A whole bunch of eras ended for the Bears Sunday in Soldier Field, where the Washington Redskins knocked them out of the NFC divisional playoffs for the second year in a row, 21-17.
It was a cold thing coach Joe Gibbs and the Redskins did, pulling the magic carpet out from under Jim McMahon just when everything appeared warmed up for a National Conference title game next week against the Minnesota Vikings.
Instead, it will be the Vikings playing in Washington for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXII.
”Very simply in a nutshell, we ain`t good enough right now,” said Bears coach Mike Ditka.
Unable to hold a lead, unable to come back, unable to offer excuses, unable to handle Darrell Green jumping over them on his only punt return, the Bears` second attempt to regain the glory of Super Bowl XX ended with a resounding thud.
”We`re not good enough with the people we have or the way we`re playing. So something`s got to be changed,” Ditka said.
There is nothing left to brag about.
For a while Sunday, the Redskins allowed the Bears sweet memories:
Walter Payton was on his way to the best game in his final year of his fabulous career, 85 yards in 18 carries.
Richard Dent had forced a fumble.
Gary Fencik was in the lineup again, and the Bears were ahead 14-0, ready to tee off. Payton and Fencik were going to have yet another final game in Chicago.
Mike Singletary was stuffing another fourth-down run, and Wilber Marshall was making tackles sideline to sideline.
Dexter Manley was yelling at Ditka to run the ball his way, and Ditka wasn`t yelling at anybody.
What happened next chilled the Bears more than the 4-degree temperature or the 12-mile-an-hour wind that made it feel like minus-23.
Doug Williams reached for his handwarmer and tied the score 14-14 in the second quarter with bullet passes that befuddled defensive coordinator Vince Tobin`s third-down coverages.
Then Green leaped over and ran past the Bears for a 52-yard punt return to make it 21-14 early in the third quarter.
”They made a play on special teams to beat us; it`s that simple,” Ditka said.
All Washington`s points came within a period of 8 minutes 11 seconds, and McMahon wasn`t able to do anything about it even with 26:40 to play.
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The Bears moved to the 13-yard line and ran three times instead of passing, settling for a 25-yard field goal by Kevin Butler.
With 9:20 left, they got to the 14-yard line and passed. McMahon`s errant throw was intercepted in the end zone by cornerback Barry Wilburn.
It was one of three interceptions against McMahon in what he called a
”lousy” performance regardless of his obvious physical limitations. It was only McMahon`s second loss in his last 30 starts, but his first in a playoff.
”Probably the worst game I`ve played in a long time,” he said. ”I can`t explain it. I don`t know what went wrong. I don`t know why I didn`t throw the ball well. I just didn`t get it done.”
McMahon suffered a pinched nerve in his neck that ran pain through his left arm when he was hit by middle linebacker Neal Olkewicz after throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ron Morris that made it 14-0 in the second quarter. ”Something like that affects you,” said center Jay Hilgenberg.
”I wasn`t aware of it at all,” said receiver Willie Gault.
”I don`t think that was the problem,” said trainer Fred Caito.
McMahon, playing despite a sore hamstring that has sidelined him since Dec. 6, was careful not to blame his health.
”I was hurt, but I was on the field. I`m supposed to do my job. Injuries are part of the game,” he said. ”I couldn`t run, and they knew that. The hamstring felt pretty good until I threw the first interception and had to make the tackle.
”I think we were good enough. Mistakes hurt us, and the biggest one was my (second) interception. We had a chance to win, and we moved the football down the field, and I threw the ball right in the guy`s chest, and that was the ball game.”
There appeared to be a mixup between Gault and McMahon on the route, but McMahon said it was just a bad throw.
”I think they had heat on him,” Gault said.
They did all day, sacking McMahon five times, including twice in the final two series when tackle Keith Van Horne could not block Charles Mann, the quieter but better of the Redskins` defensive ends.
The Bears still had a chance for a miracle finish like the ones that so cleverly masked their shortcomings during an 11-4 regular season in which they beat only one winning team, the Vikings.
With 2 1/2 minutes left, McMahon threw his third interception on a long pass. With 41 seconds left, a swing pass to Payton on fourth and 8 was good for only 7 yards. McMahon seemed to think it was third down.
”I was very surprised that they kept saying it was fourth down,”
McMahon said. ”I kept thinking it was third down.”
Third down was a problem for the Bears on offense and defense. They converted only 4 of 13 plays on offense and gave up 7 of 14 on defense, causing Ditka to include coaching strategy in his postgame critique.
”We`ll all evaluate ourselves-coaches and players,” he said.
The Redskins made adjustments the Bears didn`t match. After the Bears ran to the 14-0 lead, the Redskins went to a five-man line that Bear blockers said caused confusion in the third quarter.
Payton got only 11 yards in 5 carries in his final half. He finished 13 years with 16,726 yards, plus 632 in nine postseason games.
”I`ve been truly blessed,” said Payton, whose final run was a classic 5-yard sweep on third and 2 two plays before McMahon`s interception to Wilburn.
Five of Williams` third-down passes came in critical situations. A favorite victim was new cornerback Maurice Douglass, who said the motion of the Redskins` receivers kept him from jamming them at the line.
”Sometimes I`d get a good jam and they still got up field, and the quarterback still would get the ball to him,” Douglass said. ”They called good plays against us as far as the nickel is concerned.”
The Redskins drove 72 yards for their first touchdown. Williams hit Ricky Sanders for 32 yards on third and 9.
They drove 69 yards in the final 1:49 of the half to tie it. Williams hit Gary Clark for 15 yards on third and 2 and found Clint Didier for an 18-yard touchdown on third and 10. It was the fifth TD this season against the Bears in the final minute of the half.
This one came on a blitz that the Redskins picked up. The Bears don`t blitz effectively anymore and don`t seem to believe in Tobin`s strategy.
”Blitzing? What`s that?” linebacker Otis Wilson asked sarcastically.
”We didn`t blitz that much,” said Marshall. ”That`s the way things are. We try to defense what they do best. We tried to come out and play zone, and he (Tobin) said it wasn`t working. So we played a lot of man, and they started to run `pick` plays inside and get those 8- or 10-yard catches.
”Doug Williams did well, but something didn`t seem right. We should have won the game.”
Fencik predicted ”a review of offensive strategy as well as defensive strategy.”
”I think we`ve got to review our nickel defenses in terms of personnel and also in terms of schemes. When you have a two-deep zone and your guy is getting beat underneath, that`s not doing the job. We`ve got to do different things underneath to confuse the quarterback.
”Mike said we were not good enough in terms of game plans and in terms of personnel. He was subtle, but it was like a jackhammer.”
After Wilburn`s interception with 9:20 left, the Redskins responded with a 10-play drive that consumed 6:24, their lengthiest of the game. Williams hit Ricky Sanders for 11 yards on third and 10 and Don Warren for 16 yards on third and 3 to keep the drive going.
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Field position haunted the Bears as it had all year. They started on offense from their 14 with three straight pass attempts and a punt, giving the Redskins the ball at the Chicago 45.
Dent sacked Williams and forced a fumble that was recovered by Steve McMichael 25 yards upfield. The turnover marked the first time in 56 possessions that the Bears had started a drive in enemy territory.
It led to a touchdown run by Calvin Thomas, but Dent`s sack was a mirage. It was the only one against Williams all day.
Poor field position at the start of the third quarter was the killer.
McMahon started from his 20 against the wind and was sacked on first down as Ditka tried to pass his way out. Cornerback Brian Davis intercepted a weak throw to Gault on third down and took it to the 6, where a tipped pass was intercepted by Mike Richardson, giving the ball back to McMahon at his 5.
Two runs and an incomplete pass later, Tommy Barnhardt got off a nice 44- yard punt that Green ran down the Bears` throats. Green pulled muscles in his rib cage leaping over Cap Boso and landed on the run in a sensational effort. He couldn`t play cornerback anymore, but the Bears managed to get only one pass all day to Gault.
”We`re not a very good team,” said tackle Jim Covert. ”We couldn`t beat them for the second year, and that means we`re a step below them. Simple arithmetic.”
”We`re on a plateau,” said fullback Matt Suhey.
”There was no doubt the desire was there, and we still didn`t win,”
said Fencik. ”Give credit to the Skins. When you come back from 14-0, you are truly well-coached and have confidence in yourselves.”
”Two years in a row and end up in the same position, it`s not very much fun,” said Ditka. ”I don`t want to be in this position again.
”Our guys played hard. It wasn`t a matter of wanting to. It wasn`t a matter of being ready. It wasn`t a matter of being stale. It was a matter of not being able to make plays when we had to make plays.
”When we have to stop people, we aren`t capable of stopping people. When we have to score or block people, we don`t do a good enough job.”