The Bears had a statement to make Sunday and the New York Jets were the ones who had to pay for it, possibly with their playoff hopes.The Jets (7-7) came expecting a walkover similar to the one the Miami Dolphins enjoyed Monday night against the Bears. Instead they left with a 20-13 defeat at the hands of a team determined to prove that its record is deceptive.
“I just think we got fed up,” guard Chris Villarrial said.
Before a crowd of 43,191, the Bears shut out the Jets for the first half. It was the first time all season they had held an opponent scoreless for a half.
The Bears made the Jets give the ball up and did it at the game’s deciding moment, a time commonly reserved this season for their own game-blowing mistakes.
Trailing by a touchdown after a 48-yard Paul Edinger field goal with 2:38 left, the Jets drove from their 24 to the Bears’ 37 with 1:19 to go. New York quarterback Chad Pennington found receiver Wayne Chrebet on a slant pattern for 22 yards.
Safety Larry Whigham was in position for a big hit on Chrebet, but he had injured his back on the opening kickoff of the second half and went low instead. Chrebet tried to vault Whigham and safety Mike Green but dropped the ball as he put out his hands to break a headfirst fall.
Rookie cornerback Roosevelt Williams recovered the fumble, and the Jets had no timeouts to prevent the Bears from running out the clock.
NOTES: The Bears are tied with Houston and Minnesota for the third-worst record at 4-10. If they had lost, they would have tied Detroit for the second-worst record, putting them in line for the third pick. But they won, and using tie-breakers, they would receive the fifth pick.
– The Bears opted to use backup quarterback Henry Burris for only one snap. Behind Burris was running back Leon Johnson flanked by fullbacks Stanley Pritchett and Daimon Shelton, 735 pounds of backfield lined up straight across behind Burris in a T-formation. Burris played the role made popular in Chicago in the 1940s by Sid Luckman.
