Chicago Bears: 10 Best Come-from-Behind Wins in Team History
Comeback victories can be exciting and frustrating at the same time. For one, you have to sit through the ugly parts while the team is losing. And two, what if you turn the game off only to discover that a miraculous comeback was made?
Meanwhile, there is no denying that the Bears have had their share of comeback wins over the years, though I will keep this to games that occurred from 1980 onward. It's not that I didn't watch Bears football in the '70s—I did—but it's difficult to find details of old games.
As for the earlier decades, well, that's an even harder task, so we'll stick to the last 30 years.
Please feel free to add games that you felt should have been on this list or why you disagree with some of my selections. But just know that all of these games resulted in victories, so they were all enjoyable in the end.
Here we go...
10. November 25, 2007: Bears 37, Broncos 34
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In what may have been a season-saver, the Bears overcame a fourth-quarter 14-point deficit, winning on an overtime field goal by Robbie Gould.
Adding to the excitement was that Devin Hester had two long second-half touchdown returns in this game.
Even more amazingly, Rex Grossman was sharp—yes, sharp!—on the last two scoring drives.
9. October 25, 1987: Bears 27, Bucs 26
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It was the strike year, and the team won its first two games before the strike was called.
The Bears ended up posting an 11-4 record in the strike-shortened season, winning their fourth consecutive NFC Central title. But perhaps the most memorable win occurred in Week 6 at Tampa Bay.
The strike lasted four weeks, and when the "real" 1987 resumed, Jim McMahon had returned form injury and led the Bears to their biggest comeback win in team history.
They beat Tampa 27-26 after trailing 20-0. This inspired the team to wins in its next two games, including another come-from-behind victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field.
Which brings us to the next comeback.
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8. November 8, 1987: Bears 26, Packers 24
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That strike year of 1987 had its share of comeback victories, but this one was even sweeter than the one over Tampa, despite that other win being the biggest comeback in team history.
That's because it was against the Packers, our fiercest rivals. Bears fans do not like the Packers, in case you have been living under a rock, so any win over them is a good thing.
But this one was especially nice because it kept the Bears in the playoff hunt, and it happened during a season in which we didn't even know if there would be "real" football.
In this game, the Bears trailed with less than a minute left when Jim McMahon led the team down the field for a game-winning 55-yard field goal.
The winning kick by Kevin Butler was also noteworthy because after he made it, he gave the middle finger to Packers coach Forrest Gregg.
Gregg was the coach of Packers teams that were cheap shot artists. In fact, he was the coach when Charles Martin picked up McMahon and threw him down on his shoulder.
After the season, the Packers fired Gregg, so the finger was a fitting salute goodbye.
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7. October 28, 2001: Bears 37, 49ers 31
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This matchup featured two of the surprise teams of the NFC in 2001, with the Bears and 49ers both holding 4-1 records.
The Bears were down quickly as San Francisco scored two touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead in the first period. QB Jim Miller fumbled, and Julian Peterson returned it for a TD. On the play, Miller was hurt, and he was replaced by Shane Matthews.
The Bears scored on a safety, but from halftime to the middle of the fourth quarter it was all 49ers. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game they held a commanding 31-16 lead.
The two head coaches, Steve Mariucci and Dick Jauron, were old friends, and some suggested Mariucci took his foot off the pedal because of that. Matthews threw two TD passes and only trailed by a score of 31-29.
With seconds remaining they scored on a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime on a controversial play.
In OT, Brian Urlacher forced a fumble by hitting Terrell Owens, and the ball popped loose right into the hands of Bear safety Mike Brown. Brown dashed to the right sideline and ran past all San Francisco defenders to the end zone, where he fell.
The Bears had pulled off a highly unlikely win just 16 seconds into the overtime period, which topped the 1980 Bears record for shortest overtime victory.
6. November 4, 2001: Bears 27, Browns 21
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Another "miracle" game in 2001, to me this one was even more amazing than the win over San Francisco, in part because I was there.
With less than two minutes to go in regulation the Bears trailed the Browns 21-7. With 28 seconds on the clock, Shane Matthews hit Marty Booker on a touchdown pass to bring the Bears within seven.
Then the Bears recovered the onside kick. They had the ball on Cleveland's 47 with only one timeout.
What followed next continued the amazing comeback and sent the fans who had stayed (many had left) into a frenzy, including me. Matthews dropped back and lofted the ball to the right side of the end zone into a maze of defenders.
The ball was tipped, and James Allen (who?) caught the ball, and after the extra point the score was tied at 21.
In OT, safety Mike Brown intercepted a ball tipped by Bryan Robinson and ran into the end zone. He didn't stop there, running straight into the locker room as we went nuts.
The Bears won their second consecutive overtime thriller. I was there, and to this day I still don't believe what I saw.
5. September 23, 1991: Bears 19, Jets 13
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The Bears were undefeated but couldn't generate much offense in this game. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, the Jets had the ball and were running out the clock, nursing a 13-6 lead.
Then, on a routine kill-the-clock play, Bear defensive tackle Steve McMichael stripped the ball, and several plays later Jim Harbaugh hit running back Neal Anderson on a swing pass for a touchdown. After Kevin Butler kicked the extra point, the Bears sent the game into overtime.
The OT session was simply amazing.
Early in OT, the Jets missed an easy field goal. Then the Bears had what they thought was a game-winning TD, but they were forced to come back on the field even though some players were partly undressed already.
The refs ruled that the ball was downed at the 1-yard line
The teams lined back up, and finally Harbaugh sneaked the ball in for the winning touchdown.
On the night Harbaugh notched his first 300-yard game, and Tom Waddle caught eight passes for 102 yards. Most importantly, though, the Bears were 4-0.
4. November 27, 1980: Bears 23, Lions 17
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Perhaps because the Bears had been so bad and there were few exciting moments other than Walter Payton, or maybe it's because it was Thanksgiving and I vividly recall the game, this is one of the most memorable Bears wins, at least for me.
We had trailed at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day 17-3 into the fourth quarter. QB Vince Evans brought the Bears back in the final period, throwing and rushing for touchdowns and tying the game in regulation.
In overtime, the Bears received the kickoff, and running back David Williams made one cut move to the left, found the sideline and was gone for a 95-yard touchdown. Williams' teammates mobbed him in the end zone after the score.
This was the shortest overtime period in NFL history, a record that stood until 2001, when the Bears broke the mark again.
3. October 16, 2006: Bears 24, Cardinals 23
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This was the infamous Dennis Green moment that is still used on TV commercials, as he uttered the phrase, "They are who we thought they were."
Aside from that, it was also a terrific comeback win for the Bears.
The Cardinals blew a 20-point lead in the final 22 minutes of one of the most bizarre comebacks in the history of Monday Night Football.
It was a game in which Rex Grossman committed six turnovers and Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers, who made 40 of 42 field goal attempts last season, missed a 41-yarder with 53 seconds left.
The loss led to an emotional meltdown by beleaguered coach Dennis Green. "The Bears are what we thought they were," Green said, his voice beginning to rise. "They are what we thought they were. We played them in the preseason. Who the hell plays the third game in the preseason like it's bull----? Bull----!"
2. January 26, 1986: Bears 46, Patriots 10
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Yes, it was the Bears' first and only Super Bowl win, and it was the greatest game I have ever watched as a Bears fan in what was the greatest season and the best team. But it's not No. 1 on this list.
The reason is that it's kind of a stretch to call this a comeback victory. Yet technically that's what it was.
Sure, the Bears ended up dominating the Pats, as they did throughout the playoffs. But there was an early scare.
On the first possession of the game, Bear great Walter Payton took a handoff and fumbled, and the ball was recovered by the Patriots. Several plays later, New England quarterback Tony Easton fired a pass on a slant that would have gone for a touchdown if not dropped by the Patriot receiver.
New England settled for a field goal and actually led 3-0 early in the game.
Now I don't know about you, but as a Chicago fan, I was thinking the worst—especially when the scoreboard flashed the fact that the team that scores first usually wins the game.
Fortunately, the Bears went on to destroy New England, and the rest is history. But for a few minutes...
1. September 19, 1985: Bears 33, Vikings 24
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This was simply the best comeback win in Bears history. For one, it happened during the best Bears season ever (at least in recent times), and two, it was the coming-out party for Jim McMahon and the Bears in their Super Bowl season.
Oh, and the game was as exciting as hell, and it was on national TV. After watching this game, I knew we were in for something truly special.
Jim McMahon had been released from the hospital only two days before the game, and nobody expected him to play. But he ran onto the field at 7:22 of the third quarter after the Vikings had scored to take a 17-9 lead, and suddenly despair turned to hope.
McMahon's first, second and seventh passes went for touchdowns over the next seven minutes to lead the Bears to a 33-24 victory in what remains one of the most dramatic performances in team history.
"He was driving me crazy; 'Put me in, put me in,'" Ditka recalled to ESPN. "I said, 'You didn't practice all week, you're hurt, it's a short week. I think we can win the game with the team we have out there.' But after I found out we couldn't, you can say what you want, but he made the plays and energized the football team."
"No question that game gave us a lot of confidence; it really did," center Jay Hilgenberg said. "That was one when everybody started thinking, 'OK, we may have something special here."
Told you so.
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