2006 Chicago Bears – Arizona Cardinals game On October 16 , 2006 , during the sixth week of the National Football League regular season , the Chicago Bears American football team defeated the Arizona Cardinals , 24 – 23 , at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale , Arizona . The undefeated Bears staged the " comeback of the year " against the 1 - win Cardinals after trailing by 20 points . This game is the first game in which the Bears won after trailing by 20 since 1987 ( they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 - 26 ) , and the Cardinals are the first team in NFL history to lose consecutive games in a season after being ahead by over 2 touchdowns at the end of the first quarter in each of their games . Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart became the 1st quarterback in history to throw at least 2 touchdown passes in each of his 2 starts . The last time a team won after committing 6 turnovers was over 20 years ago . The postgame press conference was notable for Cardinals head coach Dennis Green ' s profanity - laced rant , highlighted by the quote " They are who we thought they were " . The game was ranked # 6 on NFL Top 10 on NFL Network for " Top Ten Greatest Comebacks of All Time " under the title " Cardinals Blow It " / " Monday Night Meltdown " , as well as " Top Ten Meltdowns " at # 7 . Background . Prelude . Before the meeting , the Bears lead the series 56 - 36 , which also includes the Bears as the Decatur Staleys and Chicago Staleys , as well as the Cards as the Chicago Cardinals and St . Louis Cardinals ( the team was also briefly known as the Phoenix Cardinals ) . Earlier in the year , in the preseason , the Cardinals defeated the Bears at Soldier Field 23 - 16 in a Friday night game . The Bears . The Bears were having a great season , being undefeated heading into the game at 5 - 0 , having their best start to the season since 1989 , having committed only 5 turnovers all season and averaging an NFL - best 31 . 2 points per game , and scoring 156 points compared to allowing only 36 points . This was the Bears ' first Monday Night Football appearance since 2003 . The Bears ' 3rd year coach Lovie Smith was having the best season start of his coaching career , going 1 - 4 in 2004 and 2 - 3 in 2005 ( despite making the playoffs in 2005 ) , and notably defeated four of their first five opponents by more than 3 touchdowns ( 26 - 0 win against the Green Bay Packers , 34 - 7 win over the Detroit Lions , 37 - 6 win over Seattle , and 40 - 7 victory against Buffalo ; their other game was a 19 - 16 win over the Vikings ) . The team was led by talented - yet inconsistent Rex Grossman , Thomas Jones , Muhsin Muhammad , linemen John Tait , Olin Kreutz , and Roberto Garza , defensive linemen Adewale Ogunleye , rookie Mark Anderson , who eventually recorded 12 sacks on the season , linebackers Brian Urlacher , Lance Briggs , and Brendon Ayanbadejo , rookie and future record holder for career returns for touchdowns and punt return touchdowns Devin Hester , a cornerbacking tandem in Charles Tillman and former record holder for the longest play in NFL history ( broken by San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie ) Nathan Vasher , Chris Harris , Mike Brown , and the 2nd most accurate kicker in NFL history in Robbie Gould . The Cardinals . The Cardinals , contrary to the Bears , weren ' t having the best of seasons , being 1 - 4 heading into the game , with their lone win being a Week 1 victory over the 49ers , and mustering only 50 points while allowing 92 points . Dennis Green was leading the team , and was hoping for a win to snap their 4 - game losing streak , as well as hopefully make the playoffs after going 5 - 11 the year before . The team ' s roster featured rookie quarterback and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart , as well as rookie Leonard Pope , along with serious receiving threats in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald , along with J . J . Arrington , running back Edgerrin James , Obafemi Ayanbadejo , brother of Brendon Ayanbadejo ( interestingly , both brothers would play together with the Bears in the preseason in 2007 ) , 3x Pro Bowl er Darnell Dockett , Gerald Hayes , Orlando Huff , Calvin Pace , kicker Neil Rackers , as well as Super Bowl XLIII quarterback Kurt Warner at backup . Game summary . The Bears won the toss , and elected the receive the kickoff . After the Bears went 3 - and - out , the Cardinals scored on their first possession on a Matt Leinart pass to Bryant Johnson , with Leinart completing 9 of his first 10 passes . After the Cardinals threw an interception , which was eventually challenged and reversed before ultimately punting , Bears quarterback Rex Grossman threw an interception to Aaron Francisco . The Cardinals scored on their next possession on a Leinart pass to Anquan Boldin . At the end of the first quarter , the Cards led the Bears 14 - 0 . In the second quarter , after exchanging punts , Grossman threw another pick , this time to Gerald Hayes . Neil Rackers missed a field goal on the ensuing possession . The Cardinals would recover two Grossman fumbles in the quarter , and scored field goals on each of the ensuing possessions , making the score 20 - 0 . In the third quarter , the Bears started their comeback with a Robbie Gould field goal . Neil Rackers responded with a field goal , which turned out to be the final score for the Cards . Near the end of the third quarter , Leinart was sacked by rookie Mark Anderson , and fumbled the ball . Safety Mike Brown recovered the fumble and returned it 3 yards for a touchdown with just two seconds left in the quarter , making the score 23 - 10 . After exchanging punts , Grossman threw an interception to Dockett , who returned it 73 yards for a touchdown . However , the Bears challenged the play , and while the interception stood , the return was nullified . On the Bears ' next possession , Grossman threw another interception , this time to Robert Griffith . On the second play of the ensuing possession , Edgerrin James had the ball stripped by Brian Urlacher . Charles tillman recovered the fumble and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown . With the score 23 - 17 , rookie Devin Hester returned a punt 83 - yards for a touchdown to take the lead 24 - 23 . With a few seconds left in the game , Rackers set up for the game - winning field goal with less than a minute . After the Bears attempted to ice the kicker , Rackers , who missed only 2 field goals the season before , and already having made a 41 , 28 and 29 yard field goals , missed the 40 - yard field goal , with the kick going wide left , with the ball possibly deflecting off of linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer ' s fingertips . The Bears kneeled down to end the game , giving the Bears a 6 - 0 record , and dropping the Cardinals to a 1 - 5 record on the season . Dennis Green post - game tirade . After the loss , in the postgame interview , Cardinals coach Dennis Green started angrily yelling in a profane meltdown about the fact that the Cardinals defeated the Bears in the preseason , and because of that , they were confident in beating them again , and that his team blew it after attacking the Bears ' weaknesses , and also smacked the microphone before storming out of the room . The rant ' s popularity led to it being featured in a Coors Light commercial the next season . Aftermath . The Bears would eventually go 13 - 3 , only losing to the Miami Dolphins , New England Patriots , and Green Bay Packers , and met the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI , but went on to lose 29 - 17 . The next season , the Bears sputtered to a 7 - 9 record . Quarterback Rex Grossman was eventually benched in 2008 and released in 2009 and signed with the Houston Texans ( Coincidentally , Leinart was signed by them a season later ) . Grossman eventually became the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins . As of the Bears ' 2012 season , 8 players are still on the team that was on the ' 06 team ( Devin Hester , Roberto Garza , Patrick Mannelly , Israel Idonije , Lance Briggs , Brian Urlacher , Charles Tillman , and Robbie Gould ) . The Cardinals ultimately dropped to 5 - 11 at the end of the season , and Dennis Green was fired and was replaced by Ken Whisenhunt , who remained head coach of the team until the end of the 2012 NFL season . 2 seasons later , the Cardinals met the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII , but lost 27 - 23 . In 2010 , Matt Leinart was released by the Cardinals and was signed by the Texans . , and started a game in 2011 after starting quarterback Matt Schaub was injured . However , Leinart broke his collarbone , and rookie T . J . Yates became the starter . Leinart later joined the Oakland Raiders . As of Arizona ' s 2012 campaign , 3 players are still on the team that played in 2006 ( Darnell Dockett , Adrian Wilson , and Larry Fitzgerald ) . The two teams would meet again twice after the game , once in 2009 , and another in 2010 , in a preseason game . Both times , the Cardinals won , winning the 2009 matchup 41 - 21 , and the 2010 game 14 - 9 . The Bears and the Cardinals met again in 2012 in Glendale , but this time , Chicago beat Arizona , 28 - 13 . Scoring summary . 1ST QUARTER 2ND QUARTER 3RD QUARTER 4TH QUARTER