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.
Star running back Gale Sayers tore the ligaments in his right knee against San Francisco on November 10 and was lost for the season.
The Bears had the tiebreaker advantage over Minnesota, after defeating them twice. They needed a win over the Green Bay Packers in the season finale to clinch the division title, but lost by a point at home.
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.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 283 Dooley, 38, was promoted and introduced as head coach the following day.
NFL/AFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1968 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBill CooperRunning back
Roster
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
Gale Sayers 16 Rush, 108 Yds Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-27.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-28.
Week 7
Gale Sayers 18 Rush, 143 Yds Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-29.
Week 8
Gale Sayers 24 Rush, 205 YdsPro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-31. Mac Percival booted the game-winning field goal with 16 seconds remaining on a rare free kick following a fair catch.
Standings
References