Regular Season
First up for the Bears and entrenched starting quarterback Tomczak in 1989 were the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. It was the defending AFC Champs versus the NFC runners-up, and the Bears endured 20-17, despite Tomczak throwing an interception on his first pass attempt of the season. Defensive lineman Dan Hampton, playing in his 11th season, sacked Bengal quarterback Boomer Esiason twice and blocked a field goal attempt. He also displayed refreshing candor in his postgame interview. Asked to comment on fullback Brad Muster's fumble with 1:29 left in the game, Hampton said "If I had a knife, I would have stabbed him."
The following week Chicago hosted the Minnesota Vikings, who had swept the Bears the previous season. The Bears and Vikings stayed close the first three quarters, with Chicago holding a 10-7 fourth-quarter lead. In the final period, the Bears busted out for four touchdowns, ultimately beating the visitors 38-7.
The Bears moved to 3-0 with a win in the season's third week at Detroit, a game in which the offense racked up 542 net yards and 47 points. The Bears' expected strong start set up a miracle match-up for ABC's Monday Night Football, as the 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Soldier Field to face the undefeated Bears. The week preceding the game was filled with the drama of the Ditka-Buddy Ryan rivalry. Despite brash talk from Ryan, the Bears prevailed 27-13 and embarrassed the visitors on many fronts. Ditka used his usual sarcasm following the game, stating "I'm not surprised (about the 4-0 start), but I think a lot of people must be surprised, that we beat Cincinnati, Minnesota, Detroit and Philadelphia. We must be awfully lucky."
Then they lost 10 of the last 12 games. One of the 10 losses came at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, The Bears led late in the game, but the Packer quarterback Don Majkowski threw a controversial game-winning touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe to give the Packers a 14-13 win. The loss was so hard for Bears head coach Mike Ditka that in the 1990 Bears Media Guide, he put the game in the 1989 game-by-game results as the instant replay game.
Read more about this topic: 1989 Chicago Bears Season
Famous quotes containing the words regular and/or season:
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