Before Bears quarterback Kordell Stewart jogged off Invesco Field on Sunday after the Bears’ 19-10 victory, he acknowledged the adulation around him with his patented toothy smile.
A pocket of hearty Bears fans with frozen faces but warmed hearts chanted, “Go Bears! Go Bears!” And a few locals with memories of Stewart’s college days in Colorado showered him with cries of “Go Buffs! Go Buffs!”
Their words were different, but their purpose the same. They were all cheering Stewart for saving their favorite team.
“It was good to somewhat come back home and see some friends here,” Stewart said after rallying the Bears from a 10-9 deficit to their first victory on the road in
13 games. “This was my first chance since I’ve been in the league to come back and play here. To have that opportunity and win, it was wonderful.”
The opportunity came out of necessity. With 10 minutes 23 seconds left in the second quarter, starting QB Chris Chandler sustained what he termed a mild separation to his throwing shoulder when Denver’s Trevor Pryce threw him to the ground on a sack that was negated by a face mask penalty.
Chandler didn’t realize the extent of the injury and continued to play. He even led the Bears on a six-play, 30-yard scoring drive at the end of the first half that culminated with Paul Edinger’s 54-yard field goal with :03 left.
At halftime, the coaching staff and medical team determined Chandler couldn’t go.
“Kordell came in, and he was ready,” tight end Desmond Clark said.
Stewart’s numbers suggest he wasn’t as sharp as everyone was saying in a jubilant locker room; he completed just 7-of-15 passes for 47 yards and rushed eight times for 29 more. But Stewart converted two fourth-down plays on the key 15-play drive that put the Bears ahead for good when he leaped over the goal line on fourth-and-inches.
Stewart’s effort would have gone for naught without clutch play from special teams and a defense that made stops.
Without Edinger’s four field goals, after all, the Bears never would have reached their peak in the Mile High City. Edinger looked nothing like the guy whose misses in the last two weeks may have cost the Bears victories.
Jerry Azumah returned three kickoffs for 116 yards and kept the Bears offense on a short field all day. That allowed the offense to stay within its game plan and control the clock as the Bears won the time-of-possession battle by holding the ball for 32 minutes 43 seconds.
That enabled the defense to stay rested and aggressive. Playing the bulk of the second half with a lead helped too.
“Everybody came through when it mattered,” defensive tackle Keith Traylor said.
