By Jeremy Harris
Fresh off their come-from-behind win against the San Diego Chargers, the Bears (3-5) make the short trek to St. Louis to take on the Rams (4-4) this Sunday.
Today, we will begin revisiting some of the more memorable moments from a series that dates back to 1937.
1). Bears at Rams on December 17, 1950 (“Papa Bear defeated by a baby Bear”):
Between 1922, when the NFL was founded with the Bears as a charter franchise, and 1932, the league championship was awarded to the team with the best regular season record. There were no divisions or even a championship game. That changed in 1933, when the NFL was divided into the Western and Eastern divisions and the winner of each division played for the title.
When the Cleveland Rams entered the league in 1937, they were placed in the Western Division, which included the Bears. The Rams relocated to Los Angeles in 1946 but remained in the same division. When several teams from the now-defunct All-American Football Conference merged with the NFL for the 1950 season, the league was divided into two larger divisions, the American and National, the latter of which housed both the Rams and Bears.
While there had been tiebreaker games to determine the Eastern or Western division winner in 1941, 1943 and 1947, 1950 represented the first time that tiebreaker games were necessary for both divisions in the same season. The Bears and Rams, both 9-3, would square off on December 17, 1950 to face the winner of the American division tiebreaker game between the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.
The Rams had scored 466 points during the regular season, a points-per-game record that still stands, and led the league in yards from scrimmage.
The Rams had been led by QB Bob Waterfield since 1945, when they won their first championship. However, the team’s selection of Norm Van Brocklin in the 1950 draft spawned the first major quarterback controversy in league history. Rams head coach, Joe Stydahar, defused the issue by implementing a platoon system that utilized both Waterfield and Van Brocklin.
Stydahar was not just another opposing coach to George “Papa Bears” Halas.
Stydahar was the first player selected by Halas in the inaugural NFL draft of 1936, and the lineman had spent his entire nine-year playing career with the Bears.
Halas, whose Bears defeated the Rams twice in the regular season, would try to repulse the Rams potent offense with a fifth ranked defense. He would seek offensive production from third-year quarterback Johnny Lujak, the former Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner whose magical 1949 season featured a then single-game passing record of 468 yards and a league-leading 2658 yards and 23 touchdowns.
However, Lujak had suffered injuries to both shoulders during the 1950 season, leading to diminished production of 1731 yards and only four touchdowns against 21 interceptions. By the time the two teams met for the tiebreaker game, Lujak was struggling just to comb his hair or grip a football.
Stydahar’s platoon system helped spark the Rams to a 24-14 victory over his mentor’s team, as Waterfield connected with Tom Fears for three touchdowns. Fears’ 198 receiving yards was a playoff record that would stand for 48 years While the Rams would lose the league championship game the following week to the Cleveland Browns, Stydahar’s platoon system would help guide the Rams to their second championship, and first since relocating to Los Angeles, the following season.
Rams’ receiving targets of Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (1946-1957) and Fears (1948-1956) finished their careers with the second- and third-most receiving yards in league history, respectively, and they, Waterfield, Van Brocklin and their coach, Stydahar, would all become members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Stydahar resigned one game into the Rams 1952 season and then had a terrible two-year stretch as the head coach of the Chicago Cardinals in 1953 and 1954.
Halas later hired Stydahar as an assistant coach for the Bears’ championship season of 1963.
However, it would take 35 years for the Bears to avenge the Rams’ victory in the 1950 tiebreaker game.
2). Rams at Bears on October 10, 1977 (“The Bears sack a legend”)
The NFL expanded to four divisions for the 1967 season, ending the Bears and Rams 29 seasons as division foes. In 1970, when the AFL and NFL merged, the newly-formed NFC, compromised entirely of pre-merger NFL teams, and the AFC each consisted of three divisions (both conferences expanded to four division for the 2002 season).
After several years of losing records, the Rams experienced an ascent that coincided with divisional realignment. Between 1967 and 1976, the Rams ripped off nine winning seasons and six division championships led by their Fearsome Foursome defensive line of Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy and solid if not spectacular quarterback play from Roman Gabriel, John Hadl and James Harris. But a Super Bowl appearance continued to elude the perennial winners.
Prior to the 1977 season, the Rams were confident they had found the missing piece to the Super Bowl puzzle in iconic QB Joe Namath, a five-time Pro Bowler and the starting QB for the 1968 Super Bowl champion New York Jets.
On the other hand, divisional play was no antidote for the Bears, who had managed only one winning season from 1966 to 1976.
Through Week Three in 1977, the Rams were 2-1, the Bears 1-2. Namath had performed respectably, completing 34 of 67 passes for 403 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
However, the Bears were not in a sentimental mood when Namath and the Rams arrived for their Week Four game.
Before a national audience on Monday Night Football, Namath completed just 16 of 40 attempts, threw four interceptions and no touchdowns and was sacked twice. The future Hall-of-Famer was benched midgame and replaced by 1975 draft pick Pat Haden.
The Bears’ Bob Avellini delivered the best game of his professional career, completing 11 of 19 throws for 219 yards and three touchdowns, Walter Payton rushed for 126 yards, and Chicago edged the Rams 24-23.
Haden started the next ten games and led the Rams to another division title and 10-4 record. The Bears, led by head coach and longtime Rams player Jack Pardee, finished with a division-winning record of 9-5 and made their first playoff appearance since 1963. Both teams were eliminated in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
Joe Namath would never throw another pass after getting pummeled by the Bears, and he retired at season’s end.
Check back soon for more Bears-Rams memories.