Bears’ Final Four Games of the 2009 Season

After their victory over the St. Louis Rams in Week 13, the Chicago Bears had to run the table in order to have a chance at the playoffs. Unfortunately for them that didn’t happen. Chicago’s final four games were against the Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions. The Bears ended up splitting the four games, losing to the Packers and Ravens and beating the Vikings and Lions.

In Week 14 at Soldier Field, the Packers handed them their eighth lose of the year by the score of 21-14. The offense once again struggled while the defense couldn’t stop Green Bay’s running game. Jay Cutler finished the game 23 for 36 for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and two costly interceptions. The offensive line didn’t do their part as well, allowing Cutler to be sacked three times and not opening holes for Matt Forte, who had 51 yards on the ground for the game. The bright spot for the Bears was receivers Devin Aromashodu and rookie Johnny Knox. Aromashodu had a game-high eight receptions for 76 to go along with his first career touchdown. Knox continued to add to his impressive rookie campaign with five catches for a game-high 83 yards and a touchdown. The one good thing about Chicago’s defense this game was that they were able to contain one of the league’s best quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers only threw for 180 yards and had no touchdown passes. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about their run defense. Packers running back Ryan Grant ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

In the following game, the Bears traveled to Baltimore to face the Ravens. Coming in with a 5-8 record, Chicago’s playoff hopes were pretty much out the window, and the Ravens shut and locked the window on the Bears’ postseason hopes by beating them 31-7. Cutler added to his league-leading 23 interceptions by throwing three more to Raven defenders. The Pro Bowl quarterback had by far his worst game as a professional finishing 10 for 27 for 94 yards and no touchdowns. Matt Forte was stuck in neutral with only 69 yards on 20 carries and a lost fumble. Baltimore’s Joe Flacco dissected the Bears’ secondary by completing 21 of 29 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Though the Bears did keep it close in the first half, thanks to Earl Bennett’s 49-yard punt return for a touchdown that cut the Ravens’ lead to 14-7, Chicago’s six turnovers kept them from getting momentum in the game.

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With the Bears officially out of the playoff race, the only thing that was left to play for was pride, and the role of spoiler for the Vikings. Chicago destroyed the hopes of Minnesota’s chances at home field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Vikings in a thrilling overtime game by the score of 36-30. Cutler finally showed Bears fans what they were expecting of him. The former Denver Broncos quarterback completed 20 out of 35 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. Aromashodu was on the receiving end of most of Cutler’s passes, hauling in seven catches for 150 yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer had a game-high 15 tackles, and forced Adrian Peterson to fumble in overtime, which led to the Bears’ go-ahead touchdown. But the most pivotal play came in the third quarter after the Vikings scored the first touchdown of the second half. Israel Idonije blocked the extra point, which kept the Bears’ lead at 16-6. That one point was the difference in having the Vikings win and going into overtime.

In the season finale, the Bears traveled to Detroit to square off against the Lions and ended the season on a positive note with a 37-23 victory. Just like the previous meeting between the two teams, Forte rushed for over 100 yards. All of Chicago’s touchdowns were off the four touchdown passes by Cutler, who in addition had 276 passing yards. Greg Olsen had a game-high 94 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Aromashodu caught two touchdown passes from Cutler. Also pitching in with three receptions for 75 yards was Devin Hester. Hester had missed the previous three games due to injury. Lance Briggs led the way on defense with 12 tackles, while Mark Anderson and Alex Brown each recorded sacks on Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Zackary Bowman collected his team-high sixth interception of the season.

Overall, the Chicago Bears’ 2009 campaign was a disappointing one, finishing with a record of 7-9. Since playing in the Super Bowl three seasons ago, the Bears have failed to make it back to the postseason. Many changes are predicted to be made within the organization in order to get the Bears back in the playoffs, and to make a possible run at a Super Bowl championship.

By Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent