The video clip above shows one of the most memorable head coaching rants in NFL history.
But for some of our younger fans who were not around for this meltdown, they got ask themselves this question: What did mean Dennis Green mean when he said “The Bears are who were thought they were.”
The Chicago Bears entered the 2006 NFL season as one of the favorites to win the NFC and advance to the Super Bowl, primarily because of their defense.
That was due in large part to the injury of third-year quarterback Rex Grossman, who broke his ankle in the preseason, forcing the Bears to rely on rookie quarterback Kyle Orton who threw for less than 2,000 yards despite starting in all but one game that season.
Grossman returned in time for the playoffs and played in the Bears’ divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers, but he could not lead Chicago past Carolina as the Bears lost 29-21.
But with a healthy Grossman, Bears fans hopes were high for the season.
However, Grossman was inconsistent throughout the 2006 preseason while Brian Griese, who the Bears signed as a free agent during the offseason, looked good with the second unit leading to a quarterback controversy amongst fans and media.
Despite his erratic play, Grossman was the starter on opening day and helped lead the Bears to a 5-0 start as he led the offense to an average of 31.2 points during those five games, while the defense allowed only 36 points.
While the Bears were looking toward the Super Bowl, the Arizona Cardinals were looking toward the future as they had used their first round pick in the 2006 Draft to select USC quarterback Matt Leinart to be their quarterback of the future.
After defeating the 49ers in their season opener, the Cardinals would drop their next three games, which led Green to putting Leinart in the starting lineup, replacing incumbent Kurt Warner.
The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner made his debut in the Cardinals’ fifth game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs, and would throw two touchdown passes in the first quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Cardinals lost their fourth straight game.
Still, there was an air of excitement for the Cardinals as they hosted the undefeated Bears on October 16, 2006 because it was the team’s first appearance on Monday Night Football since 1999 and it gave the team a chance to show off to the nation their brand new stadium, the retractable roof University of Phoenix Stadium.
Leinart got off to a hot start as he went 5-of-5 for 46 yards on a 12-play, 77-yard drive that culminated with a 11-yard touchdown pass from Leinart to Bryant Johnson that gave Arizona a 7-0 lead with 7:06 to go in the opening quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the Bears got the ball back at their own 14-yard-line where Grossman found tight end Desmond Clark for a 26-yard gain to give Chicago its first 1st down of the game.
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| Matt Leinart would throw two touchdown passes as the Cardinals built up a 20-point lead. |
However on 3rd-and-9 from the 41, the bad Rex showed up as he fired a deep pass for Mushin Muhmmad that was intercepted by Aaron Francisco.
Francisco’s 44 yard return to the Chicago 25 set up the Cardinals’ second touchdown as Leinart found Anquan Boldin for a 26-yard touchdown to increase the Arizona lead to 14-0 with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the Bears got the ball back at their own 33, only to have Grossman thrown an interception on the first play from scrimmage, as he was picked off by linebacker Gerald Hayes, whose 24-yard return gave the Cardinals the ball at the Bears 29-yard-line.
But a pair of false starts and the Bears defense forced a 52-yard field goal attempt from Neil Rackers, whose kick was no good keeping the score 14-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
The two teams would again go three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, and again Grossman would turn the ball over on the Bears’ first play of a drive, this time fumbling the ball as he was sacked by Bertrand Berry, who recovered the fumble at the Chicago 33-yard-line.
Again, the Bears defense rose up and forced a field goal attempt by Rackers, who made it this time from 41 yards out to push the Cardinals’ lead to 17-0 with 4:15 remaining in the half.
Following the field goal, the Bears took over at their own 20, needing a drive to get some points on the board before to gain some confidence before halftime.
Things appeared to be on the right track when Grossman hit Clark for a 14-yard gain on a 3rd-and-5 at their 25-yard-line, but after an illegal block wiped out a 8-yard run by Thomas Jones, Grossman was sacked by strong safety Adrian Wilson and fumbled the ball again, which was recovered by defensive tackle Darnell Dockett at the Bears’ 32-yard-line with 2:10 left in the half.
After Leinart hit Anquan Boldin for 19 yards to put Arizona at the Chicago’ 13-yard-line, the Bears defense stuffed James on back-to-back carries for no gain and allowed only three yards on a completion to Obafemi Ayanbadejo, forcing another field goal attempt by Rackers.
Rackers made the 28-yard kick as time expired to give the Cardinals a 20-0 lead at halftime.
The Bears were lucky they were only down 20 points because of Grossman’s four turnovers and the offense only gaining 40 total yards and 2 1st downs.
Many Bears fans believed their only hope of coming back to win the game was for Smith to bench Grossman and put in Griese.
But after forcing the Cardinals to go three-and-out on their opening possession, Grossman was still in the game as he and the Bears’ offense took over at their 31-yard-line.
Chicago started the drive conservatively as Grossman handed the ball to Jones, who gained 10 yards to give the Bears a 1st down at their 41-yard-line.
Then on the next play, Grossman found Clark for a 12-yard completion, and then following it up with a 16-yard pass to Rashied Davis to put the Bears at the Cardinals’ 31.
After Jones was stopped for no gain and an incomplete pass, Grossman hit Davis for a 11-yard gain, then connected with Bernard Berrian for 17 yards, giving the Bears a 1st-and-goal at the three-yard-line.
However, the drive stalled as Grossman threw two incomplete passes forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal, which was made by Robbie Gould from 23 yards out to make it a 20-3 game midway through the third quarter.
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| Mike Brown scores the Bears' first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard fumble return. |
The momentum from the drive seemed to go away as Gould kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, giving the Cardinals the ball at their own 40, only to have the Bears defense rise up again and allow a 1st down, forcing the Cardinals to punt from the 45.
But Devin Wesley roughed punter Scott Player drawing a 15-yard penalty and giving the Cardinals a 1st down at the Bears’ 40-yard-line, allowing for Arizona to drive down to the Bears’ 11-yard-line and take four minutes off the clock as Rackers made 29-yard-field goal to increase the Cardinals to 23-3.
With over a quarter still to play, it seemed that the Cardinals were on their way to knocking off the Bears, especially after forcing another three-and-out to get the ball back at their 15-yard-line with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
But after James was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Leinart was sacked by defensive end Mark Anderson, forcing a fumble that was scooped up by strong safety who strolled in for the touchdown to give Bears some hope as they cut the lead to 23-10 as the third quarter came to a close.
The score remained 23-10 with over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter when a 23-yard punt return by Hester gave the Bears the ball inside Arizona territory, at the Cardinals’ 43-yard-line, who proceed to have a 1st-and-10 at the 27-yard-line after a defensive offsides penalty and a 11-yard run.
But Grossman threw three straight incomplete passes forcing the Bears to go for it on 4th-and-10.
Once again, disaster struck as Grossman was intercepted, this time by Dockett, who got up off the ground and ran 73 yards for an apparent touchdown to seal the Cardinals’ victory.
However, Smith challenged the play saying that Dockett was down by contact after he made the interception, thus negating the touchdown.
The officials ruled in the Bears’ favor giving the ball back to Arizona at their 26-yard-line, but keeping the Bears in the game as they still trailed by 13 points with 9:17 to go.
Chicago forced another three-and-out and got the ball back at their 29, and appeared to be putting a drive to together as Grossman found Berrian for 14 yards on 3rd-and-6.
But two plays later, Grossman seemed to seal the Bears’ fate as he was picked off for the fourth time, this time by free safety who gave the ball back to Arizona at their own 41-yard-line with 5:53 to play.
Seeming to be on the verge of victory, the Cardinals went to the running game to try and run out the clock, but on 2nd-and-11 from the 40, James was met by Urlacher, who stripped the ball from James forcing a fumble, which was picked up by cornerback Charles Tillman who ran in for a 40-yard touchdown that brought the Bears to within six points at 23-17 with just over five minutes to play.
With their 20 point lead cut to six, the Cardinals needed a spark and it seemed to get on the ensuing kickoff when JJ Arrington returned it 31 yards to Cardinalls’ 34 only to have Arrington be called for a taunting penalty, pushing Arizona back 15 yards.
Even though they seemed to be unraveling, the Cardinals still had a chance to put the game away and took a step in that direction when Leinart hit Boldin for a 15-yard gain to give Arizona a 1st down at their 35-yard-line.
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| Devin Hester (23) gave the Bears their first lead of the game with his 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. |
But after a 2-yard loss by James and two straight incomplete passes, the Cardinals were forced to punt, giving the Bears’ offense, especially Grossman, a chance at redemption and win the game.
Player’s punt was a boomer as it forced rookie kick returner Devin Hester back to his 17-yard-line to make the catch. But Hester got some space and ran into Arizona territory, broke an arm tackle around the 40, and then ran past Player’s diving attempt at a tackle for a 83-yard touchdown that with Gould’s extra point gave the Bears, their first lead at 24-23 with 2;58 left in the game.
Improbably, the Bears had come back from a 20-point deficit with scoring an offensive touchdown. Wired for sound, Warner was caught telling Leinart “It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Despite losing their big lead, the Cardinals had a chance to drive into field goal range and still come away with the victory as they took over at their 38-yard-line with 2:53 left and two timeouts in their pocket.
On 1st down, Leinart hit Boldin for five yards, then followed it up with a seven-yard completion to James that put Arizona right at the 50-yard-line as the two-minute warning came up.
After an incomplete pass, Leinart found Troy Walters for six yards, then connected with Ayanbadejo for 13 yards on 3rd-and-4 to put Arizona at the Bears 31.
Leinart then found Boldin again, this time for seven yards, seemingly well within Rackers’ range which led to two straight runs by James that netted only a yard, forcing Rackers to come on and attempt a 40-yard field goal with 52 seconds left.
But Rackers, who had missed two field goals all of the 2005 season, pushed the kick wide left, and after Grossman took a knee three times to run out the clock, the Bears somehow, someway had come away with a 24-23 victory.
The Cardinals never recovered after their meltdown on Monday night as they finished with a 5-11 record, leading to the firing of Green as head coach, who was replaced by Ken Whisenhunt.
As for Leinart, his 2006 season would be his best as he threw for 2,547 yards and 11 touchdown passes.
The following season, he broke his left collarbone in the fifth game ending his year and giving the starting quarterback job back to Warner.
Leinart would spend the next two seasons as the Cardinals backup, watching Warner led the Cardinals to back-to-back playoff appearances, including a trip to the Super Bowl.
Following Warner’s retirement after the 2009 season, Leinart was named the starting quarterback again, only to lose the job to Derek Anderson, leading to his release at the end of the 2010 preseason.
Leinart would bounce around the league for three more years, signing with three other teams, before ultimately retiring after the 2012 season.
Meanwhile,the Bears would go to finish the regular season with a 13-3 record, earning home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, but the performance against the Cardinals was the beginning of inconsistent play the Bears would see from Grossman throughout the rest of the season.
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The Bears celebrate after Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers missed a potential go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.
In the Bears’ seven win during the rest of the regular season, Grossman would throw 12 touchdown passes and four interceptions, while throwing nine interceptions in Chicago’s three losses, and even had a quarterback rating of 0.0 in the Bears’ regular season finale loss against the Green Bay Packers.
However, Smith stuck with Grossman and the quarterback was solid in the playoffs as the Bears defeated the Seattle Seahawks 27-24 in the Divisional Playoffs and then knocked off the New Orleans Saints 39-14 in the NFC Championship Game to earn the Bears its first trip to the Super Bowl in 21 years.
But in Super Bowl XLI, Grossman would throw two costly 4th quarter interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, as the Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.
Grossman vowed to protect the ball better the following season but after committing 10 turnovers in the Bears’ first three games of the 2007 season, he was benched in favor of Griese.
Grossman would remain with Chicago until after the 2008 season when he left as a free agent.
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