Bears Blitz

The Arizona Cardinals may have finally shed their “joke team” label this past season, as they rode Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald all the way to an appearance in the Super Bowl. And they would have won it all had it not been for Ben Roethlisberger’s great final drive.

They made their way to prominence mainly via Warner’s MVP-caliber season, but their success was also due in no small part to the new coaching staff led by Ken Whisenhunt that had been installed.

But the subject of today’s Great Moment in Press Conference History is not Whisenhunt, but Dennis Green, who was Arizona’s last coach. He was ousted following the 2006 season, the one in which he delivered his most memorable moment as a coach.

Green coached the Cardinals to a 16-32 record in three years after starting his career in up-and-down fashion as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach. He compiled a 4-8 postseason record in his career, and that did not include any Super Bowl appearances, so like other coaches in this series, he experienced his most memorable moment after a game.

In 2006, the Cardinals were still very much a laughingstock, dealing with a quarterback controversy and stumbling once again out of the gate. They arrived in Chicago with a 1-4 record to face a Bears team that at the time had the stingiest defense in the NFL. They’d allowed just 38 points through five games and were sitting pretty at 5-0.

But apparently, Green still thought very little of this Bears team.

Whatever gameplan Green had installed, it worked wonders for the first three quarters. Chicago ended up with just 168 yards of total offense, and Bears QB Rex Grossman threw four interceptions and lost two fumbles. The Cardinals held a 20-0 lead at halftime.

So how exactly did they screw this one up? After exchanging field goals, it started with a Matt Leinart fumble on the three-yard line, which Bears safety Mike Brown recovered and took into the endzone to make it 23-10.

Edgerrin James committed another Cardinals fumble with just five minutes remaining, resulting in another touchdown run for the Bears defense.

Chicago’s punt return extraordinaire Devin Hester put the icing on the comeback cake with 2:58 remaining in the game when he took it 83 yards to the house for the Bears, who took a 24-23 lead.

What many people may forget about this game is that the Cardinals had a golden opportunity to take the game back from the Bears on their final drive. Kicker Neil Rackers was set up from a deep yet very makeable 40 yards, but the kick sailed wide right to seal the amazing deal for the home team.

Green was furious after his team blew the 20-point lead and let the game slip away, especially considering it was in such sloppy fashion. We’ll never know exactly what he and the Cardinals thought the Bears were, but it’s apparent that he didn’t think they were very good.

As if to prove Green wrong, the Bears ended up in the Super Bowl that season.

In the heat of the moment, Green delivered a classic press conference moment. Not much else needs to be said here, so just enjoy the video!