Picture this: An autumn wind cuts through Chicago, whistling past your ears, sending a slight chill down your back. The hairs on your arms stand at attention. The smell of grilled brats fills the parking lots, wafting into the stands, and an ice cold beer in your hand. Soldier Field hums like a live wire, ready to explode with the lyrics of “Bears Down, Chicago Bears”, as another chapter of Bears history teeters on the edge of being written. Week 7 has been home to some of the franchise’s most dramatic storylines, the kind fans still talk about decades later.
Climb aboard the Gridiron Time Machine, a weekly feature where we take a trip back into Bears history as we revisit five unforgettable Week 7 flashbacks.
1.) 1987, Bears @ Buccaneers: The Chicago Bears overcome a 20 point 1st quarter deficit with 2 late touchdowns to stun the Buccaneers 27-26.
The 4-1 Chicago Bears traveled to sunny Tampa Bay to take on the 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 7 of the 1987 season. The 10 point underdog Buccaneers sprinted out to an early 20-0 lead with 2 early Steve DeBerg touchdown throws, and a strip sack that was recovered in the endzone for a touchdown, the latter of which had it’s extra point blocked, an important single point that would prove to be the different in the game.
Jim McMahon came on in relief of Mike Tomczak after halftime, completing 17 of 24 passes for 195 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and a 91.5 Passer Rating. He also scored on a 1 yard dive over the line of scrimmage.
Richard Dent would squash any hopes of last drive heroics, as he would sack Steve DeBerg on 4th down, sealing the win for the Bears.
The 20 point deficit is the largest deficit the Bears have ever overcome to win a game. They would later tie that mark in 2006, to, well, you know who.
2.) Zackary Bowman: from Practice Squad to Unexpected Hero
In Week 7 of the 2008 NFL season, the 3-3 Chicago Bears found themselves scrambling in the secondary. Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher, and Danieal Manning were all sidelined as the division-rival Minnesota Vikings rolled into Soldier Field with the same 3-3 record. Desperate for reinforcements, the Bears called up Zackary Bowman from the practice squad, and he made the most of his lone start that year.
In a wild 48-41 shootout, Bowman became an unlikely hero. He pounced on a punt that hit the return man and bounced in the end zone for a touchdown, then later sealed the game by intercepting Gus Frerotte on the Vikings’ final drive, the last of four Bears picks that afternoon, and by far the most important.
Bowman went on to record six interceptions the following season and finished his Bears tenure with ten total, cementing his brief but memorable mark in Chicago’s secondary.
3.) Walter Payton rushes for 205 yards, 2 touchdowns to tie Gale Sayers’ franchise mark.
In Week 7 of the 1977 season, the Chicago Bears traveled to Green Bay to face (coach) Bart Starr’s 2-4 Packers. Walter Payton was no secret by this point, he’d already been an All-Pro in 1976, rushing for 1,390 yards and 13 touchdowns. Still, the Packers had no answers for Sweetness or the Bears’ relentless ground game.
(Original Caption) Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton stood under the game ball (on top of his locker) as he talked to reporters in the dressing room 10/30 after the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 26-0. Payton rushed for 205-yards and tied a record set by former Bears’ running back Gale Sayers in 1968.
(Original Caption) Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton stood under the game ball (on top of his locker) as he talked to reporters in the dressing room 10/30 after the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 26-0. Payton rushed for 205-yards and tied a record set by former Bears’ running back Gale Sayers in 1968.
Chicago dominated the day with 375 rushing yards and three touchdowns, attempting just ten passes in a 26-0 shutout. (Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the only 26-0 blanking in the rivalry; the Bears would do it again in 2006, this time against Brett Favre’s Packers, while again, in Lambeau.) Payton led the charge with 205 yards and two touchdowns, matching Gale Sayers’ franchise rushing yardage in a game mark set in 1968, also, fittingly, in a win over Green Bay.
Less than a month later, Payton would surpass that mark with a legendary 275-yard performance against the Minnesota Vikings, setting both a Bears and NFL single-game rushing record, a record that would stand until Corey Dillon of the Cincinnati Bengals ran for 278-yards against the Denver Broncos on October 22, 2000.
4.) Mike Brown seals an epic 4th quarter comeback with an overtime walk off pick-6 against the 49ers
The 2001 season will always hold a special place for me, it was one of the first Bears teams I truly fell in love with. The “Miracle Bears” came out of nowhere, piecing together a 13-3 season fueled by improbable finishes and a kind of magic you couldn’t script. Week 7 was no different.
The 4-1 Bears hosted the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field, only to fall behind by as many as 19 points, setting up the second-largest comeback in franchise history. After 97-yard interception return for a touchdown by the 49ers, Chicago trailed 28-9 midway through the third quarter.
That’s when Shane Matthews caught fire. The young quarterback led the Bears to three touchdowns over their final four drives, with rookie wideout David Terrell hauling in two scores and rookie running back Anthony Thomas adding another. Thomas then capped the rally with a gutsy two-point conversion plunge to tie the game with just 33 seconds left.
Then came the moment every Bears fan alive at that time remembers. After Paul Edinger’s kickoff went for a touchback to open overtime, 49ers Quarterback Jeff Garcia dropped back on first down and fired a pass toward Hall of Famer wideout Terrell Owens. Owens bobbled the pass, and Brian Urlacher, a fellow future Hall of Famer, delivered a perfectly timed hit, popping the ball into the air and into the waiting hands of Mike Brown. Brown weaved through the stunned 49ers for a 33-yard walk-off pick-six.
The overtime lasted just six seconds, the fastest in NFL history, a record that will likely stand forever now that sudden death in overtime is gone.
5.) Kevin White and the Bears come up 1 yard short against the New England Patriots.
Plenty can be said about Kevin White and the underwhelming NFL career he was saddled with, an unfortunate victim of a relentless injury bug. But this moment might stand as his most memorable play in a Bears uniform.
Week 7 of the 2018 season: the Bears hosted Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the 4-2 New England Patriots, the eventual Super Bowl champions, at Soldier Field.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair. The Patriots struck first on a nine-yard Tom Brady touchdown to Julian Edelman, but the Bears answered with 17 straight points, starting with a 46-yard Cody Parkey field goal, followed by rushing touchdowns from Mitchell Trubisky and Jordan Howard to take a 10-point lead.
New England responded like champions, ripping off 28 of the next 35 points. With 8:40 left in the fourth quarter, Brady found James White for a two-yard score to make it 38-24.
Trubisky and the Bears weren’t done. The second-year quarterback hit Trey Burton for an 11-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to seven. The Patriots chewed up over four minutes of clock before punting, leaving Chicago with the ball at its own 20-yard line and just 24 seconds to play.
Three quick completions moved the Bears to their own 45 with two seconds left. There was only one thing left to do:
Trubisky fielded the snap, sidestepped backside pressure, rolled to his left, and heaved a prayer downfield. The ball hung in the air before finding the outstretched hands of embattled wideout Kevin White at the two-yard line. White turned immediately, fighting to muscle his way into the end zone, but a wall of white Patriots jerseys stood firm.
He was stopped just short. Officially, it went down as a 54-yard completion, one yard shy of a miracle.
The Bears would go on to win nine of their next ten games, capturing the NFC North with a 12-4 record, the last time they’ve done so to date. Nothing else of note happened that year.
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.