The Chicago Bears have been around a long time. Longer than most. As a result, they’ve had to endure some truly gutwrenching moments in their history. Games that could’ve ended in glory but instead turned against them in brutal ways. ESPN did an interesting piece recently asking a simple question. What is the most devastating loss in the history of every NFL franchise?
The Bears certainly don’t have a shortage of options. Historians will point out the 1942 championship game where Washington robbed Chicago of an undefeated season. There was a stunning loss to Washington in the 1986 divisional round after the Bears went 14-2 in the regular season. Maybe it was the NFC championship loss to Green Bay in 2010 or the Double Doink in 2018?
Nope.
In the end, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN went with the obvious choice. The Bears losing Super Bowl XLI in Miami to the Indianapolis Colts. It’s hard to deny. That was a great year and a really good team. Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, and Charles Tillman were at the peak of their powers. Devin Hester was taking the league by storm. Sadly, the Colts owned the biggest mismatch of the game. At quarterback.
“The Bears breezed through the regular season at 13-3 and appeared poised to win their first Super Bowl title since 1985, behind the NFL’s top-rated defense. Even the beginning of the game had a storybook feel for the Bears, when Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. But after a handful of Rex Grossman turnovers — including a pick-six — the Bears fell behind late in the first half and never recovered. The Bears have not been back to a Super Bowl since.”
Since that defeat, the Chicago Bears have posted a winning record in a season just four times. That helps to illustrate how devastating the loss actually was. This team had not been to a Super Bowl since 1985. A span of 21 years. Now it’s been another 15 years since that loss and they haven’t made it back. Due to their shortcomings at quarterback, such opportunities to get there are incredibly rare. So yeah, that game qualifies for the most heartbreaking loss in franchise history.
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