Nick Foles had another miracle rally up his sleeve.
What else he had up there we'll probably never know because a poorly planned Bears 2021 season is winding down to its meaningless end.
Foles completed a 15-yard touchdown pass Sunday on third-and-14 to Jimmy Graham and then the two-point conversion to Damiere Byrd in a crowd at the back of the end zone as the Bears won 25-24 over the Seattle Seahawks.
"The biggest thing for me and our team in there, is that the guys never stopped fighting," Bears coach Matt Nagy said.
Foles, especially, persevered. In the snow, and playing only because of injuries to Justin Fields and Andy Dalton, the 2017 Super Bowl MVP played like he did in a comeback win over Atlanta last year, rallying the Bears from a 24-14 deficit in the second half. He completed 24 of 35 for 250 yards and the TD to Graham, the former Seahawks standout.
"I was just third string, that's my label," Foles said "But at the end of the day, that's not who I am. I am just Nick Foles. I go out there and I play. I lean on my teammates. I go to work."
Foles made the whole offseason plan to sign Dalton as starter until Fields was ready look totally ridiculous. He played a better overall game than any Dalton did this year and did it without wide receiver Allen Robinson due to COVID-19.
"It's unfortunate that we're banged up at our position and guys can't play," Foles said. "But it was just my job to come in and be ready to help my teammates."
The Bears (5-10) trailed by 10 but Cairo Santos kicked a 35-yard field goal on a slushy field after being injured earlier. The defense stopped Seattle (5-10) on Robert Quinn's sack and Jason Myers' missed 39-yard field goal, then had to force another punt before Foles took over at the 20 with 2:56 remaining.
Foles engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive, started by a 30-yard pass to Darnell Mooney.
"It's his DNA of who he is," Nagy said. "You guys see it in big-time moments, how he acts and how he's been in his career. And then it's his experience, too. (Seattle) showed some things today, whether it's post-snap, that I don't think really affected him much."
Graham posted up left against single coverage with another player nearby scrambling to make it two defenders. Graham had the ball all the way.
"That's Jimmy Graham, Hall of Famer," Foles said.
Then Nagy didn't hesitate to go for two. He said they planned it all along.
"Before that drive we knew the play, we knew everything," Nagy said. "We felt really good with that.
"They did a good job switching it off. We had a man play and they switched it off and then sometimes down in the red zone, it's about the players making plays, and that's what Nick and Damiere did."
Foles held the ball and rolled right slightly, then found Byrd amid a crowd. Byrd came down as he was being carried out of bounds at the end line, and got one foot and his elbow on the ground for the two points.
"It was just a pick play," Byrd said. "It was designed for (Darnell Mooney). They actually played it well. They passed it off. I just saw an opening and I kind of just stood there and I was hoping Nick through it. And he gave me a chance."
The Bears' work wasn't done as Russell Wilson still had 53 seconds left and two timeouts, but the pass rush on fourth-and-5 by former Seahawk Bruce Irvin forced Wilson into throwing an incompletion from his own 32 and the Seahawks were eliminated from playoff contention.
"I’m happy for Nick that he got an opportunity today," Nagy said. "Not happy for how it happened with Justin and Andy. But Nick's always going to be prepared.
"For him to be able to come into this moment—he's been there, done that a lot of different ways."
David Montgomery had just 46 rushing yards and a 1-yard TD run, but seven catches for 61 Yards while Mooney had five receptions for 57 yards and Cole Kmet four for 49 as the Bears turned it on offensively when it counted. Khalil Herbert had a key 20-yard TD run in the third quarter to get the Bears within 17-14.
For a moment Sunday evening even the constant watch on Nagy's job future seemed in the background—for a moment, anyway. The offseason and last year, when Foles became an afterthought, were also forgotten.
"Last year was last year," Nagy said. "These guys have persevered this year and fought through a lot of in the quarterback room. They've been great with each other. They support each other.
"I just think that when you go into a game like this, it just speaks to who he is, how he does things. He helped our team tremendously today to get the win. For that, "I'm very appreciative."
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