In humid central Florida, where man is often pitted against the elements, Mike Ditka and the Bears survived the oppressive heat and the annoying Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-15 Sunday.
In his first game back as head coach after recuperating from a heart attack on Nov. 2, the new and improved Ditka unveiled himself to 67,070 fans and an admiring audience of television viewers that probably included his cardiologist, Dr. Jay Alexander.
Following doctors` orders, Ditka generally tempered his emotion and bottled his reaction to such previously intolerable indiscretions as dropped passes by Bear receivers, interceptions thrown by Bear quarterbacks and six fumbles by his good-hands people.
Mike Tomczak, who completed 9 of 21 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown, helped the Bears, who lead the National Football Conference Central Divi-
sion with a 10-2 mark, beat the Bucs (3-9) for the 12th straight time. Tomczak is 14-2 as a starter and is 6-0 against NFC Central rival Tampa.
But when he threw one of his two interceptions on the day in the second quarter, Tomczak braced himself for an accustomed sideline blistering from his normally volcanic coach.
”He greeted me on the sidelines!” said Tomczak in belated astonishment. ”It was the warmest reception I`ve gotten in a while.”
Rookie first-round draft pick Brad Muster, who scored his first National Football League touchdown on a 40-yard screen pass in the second quarter, had dropped a pass in front of the Bears` bench minutes earlier. Instead of a chastising, Muster received words of encouragement from Ditka.
When Bears` players became frustrated with their second-half performance after mounting a 21-6 lead at intermission, some of them began complaining and berating one another. But Ditka, a true convert to the notion of personal tranquility, tried to keep his cool so that his momentarily hostile players would not loose theirs.
”I feel good,” said Ditka, whose face was red from the sun (it was 85 degrees at game time) and not from anger. He fueled himself with water and Gatorade during the game and sat down when he wanted to listen to his body instead of his assistant coaches.
”I want us to play as well as we can as a team,” Ditka added. ”I want us to respect each other out there for the efforts we`re putting out. As long as that happens, then we have no qualms. If we`re good enough, we`ll win. If we`re not good enough, we won`t win.”
Although the Bears acknowledged that their overall play was sloppy, they avoided an emotional letdown after last Sunday`s high-pitched victory at Washington.
”We know we have got to play better,” said Ditka. ”It`s nice to go on the road for two weeks and come away with two wins.”
How hot was it?
”We haven`t had anything like this since two-a-days (last summer in training camp in Platteville, Wis.),” said Hilgenberg.
”The heat was like a 12th man for them,” said middle linebacker Mike Singletary. ”Thank God we`re getting out of here.”
The Bears wasted no time in taking advantage of the first of three Bucs`
turnovers. Vinny Testaverde (7 of 22 for 86 yards and two interceptions) had a pass intended for fullback Jeff Smith carom off his hands and into the loving grasp of Singletary. He returned the interception to the Bucs` 14.
After a one-yard run by Neal Anderson and a six-yard pass from Tomczak to tight end Emery Moorehead, the Bears faced a third and three from the seven.
Tomczak was sacked, but Tampa free safety Harry Hamilton was whistled for holding. That set the Bears up with a first down at the Tampa three. Three plays later, Anderson plunged over from the 1-yard line. Kevin Butler`s converson made it 7-0.
The Bears waged a legitmate march for their next touchdown, moving 72 yards in three plays, one a 44-yard pass from Tomczak to Ron Morris, before Anderson scored from the 17.
”We really didn`t throw as much as we would have liked to,” said Morris, ”but our running game came around.”
Donnie Elder returned Butler`s kickoff 51 yards to set up Donald Igwebuike`s 27-yard field goal, which pulled the Bucs to within 14-3.
The Bears moved out to a 21-3 lead when Muster scored with 6:10 left in the half. After receiving several key blocks to break him in the clear, Muster changed directions and was escorted into the end zone by blockers Dennis McKinnon and Anderson.
Igwebuike connected on a controversial 23-yard field goal as the half ended.
After Odie Harris intercepted a Tomczak pass with 2:45 left, the Bucs drove 79 yards for the score that made it 21-6. Out of timeouts, Tampa moved to the five-yard line with eight seconds left on a short pass from Testaverde to Bruce Hill, who failed to get out of bounds on the play. Thus, the clock should have kept moving, but it was stopped for seven seconds before the Bucs` field-goal unit rushed onto the field. After the clock was restarted, Igwebuike hit the three-pointer as time expired.
Ditka and the rest of the Bears` coaching staff stormed the referees on the field in protest. The replay officials later admitted the timekeeper made a mistake by stopping the clock after Hill`s reception.
The Bucs got a safety on a high punt snap to make it 21-8, but Butler booted a 36-yard field goal with 7:29 left in the game to put the Bears on top 24-8. He added a 43-yarder before the Bucs scored on a seven-yard pass from quarterback Joe Ferguson to Frank Pillow.
