On a frigid night at Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears warmed to the idea of celebrating Mike Ditka's legacy while also gaining ground in the playoff race if they could beat the Dallas Cowboys.
Robbie Gould's 27-yard field goal gave the Bears a 17-14 lead with 1:33 left before halftime.
The Cowboys put together another long march, culminating with a 10-yard TD pass from Tony Romo to tight end Jason Witten to tie the game at 14-14. The drive went 68 yards in 7 plays.
The Bears took their first lead of the game when Josh McCown rushed seven yards on a third-and-goal play to make it 14-7. The 10-play drive covered 65 yards and was capped when McCown hurtled his body into a Cowboys defender at the goal line with 8:58 left until halftime.
The Bears capped a 78-yard drive with a 4-yard TD pass from McCown to Earl Bennett with 1:35 left in the first quarter to pull even at 7-7 as the wind chill factor slipped to minus 9 degrees.
The Cowboys took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard pass from Romo to Dez Bryant with 9:02 left in the first quarter. The drive covered 75 yards in 12 plays and featured 52 yards rushing on six carries by DeMarco Murray.Entering with a 6-6 record, the Bears' playoff hopes were alive after the NFC North-leading Lions lost to the Eagles on Sunday to fall to 7-6. The Lions hold the tie-breaker on the Bears after beating them twice this season. The Packers (6-6-1) also are looming as Aaron Rodgers' return from injury is anticipated.Meanwhile, the Cowboys (7-5) have NFC playoff aspirations of their own as they try to hang with NFC East-leading Philadelphia. As all of the possible postseason scenarios play out, a national audience was poised to watch Bears icon Ditka have his No. 89 jersey retired during ceremonies at halftime.The Bears practiced outdoors last Thursday instead of inside the Payton Center in order to prepare for Monday night's frigid temperatures.'It's a part of being in Chicago,' Bears rookie guard Kyle Long said of the elements. 'It's part of the home-field advantage. It's something we take pride in; that toughness, that ability to go out there and play in the cold and any adverse weather conditions. We're looking forward to the opportunity.'Coach Marc Trestman, who coached the previous five seasons in the Canadian Football League, said he was not wary of the cold Monday night.'What's a factor in a game is the wind,' Trestman said. 'The cold isn't a factor like the wind can be a factor, and that comes to play-calling, game decisions, special teams decisions and things like that. But the weather as it is, or the cold weather if the wind is minimal really should not affect the game.'Twitter@kicker34
Posted by Unknown on Monday, December 9, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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