By Darin The episode elucidates the remarkable football contest that transpired on October 16, 2006, between the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals, a game that has retained its significance in the annals of NFL history. The Chicago Bears, entering as the sole unbeaten team of the season, faced a formidable challenge against the Cardinals, who were striving to recover from a dismal start. The narrative unfolds with the Cardinals establishing a commanding 20-point lead by halftime, seemingly positioning themselves for victory. However, a remarkable transformation ensued as the Bears executed a strategic comeback, ultimately overcoming the deficit and securing a victory in dramatic fashion. This episode serves not only as a recounting of the game’s events but also as a reflection on the broader implications for both franchises in the context of their respective seasons.
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Transcript
Hello my football friends.
Speaker A:This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal deposit of football history.
Speaker A:th in the year:Speaker A:We're going to talk about it in just a moment.
Speaker B:This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.
Speaker B:Your host, Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.
Speaker A:You know, we have gone through and done our football history headlines for over five, six years now and have really brought some great events to the forefront of each day of the year.
Speaker A:,:Speaker A:In the NFL's:Speaker A:The that unblemished record was clearly in question during the Bears Oct. 16 matchup in the desert with the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker A:he Bears franchise arrived in:Speaker A:The Redbirds were one in four entering in the Monday Night Football free against the Monsters of the Midway, and head coach Dennis Green's club dropped four straight to the Seahawks, Rams, Falcons and Chiefs after disposing of the 49ers in week one and in what seemed to be a very promising season.
Speaker A:Now the Bears, on the other hand, they were pretty well the Cardinals had some pretty good players on their roster, including future hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Eden James, surrounded by other superstars like Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Wilson, Anquan Bolden and a promising rookie named Matt Leinert.
Speaker A:The Bears of head coach Lovey Smith were equally talented, with Rex Grossman and Brian Greasy taking snaps under center while Cedric Benson is and Thomas Jones stood behind them ready to tote the rock.
Speaker A:Receivers Mushon Muhammad, Bernard Berrian and tight end Desmond Clark were at the ready to catch passes.
Speaker A:And it might have been that defensive coach Smith that struck fear into the opponents of the Bears, who lined up as Brian Erlacher.
Speaker A:Lance Briggs in their linebacking cores were right in front of Ball Hawking DB Peanut Tillman who roamed the defensive backfield looking for stray balls.
Speaker A:Very good team indeed.
Speaker A:You know, not the superstars but very good team.
Speaker A:Now Chicago was the early favorite on the road, but the game did not quite play out the way the experts figured.
Speaker A:Now the scoring summary when something like this is the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead midway into the first quarter as Bryant Johnson had an 11 yard pass from Matt Leinert and New Yorkers made the kick to make it seven nothing.
Speaker A:Cardinals at home with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
Speaker A:Anquan Bolden caught a 26 yard pass from Leinart the rookie.
Speaker A:Two touchdown passes in the first quarter.
Speaker A:The Redbirds are up 14 to nothing in the middle of the second quarter.
Speaker A:Rackers nailed a 41 yard field goal to go 17 nothing.
Speaker A:And then as the time expired in the first half, Rackers nailed a 28 yard field goal 20 to nothing.
Speaker A:At halftime it looked like it was all over for the Bears.
Speaker A:They had to do some major regrouping at halftime.
Speaker A:But boy, whatever coach Lovey Smith said at halftime in the locker room, it must have done some good because at 7:22 mark in the third quarter the Bears got on the board after playing some strong defense as Robbie Gold nailed a 23 yard field goal to put the make the score 20 to 3.
Speaker A:Rackers answered a few minutes later with a 29 yard field goal.
Speaker A:It was 20 point lead for the Cardinals once again as they entered into the OR ended the third quarter.
Speaker A:Mike Brown caught a three yard defensive fumble return.
Speaker A:Gold kicked it to make it 10 to 23.
Speaker A:Defense did some good things for the Bears.
Speaker A:With five minutes left in the quarter of the game, Charles Tillman peanut picked up a 40 yard defensive fumble return.
Speaker A:Gold kicked and made the kick.
Speaker A:It was:Speaker A:Now this is when special teams kicks in.
Speaker A:258 left.
Speaker A:Chicago's Devin Hester had an 83 yard punt return.
Speaker A:Gold made the kick put the bears up 24 to 23.
Speaker A:Now Arizona found themselves trailing for the first time all evening after Hester spunt return.
Speaker A:The rookie from USC liner came out calmly and led his team down the field to set up a fuel goal attempt with 53 seconds remaining.
Speaker A:Cardinals reliable kicker Neil Rackers had been perfect all night going 3 for 3 but this time it may have been the pressure or even the Pottsville curse, but the Vonnet kicker pushed his kick left of the uprights missing the 41 yard possible game winner.
Speaker A:Chicago did a couple kneel downs victory formation and the game was over.
Speaker A:Chicago had overcome a 20 point lead downfall to take over the lead with just two minutes left and what a quite a remarkable comeback to really put a stamp on their season.
Speaker A:were pretty good because the:Speaker A:Powered by a dominant defense and a strong special teams, they advanced through the playoffs, defeating the Seattle Seahawks in a divisional round and demolishing the New Orleans saints in the NFC Championship game.
Speaker A:39:14 the season culminated with an appearance in Super Bowl 41 in in Miami, where they ultimately fell to Peyton Manning in the Indianapolis Colts.
Speaker A:29:17 but that was really the culmination of that season.
Speaker A:They put them to six zero.
Speaker A:They were on a roll.
Speaker A:They had some great players.
Speaker A:They started really believing in Lovey Smith's system, believed in themselves and and went to a spectacular season which hadn't been seen in quite a few years by Chicago.
Speaker A:Probably back to the 85 team, you know, but 13 and three very very respectable making it to the super bowl and had a disappointing end for them.
Speaker A:But what a great super bowl we got to watch with Peyton Manning going against that Bears defense.
Speaker A:That was so much fun.
Speaker A:So hope this little bit of football history for October 16th find you well may brings back some good memories I hope.
Speaker A:Unless you maybe you were a Cardinals fan, maybe some poor memories, but it was a great Monday Night Football game and who knows what Monday Night Football game could spark a team to take them to the super bowl this year.
Speaker A:We'll never know.
Speaker A:But you could stay tuned with us each Wednesday as Ed Cleese and I pick the games for each week coming up and you can keep score of us at home and see how you did, see how we did, see how we do against each other.
Speaker A:That's Wednesdays here on pigskind dispatch.com till next time everybody.
Speaker A:Have a great gridiron day.
Speaker B:That's all the football history we have today folks.
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