Feel very sorry for Leinart. He is an excellent QB.

Still, 6-0.  I'll take it.

1.  If Berrian makes that catch, we win 40 - 0.
   
2.  If we hit Leinhart in the first quarter like Anderson did in the 3rd, we win this game 40 - 0.

We are going undefeated.

And I know every Bears blogger and fan is going to have a story like this, but I don't care.  This is my dancefloor, and those of you that are reading this can listen to me go on and on for a minute.  A quick minute, as I'm completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Let's talk about some facts...  What did we learn from this game?  Chicago is far from invincible.  Rex Grossman still has a lot of steps to take before being considered great.  The injuries on defense, especially Ogunleye are more important than anyone made them out to be, as there was very little pressure on Leinart all night.  Ricky Manning Jr. is becomming a very important part of the defense as well, being that he's great at jumping routes (as shown in the Seattle game).  The Bears still don't deal well with lots of media attention.  They played a bad playoff game against Carolina last year, and did likewise again.  We still don't do so well against top tier receivers.

That all being said, good lord.  Games like this don't happen very often, and they probably happen to your favorite team even less than that.  Mark asked me today, several times, why I was so adamant about watching the game live (even if it meant watching commercials).  I didn't have a concrete example as to why, but this game is about the best I can describe it.

Just like Jem, it was truly, truly outrageous.  The depths of the first half were crushing.  Our vaunted defense was getting carved up by a pretty-boy rookie, just like in pre-season.  Pro Bowl players were whiffing on tackles.  The next big thing, Tommie Harris, was pretty much invisible.  Hell, even Edge James was rushing for chunks of yardage.  Rex looked bad, the receivers couldn't bail him out, and the ground game was mediocre at best.  It looked like the pre-Lovie Bears.

The at half-time, the coaching staff must have done a good job at firing the team up, because there was a renewed intensity.  The O-Line started stepping up, and we drove down field.  Then everything stuttered again, and we settled for three.  The Cards get it back and after a tough roughing the kicker call, answer with their own three.

Then fantasy land starts.  Rex throws yet another INT, but we score on defense.  Then Urlacher strips James and we score again, then Arizona's punt coverage team decides to suck and lets Hester have all the room in the world.  But of course there was time left on the clock, so Arizona drove into what should be easy field goal range for Rackers, who is wide left.  Unbelievable.

I was jumping up and down, and screaming at the top of my lungs.  I called people up (sorry if it was you) and screamed into their voicemail.

In my delirious state, I vaguely remember hearing stuff about this game being record setting, but don't remember exactly.  Grossman had like negative five or six fantasy points.  And we won.  He turned the ball over six times.  And we won.  His QB rating was 10.  And we won.  Winning without scoring an offensive touchdown is so 2005, but no one seemed to care tonight.

To use a baseball analogy, when a pitcher has a no-hitter, there are always one or two defensive plays that are just amazing, which keep it alive.  This Bears team is magical.  This game will go down in the books as being truly remarkable.

Bear down.

Link:
http://www.bearshistory.com/seasons/1991chicagobears.aspx

Despite a 28 completion, 303 yard performance by Jim Harbaugh, and nine-catches by the clutch Tom Waddle, the Bears trailed the Jets, 13-6 with less than a minute left. As was beginning to be common in 1991, Chicago couldn't maintain a solid running game. Fullback Brad Muster had left the game early after re-aggrevating his hamstring injury. So New York settled in to run out the clock. Steve McMichael had different plans. He stripped Blair Thomas of the ball, and Chicago had the ball back in their own territory. Several plays later, Harbaugh, Waddle, Davis, and Anderson had the team 3rd down and inches from the Jets' one yard line. The QB attempted a sneak from the shotgun formation, and was stuffed just short of the goal line. With time for one final play on fourth down, Harbaugh rifled a pass in the flat to Neal Anderson....TOUCHDOWN! as time expired. The game went into overtime, and New York drove down the field to attempt an easy, game winning field goal. Not much of the crowd had left, despite the situation looking grim. In another freak twist of fate, the Jets blew the field goal attempt. Fate gave Chicago one more shot, as time was winding down in the extra period. Several passes later, Harbaugh hit tight end Cap Boso on a rollout, Boso was driven over the goal line, popping up with a face full of sod. The Bears had one the game, and they headed into the locker room full of jubilation....or so they thought. The officials ruled Boso down at the one-yard line, and the players were called out of the locker room to get back on the field. Finally, Jim Harbaugh scored on a sneak, and the Bears had won a game they shouldn't have by the score of 19-13. The team was 4-0.

Except now they're 6-0, and have got a bye week to recover.  The beer tastes good tonight, folks.

Sho' nuff!

-goat of the game (bears)...grossman/briggs...rex was awful, and we still won (karma, wow)...briggs didn't wrap at all in the first half

-so who had the chi def in fantasy? unbelievable

-thank you neil rackers

-i remember mike vick's first game when everyone was calling him the next great thing, urlacher brought him back to earth...leinert, however,  is the next great thing....he is gonna be a stud, he showed poise, fearlessness, and smarts

-i hate using the word destiny, but this game reeked of football gods playing for chicago, even with every call going arizona's way

-i am stunned, you don't see what we just saw every day

-thank god for the bye week

random thoughts:

when will this club commit to running the football?
did the bears spend too much time this week reading papers and listening to talk radio that they will not lose a game for years to come?
is hester going to turn out to be randle-el, only better?
would it be a good idea to leave thomas jones behind in arizona?
did ron rivera go ballistic at the half?

In a word, the Bears got lucky!

Arizona Defensive coach should get mad props for this game. He had his squad ready. He had a plan of attack, which was, get to Grossman and force the Bears to run the ball. The Bears didn't. They kept throwing it up. The Bears coaching staff needs to make the adjustment or they will lose. The template to beat the Bears was made tonight. I hope the Bears make the right adjustments.

Shortly after Kornheiser said the Cards should give the stadium back if they lose this game. The Bears get the fumble and make it 17-23. Then the punt return was priceless. Stunned Silence in the booth.

Charles Barkely in the booth knew the Cards were gonna blow this. The look on the Card's faces told me to stay up and watch. I saw fear.

Urlacher was vibrating. I was scared he might jump out of the TV and tackle me while going to the bathroom.

It's a win. It wasn't great and the Bears still need to work hard to be Super!