On Thursday Night, the Chicago Bears will travel to Washington D.C. to square off against the Commanders in a primetime nationally televised game in hopes of snapping a 14-game losing streak. Chicago has not won a football game since October 24th of last year when they defeated the New England Patriots 33-14 on Monday Night Football. Although the Commanders are heavily favored to win Thursday's contest, with Bears' head coach Matt Eberflus likely being fired after the game if the team loses again, an upset win would fit the criteria of how previous Bears' teams have snapped extended losing streaks.
Bears Losing Streaks Have Ended When Least expected
The 14-game losing streak is currently the longest in Bears' franchise history and could go on further as Chicago doesn't have any favorable matchups on their schedule in the foreseeable future. Of their next five opponents, the only game that appears to be favorable for the team is their October 22nd game at home against the Las Vegas Raiders. Additionally, If Chicago doesn't win a game by Week 8, they will officially have the worst start to a season since 1997, when that Bears' group started 0-7.
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Chicago's 0-7 start was also an eight-game losing streak dating back to the end of the 1996 season, as the two previous long losing streaks for the franchise stretched eight games. 1997 and 2002 were years that featured the Bears mired in a losing streak of seven games or longer. Eerily enough, both were snapped similarly, as Chicago, in both instances, overcame double-digit fourth-quarter deficits to force overtime and win.
In 1997, the Bears traveled to Miami to play the Dolphins in Week 8 on that Sunday. The game never happened on Sunday as the Florida Marlins had won game 6 of the 1997 World Series, forcing a game 7 against the Cleveland Indians at Pro Player Stadium on Sunday Night. Due to logistic issues with the Marlins and Dolphins sharing the same stadium, the Bears' game was moved to Monday night.
The game, being played the day after Miami celebrated their first World Series Championship, was expected to be a Dolphins victory because of the presence of Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and legendary head coach Jimmie Johnson. Despite the unfavorable odds, Chicago took an early lead and made the contest competitive until Miami took what appeared to be a commanding 33-18 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Chicago's offense went to work as quarterback Erik Kramer led the offense to two late touchdowns, connecting with Chris Penn and Bobby Engram for the scores and the game-tying two-point conversion. The game went into overtime, where the Bears defense sacked Marino for a fumble, setting up Jeff Jaeger for the game-winning field goal as the 36-33 final snapped the eight-game losing streak.
Five years later, Chicago found itself in another eight-game losing streak in 2002 despite starting the season with two straight wins. The 2002 Bears lost eight consecutive games due to injuries and heartbreaking plays at the end of games. In Week 12, Chicago hosted the three-win Detroit Lions at Memorial Stadium in Champaign Urbana as Soldier Field was being renovated that season.
Despite having an early lead, the Bears trailed 17-7 late in the fourth quarter and were heading for their ninth consecutive loss. Although injured himself, quarterback Jim Miller came on for injured starter Chris Chandler to lead a late 10-point rally with less than three minutes left to force overtime. Dez White caught a 23-yard touchdown pass and then caught a 33-yard reception on a 4th and 20 play that featured Miller falling and getting up with enough time to complete the throw.
In overtime, Lions coach Marty Mornhiweg made the controversial decision to give possession to the Bears after winning the coin toss. Mornhiweg's reasoning was to force Chicago to have the gusty winds against them, making a field goal almost impossible. Despite the strategy, the Bears' offense drove deep into Detroit territory, allowing Paul Edinger to kick a tricky 40-yard game-winning field goal. The 23-20 final snapped a difficult losing streak for a team that had won 13 games the previous season.
The 2023 Bears Have Already Passed A Key Part In Snapping a Losing Streak
Although many question if and when the 2023 Bears will record their first victory and snap their current losing streak, they have already cleared a a vital hurdle. In professional sports, whenever a team is s losing consecutive games for an extended period, there is usually a false-hope moment where it appears that the team will snap its streak.
In both previous eight-game losing streaks for the Bears, there were contests in which Chicago appeared destined for victory but managed to lose both games. In Week 6 of the 1997 season, The Bears nearly upset their rivals and defending Super Bowl Champions, Green Bay Packers, at home. Chicago scored a late touchdown in the final minute of the game and decided to go for the two-point conversion to take the lead instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game at 24 and force overtime. Unfortunately, the Bears offense didn't convert, and the team lost 24-23.
In 2002, two weeks before the Bears snapped their streak against the Lions, it appeared they were going to snap a six-game streak against the New England Patriots, who also were the defending Super Bowl Champions, at home. In the third quarter, the Bears scored 21 unanswered points, leading the Patriots 27-6 before future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady engineered a 21-point comeback, resulting in a 33-30 victory by New England.
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This past Sunday against the Denver Broncos, it appeared the Bears were on the verge of snapping their 13-game losing streak as they led 28-7 midway through the third quarter. Chicago unfortunately lost the lead and the game by a final score of 31-28. Although the loss extended the losing streak, it provides hope now as Chicago has gotten their false-hope moment out of the way, with a potential streak-ending win coming sooner than expected.
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