The dynamic duo of Montana and Rice lighting up scoreboards in the mid eighties is one that will never be forgotten. "Steve Young to Jerry Rice in the endzone" is a phrase that we have heard more than those darn Budweiser 'Wasssup' commercials. Although it was magical to watch him, his best years are behind him. A combination of aging and knee injuries have recently slowed Jerry's domination of NFL secondaries. Though he is still a very effective receiver, our fondest memories are of when he destroyed the opposition at will.
For his farewell game, the Chicago Bears rolled into town as this legend's adversary. The Niners' early gameplan was to get Jerry the ball. On their first play from scrimmage, quarterback Jeff Garcia completed a 25 yard pass to Rice. This made the fans at 3Com wild. Twice, Rice caught the ball on the two, but was denied the endzone by a stubborn Bears defense. Though the Bears have denied it, there goal was obviously to refuse any type of Hollywood ending at their expense. In order to avoid being a historical flashback on one of Steve Sabol's NFL films, Chicago's defense keyed in on Rice all game. They did not want to be the ones that allowed Jerry Rice's last home field touchdown as a Niner, and they weren't. They did not want to make history, but they did.
Sure, they withheld Legendary number 80 from the ultimate going away present; but their putrid display of what is supposedly the highest level of football that exists unfortunately got them in the books. By focusing much of their pass coverage on Rice all game, the Bears left one of the best receivers in the game single covered; and Terrell Owens made them pay for it. He caught 20 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown. The 20 receptions Owens piled up from Jeff Garcia broke an all time record of 18 catches that lasted for 50 years. Also, the 283 yards by one receiver was the most ever allowed by a Bears defense. Chicago Bears tradition and history prides itself on defense, Sunday their 'D' was simply offensive.
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