Two quarterbacks, both known for taking chances. Both known for forcing passes. Both knowing for being electric when they are on and disastrous when they aren’t. Jay Cutler for the Chicago Bears and Brett Favre for the Green Bay – sorry - for the Minnesota Vikings. And there was no better stage for such a clash than Monday Night Football, the biggest NFL stage of them all. The teams met on the last Monday in December in one of the biggest rivalry games, the biggest grudge-matches, in the National Football League. And, just by looking at the quarterbacks, it promised to be very ugly or very, very good.
Cutler, leading the league in INTs, almost threw one on his first pass. And his second. He calmed down a bit after that, getting the Bears down around the five, though he couldn’t get them in as he threw incomplete to Olsen, the tight end, on third down. The Bears settled for a field goal and kicked the ball back to the Vikings. First blood.
From there on out, the Bears looked better than they have in weeks. They moved the ball. They made plays on offense. Cutler not only didn’t throw an INT in the first half, he threw a touchdown. The Bears went into halftime up 16-0 and the young gunslinger was way ahead of the old one.
I was shocked at halftime, to say the least. I’d already been looking up statistics online such as, well, the most interceptions thrown in a season (42). I’d been talking about Cutler moving into position to tie for third on that list (34). I’d been talking about how the over/under for the game was 3.5 and I was taking it for the over - for interceptions, that is, not points. I’d basically been lambasting Cutler all pregame, and then he was making me eat every one of those words, lambasting, in turn, the Vikings.
The second half started with a surge from the Vikings. The Old Man made some plays, the Bears defense made a play (pass interference, to be exact), and Adrian Peterson pounded the ball in for a score. 7-16, I said. But no. Never take anything for granted: not the inevitable longevity of disco, not the inevitability of made extra points. The kick was blocked. But the Vikings had pulled within ten, and it was a game again.
It didn’t last long. After a huge return from Daniel Manning, and an interference this time from the Vikings, Cutler threw another touchdown. Not an interception. Further and further off from that record - closer and closer to looking like the Jay Cutler the Bears traded for at the beginning of the season.
Then, just about the time I was thinking that, it happened. Cutler tried to force a pass on third down, into double coverage. And it was picked. And, to make it worse, two Vikings had a chance to pick it off. If the intermediate player hadn’t caught it, waiting in his zone, the deep corner would have. Even as the interception happened, that second defender stepped in front of the wide receiver. It was a pass that never had a chance, and it gave the Vikings some life to start the fourth, down 23-13.
And then it became a firefight. Cutler threw a touchdown on one of the most beautiful passes I’ve ever seen out of him, just two plays after Favre brilliantly drove down and tied the game. That put the Bears back out by seven, and handed the Vikings a last shot at it. They drove down and got to a first and goal with a minute. The second and goal, third and goal on a short pass. A corner to Harvin, overthrown by a hair. Fourth down.
This was maybe the most epic moment in football - each time it happens, a fourth and goal with less than a minute is just something that is untouchable in terms of suspense and electricity. And here was Favre, the old gunslinger, under center.
Again, corner. This time to Rice.
Caught.
Touchdown.
And the game was tied. The Bears took a knee and it went to overtime.
I took a moment to compose myself. To think on it. I said at the beginning that it would be very ugly or very good, and it was very good. Both quarterbacks had been lights out; they’d looked great. The one interception by Cutler wasn’t good, but his three touchdowns more than made up for it - especially that last, which was just insanely good. It was everything Cutler has the potential to be consistently, if he can just take that next step. If he can just get himself mentally composed. If he can just become elite - and if he does, the Bears will be back in the Super Bowl. I’ll say it here, having watched that pass.
The Bears won the toss.
And Cutler did it again. His first play, his first throw, was perfect. A deep throw against the blitz, under the corner that was running hard to save the touchdown and overran the play. Three runs later they were on the twenty-seven. Game over, right? Nope. Robbie Gould, normally flawless, missed the kick. But the Vikings floundered and went three and out with two sacks, and the Bears had it again. One more chance.
Three and out.
About this point, I wondered if, somewhere, Donovan McNabb was wondering what would happen (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Donovan-McNabb-didn-t-know-that-NFL-games-could-?urn=nfl,122568) if this continued until there was no time left on the clock.
Then the Vikings fumbled. It’s been Peterson’s curse and it bit him again. He fumbled away and gave the Bears a short field and they used it at home to get the win. Cutler threw another touchdown, this time to Aromashodu, a beautiful deep bomb on first down, and it was all over. It was gutsy and it was epic and it was something Chicago fans can savor, because it doesn’t get much better.
Both gunslingers were great, but, tonight at least, football was a young man’s game.
BYLINE:
Jonathan Schlosser is a writer and part-time library worker. He has published some short fiction and is working on finding a publisher for his novel. He has a B.A. in Writing, which means that, for a living, he is allowed to put away books at the library. He is also allowed to tell parents to tell their children to be quiet. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI. Email Jonathan at jonathan@zoiksonline.com.
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