After the Bears' improbable victory last Sunday, NFL teams that trail by at least two scores at halftime and don't score an offensive touchdown all game are now 3-306 since 2000.
Remarkably, the Bears are responsible for two of those three wins. The first came in 2006 when they rallied from a 20-0 halftime deficit to stun the Cardinals 24-23 on Monday Night Football in Arizona.
That game was so incredible that it has its own Wikipedia page.
There are several parallels between the Bears' win over the Cardinals 18 years ago and last weekend's season-opening victory over the Titans. The Bears scored the final 21 points in Arizona and the last 24 points versus Tennessee. In both games, they also:
• Scored second-half touchdowns on defense and special teams to take the lead.
2006
The Bears trailed 23-3 when Mark Anderson ignited the comeback, forcing rookie quarterback Matt Leinart to fumble on a blindside sack. Mike Brown scooped up the loose ball and returned it three yards for a TD, drawing the Bears to within 23-10 with :02 remaining in the third quarter.
The defense delivered again as Brian Urlacher ripped the ball away from running back Edgerrin James and Charles Tillman returned the fumble 40 yards for a TD, closing the gap to 23-17 with 5:00 left in the final period.
Devin Hester then produced one of the signature plays of his Hall of Fame career, returning a punt 83 yards for a TD to put the Bears ahead 24-23 with 2:58 to play.
2024
The special teams unit provided a spark early in the third quarter when Daniel Hardy blocked a Ryan Stonehouse punt and Jonathan Owens returned it 21 yards for a touchdown, drawing the Bears to within 17-10.
Darrell Taylor's strip-sack of quarterback Will Levis set up Cairo Santos' 48-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 17-16 with 9:52 to play. Tyrique Stevenson followed by intercepting a Levis pass and returning it 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:35 remaining.
• Swung the momentum with a key third-quarter touchdown off a takeaway that was created by a defensive end and scored by a safety.
2006
The Cardinals were in total control when Anderson forced Leinart to fumble by beating veteran right tackle Oliver Ross with a speed rush around the edge. The fifth-round pick from Alabama made his first NFL start in place of Adewale Ogunleye, who missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury. "Every game he's played he's come up with a big play for us," then-coach Lovie Smith said of Anderson after the win.
2024
The Titans were leading 17-3 when Owens scooped up the punt that Hardy blocked and waltzed into the end zone, suddenly and unexpectedly pulling the Bears to within one score and energizing the Soldier Field crowd.
• Credited the resolve and confidence they displayed in the locker room at halftime with fueling their comeback.
2006
Six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz inspired his teammates by addressing them at halftime.
"Olin wasn't the most verbal guy in front of the team," then-long-snapper Patrick Mannelly told ChicagoBears.com in 2016. "He led kind of like the grassroots way, talking to guys one-on-one. So when he spoke that day, everybody looked at him and their ears perked up. He told us we were going to win that game, and then we went out and did it. It was an improbable comeback and a lot of that stemmed from Olin saying we were going to do it. Olin was the leader of the team and people believed him. His words inspired us to go out there and pull off that improbable comeback."
"Olin wasn't yelling," Tillman added. "It wasn't like he was Ray Lewis giving a speech. Olin just said, 'No one panic. We're going to go out there in the second half and we're going to hit them in the mouth and we're going to win this game.' And the second half was a different story. Guys got a little pep talk and had a different mindset."
2024
The Bears never lost any confidence despite trailing 17-3 at halftime.
"During the halftime they were great," said coach Matt Eberflus. "They looked each other in the eye and leaned in and leaned on each other and looked at each other and said, 'We got this.' That's a different attitude and a different culture that we've developed over here the last couple of years. The guys did a nice job in the second half."
In the winning locker room after the game, both Eberflus and safety Kevin Byard III referenced what transpired at halftime.
