When the biggest play of the game was made, Tommie Harris --- remember him? --- was in the middle of it.
The veteran defensive tackle may not be performing like he once did, but he was perhaps the person most responsible for the sequence that played a pivotal role in Sunday's 31-26 win over the Eagles and may end up being remembered as one of the biggest plays of the 2010 season.
"That was a great play," linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "It took points off the board. They were in field-goal range and it was only second down, and it flipped the field, too, and we went down and scored. It's a 10-point [or 14-point] swing there."
It was Tommie Harris who tipped the Michael Vick pass that Chris Harris intercepted in the end zone just before halftime. It was Vick's first interception of the season and his first since Christmas Eve 2006, a span that included a 19-month jail sentence and 238 consecutive pick-free passes.
"I couldn't have got it without Tommie," Chris Harris said. "Tommie deflected it and I was reading [Vick's] eyes and breaking that way and I was lucky to come down with it."
Philadelphia had scored 10 unanswered points and had a second-and-goal at the Bears' 4 with just under two minutes left when Tommie Harris noticed Vick was lining up in an empty backfield.
"I just made an inside move and got my hand up," Tommie Harris said. "He didn't have many options and he had to get the ball out quick."
After Chris Harris returned the tipped pass 39 yards, Jay Cutler engineered a six-play, 63-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett with 38 seconds left in the half that gave the Bears a 21-13 lead.
The Bears got the ball again to start the third quarter and quickly scored again to boost the lead to 28-13.
"It was a huge turn of events for us and it gave us a lot of momentum going into the half," tight end Greg Olsen said.
After three-plus disappointing seasons, Harris has been showing signs of life. He recovered his second fumble of the season and had two tackles against the Vikings on Nov. 14 and had a tackle and a tackle for a loss against the Dolphins and two more tackles Sunday.
Before last week's win in Miami, general manager Jerry Angelo admitted that he was hoping for bigger things from Tommie Harris this season, but insisted his continued struggles were not a result of a lack of effort.
Harris, meanwhile, prefers to focus on the team.
"I just go out there and play every week," he said. "I love the game. That's what I do."
Mr. Hayes, what do this statement "a span that included a 19-month jail sentence" has to do with Mr. Vick's quarterbacking abilities concerning interception to games played ratio?
In that same span he didn't throw for three hundred yards, toss four touch downs and run for another two over that time span either.
You know what? You and other sports writers and so-called out-raged dog lovers need to breathe and let it go. Okay?
I wanted to be nice to Jay, but it is apparent he has immature issues even when winning, but Chicago sports writers do not take him to task for it.
Have a good day.
Nice win Bears.
Because your criminal dog killing Team Leader was in Jail for 19 months that why he didnt have a pick for four years Fool
Tommie Harris doing something right is a good sign. He played a solid game, and absolutely the interception was caused at least partially if not totally by his tipping the ball. That play turned the momentum around, and may have been instrumental in the win.
Keith, thanks for verifying why the American education system has fallen behind other industrialized nations with your witty retort.
Paul, at least it stopped a potential TD and / or FG. It did give momentum to the Bears, if no more than get the defense off the field.
See Keith, just because it is a sports blog do not mean the level of intellectual acumen minimizes. Skipped school too many days growing up, huh?