Bears Spell Bad News for Bengals : McMahon Returns, Accounts for 4 Scores in 44-7 Victory

Jim McMahon was back and he brought the rest of the Chicago Bears with him.

McMahon, playing with a sore right shoulder that kept him out of the last two games, passed for three touchdowns and ran for another Sunday as the Bears routed Cincinnati, 44-7, for their most impressive victory since the Super Bowl.

“Today, we played a complete ballgame for a change--our offense, our defense, and our special teams,” said tight end Emery Moorehead, who caught McMahon’s third touchdown pass. “I think everybody really starred today.”

The Bears (4-0), who won despite subpar performances in their first three games, manhandled the Bengals (2-2) in a style reminiscent of their dominant 1985 season. Chicago’s defense terrorized Boomer Esiason and the Bengals’ offense, intercepting five passes.

McMahon dove one yard for the Bears’ first score, tossed a two-yard scoring pass to running back Walter Payton, then connected on a 53-yard scoring pass play to Willie Gault as the Bears built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

“I learned that when we have Jim operating, we can score some points, no question,” Bear Coach Mike Ditka said. “The thing is, we can try things. We’re not afraid to make mistakes because we can overcome them.”

McMahon, who has led the Bears to victories in the last 19 games he’s started, made just one obvious mistake, a poorly thrown first-half interception. His opening passing flurry more than made up for it.

The Bengals hadn’t given up three first-quarter touchdowns since 1981.

“The shoulder started getting sore at halftime,” McMahon said. “I felt if we could get another score, our defense would take over from there. I knew we could throw the ball on them. We wanted to establish our passing game early. I think it surprised them a little, that we came out throwing.”

McMahon, playing with specially designed shoulder pads to protect the injury, completed 13 of 22 passes for 212 yards, with 1 interception.

Gault had the best game of his four-year career, making 7 catches for 174 yards.

“The big difference (with McMahon) is that we pass the ball a little more,” Gault said. “We got the opportunity to get big plays. Jim provided that for us. We just clicked today.”

The Bears’ defense intercepted 4 passes by Esiason, including 3 of his first 4. He completed 14 of 30 for 212 yards and was replaced by Ken Anderson in the third quarter.

Free safety Gary Fencik picked off Esiason’s first pass, returning it to the two-yard line to set up McMahon’s touchdown run.

Linebackers Wilber Marshall and Otis Wilson picked off two of Esiason’s next three passes, Wilson setting up Payton’s touchdown catch. Payton’s 114th career touchdown moved him ahead of Lenny Moore into third place on the NFL all-time list behind Jim Brown at 126 and John Riggins at 116.

Safety Dave Duerson made his third interception of the season on the Bengals’ first possession of the second half to set up a 20-yard touchdown pass from McMahon to Moorehead for an insurmountable 31-7 lead.

The Bengals’ only touchdown came on a five-yard pass play from Esiason to James Brooks in the second quarter.