There would be no consolation. Not anymore. No longer relief in the battle. No more encouragement in being the superior team for one half of football.
If close enough was enough before, it was not to be on this night. And the Bears, with all the grit and fortitude they have demonstrated all season, would show that by forcing overtime in the closing minute of Monday night’s game with the Miami Dolphins on a 26-yard strike from Erik Kramer to Chris Penn and a two-point conversion pass from Kramer to Bobby Engram to knot the score 33-33.
Up until that point, this was vintage Bears–solid enough first half, though not enough to show for it, and cruel payback in the second half.
Critical errors at the worst possible times–most notably, a fumble by Kramer and recovery by Trace Armstrong at the Bears 32-yard line with 9:03 remaining in the game, led to the apparent game-breaker.
Four plays later Karim Abdul-Jabbar plunged over from the 2 to give the Dolphins all the cushion they would need at 33-18.
Trying desperately to avoid the worst start in franchise history, the Bears would cling to a 1-point deficit going into the fourth quarter. But the Dolphins, just as desperate to retain at least a share of the AFC East lead, would march 83 yards in eight plays to pad that margin to 26-18 on their opening drive of the period.
Dan Marino, getting ever stronger as the game wore on, hit Troy Drayton for a 22-yard scoring strike, Drayton stiff-arming Walt Harris en route to the end zone.
A 6-play, 80-yard Bears drive that included a 54-yard pass play from Kramer to Curtis Conway, and culminated in an 8-yard touchdown toss to Bobby Engram to bring them to within 33-25 with 5:48 remaining, gave the Bears hope.
Playing on a surreal Monday night before a local television audience, the Bears would flex their muscles early on defense, interrupting the first two Dolphins drives by forcing a fumble and an interception.
The Bears flexed their muscles early on defense, interrupting the first two Dolphins drives by forcing a fumble and an interception.
John Thierry, with a huge first half, set the tone with a vicious sack on Marino, the fumble recovered on the Miami 20-yard line by Bryan Cox, who flashed a gyrating celebration dance for his former fans.
It was only the fifth turnover of the year for the Dolphins, and they would soon pay as the offense followed through on its promise to capitalize on the defense’s gifts, something it has had trouble doing for much of the season, particularly during Rick Mirer’s regime.
Six plays later, Raymont Harris spun through the Dolphins’ line for a 2-yard touchdown run and the early lead.
The defense then stopped an apparent scoring drive on Miami’s next possession with an interception of Marino by safety Anthony Marshall in the end zone.
The drive began with a failed pooch kick by Todd Sauerbrun following the Bears’ touchdown, which gave the Dolphins the ball on their own 44. Two plays later, O.J. McDuffie took a short pass and broke loose for 55 yards, the longest Dolphins pass play this season and McDuffie’s career-long, before being brought down by Barry Minter on the Bears 1.
But the Dolphins stopped themselves after that, first with a holding call negating a touchdown by Irving Spikes, and then with Marshall’s pick after the Bears baited Marino into his pass to Lamar Thomas.
The play snapped Marino’s streak of four straight games and 156 passes without an interception.
Kramer, behind a healthy line for the first time since the season opener, wound up looking more like Marino than the real thing in the first half, completing 13 of 20 passes for 120 yards to six different receivers.
Nevertheless, the outplayed Dolphins, like so many previous Bears opponents this season, made it a game on the scoreboard. Another big play, still one more Bears bugaboo this year,, accounted for a Miami score on the next possession and a 7-7 tie as third-string running back Jerris McPhail sprung loose over left guard for a 71-yard touchdown run, the first of his NFL career.
Following a 39-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger, who remained perfect on field goals through three quarters (9 for 9 on the season to that point), Thierry once again turned in a big play with his second sack-forced fumble on Marino, this time resulting in a safety as the ball dribbled out of the end zone.
Jaeger’s second field goal from 23 yards, following a 13-play, 57-yard drive, gave the Bears a 15-7 lead–the most points scored in the first half this season since they put 11 on the board in the opener against Green Bay. It was the most since their 12th game of last season, when they scored 24 points in the first half of an eventual 31-14 victory over Detroit on Nov. 24.
The Dolphins closed the half, however, with their most impressive drive of the half, moving 75 yards in 10 plays. Operating out of the shotgun, Marino was 6 of 12, including a 20-yarder to McDuffie on a third and 15 from the Dolphins 20–their only third-down conversion in six first-half attempts–and a 10-yarder to McPhail for his second touchdown of the half.
The Dolphins missed a two-point conversion try, but had to feel good about a 15-13 halftime lead considering the fact that they trailed the Bears in possession time, 22:21-7:39.
They had to feel that much better after taking the lead for the first time with three minutes left in the third quarter, when Terrell Buckley scooped up a fumble by Ricky Proehl deep in Bears territory and at almost the exact spot where Cleveland second baseman Tony Fernandez committed his 11th-inning error to help seal the World Series for the Florida Marlins less than 24 hours earlier.
The significance was no doubt lost on those involved, particularly Buckley, who did not hesitate on his 22-yard runback for the touchdown and a 19-18 lead. The Dolphins then failed on a two-point conversion for the second time in the game.
