Silver and Black take on the monsters of Midway.
The Las Vegas Raiders will take on another iconic National Football League franchise on Sunday when they take on the Chicago Bears in Week 7 of the 2023 season at Chicago’s famous Soldier Field.
The Raiders, who participated in the American Football League’s inaugural season in 1960, and the Bears, a longtime NFL mainstay, have faced off just 16 times.
The series is tied 8-8 with Chicago winning 20-9, the last time being played a year ago at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. But the first time these teams met, some of the greatest players in NFL history came face to face.
In 1972, the Bears’ Ron Smith returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, but running back Charlie Smith caught passes of 14 and 19 yards from quarterbacks Darryl Lamonica and Kenny Stabler.
And running backs Pete Banaszak and Clarence Davis did not run. Touchdown. In the fourth quarter.
The Raiders won the final game of the regular season at the Oakland Coliseum 28-21, clinching a spot in the playoffs.
The Raiders had Dick Butkus around them.
He was perhaps the greatest middle linebacker of all time and the embodiment of the Midway Monsters, but an injury to his right knee left him with little movement and forced him to retire the following year. But he was so tough that he refused to leave the field.
On one play, the Raiders blocked Butkus multiple times, but Butkus continued to spin and refused to go down as Charlie Smith ran for 27 yards. “Butkus may have been the best middle linebacker of all time, but we were able to outrun him in that game and have a lot of success because he couldn’t move like he used to,” Defender said. End spoke about Raiders Hall.
Farmer Gene Upshaw. “But it was still very difficult to play against him one-on-one. “I’m really glad I didn’t have to play against him so early in my career because he was one of the best players to ever play.”
Another great game between the Raiders and Bears saw Hall of Famer Walter Payton throw for 97 yards and three touchdowns.
But Stabler hit wide receiver Cliff Branch with a 49-yard bomb in the final seconds for his third touchdown of the game, giving the Raiders a 28-27 victory at Soldier Field in 1976. . On a typical windy day in the Windy City, Bears kicker Bob Thomas attempted a 31-yard field goal, but the shot hit right field and rebounded on the final play of the game, giving the Raiders the victory. I kept it.
The Raiders went 16-1 that season, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI. Two years later, the Raiders’ Errol Mann kicked a 29-yard field goal to send overtime, running back Arthur Whittington scored a 1-yard touchdown run in overtime, and Oakland was at Soldier Field. They won 25-19. We won 25-19. Their record is 3 wins and 0 losses against the Bears.
However, Chicago won its next three games, including a 23-6 victory at the Oakland Coliseum in 1981, a 17-6 victory at Soldier Field in 1984, and a 1987 victory over Kevin -Includes a 6-for-6.3 win with two baskets by Butler. After the Raiders moved to the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The Raiders and Bears haven’t played each other often since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. In 2019 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the Silver and Black won 24-21 with rookie running back Josh Jacobs running 2 yards for his second touchdown. Winning score with 13:03 remaining.
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