finish of his best pro passing performance Monday night, leaving the Bears
without the magic they needed to pull out a fourth straight game.
John Elway overcame McMahon`s first 300-yard passing game and a night of
running by rejuvenated Walter Payton with a sterling performance of his own to give the Denver Broncos a 31-29 victory.
McMahon completed 21 of 34 passes for 311 yards; Elway 21 of 40 for 341
yards. Each threw three touchdown passes, but McMahon`s night ended in
characteristic pain and controversy, but an uncharacteristic loss.
Bears coach Mike Ditka criticized McMahon`s decision to hand off to
William “the Refrigerator“ Perry on a critical goal-line series in the first half, reopening a coach-quarterback feud that won`t go away.
McMahon admitted he “screwed up.“
Ditka vented his anger on the press: “If you people keep puffing smoke
about who is calling plays, believe me, the person calling the plays is the
right person, and when it ceases to be that, you have problems.“
After each quarterback lit up the Mile High Stadium scoreboard and the
nation`s television sets, the difference was two missed extra points by the
Bears in the third quarter.
A 4-yard run and high dive into the end zone by Broncos` back Steve
Sewell with 4:58 to play won one of the most exciting Monday night contests in memory and kept Denver hopes alive in the AFC West with a 5-3-1 record.
Sewell`s touchdown came after a 61-yard drive following McMahon`s only
interception of the night.
McMahon hit Willie Gault for two touchdown passes, and Cap Boso for one.
Elway hit each of his wide receivers: Vance Johnson on a tipped fluke, Mark
Jackson behind cornerback Mike Richardson and Ricky Nattiel behind cornerback Reggie Phillips.
For the second week in a row, the Bears` defense failed to register a
single sack, but this time it was a tribute to Elway`s phenomenal ability to
escape.
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The loss kept the Bears from taking a one-game lead over San Francisco
and Washington for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. It also broke
McMahon`s record for winning starts at 25 in a row. But the Bears stayed two
games ahead of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Central.
Although the missed extra points provided the margin, a goal-line fiasco
in the second quarter prevented the Bears from taking a 21-7 lead.
Ditka inserted Perry into the backfield with Payton at the 1-yard line
after two broken plays from the 3. Perry fumbled, the Broncos recovered and
75,785 rabid fans loved it.
Ditka said he didn`t call the play.
“Talk to the people involved,“ said Ditka, complaining that his players lack the discipline to listen to him. “That play definitely broke our
backs.“
“I screwed up,“ McMahon said. “I thought he could score, but I never
should have handed him the ball. If we would have scored there, it would have been 21-7 and a totally different ball game. It was a stupid play on my
part.“
“I wasn`t even supposed to have the ball,“ Perry said. “I never had
the ball.“
The break sparked Elway to two touchdown passes in the final 1:54 of the
half, swinging momentum 180 degrees.
Instead of trailing 21-7, the Broncos went to intermission ahead 21-14.
Instead of sitting on their hands, the fans were stomping their feet, shaking the stadium with joy.
McMahon threw his third touchdown pass and scored from the 1-yard line in the third quarter to regain the lead for the Bears.
But the touchdowns were followed by missed extra points. On the first, a
slightly low snap by John Adickes was slightly mishandled by Mike Tomczak and blown by Kevin Butler.
Then following a motion penalty on Jimbo Covert, a bad snap by Tom Thayer was picked up by Tomczak, who ran and lateraled to Butler, only to have the
Broncos shove the kicker out of bounds short of the goal line.
Butler made a 42-yard field goal to increase the Bears` lead to 29-21
with 1:30 left in the third period, not enough to fend off Elway`s heroics.
On the final play of the third period, Elway retreated, avoided Wilber
Marshall and Al Harris, and heaved a ball 50 yards for a 22-yard gain on third down. It gave the Broncos a first down at the 25 and led to a 27-yard field
goal by Rich Karlis with 12:20 to play, cutting the Bears` lead to 29-24.
The Bears began a drive from their 35 to put the game away, but it ended
with an interception by K.C. Clark of a poorly thrown pass by McMahon. Clark
returned it to the 39 with 8:43 to play.
Again Elway went to work, hitting three passes, the third a 24-yarder to
Mark Jackson at the 9-yard line.
Two plays later, Sewell scored.
The Bears had plenty of time to pull off their accustomed finish, but
this time the Broncos made the big plays.
On third down and 11 from the 39, Denver linebacker Karl Mecklenburg
broke between Covert and Mark Bortz and sacked McMahon for 8 yards just before the 2-minute warning. McMahon twisted his left ankle on the play and limped
off.
The Broncos took over at their 13 after a punt. They failed to make a
first down, but ran the clock down to 45 seconds.
The Bears took over at their 46, and McMahon limped back into the game.
Flanker Ron Morris dropped a short pass over the middle. On second down, nose tackle Andre Townsend lowered the boom on McMahon, sacking him and knocking
him out of the game.
Quarterback Mike Tomczak entered, but apparently didn`t know it was third down. He passed to Neal Anderson for 2 yards and on fourth and 17, he passed
to Anderson again on a screen that went for only 7 yards.
An interception by linebacker Ron Rivera and a 15-yard return to the
Denver 15 set up McMahon`s quarterback sneak that gave the Bears the 26-21
lead. The sneak came with Perry in the backfield again, but this time he
didn`t dare touch the ball.
The question remained why Perry was in the game at all for the first time this season on offense.
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