Classic Cunningham Leads Eagles, 30-22 : NFC: Philadelphia quarterback picks apart Chicago’s defense, passing for 311 yards and three touchdowns.

Whatever observers will say about the incredible, irritating, irascible quarterback Randall Cunningham, one thing is beyond dispute.

He has been missed.

Allowed into the nation’s living rooms for the first time in more than a year through the wonder of Monday Night Football, Cunningham did not leave without papering the place with impressions.

He is back.

And he is still a kick in the pants.

During the Eagles’ 30-22 victory over the Chicago Bears at Veterans Stadium, Cunningham’s broken leg of last season was proven so sound, afterward he still had the strength to trod upon his critics.

“A lot of people around here talk, a lot of them dog me,” he said quietly. “I’m thinking, whatever have I done to get dogged? I’m glad I’m walking a Christian life. . . . or I would have exploded by now.”

You mean that wasn’t what happened Monday night? When he passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions while leading the Eagles to a 30-0 lead before the game was three quarters old?

Where Cunningham was once accused of being the first Eagle to quit, on Monday night he was the last.

The Bears scored 22 points in a 12-minute span late in the game and nearly pulled off the largest comeback in NFL regular season history.

But on third down from his 39-yard line with about two minutes remaining, Cunningham found running back Herschel Walker on a five-yard outlet pass for a first down, ensuring the Bears would never touch the ball again.

“More than anything, tonight we established our identity,” Cunningham said.

And that identity is him.

“Randall is still capable of being our leader, of bringing us down the field,” said receiver Fred Barnett, who showed he has recovered from a serious knee injury with 102 yards receiving. “Randall exemplified that tonight.”

In usual Cunningham style, he did it on a night when he had much to prove.

After playing just 20 of 48 games in three years because of injuries, Cunningham would have been traded this spring if the Eagles could have gotten a high draft pick.

Saddled with memories of the broken leg that ended his season in game four last year, he had been tentative and erratic in the Eagles’ 28-23 loss to the New York Giants on their opener last week.

And this Bear defense had yet to give up as many as three touchdowns in 17 games under Coach Dave Wannstedt.

In 30 minutes Monday, all of that changed.

“Tonight, I went through a lot of visuals in my mind of what could happen.” Cunningham said.

The 64,890 fans at Veterans Stadium and national television audience were soon treated to their own visuals.

--Cunningham, lofting a nine-yard flare into the corner of the end zone, watching it snagged for a touchdown by Calvin Williams.

--Cunningham, firing an eight-yard shot to the other corner of the end zone, caught again by Williams for another touchdown.

--Cunningham, flipping a ball seven yards to Maurice Johnson, watching him scoot on his seat across the end zone for a third touchdown.

By halftime, Cunningham had passed for nearly four times as many yards--250--than the Bears had gained in total offense--70.

Cunningham said it felt like it happened quicker than that, perhaps because of a practice tool used by Eagle Coach Rich Kotite.

“He brought out a clock this week, and every time three seconds were up, a buzzer went off, sort of like in the NBA,” said Cunningham, who is renowned for holding the ball too long and taking too many chances. “I had to throw it or hand it off in those three seconds. That really helped.”

It also helped that when forced to scramble, he didn’t seem scared of re-injuring the leg, as he admitted to being last week.

“I have been saying a lot of prayers all week,” Cunningham said. “A lot of prayers were answered.”