The season lives
Lovie Smith told the Bears on Saturday night that the playoffs had begun, and his team played the final 7:25 like it remembered the speech. Down 34-20, Charles Tillman blocked a punt. Rex Grossman led a drive. Robbie Gould kicked a 39-yard game-winning field goal in overtime. Suddenly, the sins that made the Bears look overrated were forgiven, if not forgotten. All that mattered was that the Bears became one of six NFC teams with a 5-6 record and realistic wild-card hopes.
Thanks, Mike
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was returning to his hometown, but he didn’t have to be so gracious. Why did he kick off and punt to Devin Hester? Why didn’t he take a shot at moving the ball downfield against a porous defense with 28 seconds left in a tie game? The Bears had many heroes on a remarkable day — such as Hester, Tillman and Gould — but Shanahan played a small but significant role in making sure their efforts meant something in his hometown.
Mr. Excitement
Hester atoned for a fumble with two more returns for TDs, cementing his spot as the NFL’s most exciting player. Without Hester, a bad defense couldn’t have survived giving up 30 points for the fifth time. Without Hester, Grossman wouldn’t have had a chance to finish well on an otherwise bleak day for the offense. Hester is surrounded by an offense and defense that picked the same year to underachieve. But thanks to his special-teams pals who blocked a punt, it didn’t matter.
Clutch Rex
Near the end of the fourth quarter, fans started chanting “Or-ton, Or-ton!” Not so fast, Chicago. Neither Grossman’s 66.9 passer rating nor his two fumbles will do much to instill local confidence, but Grossman made the key throws when needed and completed 5 of 7 passes on the final series of regulation and overtime. Adrian Peterson came up big, Bernard Berrian came up big, but so did Grossman. That will be the focus as the Bears once again try to finally win two in a row.
