Windows in Time: The Bears Decade by Decade

The Bears had 24 winning seasons in their first 25 years of existence and 41 winning seasons in their first 50 years.  

     In the 1940s, the Bears had one of the greatest decades by any team in the history of professional sports. The decade began with a bang--the legendary 73-0 victory over Washington in the 1940 NFL championship game. By the end of the decade, the franchise's all-time winning percentage was above .700. (This was the heyday of Sid Luckman, the first Bears quarterback enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame--and so far the last.)

    

SID LUCKMAN

The Bears' second 50 years (the period since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970) was a bumpy ride--with the exception of a memorable run in the mid-to-late 1980s. Below is a summary of the Bears' performance by decades.

 

Years                     W.         L.         T.           Pct.         NFL Championships

1920 - 1929           84         31         19         .698         1921

1930 - 1939           85         28         11         .730         1932, 1933

1940 - 1949           81         26          3          .750         1940, 1941, 1943, 1946

1950 - 1959           70         48          2          .592         none

1960 - 1969           67         65          6          .507         1963

1970 - 1979           60         83          1          .420         none

1980 - 1989           92         60          0          .605         1985

1990 - 1999           73         87          0          .456         none

2000 - 2009           81         79          0          .506         (NFC champions 2006)

2010 - 2019           70         84          0          .475         none

 

When we review every ten-year stretch of Bears history, regardless of calendar decades, we find a window from 1934 through 1943 during which the Bears won 80 percent of their games and qualified for the NFL championship game six times. (In a twelve-year span beginning in 1932, the Bears were in eight title games and won five of them.)

     The first ten-year stretch in Bears annals to produce a losing record was the period from 1962 to 1971, which included both a world championship in 1963 and a 1-13 debacle in 1969. 

     The Bears' worst ten-year run was from 1966 through 1975. That eventful period witnessed the spectacular but all-too-brief careers of Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, the tragic death of Brian Piccolo, George Halas's retirement as head coach, the hiring of Jim Finks as general manager, and Finks's selection of Walter Payton with his first draft pick.  

 

Years                     W.         L.         T.         Pct.         Other

1934 - 1943           88         21         4         .796         3-3 in six NFL title games

1966 - 1975           47         89         4         .350         No postseason appearances

Chicago Bears year-by-year history on Football-Reference.com. 

 

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