1968 Chicago Bears 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]

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

1968 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
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

Schedule

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

Week 2

Week 3

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

Week 5

Week 6

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

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

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

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