1.) 2013, Bears @ Browns: Offenses on fire in the cold as Bears win shootout with Browns
Season 1 of the Marc Trestman era was full of hope, at least on the offensive side of the football. The 1st year head coach piloted his team to the 2nd best scoring offense in the league at 27.8 points a game, and while the defense was lacking (30th overall in the league in points allowed) the offense generally did a good job of keeping the Bears in the game.
They did just that in Cleveland as the 7-6 Bears traveled to take on the 4-9 Cleveland Browns in a game that saw the wind chill hit 14 degrees.
The didn’t stop either offense from putting up numbers.
Lead by quarterback Jay Cutler, the Bears offense churned out 23 first downs, 440 yards and held a near 10 minute time of possession edge.
Matt Forte ran for 127 yards, his 3rd 100-yard rushing game in a row, wide receivers Earl Bennett, Brandon Marshall, and Alshon Jeffery all caught touchdowns, the most impressive of the bunch was Jeffery hauling in a 45-yard in double coverage.
The defense chipped in as well, with Bears cornerback Zackary Bowman intercepting 2 Jason Campbell passes, returning 1 for a 43-yard pick 6.
2.) 1983, Bears @ Vikings: Suhey’s bomb to Payton fuels the Bears over the Vikings
The 1983 season was a sign of things to come for the Chicago Bears, and more importantly the NFC Central. Coaching in his first full season, former Bears tight end Mike Ditka has his team sitting at 6-8 with 2 weeks remaining. The Minnesota Vikings were playing host to those Bears, and sitting at 7-7 in a fairly week NFC Central, they were hoping to try to distance themselves for a late Central title.
But stout defense, and a little bit of trickery from the Bears spoiled the party.
The Bears defense would allow just 255 yards of total offense to Vikings, with Vikings quarterback Steve Dils taking 4 sacks, 2 from Richard Dent, and 1 Mike Singletary.
He was also intercepted by Gary Fencik (who also recovered a fumble in the game as well.)
The highlight of the game though came from the backfield duo, as running back Matt Suhey fielded a backwards pass from Jim McMahon, after faking up field, he pulls up and lofts a perfect pass to a wide open Walter Payton for a 74-yard touchdown.
The Bears never looked back from that point, going on to close out the Vikings 19-13, the win was part of 5-1 end of season finish to go 8-8. It was the first win in Minnesota since 1971.
The following season would kick off a run of NFC Central dominance that saw the Bears win the division 6 of the next 7 years, a run that the Bears went 79-32 in, for a very healthy 71.2% winning %.
3.) 2019, Bears @ Packers: Bears narrowly pull off miracle, Robinson shines in loss in Lambeau
The 2019 Chicago Bears had a lot of hope behind them. After a 12-4 2018 season that saw Matt Nagy win coach of the year, many had thought the Bears had finally found the winning combination of head coach and quarterback, as Mitchell Trubisky posted one of the better statistical seasons for a Bears QB since.
But by week 15 in the 2019 season things had not gone the way the Chicago Bears planned, sitting at 7-6 with 3 weeks left in the season, the Bears traveled to Lambeau Field to take on the 10-3 Packers.
One could argue that both the Bears offense and defense showed up to play to try and upset the division leading Packers. The defense held the Packers to under 300 yards, while the offense racked up 415 yards, 20 first downs, and held a near 10 minute edge in time of possession.
But 2 costly Mitchell Trubisky interceptions combined with the offense going 0-3 on 4th down gummed up the offense.
Despite all that the Bears still had a chance.
With 36 seconds left in the game starting from their own 22, and with just 1 second left the Bears would dial up a short slant to Tarik Cohen, and attempt to make their way down field via lateral. Bears backup tight end Jesper Horsted would end up with the ball and make his way down to the Packers 10, Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson found himself uncovered to Horsted’s right, but unfortunately did not keep his head on a swivel, getting tackled and fumbling over to the Packers to end the game.
Robinson was visibly upset after the play as the Bears came excruciatingly close to pulling of a lateral miracle. As a consolation Robinson did become the first Bears wide receiver since Alshon Jeffery in 2014 to post a 1000 yard receiving season for the Bears. Robinson hauled in 7 balls for 125 yards in the loss.
4.) 1988, Bears vs. Lions: Bears secure NFC’s top seed with game winning field goal from Kevin Butler
The 1988 Bears defense was still the top of the mountain when it came to quality. They lead the league in scoring defense for the 3rd time in 4 years allowing just 13.4 points per game.
That defense came to play in week 15 when it meant the most in the regular season: securing the division title. Hosting the Detroit Lions who were sitting at just 4-10, the defense allowed just 12 points, and forced 3 Lions fumbles, recovering 2.
But the offense still found themselves trailing late as the Lions would mount a late touchdown, a 1-yard plunge by running back Garry James.
With 5:38 left in the game, the Bears would start the last drive of the game on their own 30. Stringing together a 14-play drive making their way down all the way to the Lions 15 with just 8 seconds left.
Long time Bears kicker Kevin Butler would get his number called, and from 32-yards would put the Bears ahead 13-12 with just 4 seconds left.
The ensuing kickoff was covered well and the Bears walked away with their 5th consecutive NFC Central title.
5.) 1992, Bears vs. Steelers: Defense takes game over in Samurai Mike’s last home game
No amount of words can express the things Samurai Mike Singletary did for the Chicago Bears defense, and the franchise as a whole.
Selected in the 2nd round of the 1981 NFL draft, Singletary would become the intense, focused leader of the 80’s Bears defense. It was a run that saw him selected to 10 consecutive Pro-Bowls, 7 All-Pro teams, a 2 defensive player of the year awards, and eventually enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.
But even the best have to hang them up eventually, and in many ways the 1992 Bears were the epitome. Dennis Gentry, Mike Singletary, and Ron Rivera would all retire after the 1992 season, and head coach Mike Ditka would be fired after a 5-11 season, signaling the end of an era of dominance.
In Singletary’s last start at home, the defense showed flashes of it’s mid 80’s excellence against the visiting 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers were outmatched from the get go, fumbling the opening kickoff.
And it wouldn’t get any better from there for the Steelers. The Bears defense held them to just 140 total yards, including just 35 rushing. They forced 4 turnovers and sacked Steelers quarterback Bubby Brister 5 times enroute to a 30-6 shellacking in what would be the Bears’ most lopsided win in a rather forgetful ‘92 season.
Singletary recorded 5 tackles and in impressive pass break up, smacking Steelers running back Merril Hoge with a hard hit forcing an incompletion.
A reminder of what once was for one of the best to ever do it.
Gary Baugher Jr. is a rookie contributor to WCG, bringing football insight backed by over 16 years of experience in organized football and more than 30 years as a passionate fan of the game. You can follow him on Twitter at @iamcogs.
