Bears win in a overtime thriller!
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on December 29, 2009
In the last Monday Night Football game of the decade, the Chicago Bears & Minnesota Vikings certainly made it one for the ages.
After trailing by 17 points with 6:30 left in the 3rd quarter, Minnesota stormed back to tie it on Adrian Peterson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:49 left in regulation.
That’s when it got crazy, as Chicago took just 54 seconds to answer back as Jay Cutler hit Earl Bennett for a 20-yard touchdown. Gould’s extra point gave the Bears a 30-23 lead with 4:55 remaining.
The Vikings weren’t done yet, as a 14 play, 68-yard drive led to a game-tying Brett Favre touchdown pass to Sidney Rice with just 16 seconds left.
With just 9 seconds left & 2 timeouts at his disposal, Lovie Smith decided to have his team kneel down and prepare for overtime.
The Bears won the coin toss & drove the ball 41 yards on 5 plays, but Robbie Gould missed a potential game-winning 47-yard field goal try to keep Minnesota’s hopes alive.
After both teams exchanged punts on their next 2 drives, the Vikings coughed up the ball in a major way after Adrian Peterson’s fumble gave Chicago possession at the Minnesota 39 yard line.
Cutler then wasted no time putting the game away, as he hooked up with Devin Aromashodu for a game-winning 39-yard touchdown which gave the Bears a dramatic 36-30 overtime win.
Aromashodu exploded in his best game yet as a pro, as the 2nd year wideout from Auburn caught 7 receptions for 150 yards, which included that 39-yard game-winner.
Cutler thrived under the prime-time lights for the first time all season, as he completed 20 of 35 passes for 273 yards & a season-high 4 touchdown passes.
Brett Favre also played well in defeat, as he completed 26 of 40 passes for 321 yards & 2 touchdowns.
The Bears have a chance to end their 2009 season in positive fashion, as they’ll travel to Ford Field for a meeting with Detroit on Sunday.
