2006 Chicago Bears–Arizona Cardinals game

The 2006 Chicago Bears–Arizona Cardinals game was a football game between the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals in 2006. The game was on TV on Monday Night Football. The game took place in University of Phoenix Stadium on October 16, 2006. The Bears beat the Cardinals 24-23 after they were losing by 20 points. Bears quarterback Rex Grossman had his throws intercepted by the Cardinals defense 4 times. Despite this issue, the Bears were able to get away and won in the second half of the game. The game became famous after Cardinals coach Dennis Green became very angry in an interview with reporters, and is one of the best comebacks in NFL history.[1][2]

The Game

The Cardinals started off strong, as Matt Leinart threw 2 touchdown passes. Rex Grossman wasn't as good, since the defense took the ball away from him 6 times. The Bears game back in the 3rd quarter, as kicker Robbie Gould scored the Bears first points. The Bears defense scored twice, and the Bears went ahead after rookie Devin Hester scored the game-winning touchdown on an 83-yard punt return. The Cardinals tried to come back, but their kicker Neil Rackers missed the game-winning kick.

Dennis Green

The Bears are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We played them in preseason — who the hell takes a third game of the preseason like it's bullshit? Bullshit! We played them in the third game — everybody played three quarters — the Bears are who we thought they were! That's why we took the damn field. Now if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But they are who we thought they were! And we let 'em off the hook!

The game reached a new level in fame for the after game interview. The calm Cardinals coach Dennis Green started yelling and complaining with bad words in the interview, and also hitting the microphone. The interview became part of a beer commercial the year later.[3][4]

After the game

After the game ended, the Bears went 13-3 and went to Super Bowl XLI. They lost to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17. Grossman was later released and became part of the Houston Texans[5] and Washington Redskins.[6]

The Cardinals went 5-11, and Green was fired and Ken Whisenhunt became the new coach, and led Arizona to Super Bowl XLIII, and they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-23. Leinart then was released 2 years later and joined the Texans, and is still with the team as of the 2012 NFL season.[7]

References

  1. "Top 10 greatest comebacks in NFL history". NFL.com.
  2. "NFL on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games". Yahoo Sports.
  3. "Wojciechowski: The guy we thought he was". ESPN.com. 21 December 2007.
  4. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0904p2main0904.html
  5. "It's official: Rex Grossman signs with Houston Texans". Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  6. http://blog.redskins.com/2010/03/17/redskins-sign-rex-grossman/
  7. "Texans agree to one-year deal with QB Leinart". ESPN.com. 6 September 2010.

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