Week #7
Sunday, Oct.28, at Soldier Field, 10:00am PDT
vs
37
OT
31
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens pulls down a pass from QB Jeff Garcia as Chicago Bears linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, right, moves to tackle in the first quarter Sunday, Oct. 28, 2001 at Soldier Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/ Stephen J. Carrera)
CHICAGO (AP) Bears safety Mike Brown remembered all too well how Terrell Owens embarrassed Chicago last year. Brown was only too happy to return the favor.

Brown picked off a pass intended for Owens in overtime and returned it 32 yards for the winning score Sunday as Chicago rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the San Francisco 49ers 37-31.

Rookie David Terrell caught two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and former Michigan teammate Anthony Thomas rushed for another score and a key 2-point conversion as the Bears (5-1) won their fifth straight. It's the first time Chicago has won five in a row since 1991.

As Brown crossed the goal line, he held up the ball in celebration and the rest of the Bears rushed toward him. Brown then took a victory trot around the edge of the end zone, stopping to acknowledge the roaring fans.

Terrell caught three passes for 19 yards, and Thomas had 127 yards, his second straight 100-yard game. Shane Matthews, who replaced injured quarterback Jim Miller in the second quarter, was 25-of-31 for 166 yards.

The Bears' stunning victory spoiled a huge day for Garrison Hearst, who scored his first touchdown since December 1998. Hearst, who missed the last two seasons with a severe ankle injury, caught four passes for 105 yards and rushed for 46 yards.

Jeff Garcia was 21-for-28, but it was his last throw to Owens that cost the 49ers (4-2) the game. Owens burned Chicago for an NFL-record 20 catches in a 17-0 rout last season, and the Bears had talked about payback all week.

And oh, how sweet it was. Off to their best start in 11 years, the Bears looked out of synch and out of their element early. Even the vaunted defense looked shaky, as Garcia picked the Bears apart.

But trailing 28-9, the Bears made an amazing comeback. Though he hadn't played since injuring his ribs Sept. 23, Matthews coolly led the Bears to three scores in the last 20 minutes.

Thomas, who set a team rookie record with 188 yards last week, got it started. His 12-yard rush set up Terrell's 13-yard TD catch that cut San Francisco's lead to 31-23 with 4:08 left.

Chicago's defense shut down the 49ers, forcing them to go three-and-out and giving the Bears the ball back with a little over two minutes left. And Matthews led Chicago on another scoring drive.

Using five receivers, he completed eight straight passes and brought the Bears to the San Francisco 4 before spiking the ball with 26 seconds left to save some time.

He then found Terrell, and the rookie made a beautiful scoring grab, somehow managing to keep inbounds before falling over. When Terrell popped back up, he let out a roar and spiked the ball so hard he probably left a mark.

The 49ers challenged the call, but replays showed Terrell had both feet inbounds. Thomas then scooted around a pile for the conversion. San Francisco challenged that call, too, saying he had a knee down before he crossed the goal line. But after reviewing it, officials said Thomas' knee touched as he crossed, so the conversion counted.

San Francisco chose to run out the clock, and they got the ball first. But on the first play of overtime, Garcia looked for Owens and instead found Brown.

The Bears now have returned a takeaway for a score in three straight games.


 
FINAL
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
 OT
Total
San Francisco
14
0
14
3
0
31
Chicago
0
9
7
15
6
36
..... 
 
SCORING SUMMARY SFO CHI
1st Quarter
SFO TD Chicago fumble by Jim Miller (CHI), recovered by Julian Peterson (SFO), returned for a 25 yard touchdown. Extra point by Jose Cortez (SFO) is good.
7
0
SFO TD Jeff Garcia (SFO) pass left side complete to Justin Swift (SFO) for a 1 yard touchdown. Extra point by Jose Cortez (SFO) is good.
14
0
2nd Quarter
CHI SAF Chicago safety.
14
2
CHI TD Shane Matthews (CHI) pass left side complete to Daimon Shelton (CHI) for a 3 yard touchdown. Extra point by Paul Edinger (CHI) is good.
14
9
3rd Quarter
SFO TD Jeff Garcia (SFO) pass right side complete to Garrison Hearst (SFO) for a 60 yard touchdown. Extra point by Jose Cortez (SFO) is good.
21
9
SFO TD Shane Matthews (CHI) pass right side intercepted by Zack Bronson (SFO). Returned for a 96 yard touchdown. Extra point by Jose Cortez (SFO) is good.
28
9
CHI TD Anthony Thomas (CHI) rushed up the middle for a 19 yard touchdown. Extra point by Paul Edinger (CHI) is good.
28
16
4th Quarter
SFO FG 40 yard field goal by Jose Cortez (SFO) is good.
31
16
CHI TD Shane Matthews (CHI) pass across the middle complete to David Terrell (CHI) for a 13 yard touchdown. Extra point by Paul Edinger (CHI) is good.
31
23
CHI TD Shane Matthews (CHI) pass left side complete to David Terrell (CHI) for a 4 yard touchdown. 2 point rush up the middle by Anthony Thomas (CHI) is good.
31
31
Overtime
CHI TD Jeff Garcia (SFO) pass left side intercepted by Mike Brown (CHI). Returned for a 30 yard touchdown.
31
37
   
   
   
TEAM STATISTICS
      
SFO
CHI
First Downs 20 29
Third Down Efficiency 5-11 7-15
TOTAL NET YARDS 348 364
Total Plays 58 77
Average Gain Per Play 6.0 4.7
NET YARDS RUSHING 83 135
Rushes 29 30
Average Per Rush 2.9 4.5
NET YARDS PASSING 265 229
Pass Completion 21-29 30-47
Yards Per Pass 9.2 4.9
Times Sacked 2 0
Yards Lost To Sacks 2 0
Had Intercepted 2 2
PUNTS 3 5
Average Punt 43.0 40.6
PENALTIES 8 3
Penalty Yards 78 17
FUMBLES 0 1
Fumbles Lost 0 0
Time Of Possesion 31:14 29:02
    
    
    
Passing
49ERS CMP ATT YDS PCT YPA SACK SYDS TD INT
Jeff Garcia 21 29 269 72.4 9.28 2 2 2 2
BEARS CMP ATT YDS PCT YPA SACK SYDS TD INT
Shane Matthews 25 31 166 80.6 5.35 0 0 3 1
Jim Miller 5 16 63 31.2 3.94 0 0 0 1

Rushing
49ERS ATT YDS AVG LONG TD FUM
Garrison Hearst 12 46 3.8 10 0 0
Jeff Garcia 8 22 2.8 9 0 0
Kevan Barlow 7 13 1.9 5 0 0
Fred Beasley 1 2 2.0 2 0 0
Brian Jennings 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Jason Baker 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
BEARS ATT YDS AVG LONG TD FUM
Anthony Thomas 27 127 4.7 19 1 0
James Allen 1 15 15.0 15 0 0
Shane Matthews 1 3 3.0 3 0 0
Jim Miller 1 -10 -10.0 -10 0 0

Receiving
49ERS REC YDS AVG LONG TD FUM
Garrison Hearst 4 105 26.2 60 1 0
Terrell Owens 6 60 10.0 20 0 0
Kevan Barlow 2 33 16.5 21 0 0
J.J. Stokes 4 29 7.2 9 0 0
Eric Johnson 2 24 12.0 13 0 0
Tai Streets 1 11 11.0 11 0 0
Fred Beasley 1 6 6.0 6 0 0
Justin Swift 1 1 1.0 1 1 0
BEARS REC YDS AVG LONG TD FUM
Dez White 7 68 9.7 20 0 0
Marty Booker 9 67 7.4 30 0 0
Fred Baxter 3 29 9.7 19 0 0
James Allen 3 23 7.7 8 0 0
David Terrell 3 19 6.3 13 2 0
John Davis 2 11 5.5 7 0 0
Anthony Thomas 2 9 4.5 6 0 0
Daimon Shelton 1 3 3.0 3 1 0

Kicking
49ERS FGA FGM PCT LNG XPA XPM PCT PTS
Jose Cortez 1 1 100.0 -- 4 4 100.0 7
BEARS FGA FGM PCT LNG XPA XPM PCT PTS
Paul Edinger 0 0 0.0 -- 3 3 100.0 3

Punting
49ERS PUNTS AVG LONG BLOCKED IN 20 TOUCHBACKS
Jason Baker 3 43.0 -- -- -- --
BEARS PUNTS AVG LONG BLOCKED IN 20 TOUCHBACKS
Brad Maynard 5 40.6 -- -- -- --

Kick/Punt Returns
49ERS KR YDS AVG LONG TD PR YDS AVG LONG TD
Cedric Wilson 5 93 18.6 -- -- 2 4 2.0 -- --
BEARS KR YDS AVG LONG TD PR YDS AVG LONG TD
Leon Johnson 4 87 21.8 -- -- 0 0 0.0 -- --
Autry Denson 2 51 25.5 -- -- 0 0 0.0 -- --
Robert Newkirk 1 8 8.0 -- -- 0 0 0.0 -- --
Rw Mcquarters 0 0 0.0 -- -- 3 22 7.3 -- --

Defense
49ERS TOT SOLO AST SCK YDS FF INT YDS INT/TD
Rashad Holman 8 8 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Andre Carter 7 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Ahmed Plummer 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 1 -- --
Bryant Young 5 5 0 0.0 0 1 0 -- --
Jeff Ulbrich 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Ronnie Heard 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Zack Bronson 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 1 -- --
Jason Webster 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Lance Schulters 3 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Derek Smith 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
George McCullough 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Anthony Parker 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Julian Peterson 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
John Engelberger 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Dana Stubblefield 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Chike Okeafor 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
BEARS TOT SOLO AST SCK YDS FF INT YDS INT/TD
Warrick Holdman 10 10 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Rw Mcquarters 7 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Brian Urlacher 6 5 1 0.0 0 0 1 -- --
Rosevelt Colvin 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Bryan Robinson 4 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Tony Parrish 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Keith Traylor 3 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Jerry Azumah 3 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Robert Newkirk 3 2 1 1.0 2 0 0 -- --
Michael Green 3 2 1 1.0 0 1 0 -- --
Mike Brown 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 1 -- --
Ted Washington 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Phillip Daniels 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 -- --
Walt Harris 1 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 -- --

....