NFL Old School Game of the Week: Brown's OT Pick-Six Caps off Bears Comeback Win over 49ers

Mike Brown(30) prepares to make the interception that he would return for a walk-off touchdown in the Bears' win over the 49ers.

In week 8 of the 2001 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers traveled to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears in a game between two teams who were off to surprising 4-1 starts.

The 49ers were led by head coach Steve Mariucci who was in his fifth season as the team's head coach having led San Francisco to a combined 25-7 record over his first two seasons compared to a combined 10-22 record over the next two seasons as the franchise saw the retirement of quarterback Steve Young due to injuries in 1999 and the release of wide receiver Jerry Rice following the 2000 season.

Young's replacement was Jeff Garcia, a former Canadian Football League quarterback, who had set the team record for most passing yards in a season when he threw for 4,278 yards in 2000, with his favorite target being the loquacious Terrell Owens, who was coming off a nine-catch, 183-yard, three touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons two weeks earlier where Owens scored the game-winning touchdown on a 52-yard reception in overtime.

Owens was hoping for another strong performance against the Bears as he had set the NFL record for most catches in a game when he caught 20 passes for 283 yards in the 49ers' 17-0 win over the Bears in the penultimate week of the 2000 regular season.

On the other side of the field were the Chicago Bears, who came into the game with the 49ers on a four-game winning streak after dropping their season opener as head coach Dick Jauron who was in his third season as the Chicago head coach was looking to lead the Bears out of the cellar as they had finished in last place in the NFC Central the previous four seasons.

The main reason for the Bears' surprising start was their defense led by linebacker Brian Urlacher which had allowed just 43 points over the first five games of the 2001 season and were coming off a shutout the week before in a 24-0 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

While the defense was locked in, the offense was still trying to figure out who the quarterback would be after trading away former first round pick Cade McNown in the offseason as Shane Matthew started the season as the starting quarterback until he was injured in the second game as Jim Miller took over to lead the Bears to a 17-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Miller would remain as the Bears' starting quarterback throughout their winning streak as the "Monsters of the Midway" looked to return to the NFL postseason for the first time since 1994 and for only the second time since the firing of head coach Mike Ditka in 1992.

It looked like the Bears were going to get on the scoreboard first as Leon Johnson returned the opening 23 yards to the Chicago 38-yard-line which was followed by a 15-yard pass from Miller to Dez White to put the Bears in San Francisco territory after just one play from scrimmage.

However, the Bears would no travel further as they would punt the ball to the 49ers who begin their opening possession of the game at their 16-yard-line as Garcia would complete his first five passes of the game for 43 yards to help move San Francisco to the Chicago 26-yard-line.

The drive would stall as Garcia would throw two straight incomplete passes as Jose Cortez would come on to attempt a 44-yard field goal only to have it blocked by Bears defensive tackle James Williams to keep the game scoreless as Chicago would take over at its 34-yard-line.

After a two-yard run by rookie running back Anthony Thomas to start the drive, Miller would fumble the football after he was hit by 49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young while trying to hand the ball off to Thomas as linebacker Julian Peterson would scoop up the fumble and run it back 26 yards for a touchdown to give San Francisco a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Following a Chicago punt, the 49ers got the ball back at their 15-yard-line as Garcia regained his hot streak as he would complete all seven of his passes for 73 yards on a 10-play, 85-yard drive that culminated with an one-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to tight end Justin Swift to extend the San Francisco lead to 14-0 with 63 seconds left in the first quarter.

49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia completed 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards and threw two touchdown passes.

The two teams would exchange three-and-outs as the game moved into the second quarter when a 30-yard pass from Miller to wide receiver Marty Booker helped Chicago advance to the San Francisco five-yard-line when Miller tried to hook up with Booker again with a pass intended for the wide receiver in the corner of the end zone.

But 49ers cornerback Ahmad Plummer would intercept the pass to kill the Chicago scoring threat and give Garcia and the offense the ball back at their 20-yard-line with a chance to increase their lead.

The 49ers would drive to about midfield when Urlacher made his presence felt as he intercepted a Garcia pass intended for Owens to give the Bears the ball at the San Francisco 47-yard-line.

Thomas would run the ball four straight times for a total of 12 yards to move to the 49ers' 35-yard-line when Miller was knocked to the ground by 49ers linebacker Derek Smith, resulting in a hip pointer for Miller which knocked him out of the game as Shane Matthews would come on take over as the Chicago quarterback.

It looked like the Bears scored a touchdown on Matthews' first play from scrimmage as he connected with White for a 35-yard touchdown, only to have called back because of an ineligible receiver penalty on the Bears, as Chicago would end up punting the ball back to San Francisco.

The Bears offense was poised to get the ball back with less two minutes to go in the first half when 49ers long snapper Brian Jennings' snap went through the hands of punter Jason Baker and into the back of the end zone for a safety resulting in two points for Chicago as they would get the ball back at their 45-yard-line following the free kick.

The Bears would end up traveling 55 yards in seven plays as Matthews fired a three-yard touchdown pass to fullback Daimon Shelton to cut the 49ers' lead to 14-9 with 48 seconds to go in the first half.

Garcia would take a knee to run out the clock on the first half as the 49ers were set to get the ball to start the second half when on the third play of the second half, Garcia connected with Hearst on a 60-yard touchdown pass to push the 49ers back to double digits at 21-9.

The Bears would begin their first possession of the second half at their 42-yard-line as Matthews would lead the Chicago offense to the San Francisco 10-yard-line when 49ers free safety Zack Bronson intercepted a pass intended for tight end Fred Baxter and ran it back for a 97-yard pick-six to extend the 49ers' lead to 28-9 with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter.

It was looking bleak for the Bears as they now trailed by 19 points with a quarter and a half to go as they would start their ensuing drive at their 34-yard-line desperately needing some points.

Chicago would drive to the 49ers' 26-yard-line where they would face a 4th & 1 situation when Jauron decided to go for the 1st down which he got as Matthews completed a seven-yard pass to Baxter to give the Bears a fresh set of downs at the San Francisco 19-yard-line.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Matthews handed the ball off to Thomas, who would take it in for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-16 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the 49ers would drive 71 yards in 14 plays to set up a 40-yard field goal by Cortez on a drive that took up nearly half the fourth quarter as San Francisco extended its lead to 31-16 with 7:23 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Bears would get the ball back at their 34-yard-line, needing a touchdown to keep their hopes alive, as four carries by Thomas for 26 yards help set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Matthews to rookie wide receiver David Terrell to trim the San Francisco lead to 31-23 with 4:08 left in regulation.

Bears quarterback Shane Matthews came off the bench to complete 25 of 31 passes for 166 yards and threw three touchdown passes.

The Bears defense would then force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 33-yard-line with 2:46 left and one timeout in their pocket.

After a 12-yard run by Thomas to begin the drive, Matthews would complete a 20-yard pass to White to move Chicago into San Francisco territory as the Bears had a 1st down at the 49ers' 35-yard-line.

The combination of an eight-yard pass to White and a two-yard run by Thomas would give the Bears another 1st down at the San Francisco 25-yard-line, which was followed by a pass to Booker that lost a yard and a false start penalty that pushed Chicago back to the San Francisco 31-yard-line with a 2nd & 16.

Matthews would then connect complete four straight passes for 23 yards to move the Bears to the 49ers' eight-yard-line when Thomas was stopped for no gain to force a do-or-die 4th & 3 as Chicago spent its final timeout with 48 seconds to go.

Chicago would stay alive as Matthews completed a four-yard pass to tight end John Davis to give the Bears a 1st down at the 49ers' four-yard-line as Matthews would spike the ball to stop the clock with 33 seconds to go.

That is when Matthews rolled to his left and fired a pass for Terrell in the end zone, who was able to make the catch and get both feet inbounds before being shoved by 49ers strong safety Lance Shulters, for the four-yard touchdown to make it 31-29 as the Bears now needed to be successful on a two-point conversion to tie the game.

On the two-point attempt, Matthews would hand the ball off to Thomas, who took it up the middle and was able to stretch the ball to cross the plane before his knee hit the ground, though the 49ers felt his knee hit the ground before the ball crossed the plane, to tie the game at 31 with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.

Despite having two timeouts and needing just a field goal to win, the 49ers would take a knee to run out the clock on regulation and send the game into overtime as San Francisco won the coin toss and elected to receive as the 49ers would begin their ensuing drive at their 20-yard-line.

However, the extra period would only last 16 seconds as Garcia would fire a pass over the middle that bobbled off the hands of Owens and into the arms of Bears free safety Mike Brown, who would run the interception back for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Bears a shocking 37-31 overtime victory after being down 15 points with over four minutes to go in the game.

The 49ers would recover from their collapse against the Bears to go on a five-game winning streak as San Francisco would finish the regular season with a 12-4 record to earn a spot in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1998 where the 49ers would fall to the Green Bay Packers 25-15 in the wild card round of the NFC playoffs.

As for the Bears, their win over the 49ers was the first of two improbable comeback wins as one week later they would score two touchdowns in final 28 seconds of regulation to force overtime when once again Brown would return an interception for a touchdown to give the Bears the win as they defeated the Cleveland Browns 27-21(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2021/09/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-bears-pull.html).

From there, the Bears would go on to win the NFC Central division title, their first division title in 11 years, with a 13-3 record to send Chicago to the postseason for the first time since 1994, only for the Bears' Cinderella season to end at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in a 33-19 loss in the NFC Divisional Round.