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1983 Chicago Bears season

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1983 Chicago Bears season
OwnerGeorge Halas (until October 31)
The McCaskey Family
(Family control since 1921; Virginia McCaskey since 1983)
General managerJim Finks
Head coachMike Ditka
(2nd season)
Home fieldSoldier Field
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
AP All-Pros

The 1983 season was the Chicago Bears' 64th in the National Football League, and their second under head coach Mike Ditka. The team improved from their 3–6 record from 1982 to finish at 8–8, but to failed to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Jim McMahon was the quarterback, who completed 175 of 295 pass attempts. The Bears 1983 NFL draft class was ranked #3 in NFL Top 10's greatest draft classes.[3]

Offseason

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1983 NFL Draft

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Main article: 1983 NFL Draft
1983 Chicago Bears draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 6 Jim Covert * †  Offensive tackle Pittsburgh
1 18 Willie Gault  Wide receiver Tennessee
2 33 Mike Richardson  Cornerback Arizona State
3 64 Dave Duerson *  Safety Notre Dame
4 91 Tom Thayer  Center Notre Dame
4 107 Pat Dunsmore  Tight end Drake
8 203 Richard Dent †  Defensive end Tennessee State
8 219 Mark Bortz *  Guard Iowa
9 230 Rob Fada  Guard Pittsburgh
9 235 Mark Zavagnin  Linebacker Notre Dame
10 256 Anthony Hutchison  Running back Texas Tech
11 286 Gary Worthy  Running back Wilmington (OH)
12 313 Oliver Williams  Wide receiver Illinois
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

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1983 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Dave McCarrell Quarterback Wheaton
Dan Ruzich Linebacker Kansas State

Roster and staff

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Staff

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Coaching Staff of 1983 season

Front office

Coaches

 

Position coaches

Trainers

 

Scouts

Roster

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1983 Chicago Bears roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Preseason

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The Bears were predicted to finish 7–9 and fourth in the division by Paul Zimmerman. Their prized new weapon would be Willie Gault. Dennis McKinnon (signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bears in 1983) would also play a key role in the receiving corps and Jimbo Covert would help open bigger holes for Walter Payton but it was felt they were a few offensive lineman and a tight end away from being effective. The defense would be led by All-Pro Dan Hampton and new defensive backs Mike Richardson and Dave Duerson.[4] The Bears started 1983 by losing 7 of their first 10, but won 5 of their last 6 to finish 8–8. The Bears would go 71–18 in regular season games from November 13, 1983, through October 2, 1989.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue
1 August 6 Buffalo Bills W 27–17 1–0 Soldier Field
2 August 13 at St. Louis Cardinals L 24–27 1–1 Busch Stadium
3 August 20 at Los Angeles Raiders W 27–21 2–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
4 August 27 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–17 3–1 Soldier Field

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 4 Atlanta Falcons L 17–20 0–1 Soldier Field 60,165
2 September 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–10 1–1 Soldier Field 58,186
3 September 18 at New Orleans Saints L 31–34 1–2 Louisiana Superdome 64,692
4 September 25 at Baltimore Colts L 19–22 1–3 Memorial Stadium 34,350
5 October 2 Denver Broncos W 31–14 2–3 Soldier Field 58,210
6 October 9 Minnesota Vikings L 14–23 2–4 Soldier Field 59,632
7 October 16 at Detroit Lions L 17–31 2–5 Pontiac Silverdome 66,709
8 October 23 at Philadelphia Eagles W 7–6 3–5 Veterans Stadium 45,263
9 October 30 Detroit Lions L 17–38 3–6 Soldier Field 58,764
10 November 6 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–21 3–7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 53,010
11 November 13 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–14 4–7 Soldier Field 47,524
12 November 20 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 27–0 5–7 Tampa Stadium 36,816
13 November 27 San Francisco 49ers W 13–3 6–7 Soldier Field 40,483
14 December 4 at Green Bay Packers L 28–31 6–8 Lambeau Field 51,147
15 December 11 at Minnesota Vikings W 19–13 7–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,880
16 December 18 Green Bay Packers W 23–21 8–8 Soldier Field 35,807
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 1: vs. Atlanta Falcons

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Falcons 6 0 7720
Bears 0 10 7017

at Soldier Field, Chicago

Week 2 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Buccaneers 0 3 7010
Bears 0 10 0717

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

CHI: Mike Hartenstine 2.0 sacks, Terry Schmidt INT

Week 3: at New Orleans Saints

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Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Bears 7 3 714031
Saints 7 3 147334

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Week 4: at Baltimore Colts

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Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Bears 0 3 313019
Colts 0 13 06322

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: Sunday, September 25
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
  • Referee: Jerry Seeman
  • TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 5: vs. Denver Broncos

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 7714
Bears 14 10 0731

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

  • Date: Sunday, October 2
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Bob Griese
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 6: vs. Minnesota Vikings

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Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 7 0 007
Eagles 0 0 336

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

Week 9: vs. Detroit Lions

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Lions 14 3 14738
Bears 0 3 01417

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Week 11: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 7 0 7014
Bears 0 14 0317

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

  • Date: Sunday, November 13
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 33 °F (1 °C), wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 12: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 0 14 6727
Buccaneers 0 0 000

at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Week 13: vs. San Francisco 49ers

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
49ers 3 0 003
Bears 3 7 3013

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Week 14: at Green Bay Packers

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 7 7 01428
Packers 14 7 01031

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Week 15: at Minnesota Vikings

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1 234Total
• Bears 10 603 19
Vikings 6 070 13
Scoring summary
Q1MINBenny Ricardo 30-yard field goalMIN 3–0
Q1MINBenny Ricardo 29-yard field goalMIN 6–0
Q1CHIWalter Payton 74-yard pass from Matt Suhey (Bob Thomas kick)CHI 7–6
Q1CHIBob Thomas 42-yard field goalCHI 10–6
Q2CHIEmery Moorehead 2-yard pass from Jim McMahon (kick failed)CHI 17–6
Q3MINTed Brown 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick)CHI 19–13
Q4CHIBob Thomas 22-yard field goalCHI 19–13

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Week 16 vs. Green Bay Packers

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Week 16: Green Bay Packers (8–7) at Chicago Bears (7–8)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Packers 7 7 0721
Bears 7 0 7923

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information

Standings

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NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Detroit Lions(3) 9 7 0 .563 7–1 8–4 347 286 W1
Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 .500 4–4 6–6 429 439 L1
Chicago Bears 8 8 0 .500 4–4 7–7 311 301 W2
Minnesota Vikings 8 8 0 .500 4–4 4–8 316 348 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 14 0 .125 1–7 1–11 241 380 L3

References

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  1. ^ "1983 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "1983 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "NFLs top 10 draft classes in league history". National Football League. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  4. ^ Sports Illustrated. 1 Sept 1983
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Mar-02.
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