The 1928 season was the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

' 9th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The team was unable to improve on their 9–3–2 record from 1927 and finished with a 7–5–1 record under head coach

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

, earning them a fifth-place finish in the team standings, their worst record to date. The season had its high points, including two shutout wins over the crosstown rival

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

, a shutout win over the defending champion

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, and convincing victories over Frankford,

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, and Pottsville. However, two losses each to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

made 1928 a disappointment to the normally contending Bears. Chicago's problem was that the old guard was aging with

Joey Sternaman Joseph Theodore Sternaman (February 1, 1900 – March 10, 1988) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for eight seasons for the Chicago Bears and Duluth Kelleys of the National Football League (NFL). At 5'6" and 135 ...

Paddy Driscoll John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll (January 11, 1895 – June 29, 1968) was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall pla ...

, and

, who also played, were now in their early 30s. There was not enough new talent was on the team to be competitive. Also, the Bears were now faced with an equal number of away games as at home, whereas in the early 1920s almost all their games were at home as they drew much larger crowds than most other teams. The pace of playing 3 games in 8 days around Thanksgiving was at the time a standard practice. The Thanksgiving game was not a substitute for the Sunday game but just an extra game which also hurt the veteran Bears down the stretch as in previous years. Joe Sternaman and William Senn starred on offense with 4 and 5 touchdowns each. Sternaman also shared kicking duties with Driscoll. The passing game became more important and the Bears scored 11 touchdowns via the air, versus 13 on the ground. This was a league-wide trend, foreshadowing the ascendancy of

Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson (January 31, 1913 – June 26, 1997) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an end and spent his entire 11-year professional career with the ...

and

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

of the 1930s.

Future Hall of Fame players

, back *

, end *

Link Lyman William Roy "Link" Lyman (November 30, 1898 – December 28, 1972), also sometimes known as Roy Lyman, was an American football player and coach. Lyman was born in Nebraska and raised in Kansas. He played college football for the Nebraska Corn ...

, tackle *

George Trafton George Edward Trafton (December 6, 1896 – September 5, 1971) was an American professional football player and coach, boxer, boxing manager, and gymnasium proprietor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was also selec ...

, center

Other leading players

* William Senn, back * Ed Sternaman, back * Joe Sternaman, quarterback *

Laurie Walquist Lawrence Wilfred Walquist (March 9, 1898 – September 28, 1985) was a professional American football player who played quarterback for nine seasons for the Chicago Bears. He was also the first-ever head coach for the Chicago Bruins of the Ameri ...

, quarterback

Players departed from 1927

Ed Healey Edward Francis Healey Jr. (December 28, 1894 – December 9, 1978) was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). Regarded as one of the best linemen in the league's early days, Healey was inducted into the P ...

, tackle (retired)

Schedule

Standings

References

{{1928 NFL season by team

Chicago Bears seasons