The late Dick Jauron coached the Chicago Bears for five seasons and although they had four losing seasons, they also enjoyed some exhilarating moments.
Jauron passed away on Saturday and during his time most of those moments of great success were rolled into one dream season in 2001, when they went 13-3.
It was during Jauron's coaching tenure that the groundwork for later success by their 2006 Super Bowl defense was laid as Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown were drafted by Mark Hatley and then Jerry Angelo drafted Charles "Peanut" Tillman and Lance Briggs.
Jauron's defensive coordinator, Greg Blache, coached the defense with two other standout linebackers, Rosevelt Colvin and Warrick Holdman.
Although their offense struggled at times, they also had key offensive players on Jauron's teams like wide receiver Marty Booker, Olin Kreutz and Anthony Thomas.
Here are the five biggest moments of the Dick Jauron coaching era.
5. Razzle Dazzle
The Jauron era started with a non-conference game against the Chiefs of coach Gunther Cunningham. Bears offensive coordinator Gary Crowton made his debut using plenty of bubble screens to wide receivers, like many colleges used at the time, and the Bears forged a 20-3 lead to win 20-17. After three straight losing seasons under Dave Wannstedt, the positive start had everyone at Soldier Field flying high, except Cunningham. He labeled it a "razzle dazzle" offense and talked about it like Crowton used a cheap parlor trick of some sort. Defenses did catch on and adjust and Crowton didn't even make it through a season as Bears coordinator, as he quit to be BYU's head coach.
4. Brown-Out
Safety Mike Brown always was a fan favorite and in 2021 he solidified his place in their hearts with an overtime pick-6 in overtime against the 49ers on Oct. 28, 2001 for a 37-31 win. The Bears had stormed back from a 31-16 deficit for TDs on passes of 4 and 13 yards in the final four minutes to force overtime. Then Jeff Garcia's pass popped up in the air out of Terrell Owens' arms on the first play of overtime and Brown picked it off, running 33 yards to the end zone to set off a wild celebration. Brown saved Part 2 of his act for the following week.
3. The Encore
A week after Brown's TD return, he did it again. The Bears needed an even more unreal comeback. They trailed 21-7 inside the final minute but Shane Matthews hit Booker with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds remaining. Paul Edinger's onside kick was recovered by Bobby Howard and the Bears still had to go 47 yards to tie it with only 24 seconds left. Two passes got it to the 34 and Matthews' Hail Mary pass into a crowd was deflected by Cleveland's Percy Ellsworth but running back James Allen caught it near the ground for the touchdown to force overtime. In OT, Tim Couch's pass was deflected from one side of the line by Robinson, and all the way to the other side where it wound up in Brown's arms and he sped 16 yards to win the game, this time not stopping to celebrate as he went straight up the tunnel to the locker room with a 27-21 victory, the Bears' sixth straight.
2. The Hand of Walter
On Nov. 7 1999, an emotional week came to a head with drama and surrealism if not spiritualism. It started with the death of all-time Bears great Walter Payton and then a memorial was held at Soldier Field. Players on Jauron's 3-4 team vowed to go to Green Bay and break a 10-game losing streak the Packers owned against them and do it for Payton. The defense held the Packers to only 13 points into the late fourth quarter and the Bears led 14-13, but Brett Favre meticulously moved the Packers into field goal range for the win and the Packers were left with only a 28-yard field goal attempt from the 10-yard line for the win. Robinson leaped as the line pushed and blocked Ryan Longwell's attempt, then Tony Parrish fell on it and the Bears had won for their legendary player, 14-13.
"Walter Payton picked me up in the air. I can't jump this high," Robinson proclaimed afterward.
1. The Laugher
Every great season needs a defining moment and for the Bears the capper to their 2021 turnaround and 13-3 run to a division title all came on one very slowly developing play, one that had people roaring with laughter—at a football game. The Bears' success in 2001 was built largely on what they referred to on defense as "700 pounds of ass." All-Pro Ted Washington and defensive tackle Keith Traylor weighed in around 700 pounds together and stuffed virtually every running attack as the Bears finished second against the run. In their regular-season finale, as they sought the division title and a home-field advantage in the playoffs, they beat Jacksonville 33-13 at Soldier Field on Jan. 6. Traylor, weighing in around 337 pounds, picked off a Mark Brunell pass and then began a slow march toward the end zone like a truck, dodging tacklers and finally getting dragged down after 67 yards at the 9-yard line. When it started, the media members in the press box were chuckling as he moved about 10 yards and then weaved to through the defense. The laughter grew louder and louder as no one dragged down the big guy. The Bears quickly scored on Jim Miller's 9-yard TD pass to David Terrell for a 20-0 Bears lead and the rout was on toward a division title. Sadly, two weeks later it all ended when Chicago's very own Donovan McNabb led the Eagles to a 33-19 playoff win.
