Ninety-seven yards separated the Bears from saving their season Sunday.
The same 97 yards were all the Eagles’ defense had to protect to redeem theirs.
With 1 minute, 52 seconds left and no timeouts, needing a touchdown to win, the Bears took a little yardage from the Eagles’ defense, and then a lot, and then all of it, scoring on a 15-yard pass from Brian Griese to Muhsin Muhammad with nine seconds remaining for a 19-16 victory.
It was as resourceful as it was stunning, with Griese — who has produced 54 fourth-quarter points since taking over as the starter for Rex Grossman — calling his own plays on the drive, the speaker in his helmet having shorted out just before the series began.
“The key to that drive was just the start,” Griese said, “getting out of that hole, getting completions, getting out of bounds. … I don’t think drives like that happen if everyone doesn’t believe. And on that drive, in the huddle, everyone believed.”
As the Bears huddled up, “Olin [Kreutz] goes, ‘How sweet would it be to go 97 for the win?’ ” Muhammad said.
“We had a little bit of time,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “I can say we’ve never practiced that situation from the 3-yard line with no timeouts.”
Griese got time to throw, hitting tight end Desmond Clark, running back Adrian Peterson and Devin Hester to move the Bears to its 32 with less than a minute left. After finding Clark again with 49 seconds left, the Bears had third and 3 at their 39.
Griese hit wide receiver Bernard Berrian down the middle for 25 yards and a huge first down at the Philadelphia 36.
After Griese spiked the ball with 31 seconds to go, Muhammad ran a post pattern, clearing the middle for Hester, who caught Griese’s pass underneath for a 21-yard gain to the Philadelphia 15.
Griese spiked the ball again with 15 seconds left. Then he sent Muhammad on a seam route up the middle of the field, with the Eagles in a zone defense.
“It was such a deep route that I kind of had to turn and square up [with Muhammad] and I had to turn my back,” safety Sean Considine said. “That’s when you get in trouble. … Griese put it in perfectly. I was playing his inside shoulder, and he threw it to [Muhammad’s] outside shoulder.”
Griese finished 27-of-41 for 322 yards with no interceptions. Muhammad caught five passes for 79 yards. Robbie Gould kicked four field goals.
The Bears hadn’t beaten the Eagles or even scored more than 19 points against them since McNabb went to Philadelphia as the second pick of the 1999 draft.
