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Bears: 27 Dolphins: 24
Monday, August 8, 2005, 7 p.m.



By Larry Mayer


CANTON, Ohio - Marquee players Rex Grossman, Muhsin Muhammad and Brian Urlacher provided the early highlights Monday night in the Hall of Fame Game, then watched their young teammates rally the Bears to an exciting 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Playing in his first game since sustaining a season-ending knee injury last Sept. 26 in Minnesota, Grossman set up the Bears' first touchdown by lofting a 34-yard completion to Muhammad down the right sideline to the Miami 1-yard line. Two plays later, Thomas Jones' 1-yard TD run gave the Bears a 7-0 lead with 8:14 left in the first quarter.

"I had a little bit of the butterflies," Grossman said, "but one of my goals for the game was not to get antsy in the pocket and just stay in there and make some throws and I thought I did that for the most part. I think we played pretty well."

Playing four first-quarter series, Grossman completed 5 of 12 passes for 77 yards and a 63.5 quarterback rating, Jones rushed for 47 yards on 10 carries with a long run of 25 yards and Muhammad had two receptions for 44 yards.

"I love the offense," Jones said. "I think this offense fits our personnel because we're a hard-nosed offense. We have some good receivers. Muhammad and (Bernard) Berrian both made some great catches tonight, the offensive line did a good job, (fullback) Marc Edwards did a good job and Rex made the right reads. I thought we were pretty efficient."

Late in the opening period, Urlacher knifed through the line on a blitz, sacking A.J. Feeley at the Dolphins' 4 and knocking the Miami quarterback out of the game with a bruised buttocks.

"They didn't block me," Urlacher said. "None of their offensive linemen stepped up into me, so I didn't have to slow down."

Berrian starred for the Bears early, catching three passes for 65 yards. The second-year pro sustained the early touchdown drive with a leaping 23-yard reception on third-and-19 before drawing a pass interference penalty on cornerback Sam Madison on third-and-four.

Long after the starters had exited, the Bears erased a 24-13 deficit with two touchdowns in the game's final 7:23. After having an interception returned for a touchdown, rookie third-string quarterback Kyle Orton rebounded to fuel the comeback.

The fourth-round draft pick from Purdue tossed a 43-yard TD pass to Carl Ford and a 34-yard completion to Eddie Berlin that set up Zack Abron's game-winning 4-yard TD run with 1:50 left.

Rookie second-round pick Mark Bradley led the Bears with five catches for 131 yards, eclipsing the Hall of Fame Game record of 130 set by the New Orleans Saints' Ken Burroughs in 1970.

Though they left the game with the lead, Bears starters experienced mixed results on both sides of the ball. Berrian dropped a perfect Grossman slant pass on third down and linebacker Lance Briggs allowed Frerotte to escape his grasp in the end zone and complete a 44-yard pass to receiver Chris Chambers.

"We missed some big opportunities," Grossman said. "I missed Bernard on one and we just didn't connect on a few others. (But) for the most part, our offensive line did great and we moved the ball decently. It was a good start."

The Dolphins turned a 7-0 deficit into a 10-7 lead on Olindo Mare's 33-yard field with 9:19 left in the second quarter and Frerotte's 26-yard TD pass to receiver Bryan Gilmore with :58 remaining in the half.

Playing the second and third quarters, Bears backup quarterback Chad Hutchinson completed 10 of 18 passes for 124 yards. The four-year veteran opened his second possession with completions of 20 and 22 yards to Berrian on back-to-back plays.

The Dolphins extended their lead to 17-7 as third-string quarterback Sage Rosenfels lofted a 1-yard TD pass to wide open tight end Jason Rader following a play-action fake with 9:32 remaining in the third quarter.

Bradley showed his strength and speed, turning a short reception into a 32-yard gain. The rookie receiver shielded a defender from the ball to make the catch, then raced up the left sideline to the Miami 29.

Bradley's play set up rookie Nick Novak's 22-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 17-10 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. The Bears settled for the kick after Hutchinson's pass to Bradley was broken up by cornerback Deandre Eiland on third-and-goal from the 4.

Bradley later hauled in passes of 43 and 26 yards from Orton on back-to-back plays, setting up a Doug Brien 30-yard field goal that drew the Bears to within 17-13 with 12:30 left in the game.

The Chicago comeback was derailed momentarily when linebacker Jason Glenn intercepted an Orton pass that was thrown behind tight end Gabe Reid and returned it 26 yards for a TD.

But Orton bounced back, and the Bears eventually clinched the win when cornerback Jerrell Pippens intercepted a Brock Berlin pass in the end zone with :44 to play.

Briefly: Bears fullback Thump Belton left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. ... Subbing for the injured Brad Maynard (calf), Gabe Lindstrom averaged 47.4 yards on five punts with a long of 51 yards. ... In his return to the NFL, Dolphins running back Ricky Williams was limited to eight yards on five carries. ... Defensive tackle Alfonso Boone started in place of Ian Scott, who was in uniform but did not play because of a shoulder injury.