Analogously, the magical 2001 Chicago Bears season as a whole mirrored its opening drive of the season. On that warm September 9th in Baltimore, two days before the world would change forever, the Bears were given absolutely no chance against the defending NFL champion's defense. But with noodle-armed Shane Matthews at quarterback, and hot-cold running back James Allen, Chicago drove the length of the field until they had 1st and goal inside the Raven's 10-yard line. Sadly, after three attempts from close range, the Bears couldn't get the ball in the end zone, and the team ended up losing to the defending champs 17-6. Just as the team went farther than anyone thought they could on that opening drive, this 2001 Bears team shocked the nation and knocked on the championship door, but sadly, the door slammed shut all too soon.

Preseason 2001 started with turmoil, much as Bears fans are used to. Mark Hatley, then Bears VP of Player Personnel, ran his final draft in April 2001. Rumors had been flying for months that Hatley was dissatisfied with Bears' management and wanted to leave. Publicly, though, no one involved would admit there was a single problem. During the draft, he made a solid selection by taking Michigan WR David Terrell, who was an absolute surprise to last to the Bears' seventh pick in the first round. In the second, a questionable pick was made with the selection of Terrell's teammate, running back Anthony Thomas. Thomas was rated as a durable straight-line runner with questionable speed and moves. Why pick another Curtis Enis, many said. Hatley completed the draft by selecting two offensive linemen, a defensive end, and the fastest man in the draft who had tested positive for marijuana.

In May, a press conference was called to announce Hatley's "mutual termination", a term that seemed to be coined by this Chicago Bears organization that seemed to be in utter disarray. Hatley stated that he was tired of losing, and felt partially responsible, so thought it would be best to leave the organization. Team President Ted Phillips agreed, and released Hatley. Interestingly, Hatley caught on with the same title in Green Bay, and his first move was to sign DT Jim Flanigan, whom was his very last cut in Chicago. Phillips announced the Bears would be hiring a bonified General Manager for the first time since the 1986 season. As the Bears don't seem to do anything without being controversial, Phillips declared the organization would be paying an executive search firm over a quarter-million dollars to screen prospective candidates, and the search would take over a month. After choosing between Philadelphia personnel man Tom Modrak, Denver director of college scouting Ted Sundquist, Tampa personnel man Jerry Angelo and others, Phillips finally named Angelo the teams' new GM in mid-June. At the press conference announcing the Angelo hire, he stated that anything for 2001 would only be "fine tuning".

If Angelo's moves from June to the opening of the season were "fine tuning", we would hate to see his wholesale housecleaning! The new GM promptly traded troubled QB Cade McNown to the Miami Dolphins for a song, and cut higher-priced and popular veterans Mike Wells, Bobby Engram and Barry Minter. Even CB Thomas Smith, signed in 2000 for $22 million, was shown the door in a smart move after Smith's inconsistent (at best) play the season before. While these moves proved to be necessary to shed salary from underproductive players as well as develop young talent, many saw them as Angelo's way to ensure a poor season from Coach Dick Jauron. Most believed Angelo wanted to see Jauron fail so he could hire his own coach in 2002.

Then Dick Jauron's players stepped to the defense of their favorite coach. Perhaps it was really true, that Cade McNown's dismal play and poor attitude had more of an effect on the rest of the players that were much more talented than their 2000 record reflected. After the opening day heart-breaker, the team was devastated in the locker room. They truly felt they were within grasp of beating the world champs, and had just fallen short. It wasn't the same feeling after a loss as they had been used to feeling for years before. The Bears were set to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars the next Sunday, but two days later, America reeled from multiple terrorist attacks on September 11th. The NFL decided to postpone September 18th's games to mourn the loss of thousands of her countrymen.

On September 23rd, the NFL resumed its games with its week three matchups. Chicago faced the Minnesota Vikings at home, and lost its starting quarterback Shane Matthews to a hip injury. At halftime, down 10-0, it was reported that players and coaches alike were livid about the teams' missed opportunities. Chicago came out fired up in the second half, and upset the Vikings 17-10. It would prove to be the start of something big. In the ensuing three weeks, the Bears beat Atlanta, Arizona, and Cincinnati by a combined score of 75-16. From Brian Urlacher and R.W. McQuarter's fumble recoveries against Atlanta and Arizona, to Anthony Thomas' 188-yard rushing performance against Cincinnati, the Bears were on fire. It was even announced that the TV networks were moving two upcoming Bear games to 3:00 starts to accomodate national television. For the Bears-the team most predicted to finish no better than 5-11 in 2001.

Then came the two games that will live on in most Bear fans' memories forever. Against San Francisco on October 28th, Chicago trailed 28-9 deep into the third quarter, and had lost starting QB Jim Miller to a side injury. Now-backup Shane Matthews responded with two long TD drives, the last to rookie David Terrell that brought the Bears within 2-points, 31-29 with less than a minute remaining in the game. Anthony "A-Train" Thomas then barrelled in for the tying two-point conversion, and the crowd went nuts. The high-powered San Francisco offense received the ball first in overtime. On their very first play, big-time wide receiver Terrell Owens cowered from an approaching Brian Urlacher hit, Mike Brown intercepted the pass and romped 33 yards for the winning score in what is now the shortest OT game in NFL history. Chicago went crazy, figuring nothing could top this finish.

Wrong we were. The following week, an ineffective Shane Matthews-led offense trailed Cleveland 21-7 with less than one minute left in the game. Obnoxious Cleveland Brown fans ruled Soldier Field for the moment, as some Bear fans just hadn't learned from the week before and left early. With less than a minute left, Matthews hit Marty Booker with a TD to close the gap to 21-14. No chance, the Browns fans said. On the next play, Chicago recoved the onside kick. After several short passes moved the ball to the Cleveland 34, there was time for one final play. Right in front of the North endzone fans, Matthews heaved a pass toward the heavens, which seemingly in slow-motion fell into the outstreched hands of James Allen. Tie game, and the cheering Bear fans gave it back to the obnoxious Cleveland-ites. On the Browns' first possession of overtime, Bryan Robinson batted a third-down pass up in the air, Mike Brown performed deja-vu, and the Bears had pulled out the most improbable victory in a decade. The Bears were now 6-1 for the first time since 1991.

The magic wouldn't last against the hated Packers on Veteran's Day at Soldier Field. Despite having the ball inside the Pack 10, down by 8 points, the same hero James Allen couldn't hang on to a swing pass in the sun, and Green Bay won 20-12. Three more Bear victories followed that heartbreaker, over Tampa, the Vikings, and Detroit. At Minnesota, Chicago would hold their opponents without a touchdown for the first time since they had done it in 1995. Rookie David Terrell dropped two sure TD passes against Detroit, but the Bears still hung on thanks to three Jason Hanson field goal misses. Then came the rematch at Green Bay, which the Bears lost again due to a poor offensive showing.

Regardless, Chicago was 9-3, and finished 13-3 with their first NFC Central Division Championship since 1990. The final four games were magical. Anthony Thomas tore the Buccaneers up on December 16th with a 173-yard performance. Brian Urlacher caught a TD pass to help beat Washington 20-15, and Dwayne Bates came out of the woodwork with a 100+ yard receiving day in the 24-0 victory at Detroit. And who will ever forget Keith Traylor's 67-yard romp with an interception in the regular season-ending victory over Jacksonville. The Bears were atop the division, and would host at least a divisional playoff game.

Philadelphia came into town as the lowest-seeded division winner, and the Bears were heavily favored. The Bears? Who would have thought? But Chicago looked ill-prepared offensively after Jim Miller was knocked out on a questionable hit by Hugh Douglas. In Soldier Field's final game, Da Bears, 2001's miracle team, lost their first home playoff game in a decade, 33-17. Despite the final letdown, 2001 was magical indeed, from NFC Coach of the Year Dick Jauron to Offensive Rookie of the Year Anthony Thomas, the guy everyone questioned picking. Bear fans looked ahead to 2002 with a vigor unknown on opening day in a decade, which would begin in a city far, far away....

Quote of the Year: "After 40 minutes, it was a blowout. After 60, a thriller. And at the end, it was a classic." -NFL Films on Bear victory over San Francisco, 2001

2001 Records: Preseason 1-3, Regular Season 13-3, Playoffs 0-1

2001 NFL Rankings: Offense 26th Overall, 17th Rush, 24th Pass; Defense 15th Overall, 2nd Rush, 29th Pass

2001 Coaches: Dick Jauron, Head Coach; Greg Blache, Defensive Coordinator; John Shoop, Offensive Coordinator

John Shoop probably began his second season as an offensive coordinator in the NFL with a warm feeling.  Fans rejoiced in two of the final three games of the 2000 season after Shoop took over from Gary Crowton.

Crowton's attack seemed to feature the wide receiver screen over, and at the expense of most everything else.  It had taken the league by storm in 1999 but in 2000 opponents had it sniffed out most every time the play was run.

Crowton left in December to become the head coach at Brigham Young University, and Shoop took over as interim offensive coordinator.  In his first game the Bears pounded the ball on the ground, Shane Matthews set a Bears record for consecutive pass completions, and the Bears pounded the Patriots.  In the finale, Chicago came from behind to defeat Detroit, and things were looking up.

In the 2000-2001 offseason, Dick Jauron announced that he was hiring Shoop permanently instead of searching for a veteran offensive coordinator.  This decision was met with derision, but in fairness to Jauron no one would have taken the job with the head coach's position up in the air as it was.

In 2001, fans and the media began to criticize Shoop's conservative playcalling.  In retrospect this is hard to believe.  In 2004 and 2005, the Bears offense averaged 15.2 points scored per game.  In 2001, they averaged 21. 

Perhaps what doomed Shoop were the falling rankings of his unit the following two years, along with more and more dubious playcalling.

But in 2001, it truly was not that bad.

 

VP of Player Personnel Mark Hatley had been denying rumors for close to a year that he would be leaving the Bears around the time of the 2001 draft. Despite there obviously being a problem under the surface, the team went as far as having Bears broadcaster Hub Arkush put on a display at the fan convention, publicly denying with Hatley that there was any chance that he would leave. In June, after conducting the 2001 draft, Hatley and the team announced a "mutual parting of ways." Hatley departed and took a similar position with the Green Bay Packers. Hatley died of a heart attack in 2005. After the Bears hired an executive search firm to recommend their next General Manager, Tampa Bay personnel man Jerry Angelo was selected in June. This was long after the draft and the critical free agent signing period. Angelo's first major moves were the release of popular veterans Mike Wells, Jim Flanigan and Bobby Engram, and the trade of malignant quarterback Cade McNown, a major draft bust. At this time fans and the media were calling the Chicago Bears organization "in disarray", a characterization CEO Ted Phillips angrily denied. The Bears narrowly lost the season opener at the world champion Baltimore Ravens, then steadily gained momentum throughout the remainder of the 13-3 season. The defense finished first in the NFL in points allowed. After not sending a single position player to the Pro Bowl from 1994-1999, the 2001 Bears sent five players, the most since 1991.

Quarterback Michael Vick was the consensus number 1 selection of the NFL draft in 2001. The pick was held by San Diego. The Chargers, having been burned on the selection of QB Ryan Leaf in 1998, traded the first pick to Atlanta for the fifth, where they selected a small-school running back deemed by many to be a "bust waiting to happen". That running back was LaDanian Tomlinson. Michigan wide receiver David Terrell, predicted to be taken with the second or third pick, fell to the Bears at #8. Terrell himself became a bust. The NFL cancelled all games in the second week of the season as the nation mourned the September 11th terrorist attacks. The surprises of the NFL were undoubtedly the Bears and the New England Patriots. New England finished 11-5 to the Bears 13-3, but advanced to the Super Bowl as heavy underdogs to the 14-2 St. Louis Rams. New England beat and bloodied St. Louis in the end by the score of 20-17, sparking the first championship of their dynasty.