NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bears Pull off Miracle Comeback to Beat Browns

Bears running back James Allen catches the game-tying "Hail Mary" touchdown to send the 2001  Browns-Bears game into overtime.

 In Week 7 of the 2001 NFL season, the Chicago Bears scored 15 points in the final 4:08 minutes of regulation to send their game with the San Francisco 49ers into overtime where on the first play of the extra period, Bears free safety Mike Brown intercepted a pass that had bounced off the hands of 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens and into the rookie defensive back's hands.

Brown proceeded to run the pick back for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Bears an incredible 37-31 overtime win after having been down as many as 19 points earlier in the game.

Bears fans and players thought they would not see another comeback like that for the rest of the season, but one week after the win over the 49ers, the Bears would pull off an even more improbable comeback as they hosted the Cleveland Browns.

The Bears entered the game with the Browns on a five-game winning streak to give them a 5-1 record for the team's best start since the 1990 season when they lost won the NFC Central Divsion.

The Bears were led by head coach Dick Jauron, who was in his third season in the Windy City and had helped built one of the NFL's top defenses led by linebacker Brian Urlacher.

The offense wasn't flashy but it was efficient as it featured rookie running back Anthony Thomas and wide receiver Marty Booker, who would finish the season with exactly 100 receptions.

The Bears would enter their game with the Browns without starting quarterback Jim Miller as Shane Matthews, who had replaced Miller the previous week after Miller went out with a hip pointer, would get the start against the Browns.

As for the Browns, they were coming off a bye week after starting the season 4-2 under first-year head coach Butch Davis, who had come to Cleveland after spending six seasons resurrecting the Miami Hurricanes football program.

With Tim Couch, the team's #1 pick in 1999, entering his third year at quarterback and the team off to a hot start, Cleveland fans were thinking playoffs as their beloved Browns were off to their best start since they came back into the NFL in 1999 after the team had moved to Baltimore following the 1995 season, resulting in a fight in which the city of Cleveland would be given an expansion team, a new stadium, and allowed to keep the history of the Browns since their intial inception in 1946.

 The Bears would get great field position after Autry Denson returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to the Chicago 38-yard-line only to have disaster strike on the second play of the game when Matthews was sacked by Browns linebacker Wali Rainer, which jarred the ball loose from Matthews and lead to a fumble that was scooped up by Browns defensive end Courtney Brown, who ran it in for a 25-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game.

The Bears would get the ball back at their 33-yard-line as it took them four plays to drive to the Browns' 37-yard-line until they turned it over again, this time on an interception by Cleveland strong safety Earl Little to give the Browns the ball at their 29-yard-line.

The Bears defense would force a punt to give their offense the ball back at the Chicago 10-yard-line as the Bears offense drove to their 47-yard-line until they turned over for the third time in the opening quarter as Matthews was picked off again, this time by Cleveland linebacker Brant Boyer to give the Browns the ball at the Chicago 41-yard-line.

Following the rash of Chicago turnovers, the game turned into a stalemate as both teams traded punts until the 2:37 mark of the second quarter when the Bears got the ball at their 37-yard-line and put together their best drive of the game thus far.

The drive started with a 16-yard pass from Matthews to Dez White, which was followed by Thomas being tackled for a seven-yard loss to push the Bears back onto their side of the field at their 46-yard-line.

But Thomas would respond with back-to-back catches that totaled 41 yards to give Chicago a 1st down at the Cleveland 13-yard-line with 1:23 before halftime.

After Thomas gained five more yards on the next two plays, Matthews completed a six-yard pass to  Booker to give the Bears a 1st & goal at the Cleveland two-yard-line.

Two incomplete passes later, Matthews handed the ball off to Thomas, who punched it in for the two-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left in the first half that with the extra point, tied the game 7-7, which was the score as the two teams went into the locker room for the halftime break.

Bears running back Anthony Thomas would carry the ball 31 times for 96 yards and catch six passes for 71 yards.

Just like the Bears did to start the first half, the Browns would get a great return on the opening kickoff of the second half as Jamel White's 31-yard return set the Cleveland offense up at thier 43-yard-line.

A three-yard run by James Jackson followed by an eight-yard pass from Couch to Dennis Northcutt gave the Browns a 1st down at the Bears' 40-yard-line, which was followed by three straight Jackson runs for nine yards setting up 4th & 1 at the Chicago 31-yard-line.

Instead of attempting a long field goal, the Browns went for the 1st down and fooled the Chicago defense as Couch completed a 28-yard pass to Quincy Morgan, which set up Couch's three-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sellers to give Cleveland a 14-7 lead with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bears would begin their ensuing possession at their 32-yard-line as Matthews would complete passes of 12 and 16 yards to Marty Booker to lead Chicago to the Browns' 36-yard-line where five straight runs by Thomas, including one on 4th & 1 from the Clevleand 27-yard-line, gained 18 yards which put the Bears at the 18-yard-line when disaster struck as Matthews was intercepted again, this time by Raymond Jackson to give the Browns the ball back at their eight-yard-line.

James Jackson would run for 17 yards to start the drive, which was followed by an incomplete pass, then a 20-yard pass to Northcutt, and then threw a deep pass that bounced off the hands of Mike Brown at around the Bears' 25-yard-line and into the hands of Browns wide receiver Kevin Johnson, who ran it to complete the 55-yard touchdown that would increase the Browns' lead to 21-7 with 3:19 left in the third quarter.

After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the game moved into the fourth quarter with the Bears at their 49-yard-line desperately needing a touchdown to get back into the game.

The drive began promising as Thomas ran the ball three straight times for 18 yards to put the Bears at the Cleveland 33-yard-line where an incomplete pass and a three-yard pass to D'Wayne Bates set up a criticial 4th & 4 at the Browns' 30-yard-line.

Knowing a field goal would do his team no good, Jauron decided to go for it only to have Matthews by sacked again by Courtney Brown for a 10-yard-loss to give the ball back to the Browns at their 40-yard-line.

The Bears defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at their 20-yard-line as the Bears would once again drive into Browns territory as it took them six plays to drive to the Cleveland 33-yard-line until a pair of five-yard penalties, a run by Thomas for zero yards, and three incomplete passes forced another turnover on downs to give the Browns the ball with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter.

At this point, many Bears fans at Soldier Field began to head toward their cars especially when a 12-yard run by Jackson to start the drive followed a few plays later a 15-yard personal foul penalty on linebacker Warren Holdman gave the Browns a 1st down at the Chicago 32-yard-line.

The Bears would not permit another 1st down as they would force the Browns to punt the ball back to Chicago who would take over at its own 20-yard-line with 1:52 left and needing two touchdowns and two extra points just to tie the game.

Despite throwing three interceptions, Bears quarterback Shane Matthews would finish with 357 yards on 30-of-50 passes and throw two touchdowns.

The drive did not get off to a promising start as Matthews' 1st down pass to running back James Allen went for only one yard, which was followed by an apparent incomplete pass as Booker was ruled not to have made the catch before he went out of bounds.

However, Booker's catch would be reviewed and instant replay showed that he had both feet in bounds and maintained control of the ball before he went out of bounds, allowing for officials to reverse the call and make a 14-yard pass to give the Bears a 1st down at their 35-yard-line.

From there, Matthews would hit White for 12 yards, then David Terrell for nine yards, and then Allen again for 17 yards to put the Bears at the Cleveland 27-yard-line with 1:02 remaining as the Bears called their second timeout of the half.

Coming out of the timeout, Matthews found White for 13 more yards, then got five free yards as the Browns were called for too many men on the field as Matthews was spiking the ball to give the Bears a 1st & 5 at the Cleveland nine-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Matthews found Booker in the end zone for the nine-yard touchdown that with the extra point made it a 21-14 game with 28 seconds to go.

Everyone knew what was coming next as both teams lined up for the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff when Bears kicker Paul Edinger kicked down the left side of the field where the ball would bounce up twice before being recovered by Chicago linebacker Bobbie Howard at the Browns' 47-yard-line giving the Bears 24 seconds to get into the end zone.

Matthews would complete a four-yard pass to Allen who stepped out of bounds with 16 seconds left, then caught a nine-yard pass to give the Bears a 1st down at the Cleveland 34-yard-line as Chicago called its third and final timeout with eight seconds left.

It was here that the Bears decided to throw the "Hail Mary" as Matthews threw a pass toward the right side of the end zone that was tipped by Browns free safety Percy Ellsworth before it was caught by a diving Allen as time expired sending the remaining fans that were still at Soldier Field into a frenzy.

Edinger would come on to kick the extra point to send the game into overtime with two teams deadlocked at 21.

The Bears won the overtime coin toss and elected to receive but went three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Browns who took over at their 12-yard-line.

Couch would hit Kevin Johnson for 16 yards to start the drive, which was followed by a five-yard loss as Bears linebacker Roosevelt Colvin sacked Couch to set up 2nd & 15.

That is when Couch threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Bears defensive end Bryan Robinson which would land in the hands of Mike Brown, who returned the interception untouched for the 16-yard touchdown to give the Bears a shocking 27-21 overtime win.

Mike Brown prepares to run into the end zone for his second straight game-winning overtime pick-six.

The Browns would go on to finish the season with a 7-9 record as a four-game losing streak in December doomed their chances of reaching the postseason, though they would make the following year with a 9-7 record as 12 of their 16 regular season games were decided by one score or less as was their AFC Wild Card Game which they lost 36-33 to the Pittsburgh Steelers after building up a 24-7 lead.

As for the Bears, they would finish the 2001 season with a 13-3 record which earned Chicago its first division title since 1990 as the Bears entered the 2001 playoffs as the #2 seed in the NFC only to go out in the Divisional Round as they lost at home to the Philadelphia Eagles 33-19.

Below are the highlights from ESPN's NFL Primetime of the game: