1965 Chicago Bears season

1965 Chicago Bears season
Head coach	George Halas
General manager	George Halas
Owner	George Halas
Home field	Wrigley Field
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	3rd Western
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1965 Chicago Bears season was their 46th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 9–5 record, earning them a third-place finish in the NFL Western Conference. The club improved over the dismal 5–9 record of the previous season.

They started the season 0–3, but thanks to rookies Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, the team won 9 of the last 11 games. Sayers had a magnificent rookie season, and in one game against the San Francisco 49ers at Chicago's Wrigley Field on December 12, he scored 6 touchdowns in a 61–20 Bears win, the first time the Bears scored 61 points in a regular season game.^[1] Gale Sayers would set an NFL rookie record with 22 touchdowns in one season.^[2] The six touchdown performance from December 12, would tie an NFL record and set a new Bears record.^[3]

The 1965 Bears draft class would eventually be named #8 on NFL Top 10 Draft Classes.^[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Kickoff	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	TV	NFL.com Recap
1		September 19	San Francisco 49ers	L 24–52	0–1	Kezar Stadium		N/A
2		September 26	Los Angeles Rams	L 28–30	0–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum		N/A
3		October 3	Green Bay Packers	L 14–23	0–3	Lambeau Field		N/A
4		October 10	Los Angeles Rams	W 31–6	1–3	Wrigley Field		N/A
5		October 17	Minnesota Vikings	W 45–37	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium		N/A
6		October 24	Detroit Lions	W 38–10	3–3	Wrigley Field		N/A
7		October 31	Green Bay Packers	W 31–10	4–3	Wrigley Field		N/A
8		November 7	Baltimore Colts	L 21–26	4–4	Wrigley Field		N/A
9		November 14	St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–13	5–4	Wrigley Field		N/A
10		November 21	Detroit Lions	W 17–10	6–4	Tiger Stadium		N/A
11		November 28	New York Giants	W 35–14	7–4	Yankee Stadium		N/A
12		December 5	Baltimore Colts	W 13–0	8–4	Memorial Stadium		N/A
13		December 12	San Francisco 49ers	W 61–20	9–4	Wrigley Field		N/A
14		December 19	Minnesota Vikings	L 17–24	9–5	Wrigley Field		N/A
All times Eastern

Game summaries

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 3 0 6 • Bears 0 10 7 14 31 Date: October 10 Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL Game weather: 55°F; wind 8

Scoring summary Q2 CHI Livingston 3-yard run (LeClerc kick) CHI 7–0 Q2 CHI LeClerc 26-yard field goal CHI 10–0 Q2 LA Gossett 16-yard field goal CHI 10–3 Q3 LA Gossett 13-yard field goal CHI 10–6 Q3 CHI Sayers 80-yard pass from Bukich (LeClerc kick) CHI 17–6 Q4 CHI Bukich 1-yard run (LeClerc kick) CHI 24–6 Q4 CHI Gordon 26-yard pass from Bukich (LeClerc kick) CHI 31–6

^[5]

• Rudy Bukich 16/22, 299 Yds

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 14 3 7 21 45 Vikings 0 13 10 14 37 Date: October 17 Location: Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, MN Game weather: 65°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 CHI Bull 33-yard run (LeClerc kick) CHI 7–0 Q1 CHI Morris 14-yard pass from Bukich (LeClerc kick) CHI 14–0 Q2 MIN Cox 38-yard field goal CHI 14–3 Q2 MIN Mason 4-yard run (Cox kick) CHI 14–10 Q2 CHI LeClerc 12-yard field goal CHI 17–10 Q2 MIN Cox 40-yard field goal CHI 17–13 Q3 MIN Cox 28-yard field goal CHI 17–16 Q3 MIN Brown 40-yard run (Cox kick) MIN 23–17 Q3 CHI Sayers 18-yard pass from Bukich (LeClerc kick) CHI 24–23 Q4 MIN Tarkenton 2-yard run (Cox kick) MIN 30–24 Q4 CHI Sayers 25-yard pass from Bukich (LeClerc kick) CHI 31–30 Q4 MIN Mason 4-yard run (Cox kick) MIN 37–31 Q4 CHI Sayers 96-yard kickoff return (LeClerc kick) CHI 38–37 Q4 CHI Sayers 10-yard run (LeClerc kick) CHI 45–37

• Gale Sayers 297 all-purporse Yds

^[6]

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 7 3 0 0 10 • Bears 0 17 7 7 31 Date: October 31 Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois Game weather: 57°F • Wind 14

Scoring summary 1 GB Jim Taylor 1-yard run (Don Chandler kick) Packers 7–0 2 CHI Roger LeClerc 24-yard field goal Packers 7–3 2 CHI Jimmy Jones 13-yard pass from Rudy Bukich (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 10–7 2 CHI Gale Sayers 10-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 17–7 2 GB Don Chandler 43-yard field goal Bears 17–10 3 CHI Jon Arnett 2-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 24–10 4 CHI Ronnie Bull 4-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) Bears 31–10

^[7]

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	10	3	1	.769	8–3–1	316	224	T1
Baltimore Colts	10	3	1	.769	8–3–1	389	284	W1
Chicago Bears	9	5	0	.643	7–5	409	275	L1
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	421	402	T1
Minnesota Vikings	7	7	0	.500	5–7	383	403	W2
Detroit Lions	6	7	1	.462	4–7–1	257	295	W1
Los Angeles Rams	4	10	0	.286	2–10	269	328	L1

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

Awards and records

• Gale Sayers, NFL rookie record, most touchdowns in one season (22)
• Gale Sayers, NFL record (tied), most touchdowns in one game (6)
• Gale Sayers, Club record, most touchdowns in one game (6)

References

1. Mayer, Larry (2013-03-06). "Which players were part of trade that landed Cutler?". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 408
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 106
4. "NFLs top 10 draft classes in league history". National Football League. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-05.
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-05.
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com