Mike Ditka had been a popular and successful player and coach
with the Chicago Bears, and was making his return to Chicago as head coach of
the New Orleans Saints for a game on October 5, 1997. It was hardly a marquee
matchup, however, as both teams were playing poorly. There were those pundits who
referred to the contest as “the Peyton Manning Bowl”, with the presumption that
the loser might well be on the way to having the first overall pick in the ’98
NFL draft that would presumably be used to select the Univ. of Tennessee’s star
quarterback.
The Saints were coming off a 3-13 record in 1996 and,
with Ditka now at the helm, had a 1-4 tally thus far. The defense was showing
signs of improvement, but the offense was mediocre at best. QB Heath Shuler was
a first-round bust in Washington and clearly nothing more than a stopgap for
his new team. WR Randal Hill was the best of the receivers, the running backs
were nondescript, and the line, other than OT William Roaf, was poor.
The Bears, in their fifth year under Ditka’s successor as
head coach, Dave Wannstedt, were just a shadow of the team that had won in
double figures five times in a row under “Iron Mike”, including a NFL
Championship in 1985. Chicago had last been to the playoffs in ’94, was coming
off a 7-9 record in ’96, and was off to an abysmal 0-5 start. QB Erik Kramer
was under challenge from another first-round disappointment, Rick Mirer, late
of the Seahawks. RB Raymont Harris led the running game but the best wide
receiver, Curtis Conway, was injured. The defense was not at all formidable,
especially the weak pass rush.
There were 58,865 fans in attendance for the Sunday night
game at Soldier Field and they gave Ditka a warm welcome. The game they saw was
sloppy, at best. The teams traded punts to start the contest before New Orleans
RB Mario Bates fumbled and DT Paul Grasmanis recovered for the Bears at the
Saints’ 32. Rick Mirer immediately threw to TE Ryan Wetnight for a gain of 24
yards and, four plays later, Jeff Jaeger kicked a 23-yard field goal.
The Bears quickly got the ball back when FS John Mangum
intercepted a pass by Heath Shuler, but they were unable to capitalize on the
turnover this time and punted. Neither team was able to mount a threat for the
remainder of the opening period.
That remained the case until, with just over four minutes
remaining in the half, Shuler completed a pass to TE John Farquhar for 42 yards
to the Chicago 27. Another completion to Farquhar picked up nine yards and, as
the clock ticked down to the two-minute warning, Doug Brien kicked a 38-yard
field goal to tie the score at 3-3, and thus it remained at halftime.
The Bears, who now had Erik Kramer at quarterback, had
the opening possession of the third quarter, went three-and-out, and punted.
Shuler completed two passes and Bates then broke away for a 49-yard touchdown
run. Brien added the extra point and the visitors were in front by 10-3.
Following another Chicago punt, the Saints advanced 41
yards in eight plays, the biggest of which was a 27-yard run by FB Ray Zellars.
The drive stalled at the Bears’ 31 and Brien booted a 48-yard field goal to stretch
the New Orleans lead to ten points.
The penalty-filled contest headed into the fourth
quarter. The Bears finally mounted a scoring drive after getting good field
position at the New Orleans 33 following a punt from deep inside Saints’
territory. Kramer threw to WR Chris Penn for 14 yards and to WR Bobby Engram
for 12 in a third-and-five situation at the 14. Kramer carried for the last
yard and a TD, and with Jaeger’s conversion, the New Orleans lead was cut to
13-10.
On the next series, Shuler fumbled deep in his own
territory and DT Jim Flanigan recovered at the Saints’ eight. A pass interference
penalty in the end zone moved the ball to the one and from there Raymont Harris
blasted up the middle for a TD. Jaeger added the extra point and the Bears were
in front by 17-13 with six minutes left in the game.
The home crowd was cheering, but the celebration, as well
as Chicago’s lead, didn’t last long. On the first play following the ensuing
kickoff, Shuler passed to WR Randal Hill and he went the distance for an
89-yard touchdown. Brien kicked the PAT and the Saints were back on top by
three.
With Kramer passing on almost every down, the Bears moved
down the field, converting a fourth down along the way. But after reaching the
New Orleans 38, Kramer was sacked on third down for a six-yard loss by DT Wayne
Martin and a fourth down pass to Engram came up a yard short. That essentially
settled the matter – Chicago got the ball back once more following a New
Orleans punt, but with 12 seconds remaining. Ditka and the Saints came away
winners by a score of 20-17.
The teams combined for 21 punts, with 12 by the Bears and
9 for New Orleans, and 18 penalties, evenly distributed at nine apiece. The
Saints accumulated the most total yards (322 to 266) while Chicago had more
first downs (19 to 11). New Orleans also recorded five sacks, to two by the
Bears, but also turned the ball over three times, while Chicago had none.
Heath Shuler completed just 9 of 23 passes for 195 yards
and the one long touchdown as well as one interception. Randal Hill (pictured above), thanks to
the big TD, gained 121 yards on 5 catches. Ray Zellars rushed for 65 yards on
14 carries and Mario Bates contributed 58 yards and a touchdown on his 9
attempts.
For the Bears, Rick Mirer was successful on only 7 of his
16 throws for 58 yards and Erik Kramer was 12 of 20 for 131 yards in relief.
Raymont Harris gained 82 yards on 28 rushing attempts that included a score.
Bobby Engram had 6 pass receptions for 59 yards.
“I’m sure a lot of people turned off their TVs, it wasn’t
pretty,” summed up Mike Ditka.
The Saints went on to lose their next three games, although
they rallied somewhat during the second half of the season to finish with a
6-10 record that placed fourth in the NFC West. Chicago reached 0-7 before
finally entering the win column and placed last in the NFC Central at 4-12.
Despite the “Peyton Manning Bowl” speculation, it was the 3-13 Indianapolis
Colts who ultimately ended up with the first overall draft pick that was used
to take Manning.
As for the game’s two starting quarterbacks, Heath
Shuler’s winning touchdown pass was one of only two that he tossed all season,
while giving up 14 interceptions and losing the starting job (ultimately to
Billy Joe Hobert). It would prove to be the last year of his disappointing pro
career. Rick Mirer yielded the starting job back to Erik Kramer and threw a total
of 103 passes in 1997, with none for touchdowns and six interceptions, and
averaging just 4.1 yards per attempt. He moved on to journeyman status,
starting with a year in Green Bay in which he saw no action.
Mike Ditka’s stated intention was to have the Saints in
contention in three years, but another 6-10 record in 1998 was followed by a
controversial decision to trade the entire 1999 draft slate in order to move up
in the first round and take RB Ricky Williams, the highly-touted Heisman Trophy
winner from Texas. The result was a drop to 3-13 and Ditka was finished, having
posted a record of 15-33 in New Orleans.
