Ditka on Prowl, Bears Too Much for Redskins on the Third Try, 34-14

The Chicago Bears wouldn’t call it revenge, just redemption.

With recovering Coach Mike Ditka roaming the sidelines, the Bears jumped to a 20-point halftime lead Sunday and routed the Washington Redskins, 34-14.

Chicago (9-2) was knocked out of the playoffs by the Redskins in each of the previous two seasons.

“The last two times they beat us they deserved to win, but today we outplayed them,” Bears linebacker Mike Singletary said.

The Bears limited Washington (6-5) to 49 yards in the first half and forced ineffective quarterback Doug Williams out of the game early in the third quarter.

Williams completed only 6 of 19 passes for 69 yards. His replacement, Mark Rypien, threw touchdown passes to Ricky Sanders and Gary Clark but suffered four interceptions.

Ditka returned to the sidelines for the first time since suffering a heart attack 11 days ago, but left most of decision-making to interim Coach Vince Tobin.

“He doesn’t have to stand up and coach, he has a tremendous presence,” safety Dave Duerson said. “He was kind of laid-back, but the test will be 2 weeks from now when he thinks he’s back to health.”

Said Ditka: “I admit I got a little tired in the first half. I felt terrific in the second half.”

The Bears scored on their first possession as quarterback Mike Tomczak accounted for all 76 yards in the 6-play drive. Starting his second straight game in place of injured Jim McMahon, Tomczak threw 2 passes to Dennis Gentry for 63 yards and ended the march himself with a quarterback sneak.

Chicago made it 14-0 in the second quarter when Matt Suhey capped an 80-yard drive with a 3-yard run. The march, which lasted nearly 9 minutes, was kept alive when Redskins defensive end Dexter Manley was called for roughing the passer on a third-down incompletion from the Redskins 44.

Kevin Butler added two field goals later in the quarter to give the Bears a 20-0 cushion.

“Right now, we’re just not playing good enough football to beat a good football team like the Bears,” Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said. “To have a good chance (to make the playoffs), we have to win five straight against some good people.”

Rypien got the Redskins to within 20-7 by throwing for 87 yards in his first series. The highlight of the drive was a 40-yard completion to Art Monk, who made a diving catch behind Chicago cornerback Mike Richardson.

Three plays later, Rypien flipped a 4-yard pass to Sanders in the left corner of the end zone.

The Bears wrapped things up early in the fourth quarter. Three plays after Richardson intercepted Rypien’s pass, Tomczak connected with Gentry for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 27-7, and Neal Anderson ran 50 yards for a score.