Silver and Black vs. Monsters of the Midway

The Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) head to the Windy City this weekend to renew a rivalry with the Chicago Bears (1-5), but today, we look back at the matchup's history.

The Las Vegas Raiders will play another of the National Football League’s iconic franchises on Sunday when they meet the Chicago Bears in Week 7 of the 2023 season at famed Soldier Field in Chicago.

The Raiders, who were members of the inaugural American Football League season in 1960, and the Bears, a longtime stalwart in the NFL, have met only 16 times. The series is tied at 8-8, with Chicago winning 20-9, the last time they played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas a year ago.

However, some of the great players in NFL history went head-to-head when these teams first met.

In 1972, Ron Smith of the Bears returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, but running back Charlie Smith caught scoring passes of 14 and 19 yards from quarterbacks Daryle Lamonica and Kenny Stabler before running backs Pete Banaszak and Clarence Davis ran for touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

That gave the Raiders a 28-21 victory at the Oakland Coliseum in the final regular-season game to put them in the playoffs.

The Las Vegas Raiders and the Chicago Bears have a rich history in the National Football League / © Kirby Lee | 2007 Nov 11

The Raiders ran around Dick Butkus, perhaps the most outstanding middle linebacker of all time and the epitome of “The Monsters of the Midway,” who could barely move then because of a right knee injury that caused him to retire the following year. Still, he was so tough he refused to leave the field.

On one play, Butkus was blocked several times by the Raiders but continued to spin around and refused to go down as Charlie Smith ran for a 27-yard gain.

“Butkus might have been the greatest middle linebacker ever, but in that game we were able to go around him for some big gains, because he couldn’t move like he used to do,” Raiders Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw said. “But he was still very tough to go one-on-one against. I’m just glad we didn’t have to go against him earlier in his career because he was one of the best to ever play the game.”

In another great game between the Raiders and Bears, Hall of Famer Walter Payton rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns. Still, Stabler threw his third touchdown pass of the game to wide receiver Cliff Branch on a 49-yard bomb in the final minutes to give the Raiders a 28-27 victory at Soldier Field in 1976.

Bears kicker Bob Thomas had his 31-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright and bounce away on the game's final play on a typical breezy day in the Windy City, and the Raiders held on to win.

The Raiders were 16-1 overall that season and defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI.

Two years later, Errol Mann of the Raiders kicked a 29-yard field goal to force overtime and running back Arthur Whittington went one yard for a touchdown in the extra period to give Oakland a 25-19 victory at Soldier Field, and the Raiders had a 3-0 record over the Bears.

However, Chicago won the following three times they played, including a 23-6 victory at the Oakland Coliseum in 1981, a 17-6 win at Soldier Field in 1984, and a 6-3 triumph in 1987 on two field goals by Kevin Butler after the Raiders moved to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The Raiders and Bears have not played very often since the AFL-NFL merger 1970. The Silver and Black claimed a 24-21 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in 2019 when rookie running back Josh Jacobs ran two yards for his second touchdown and the winning score with 13:03 left in the game.

After the Bears won the last time they played a year ago, this meeting will break that 8-8 tie.

The Silver and Black will head on the road to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.

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