NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bears Defeat Jets in Wild Monday Night Game

Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh is hoisted by teammates after leading the Bears to a 19-13 overtime win over the Jets.

The final game of Week 4 of the 1991 NFL season was one of the crazier games of that season as the Chicago Bears hosted the New York Jets on a Monday Night in the Windy City.

The Bears were off to hot start to the 1991 NFL season as they came into the game with a 3-0 record under head coach Mike Ditka, who was one win away from earning his 100th victory as head coach after becoming the Chicago head coach in 1982 during a reign that included a Super Bowl championship in 1985.

On the field, the Bears were led by quarterback Jim Harbaugh, running back Neal Anderson, and linebacker Mike Singletary as Chicago hoped to return to the postseason for the second year in a row and for the seventh time in the previous eight seasons.

The Bears' opponent for this game were the Jets, who came into the game with a 1-2 record under head coach Bruce Coslet, who was hoping to get New York's AFC team back to the playoffs for the first time since 1986 with a lineup that featured quarterback Ken O'Brien and wide receiver Al Toon.

 The Bears got the ball to start the game as a holding penalty would put Chicago in a 2nd & 17 at their seven-yard-line when Harbaugh connected with wide receiver Tom Waddle for a 31-yard completion which was followed by Waddle drawing a 35-yard pass interference penalty on Jets cornerback Tony Stargell to put the Bears at the New York 27-yard-line.

It looked like the drive was going to end with a touchdown as Harbaugh completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Wendell Davis only for it to be wiped out because of a false start penalty as the Bears would settle for a 33-yard field goal by Kevin Butler to give Chicago the early 3-0 lead.

The Jets would get great field position for their first drive of the game as Terance Mathis returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the New York 45-yard-line as O'Brien would find Toon for 29 yards on the Jets' first offensive snap of the game to advance the Jets to the Bears' 26-yard-line.

The Jets would advance all the way to the two-yard-line but could not put into the end zone as Pat Leahy would come on to kick a 19-yard field goal to tie the game at three with 5:54 left in the first quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Bears had the ball at their 27-yard-line when on the second play of the second quarter, Harbaugh completed a nine-yard pass to running back James Rouse, who lost the football after he was hit by Jets linebacker Kyle Clifton, causing a fumble that was recovered by free safety Lonnie Young to give New York the ball at the Chicago 35-yard-line.

Two runs by running back Blair Thomas that totaled 15 yards would set up a 37-yard field goal attempt by Leahy, whose kick would sail wide right of the uprights to keep the game tied at three.

Later in the second quarter, two passes from Harbaugh to tight end James Thornton for 21 yards plus a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Jets defensive end Marvin Washington helped the Bears move to the New York 27-yard-line when Butler would come on to attempt a 45-yard field goal.

However, Butler would miss the kick as the Jets would take over with 4:03 left in the first half and a chance to take the lead.

The drive would begin with two runs by Thomas for 25 yards which was followed by O'Brien hitting Mathis for a 20-yard completion as the Jets would make it to the Bears' 17-yard-line where Leahy would make a 34-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give New York a 6-3 lead at the halftime break.

After both teams punted on their opening possessions of the second half, the Jets got the ball at their 41-yard-line when O'Brien got hot as he completed all four of his passes for 46 yards on the nine-play, 59-yard drive that culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by running back Brad Baxter to extend New York's lead to double digits at 13-3 with 3:38 to go in the third quarter.

Jets running back Blair Thomas ran for 125 yards on 27 carries but had a crucial fumble in the final minutes of regulation.

The Bears would begin their ensuing possession at their 22-yard-line as Harbaugh completed three passes to Davis for 25 yards to move Chicago to around midfield when Waddle drew another pass interference penalty, this one on the other Jets cornerback James Hasty for 28 yards, to give the Bears a fresh set of downs at the Jets' 26-yard-line as the fourth quarter began.

The Jets defense would stiffen and not allow another 1st down as Butler would come on to kick a 44-yard field goal to make it an one-touchdown game in favor of New York at 13-6 with 12:51 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bears defense would force the Jets to punt on their next possession to give their offense the ball at their 37-yard-line as Harbaugh completed three passes to Davis for a total of 42 yards to advance Chicago to the New York four-yard-line with a 1st & goal.

Three straight running plays by three different runners gained just two yards to set up 4th & goal from the two-yard-line when Harbaugh tried to punch it in on a quarterback draw only to be stopped one yard short of the end zone by Jets strong safety Brian Washington to give New York the ball at their one-yard-line but a chance to run out the clock with 3:32 left in regulation.

The Jets would pick up two 1st downs as Thomas would carry the ball on five straight plays to move New York to their 34-yard-line where they would face a 2nd & 8 situation as the Bears spent their three timeouts.

That is when Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael would strip Thomas of the ball as "Mongo" would make the recovery to give Chicago the ball at the Jets' 36-yard-line with 1:54 to go in regulation

The drive got off to an auspicious start as Jets defensive tackle Dennis Byrd would sack Harbaugh for a nine-yard loss to push the Bears back nine yards to the New York 45-yard-line, which was followed by an incomplete pass to bring up 3rd & 19.

Harbaugh would fire a pass intended for Waddle, that looked like was going to be intercepted by Hasty, only for Waddle to wrestle the ball away from the Jets defensive back, to make the 16-yard catch and set Chicago up with a do-or-die 4th & 3 when Harbaugh handed the ball to Anderson who ran for eight yards to give Chicago a fresh set of downs at the New York 21-yard-line as Harbaugh would spike the ball to stop the clock with 1:10 remaining.

Harbaugh would then complete an eight-yard pass to Waddle followed by a six-yard pass to Anderson to give the Bears a 1st & goal at the Jets' seven-yard-line as the next three plays netted just one yard to set up 4th & goal at the six-yard-line.

The Bears would run the clock down to three seconds before snapping the ball when Harbaugh found Anderson in the left corner of the end zone as time expired for the touchdown that with Butler's extra point tied the game at 13 and send into overtime.

Bears running back Neal Anderson would catch the game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation.

The Jets would get the ball to start the extra period as they picked up one 1st down before punting the ball to the Bears, who would drive from their 39-yard-line to the New York 44-yard-line until they punted it back to the Jets, who would take over at their 20-yard-line with 8:32 left in the game.

From there, O'Brien would complete four of five passes for 47 yards to help New York drive to the Chicago 11-yard-line when Coslet would send in Leahy and the field goal unit to win the game with a 28-yard field goal attempt.

But Leahy's kick would sail wide left of the uprights to keep the game going as the Bears would take over at their 20-yard-line with 3:50 left in the game as a 13-13 tie looked very possible.

Harbaugh would complete five of his next six passes for 45 yards to move the Bears to the Jets' 23-yard-line when Harbaugh rolled to his right and fired a pass for tight end Cap Boso, who made the catch around the five-yard-line, then carried two New York defenders to the goal line where it looked like Boso crossed for the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left.

The Bears began to celebrate with Boso, who had grass stuck in his face mask, until instant replay was initiated and found that Boso's knee was down before he crossed the goal line, meaning that the Bears a 1st & goal inside the one-yard-line.

Harbaugh would then sneak for what would be the game-winning touchdown to finally end the game as 12:45 in the morning(eastern time) with 18 seconds left in overtime with the Bears on top 19-13 to give Ditka his 100th victory as the Chicago head coach

The Jets would recover from the loss to finish the season with an 8-8 record but good enough to qualify for the playoffs as they defeated the Miami Dolphins 23-20 in overtime on a 30-yard field goal by Raul Allegre in the final game of the regular season as New York would fall to the Houston Oilers 17-10 in the Wild Card round.

As for the Bears, they would return to the postseason with a 11-5 record as they would be defeated by the Dallas Cowboys 17-13 in the NFC Wild Card round in what would be the final postseason appearance during Ditka's tenure which would end after the 1992 season.