10 Best Come-from-Behind Wins in Team History

This was simply the best comeback win in Bears history. For one, it happened during the best Bears season ever (at least in recent times), and two, it was the coming-out party for Jim McMahon and the Bears in their Super Bowl season.

Oh, and the game was as exciting as hell, and it was on national TV. After watching this game, I knew we were in for something truly special.

Jim McMahon had been released from the hospital only two days before the game, and nobody expected him to play. But he ran onto the field at 7:22 of the third quarter after the Vikings had scored to take a 17-9 lead, and suddenly despair turned to hope.

McMahon’s first, second and seventh passes went for touchdowns over the next seven minutes to lead the Bears to a 33-24 victory in what remains one of the most dramatic performances in team history.

“He was driving me crazy; ‘Put me in, put me in,'” Ditka recalled to ESPN. “I said, ‘You didn’t practice all week, you’re hurt, it’s a short week. I think we can win the game with the team we have out there.’ But after I found out we couldn’t, you can say what you want, but he made the plays and energized the football team.”

“No question that game gave us a lot of confidence; it really did,” center Jay Hilgenberg said. “That was one when everybody started thinking, ‘OK, we may have something special here.”