Bear Win Described as a Relief

On the verge of the worst start in franchise history, the Chicago Bears finally found a way to win.

The Bears beat the Miami Dolphins, 36-33, on Jeff Jaeger’s 35-yard field goal with 5:35 left in overtime Monday night by overcoming a 15-point deficit in the final 5:48 of regulation.

Barry Minter set up the winning score when he sacked Dan Marino to force a fumble that Carl Reeves recovered at the Miami 17-yard line. Two fumbles by Marino in the first half led to nine Chicago points.

The Bears (1-7) averted the first 0-8 start in the 78-year history of the franchise. They began 0-7 in 1969, won the next game and finished 1-13.

“I never experienced a season like this before,” said quarterback Erik Kramer, who completed 32 of 50 passes for 343 yards. “We finally got the monkey off our back. It was a sigh of relief.”

Miami (5-3) are tied with New England and the New York Jets for first place in the AFC East. The Patriots lost 28-10 to Green Bay in the other Monday night game.

The loss ended Miami’s three-game winning streak. The Dolphins were charged with 13 penalties and gave up four sacks and three turnovers.

“We haven’t been a highly penalized team, we haven’t turned the ball over, and we have protected the passer,” Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson said. “The things that have helped us win up to this point got us beat tonight.”

The Bears, who had lost their past two games by a total of four points, rallied from a 33-18 deficit to tie the game.

Kramer connected with a Bobby Engram with an eight-yard touchdown pass play to cap an 80-yard drive, making the score 33-25. Miami failed to move the ball and had to punt twice, which opened the door for Chicago to drive 59 yards to score with 1:25 left on Kramer’s 25-yard pass play to Chris Penn.

Significantly, Engram made a sprawling reception near the left sideline for the two-point conversion to tie the score.

Jaeger is 10 for 10 on field goal attempts this season. He also converted from 39, 23 and 47 yards.

The game originally was scheduled for Sunday afternoon but was pushed back because Game 7 of the World Series was played Sunday night at Pro Player Stadium. The crowd was an announced sellout of 73,156, but it appeared that nearly 20,000 seats were empty.