The first thing that went through Hardy’s mind was a wave of relief, knowing he avoided hitting the kicker and, therefore, avoided a penalty. His next thought was, “where is it? Gotta scoop it, it’s live.”
Out of the corner of his eye as he hit the ground, Hardy saw the ball dribble a few yards away, where it was scooped up by Owens, who had been rushing from the edge. The safety didn’t see the block but heard it and immediately saw the ball bouncing around.
Owens reacted instantaneously and took off, beating out Titans safety Mike Brown to pick up the ball on the run. Owens’ only thought was “take off and run. Full speed.”
Owens described the situation as “too perfect,” as no Titans player was close enough to tackle him as he sprinted 21 yards into the end zone for the Bears’ first touchdown of the season.
While the crowd erupted, sending waves of energy through Soldier Field, Owens couldn’t fathom what had occurred while teammates swarmed him in the end zone.
“I get in the end zone and it didn’t really feel like real life for a second. That’s why I’m kinda looking back like, ‘did I just — did I just score?’ It was a great feeling.”
Back at the 21-yard line, Hardy shot up from the ground and “just went nuts” as he watched his teammate finish off his first-ever blocked punt and the Bears’ first blocked punt return for a TD since 2012.
“I’m just happy I got to help the team,” Hardy said. “We were in chapel the other night and we were talking about if the eyes tried to do what the nose does, if the nose tried to do what the mouth does, it doesn’t work. This was the job I was given, and I was happy I was able to execute and help the team win today.”
Owens’ scoop and score closed the Bears’ deficit to 17-10 with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter. While the Bears defense had just come off the field, the touchdown rejuvenated the unit and kicked off a series of splash plays.
“It’s almost like we were waiting for someone to make that big play,” Owens said. “I was just thankful and blessed that I was able to be the one to make that spark play for the team that helped switch the momentum. After that, defense got rolling, crowd was back into the game, and we didn’t look back from there.”
After the Bears forced three-and-outs on the Titans’ next two possessions, they created takeaways on Tennessee’s first two drives of the fourth quarter, both of which led to…
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