Winning Ugly: Bears Outlast Weather and Ravens for a 23-20 Overtime Win
Nov 17, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the Chicago Bears being evacuated during severe weather in the first quarter of a game against the Baltimore Ravens at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Bears came out of the gates very sluggish on both sides of the ball, as though they were distracted by the foreboding weather forecasts. The Ravens marched down the field on both of their first two drives before the weather disruption to go up 10-0. Ray Rice set the tone early for the Ravens, tearing off a 47 yard run on the Ravens’ second play from scrimmage. By the time league officials decided to postpone the game with 4:51 left in the first quarter the Ravens were up 10-0 and the Bears had gained all of 19 yards of total offense.
That’s when the skies opened up and a monsoon opened up at Soldier Field. Fans were evacuated from the seating area and players headed to the locker room for what turned out to be a nearly two hour weather delay. Marc Trestman tried to keep things loose during the break:
"“I sat in the locker room with the players. I walked around the room. Went over plays with them. Walked through the first 15 with them. Played a little catch with Brandon. I went over to the defensive side, talked a little bit. Sat with, sat down on the floor with Tim Jennings and talked with him. I just moved around kept busy. Met with the coaches, made sure, re-enforced what we were going to do, manage how we were going to get it done. Then the walk through. Then the work out, Mike Clark worked our guys out, got them warmed up in the locker room. How we were going to handle getting back out on the field. Kept busy along the way.”"
Coming out of the break, the Bears appeared to still be stuck in the mud. Their first half offensive stats were nothing to write home about. The worst sequence came on their first possession of the second quarter, when they trudged down inside the red zone and after a penalty in the end zone gave them a second set of goal to go downs, the Bears had to settle for a field goal. The play calling was questionable to say the least. With three straight throws from the two yard line, you’d have to believe the Bears would have tried to run the ball.
Nov 17, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears defensive end David Bass (91) returns an interception for a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
Things picked up for the Bears on the next play from scrimmage when rookie David Bass defeated an attempted cut block, made an athletic interception and took it 24 yards to the house for a Bears touchdown to tie the score at 10 apiece.
The tie didn’t last long. The Ravens marched the ball right down the field and Joe Flacco connected with Torrey Smith for a 5 yard touchdown pass. The Bears managed to bounce back for a scoring drive of their own before the end of the half, a 46-yard Robbie Gould field goal thanks to rookie Jon Bostic’s first career interception. He channeled a little Brian Urlacher on the play, defending the deep middle of the field to take one away from Dallas Clark.
In the second half, the weather and field conditions played a bigger role. The calm after the storm passed and another wave of rain and high winds kicked in. The Bears didn’t attempt a pass play going into the wind in the entire third quarter, but the defense stood their ground and shut the Ravens out. They opted to go for it on 4th and 8 rather than attempt what would be a normally makeable field goal.