1968_Chicago_Bears_season

1968 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season

The 1968 season was the Chicago Bears' 49th in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their 7–6–1 record from 1967 and finished with a 7–7 record under first-year head coach Jim Dooley and earning them a second-place finish in the Central Division within the NFL's Western Conference, a game behind the Minnesota Vikings.^[1]

Quick Facts Chicago Bears season, Owner ...

1968 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	George Halas
Head coach	Jim Dooley
Home field	Wrigley Field
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1967 Bears seasons 1969 →

Star running back Gale Sayers tore the ligaments in his right knee against San Francisco on November 10 and was lost for the season.^[2]^[3]

The Bears had the tiebreaker advantage over Minnesota, after defeating them twice.^[4] They needed a win over the Green Bay Packers in the season finale to clinch the division title,^[4] but lost by a point at home.^[5]^[6]

The following season, Chicago posted its worst record in franchise history at 1–13. The Bears' next postseason appearance was in 1977, as a wild card team, and the next division title came in 1984.

Offseason

George Halas, age 73, retired as head coach of the Bears for the fourth and final time on May 27.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] Dooley, 38, was promoted and introduced as head coach the following day.^[11]^[12]

NFL/AFL Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL/AFL Draft

More information Round, Pick ...

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1968 Chicago Bears draft
1	16	Mike Hull	Fullback	USC
2	46	Bob Wallace	Tight end	Texas at El Paso
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

**1968 Chicago Bears final roster**

	Quarterbacks 10 Rudy Bukich 15 Virgil Carter 11 Jack Concannon 12 Larry Rakestraw Running backs 29 Ronnie Bull FB 33 Mike Hull 32 Ralph Kurek 41 Brian Piccolo FB 40 Gale Sayers Wide receivers 45 Dick Gordon 43 Bob Jones 21 Cecil Turner Tight ends 84 Austin Denney 82 Emilio Vallez 89 Bob Wallace		Offensive linemen -- Bob Breitenstein T 72 Jim Cadile G 65 Randy Jackson T 60 Doug Kriewald G 74 Wayne Mass T 70 Bob Pickens T 50 Mike Pyle C 62 Mike Reilly G 67 George Seals G 63 Bob Wetoska T Defensive linemen 73 Frank Cornish Jr. DT 79 Dick Evey DT 85 Willie Holman DE 76 John Johnson DT 87 Ed O'Bradovich DE 86 Loyd Phillips DE		Linebackers 55 Doug Buffone 51 Dick Butkus 59 Rudy Kuechenberg 57 Dan Pride 53 Jim Purnell Defensive backs 23 Clarence Childs 46 Curt Gentry 49 Major Hazelton 26 Bennie McRae CB 17 Richie Petitbon S 20 Joe Taylor CB 24 Rosey Taylor S Special teams 88 Bobby Joe Green P 80 Jon Kilgore P 83 Mac Percival K		Practice squad -- Tom Greenlee S Rookies in italics

Regular season

Main article: 1968 NFL season

Schedule

More information Week, Date ...

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 15	Washington Redskins	L 28–38	0–1	Wrigley Field	41,321
2	September 22	at Detroit Lions	L 0–42	0–2	Tiger Stadium	50,688
3	September 29	at Minnesota Vikings	W 27–17	1–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
4	October 6	at Baltimore Colts	L 7–28	1–3	Memorial Stadium	60,238
5	October 13	Detroit Lions	L 10–28	1–4	Wrigley Field	46,996
6	October 20	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 29–16	2–4	Franklin Field	60,858
7	October 27	Minnesota Vikings	W 26–24	3–4	Wrigley Field	46,562
8	November 3	at Green Bay Packers	W 13–10	4–4	Lambeau Field	50,861
9	November 10	San Francisco 49ers	W 27–19	5–4	Wrigley Field	46,978
10	November 17	Atlanta Falcons	L 13–16	5–5	Wrigley Field	44,214
11	November 24	Dallas Cowboys	L 3–34	5–6	Wrigley Field	46,667
12	December 1	at New Orleans Saints	W 23–17	6–6	Tulane Stadium	78,285
13	December 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 17–16	7–6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	66,368
14	December 15	Green Bay Packers	L 27–28	7–7	Wrigley Field	46,435
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

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Week 2

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Week 3

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bears	14	6	0	7	27
Vikings	0	3	0	14	17

Date: September 29
Location: Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, MN
Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C); wind 7 mph

Scoring summary

Q1	CHI	Sayers 7-yard run (Percival kick)	CHI 7–0

Q1	CHI	Gordon 15-yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick)	CHI 14–0

Q2	CHI	Percival 43-yard field goal	CHI 17–0

Q2	MIN	Cox 45-yard field goal	CHI 17–3

Q2	CHI	Percival 31-yard field goal	CHI 20–3

Q4	MIN	Washington 24-yard pass from Cuozzo (Cox kick)	CHI 20–10

Q4	MIN	Brown 1-yard run (Cox kick)	CHI 20–17

Q4	CHI	Kurek 23-yard run (Percival kick)	CHI 27–17

Gale Sayers 16 Rush, 108 Yds

^[13]

Week 4

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2014)

Week 5

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Week 6

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bears	7	6	3	13	29
Eagles	3	10	3	0	16

Date: October 20
Location: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA
Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); wind 12 mph

Scoring summary

Q1	PHI	Baker 30-yard field goal	PHI 3–0

Q1	CHI	Turner 11-yard pass from Carter (Percival kick)	CHI 7–3

Q2	PHI	Baker 27-yard field goal	CHI 7–6

Q2	PHI	Ditka 2-yard pass from Snead (Baker kick)	PHI 13–7

Q2	CHI	Percival 39-yard field goal	PHI 13–10

Q2	CHI	Percival 31-yard field goal	Tie 13–13

Q3	CHI	Percival 28-yard field goal	CHI 16–13

Q3	PHI	Baker 44-yard field goal	Tie 16–16

Q4	CHI	Percival 15-yard field goal	CHI 19–16

Q4	CHI	Taylor 96-yard interception return (Percival kick)	CHI 26–16

Q4	CHI	Percival 14-yard field goal	CHI 29–16

^[14]

Week 7

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	7	7	0	10	24
• Bears	7	6	7	6	26

Date: October 27
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C); wind 17 mph

Scoring summary

Q1	MIN	Lindsey 1-yard run (Cox kick)	MIN 7–0

Q1	CHI	Wallace 12-yard pass from Carter (Percival kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2	CHI	Percival 12-yard field goal	CHI 10–7

Q2	MIN	Washington 54-yard pass from Kapp (Cox kick)	MIN 14–10

Q2	CHI	Percival 42-yard field goal	MIN 14–13

Q3	CHI	Gordon 50-yard pass from Carter (Percival kick)	CHI 20–14

Q4	MIN	Cox 38-yard field goal	CHI 20–17

Q4	CHI	Percival 21-yard field goal	CHI 23–17

Q4	MIN	Washington 25-yard pass from Kapp (Cox kick)	MIN 24–23

Q4	CHI	Percival 47-yard field goal	CHI 26–24

Gale Sayers 18 Rush, 143 Yds

^[15]

Week 8

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bears	0	3	7	3	13
Packers	0	0	7	3	10

Date: November 3
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C); wind 9 mph
Referee: Pat Haggerty

Scoring summary

Q2	CHI	Percival 10-yard field goal	CHI 3–0

Q3	CHI	Carter 2-yard run (Percival kick)	CHI 10–0

Q3	GB	Dale 50-yard pass from Starr (Mercin kick)	CHI 10–7

Q4	GB	Mercin 19-yard field goal	Tie 10–10

Q4	CHI	Percival 43-yard field goal	CHI 13–10

Gale Sayers 24 Rush, 205 Yds^[16]

Mac Percival booted the game-winning field goal with 16 seconds remaining on a rare free kick following a fair catch.

Standings

More information NFL Central, W ...

NFL Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–4	282	242	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	250	333	L1
Green Bay Packers	6	7	1	.462	1–4–1	2–7–1	281	227	W1
Detroit Lions	4	8	2	.333	3–2–1	4–5–1	207	241	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

[1]
"Pro football standings". Milwaukee Journal. December 16, 1968. p. 13, part 2.
[2]
"Bears beat 49ers, 27-19, but lose Sayers for year". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. November 11, 1968. p. 1, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
[3]
"Bears down 49ers, 27-19, but lose Sayers for season". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. November 11, 1968. p. 12, part 2.
[4]
Bledsoe, Terry (December 15, 1968). "Packers' bad year to end at last". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, sports.
[5]
Bledsoe, Terry (December 16, 1968). "Horn and Packers knock Bears out of title, 28-27". Milwaukee Journal. p. 13, part 2. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
[6]
"Horn answers Pack's call, blows Bears out of race". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 16, 1968. p. 3B.
[7]
Strickler, George (May 28, 1968). "Halas retires as Bears' coach". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 1.
[8]
"George Halas drops reins". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. May 28, 1968. p. 15.
[9]
McHugh, Roy (May 28, 1968). "Papa Bear recognizes Father Time". Pittsburgh Press. p. 33.
[10]
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 283
[11]
Hollow, Cooper (May 29, 1968). "Dooley, 38, named head coach of Bears". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
[12]
"Dooley moves up as Bears' coach". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. May 29, 1968. p. 16.
[13]
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-27.
[14]
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-28.
[15]
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-29.
[16]
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-31.

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