The Chicago Bears

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

was their 44th

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

and 12th

post-season The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

appearance 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 finished with an record to gain their first Western Conference championship since

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

, and the berth to host the

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

against the New York Giants In the regular season, Chicago defeated the rival Green Bay Packers (11–2–1) twice to deny them the opportunity to play for a third consecutive NFL title; the Packers had won the previous five meetings with Chicago. In the championship game on December 29, the Bears defeated the Giants, 14–10, at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

for the club's eighth league title, their first since 1946 and the last under head coach and founder This was the Bears' last playoff berth prior to the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...

, and their last NFL championship until

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and Super Bowl XX. The Bears' defense in 1963 was the third in history to lead the NFL in fewest rushing yards, fewest passing yards, and fewest total yards; the defense also allowed only 144 points, formerly an NFL record. In 2007,

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

ranked the 1963 Bears as the ninth-greatest defense in NFL history, noting, " 1963, Bears defensive coach

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

came up with a new zone defense against the pass, befuddling opponents. With

Doug Atkins Douglas Leon Atkins (May 8, 1930 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played colleg ...

and

Ed O'Bradovich Edward O'Bradovich (born May 21, 1940 in Melrose Park, Illinois) is a former American football defensive end in the NFL that was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round (91st pick) of the 1962 NFL Draft; he spent his entire ten-year c ...

pressuring opposing QBs from their defensive end slots, and Bill George and

Larry Morris Larry Cleo Morris (December 10, 1933 – December 19, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Chicago Bears. The 1950 graduate of Decatur High School ...

defending against short passes from the linebacker position, the Bears picked off 36 passes, and allowed just 10.3 points and 227 yards per game. The Bears went on to win the NFL championship, thanks to the Defense. In the title game against Y. A. Tittle and the Giants, who had the best offense in the NFL, Chicago's five picks were the key, as the Bears won 14–10. George Allen got the game ball."

Offseason

NFL Draft

Source:

Personnel

Coaches

*Head Coach – George Halas *Assistants –

(Defensive Coordinator),

Jim Dooley James William Dooley (February 8, 1930 – January 8, 2008) was an American football player and coach who is best remembered for his tenures as a player and coach with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). College career Bor ...

Phil Handler Philip Jacob Handler (July 21, 1908 – December 8, 1968) was an American football player and coach who spent his entire professional career in the city of Chicago. He had a seven-year, 53-game NFL playing career, during which he was named All-Pro ...

Luke Johnsos Luke Andrew Johnsos Sr. (December 9, 1905 – December 10, 1984) was an American football player, assistant coach, and head coach for the National Football League's Chicago Bears franchise. He started with the Bears in 1929 at the age of 23 as a ...

Sid Luckman Sidney Luckman (November 21, 1916 – July 5, 1998) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1939 through 1950. During his twelve seasons with the Bears, ...

Chuck Mather Charles V. Mather (April 17, 1915 – May 20, 2006) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Kansas from 1954 until 1957, compiling a record of 11–26–3. Mather was the high school coach of Do ...

Roster

* Team photo * Rosters - 1963 NFL title game

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1 at Packers

Source:

Week 2 at Vikings

Week 3 at Lions

Week 4 vs Colts

Week 5

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

9 Rec, 110 Yds

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Standings

NFL Championship

The Giants opened the scoring in the first quarter when quarterback Y. A. Tittle led New York on an 83-yard drive that was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass to

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

. The drive was set up by Bears quarterback

Bill Wade William James Wade (October 4, 1930 – March 9, 2016) was an American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). He is considered one of the greatest athletes in Nashville and Vanderbilt University h ...

's fumble deep in Giants territory, which was recovered by former Bear

Erich Barnes Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; July 4, 1935 – April 29, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), wh ...

. However, later in the first period, Tittle suffered an injury to his left knee when

hit him during his throwing motion. For the rest of the game, Tittle would never be the same. Morris then intercepted Tittle's screen pass and returned the ball 61 yards to the Giants' 6-yard line. Two plays later, Wade scored a touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 7. In the second quarter, the Giants retook the lead, 10–7, on a 13-yard field goal. But on New York's next drive, Tittle re-injured his left knee on another hit by Morris. With Tittle out for two possessions, the Giants struggled, only able to advance 2 yards in 7 plays. New York coach

Allie Sherman Alex "Allie" Sherman (February 10, 1923 – January 3, 2015) was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coa ...

even punted on third down, showing no confidence in backup

Glynn Griffing Wilburn Glynn Griffing (born December 1, 1940 in Bentonia, Mississippi) is a former American football quarterback who played one season for the New York Giants in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of M ...

. However, the score remained 10–7 at

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...

. Tittle came back in the third period, but due to his injury, he was forced to throw off his back foot. An interception on a

screen pass A screen pass is a play in gridiron football consisting of a short pass to a receiver who is protected by a screen of blockers. During a screen pass, a number of things happen concurrently in order to fool the defense into thinking a long pass is b ...

by the Bears'

was brought deep into Giants territory, setting up Wade's 1-yard touchdown to give Chicago a 14–10 lead. The score held up, and the Bears iced the game on

Richie Petitbon Richard Alvin Petitbon (born April 18, 1938) is am American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Petitbon first attended Loyola University New Orleans on a track and field scholarship and left afte ...

's interception in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

with 10 seconds left. It was Tittle's 5th interception. At the end of the game, defensive coordinator

was given the game ball due to his defense's spectacular play.

References

Additional sources

* ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' ()

External links

1963 Chicago Bears season
YouTube.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:1963 Chicago Bears Season Chicago Bears seasons Chicago Bears National Football League championship seasons Chicago Bears