1959 Chicago Bears season

The 1959 season was the Chicago Bears' 40th in the National Football League. The team matched on their 8–4 record from 1958 under the coaching of George Halas, winning their last seven games.^[1]

1959 Chicago Bears season
Head coach	George Halas
Home field	Wrigley Field
Results
Record	8–4
Division place	2nd NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1958 Bears seasons 1960 →

Schedule

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Sources
1	August 15	at Green Bay Packers	W 19–16	1–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	28,286	[2][3]
2	August 22	vs. Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–21	2–0	Manning Bowl (Lynn, MA)	17,000	[4][5]
3	August 29	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	W 54–17	3–0	Jeppeson Stadium (Houston)	28,000	[6]
4	September 5	vs. Washington Redskins			(Jacksonville)
5	September 11	New York Giants			Soldier Field
6	September 19	at Cleveland Browns			Cleveland Stadium

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Sources
1	September 27	at Green Bay Packers	L 6–9	0–1	City Stadium	32,150
2	October 3	at Baltimore Colts	W 26–21	1–1	Baltimore Memorial Stadium	57,557
3	October 11	Los Angeles Rams	L 21–28	1–2	Wrigley Field	47,036
4	October 18	Baltimore Colts	L 7–21	1–3	Wrigley Field	48,430
5	October 25	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–20	1–4	Kezar Stadium	59,045
6	November 1	at Los Angeles Rams	W 26–21	2–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	77,943
7	November 8	Green Bay Packers	W 28–17	3–4	Wrigley Field	46,205
8	November 15	San Francisco 49ers	W 14–3	4–4	Wrigley Field	42,157
9	November 22	at Detroit Lions	W 24–14	5–4	Briggs Stadium	54,059
10	November 29	at Chicago Cardinals	W 31–7	6–4	Soldier Field	48,687
11	December 6	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–21	7–4	Wrigley Field	41,476
12	December 13	Detroit Lions	W 25–14	8–4	Wrigley Field	40,890

• Saturday night (October 3)^[7]

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 9 14 3 0 26 Colts 0 0 0 21 21 Date: October 3 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD Game attendance: 57,557

Scoring summary Q1 CHI Petitbon 33 yard interception return (kick failed) CHI 6–0 Q1 CHI Aveni 33 yard field goal CHI 9–0 Q2 CHI Casares 1 yard run (Aveni kick) CHI 16–0 Q2 CHI Hill 53 yard pass from Brown (Aveni kick) CHI 23–0 Q3 CHI Aveni 42 yard field goal CHI 26–0 Q4 BAL Berry 7 yard pass from Unitas (Myhra kick) CHI 26–7 Q4 BAL Mutscheller 4 yard pass from Unitas (Myhra kick) CHI 26–14 Q4 BAL Mutscheller 13 yard pass from Unitas (Myhra kick) CHI 26–21

^[8]

Week 7

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	10	0	7	17
Bears	14	7	7	0	28

Game information

First Quarter CHI – Merrill Douglas 5-yard run (John Aveni kick) – Bears 7–0 CHI – Rick Casares 5-yard run (John Aveni kick) – Bears 14–0 Second Quarter GB – Jim Taylor 10-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) – Bears 14–7 GB – Paul Hornung 27-yard field goal – Bears 14–10 CHI – Harlon Hill 36-yard pass from Ed Brown (John Aveni kick) – Bears 21–10 Third Quarter CHI – Jim Dooley 8-yard pass from Zeke Bratkowski (John Aveni kick) – Bears 28–10 Fourth Quarter GB – Bill Butler 61-yard punt return (Paul Hornung kick) – Bears 28–17

at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: November 8
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	9	3	0	.750	9–1	374	251	W5
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	6–4	252	196	W7
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	5–5	255	237	L2
Green Bay Packers	7	5	0	.583	6–4	248	246	W4
Detroit Lions	3	8	1	.273	2–8	203	275	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	10	0	.167	2–8	242	315	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. "Bears beat Lions for 7th straight". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 14, 1959. p. 4, part 2.
2. Associated Press, "Bears Nip Packers, 19–16: 37-Yard Pass Play in Last Minute Caps 16-Point Fourth Period Rally," Racine Sunday Bulletin, Aug. 16, 1959, sec. 3, pp. 1, 5.
3. Dick Cullum, "Bears Win in Last Minute," Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Aug. 16, 1959, p. 39.
4. Bob Hoobing, "Galimore Stars as Bears Beat Eagles, 34–21," Danville Register and Bee, Aug. 23, 1959, p. 35.
5. Ernie Roberts, "Bears Topple Eagles, 24–21," Boston Globe, Aug. 23, 1959, pp. 65, 69.
6. Associated Press, "Chicago Bears Drub Steelers: Crowd of 28,000 Attends Contest," Billings Gazette, Aug. 30, 1959, p. 30.
7. "Colts rally fails, Bears win, 26-21". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. October 4, 1959. p. !C.
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-09.