suddenly, Tomczak and the Bucs have eased the urgency.
