97-yard drive carries Bears past Eagles

PHILADELPHIA – Don’t count out the Bears quite yet.

Desperately needing a victory to stay in the NFC hunt, Chicago’s Brian Griese connected with Muhsin Muhammad for 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left to lift the Bears to a 19-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

The Bears didn’t even need Devin Hester to bail them out of a jam with an explosive return. Instead, the final, thrilling drive was all Griese.

The Bears (3-4) were pinned on the 3-yard line with 1 minute, 57 seconds left and trailing 16-12. Griese completed a series of short passes over the middle that got the Bears quickly gaining yards after nearly 58 minutes of nothing but stagnant football.

Hester, the dynamic kick returner, had been shut down on special teams and was a non-factor on offense until Griese found him for a 21-yard gain that brought Chicago to the 15 of Philadelphia.

Griese spiked the ball to stop the clock and found Muhammad on second down for the winning score.

Griese was 21 of 47 for 322 yards.

The Eagles (2-4) have a long path ahead if they want to even think about returning to the playoffs, much less winning a second straight NFC East title.

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb’s numbers – 21 of 34, 226 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions – suffered from several dropped passes that stalled drives.