The Chicago Bears were off to a 4-0 start as they faced
the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay on October 8, 1989. Head Coach Mike Ditka’s team
had won in double-digits in each of the previous five seasons, including a NFL
Championship in 1985, and was used to contending. While colorful QB Jim
McMahon, who often clashed with Ditka, was dumped off to San Diego during the
preseason, the powerful defense still contained many of the veteran stalwarts
from the title-winning team, including DE Richard Dent, DTs Dan Hampton and
Steve McMichael, and MLB Mike Singletary.
The Buccaneers, under third-year Head Coach Ray Perkins,
had not been nearly as successful. They were 2-2 as they faced the Bears, but
were a perennially losing club that had last been over .500 in the
strike-abbreviated 1982 season. Moreover, they had been beaten by Chicago
twelve straight times. QB Vinny Testaverde had gone through plenty of growing
pains after being the first overall pick of the 1987 NFL draft, and while he
was showing improvement, he was coming off of a poor performance the previous
week in a loss to the Vikings.
There were 72,077 fans in attendance at Tampa Stadium. The
Bears went three-and-out in their first series and, following a short punt, the
Buccaneers took over with good field position at their 47. Vinny Testaverde
completed all five of his passes in a six-play possession with the last one
tipped by RB Lars Tate and caught by WR Mark Carrier for an 11-yard touchdown.
Donald Igwebuike’s extra point made it 7-0 for the home team.
Chicago again had to punt and once more the Bucs drove to
a score, this time covering 69 yards in seven plays. Testaverde threw to WR
Bruce Hill for a 41-yard gain to the Chicago 17, ran for 12 yards on a third-and-six
play, and FB William Howard dove into the middle of the line for a one-yard TD.
It seemed as though Tampa Bay would be able to pour it on
after, on the third play of the ensuing Chicago series, WR Dennis McKinnon was
stripped after gaining 17 yards on a pass from QB Mike Tomczak and FS Harry
Hamilton recovered for the Buccaneers. Testaverde immediately went to the air
and connected with Carrier for a 30-yard gain to the six and a penalty on the
Bears made it first-and-goal at the one. But Chicago’s defense stopped four
straight running plays and the Bucs came up empty.
The reprieve for the Bears was a short one as they turned
the ball over again three plays later when Tomczak was intercepted by SS Mark
Robinson to give Tampa Bay the ball at the Chicago 14. This time, as the game
moved into the second quarter, the Buccaneers didn’t fail to capitalize. Testaverde
threw a play action pass to TE William Harris for a touchdown and Igwebuike’s conversion
made it 21-0.
The Bears were still unable to get anything going on
offense and punted. But now it was their turn to make the most of a turnover as
LB Jim Morrissey intercepted a Testaverde pass and Chicago had the ball at the
Tampa Bay 27. Five plays later, the Bears got on the board when RB Neal
Anderson (pictured at left) ran for a five-yard TD.
A short Tampa Bay series ended with a punt but the Bears
once again turned the ball over when Tomczak fumbled while being sacked by LB
Kevin Murphy and DE Reuben Davis recovered at the Chicago 28. While a tipped
pass was nearly intercepted by LB Mike Singletary, the Bucs scored another
touchdown, this time on a Testaverde throw to Hill from 22 yards out.
Down once more by three touchdowns, the Bears responded
by driving 64 yards in seven plays. Anderson had a 19-yard run on a sweep to
start things off and Tomczak threw to TE James Thornton for a 34-yard gain to
the Tampa Bay 9. Anderson ran for a one-yard TD and, with Butler’s second
successful PAT, the score was 28-14 and remained that way at the end of the
half.
On Chicago’s first possession of the third quarter, the
Bears went 54 yards in six plays to cut the margin further. Tomczak threw to RB
Thomas Sanders for a 16-yard touchdown and, with the PAT by Butler, Tampa Bay’s
lead was down to 28-21.
That was the score entering the fourth quarter, but a short
punt gave the Buccaneers the ball at the Chicago 44 and, four plays later, Tate
ran for a 16-yard touchdown.
Following a short series by the Bears, the Bucs drove to
another TD, this time covering 80 yards in six plays. Tate (pictured at left) took off for a
48-yard gain on the first play and Testaverde converted a third-and-three
situation with a completion to Hill for 12 yards. Tate finished the possession
off with a four-yard run and when the snap on the extra point sailed high,
holder Chris Mohr ran the ball into the end zone. Tampa Bay had a commanding
42-21 lead with under seven minutes left on the clock.
The Bears fought back as Jim Harbaugh replaced Tomczak at
quarterback. Throwing on almost every down, the visitors went 74 yards in nine
plays. Harbaugh completed four passes and, after being sacked to force a
third-and-15 situation, he escaped pressure and ran for a 26-yard touchdown.
A short series by the Bucs gave the ball to the Bears one
more time and they again drove to a score, this time on a one-yard carry by
Anderson, but the ensuing onside kick with 53 seconds remaining was recovered
by the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay held on for a 42-35 win.
The Buccaneers led in total yards (415 to 350) and first
downs (27 to 22). They had the edge both on the ground (147 to 136) and through
the air (268 to 214). Chicago turned the ball over three times, to two by Tampa
Bay.
Vinny Testaverde, who left the game midway through the
fourth quarter after taking a hit from Steve McMichael, completed 22 of 36
passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Bruce Hill
and Mark Carrier (pictured below) had nearly identical numbers as they each caught 6 passes and
scored a TD while Hill accumulated 107 yards and Carrier had 105. Lars Tate
also had a fine performance as he ran for 112 yards and two scores on 18
carries.
For the Bears, Mike Tomczak was successful on 16 of 29
throws for 162 yards with a TD and an interception. Jim Harbaugh, in his relief
performance, completed 6 of 8 passes for 65 yards and also ran the ball three
times for 34 yards and a touchdown. Neal Anderson rushed 17 times for 86 yards
and three TDs and also caught 6 passes for 30 more yards. WR Ron Morris gained
a team-high 54 yards on his three receptions.
“This is the kind of win we’ve been looking for, the kind
of win to get us over the hump,” said a jubilant Ray Perkins on behalf of the
Bucs.
“We were out-coached and out-played. It’s as simple as
that,” was the response of a terse Mike Ditka regarding Chicago’s performance.
The hoped-for turnaround in Tampa Bay’s fortunes did not
materialize as the Buccaneers lost their next five games in a row, finally
winning in their rematch with the Bears. They ended up at the bottom of the NFC
Central with a 5-11 record.
The loss did prove to be a turning point for the Bears.
They lost their next two games and won only twice more the rest of the way to
finish just a step up from the Bucs in the division at 6-10.
Vinny Testaverde ended up throwing for 3133 yards and 20
touchdowns, but with 22 interceptions. Lars Tate’s rushing total against
Chicago was the best of his brief career as he gained 589 yards. Mark Carrier
went on to receive Pro Bowl recognition with 86 catches for 1422 yards (16.5
avg.) and nine touchdowns but Bruce Hill was less consistent and caught 50
passes for 673 yards (13.5 avg.) and five TDs.
In the midst of the down year for the Bears, Neal
Anderson rushed for 1275 yards on 274 carries (4.7 avg.) and had 50 catches for
434 yards. He scored a total of 15 touchdowns and was chosen to the Pro Bowl
for the second straight year.
