The longest playoff drought in Chicago Bears history took place from 1964 to 1976. That’s a span of 13 seasons. Many of which were some of the worst the franchise ever encountered. If that timeline of misery eventually, it’s safe to say the one this modern Bears team is enduring will as well. Hopefully, it won’t take that many seasons to crack of course.
What fans want to know is what must they do to finally end it? GM Ryan Pace had implemented all of the practical means to do so. He hired a young, innovative head coach in Matt Nagy who was groomed by one of the best in the business. He added a bevy of new weapons on offense for Mitch Trubisky to play with. Vic Fangio was retained as defensive coordinator and he has a new toy as well in Roquan Smith at linebacker.
The roster and coaching staff are (on paper) upgraded. There’s nothing more to do. That only leaves one thing remaining: the schedule itself. Looking back over the major playoff droughts the Bears have had in their history, the turnaround often came as result of a key moment.
Chicago Bears playoff droughts died with games they shouldn’t have won
Part of winning in the NFL comes down to a simple if difficult reality. You have to beat good teams. The Bears just haven’t done this for the past several years. Sure they’ve knocked off teams a little better than them and others that are as bad. Yet can anybody remember them beating a team that was genuinely among the best in the NFL?
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The closest they came was the Packers in 2015 and that’s a stretch. That team went 10-6 and barely made the playoffs on a wild card. No, we’re talking legitimate upsets. Opponents that should’ve annihilated them but the Bears overcame anyway. Looking back, each of their prominent droughts ended in such fashion.
1956: def. Detroit Lions 38-21
The Lions were the team of the 1950s. They’d already won two NFL championships in 1952 and 1953. They would win another the next year in 1957. Chicago had already been humbled earlier that season when the Lions crushed them 42-10. So nobody gave them a chance in the season finale rematch. This was especially true since the winner would face the New York Giants in the NFL championship game. Behind 309 rushing yards, the Bears broke the game open in the second half to stun their powerhouse rivals.
1963: def. Green Bay Packers 10-3
The Packers were established as the envy of the football world in 1963. They’d already gone to three-straight NFL championships since and won two of them under Vince Lombardi. This team was at the peak of its powers and had beaten the Bears in five-straight meetings. George Halas knew the championship blueprint would go through them and it started on opening day. In a bitterly contested defensive slugfest, the Bears rode four interceptions of Bart Starr to a shocking upset, winning the title a couple months later.
1977: def. Los Angeles Rams 24-23
People forget how good the Los Angeles Rams were in the 1970s. They were one of the best teams in the NFL. They’d already made the playoffs for four-straight seasons prior to 1977 and would reach the Super Bowl two years later. They were a force. One the Bears hadn’t beaten in six-straight games going into this contest. It was almost the case again here. L.A. held the lead going into the fourth quarter. Then Chicago rolled off 10 unanswered points including a third TD pass from Bob Avellini to put the game out of reach.
This win holds extra significance because the Bears lost the two games before it and the two games after it. If they’d lost this one, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs.
2001: def. San Francisco 49ers 37-31
The Bears had not tasted the postseason since 1994 going into this year. They’d already lost to the defending champion Ravens on opening day. So most people didn’t take their 4-1 start seriously going into this game against San Francisco. The 49ers, even at this late period were still considered the gold standard. Since 1981 they’d made the playoffs 16 times and won five Super Bowls. They too were 4-1 going into this game and had beaten the Bears five-straight times dating back to 1989.
At one point the Bears were behind 28-9 in this game, but a spirited comeback helped them force overtime. There it was safety Mike Brown who ushered in a new era of winning with a game-winning pick-six.
The Bears will have plenty of opportunities to score one of these victories in 2018. They play the Vikings twice, a team that just went to the NFC championship and has lost to them just once since 2014. There’s the New England Patriots featuring Tom Brady who is 3-0 lifetime against Chicago as well. Never mind the Los Angeles Rams who are currently Super Bowl favorites too.
If this Bears team is for real, they will need to score a signature win and those will be the four games to watch. Unless they do something unexpected on opening night in Green Bay.
