Fog Bowl (American football)
An image taken during the game.
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| Date | December 31, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jim Tunney | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw | ||||||||||||||||||
In American football, the Fog Bowl was the December 31, 1988 National Football League (NFL) playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears. A dense fog rolled over Chicago's Soldier Field during the 2nd quarter, cutting visibility to about 15–20 yards for the rest of the game. Philadelphia moved the ball effectively all day and Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham had 407 passing yards despite the low visibility; but they could not get the ball into the end zone. Many players complained that they could not see the sidelines or first-down markers. The Bears ended up winning 20–12. The game eventually was named #3 on NFL Top 10's Weather Games.
The game was also notable in that it involved head coaches who had been previously worked on the same staff of a Super Bowl winning team. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan had been the defense coordinator for Mike Ditka on the Bears when the team won Super Bowl XX.
Chicago scored first with quarterback Mike Tomczak's 64-yard touchdown pass to Dennis McKinnon. The Eagles responded by driving to the Chicago 26-yard line, but kicker Luis Zendejas missed a 43-yard field goal. Philadelphia quickly got the ball back after linebacker Seth Joyner intercepted a pass from Tomczak, and this time they managed to score with Zendejas' 42-yard field goal, but only after committing two costly mistakes: twice on the drive Philadelphia had touchdowns nullified by penalties. The Bears then drove to the Eagles 33-yard line on their ensuing drive, but it stalled and kicker Kevin Butler missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to Philadelphia with great field position. Randall Cunningham then led the Eagles inside Chicago's 5-yard line but on 4th and inches Cunningham was stuffed for no gain and the Eagles turned the ball over. However, on Chicago's ensuing possession, Cap Boso fumbled the ball, and Philadelphia's Wes Hopkins recovered, giving the Eagles excellent field position at Chicago's 15-yard line. But the Eagles' drive stalled and Jackson dropped a perfectly thrown pass by Cunningham in the end zone and thus Philadelphia had to settle for a Luis Zendejas 29-yard field goal to cut the team's deficit to 7–6.
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