# 1966 Chicago Bears season

The 1966 season was the Chicago Bears' 47th in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their 9–5 record from 1965 and finished with a 5–7–2 record under head coach George Halas, earning them a fifth-place finish in the NFL Western Conference. This was the franchise's second losing season in the past three.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1966 Chicago Bears draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 12 | George Rice | Defensive tackle | LSU | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 11 | at Detroit Lions | L 3–14 | 0–1 | Tiger Stadium | 52,225 |
| 2 | September 16 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 17–31 | 0–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 58,916 |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | October 2 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 13–10 | 1–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,426 |
| 5 | October 9 | Baltimore Colts | W 27–17 | 2–2 | Wrigley Field | 47,452 |
| 6 | October 16 | Green Bay Packers | L 0–17 | 2–3 | Wrigley Field | 48,573 |
| 7 | October 23 | Los Angeles Rams | W 17–10 | 3–3 | Wrigley Field | 47,475 |
| 8 | October 31 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 17–24 | 3–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,516 |
| 9 | November 6 | Detroit Lions | T 10–10 | 3–4–1 | Wrigley Field | 47,041 |
| 10 | November 13 | San Francisco 49ers | T 30–30 | 3–4–2 | Wrigley Field | 47,078 |
| 11 | November 20 | at Green Bay Packers | L 6–13 | 3–5–2 | Lambeau Field | 50,861 |
| 12 | November 27 | Atlanta Falcons | W 23–6 | 4–5–2 | Wrigley Field | 44,777 |
| 13 | December 4 | at Baltimore Colts | L 16–21 | 4–6–2 | Memorial Stadium | 60,238 |
| 14 | December 11 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 14–41 | 4–7–2 | Kezar Stadium | 37,170 |
| 15 | December 18 | Minnesota Vikings | W 41–28 | 5–7–2 | Wrigley Field | 45,191 |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||
* A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

## Standings

NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 10–2 | 335 | 163 | W5 |
| Baltimore Colts | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 7–5 | 314 | 226 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 6–6 | 289 | 212 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6 | 6 | 2 | .500 | 5–5–2 | 320 | 325 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 4–6–2 | 234 | 272 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 3–8–1 | 206 | 317 | L3 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 4–7–1 | 292 | 304 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Game summaries
### Week 4: vs. Baltimore Colts

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Bears | 10 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
* Date: Sunday, October 9, 1966
* Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First Quarter
CHI – Roger LeClerc 42-yard field goal – Bears 3–0
CHI – Joe Fortunato 24-yard fumble return (Roger LeClerc kick) – Bears 10–0
Second Quarter
BAL – Lou Michaels 13-yard field goal – Bears 10–3
Third Quarter
CHI – Gale Sayers 30-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) – Bears 17–3
CHI – Roger LeClerc 27-yard field goal – Bears 20–3
BAL – Bobby Boyd 37-yard interception return (Lou Michaels kick) – Bears 20–10
Fourth Quarter
CHI – Gale Sayers 7-yard run (Roger LeClerc kick) – Bears 27–10
BAL – John Mackey 79-yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Lou Michaels kick) – Bears 27–17
Colts
Johnny Unitas 18/38, 274 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Tom Matte 4 Rush, 57 Yds
John Mackey 2 Rec, 89 Yds, TD
Bears
Rudy Bukich 8/15, 96 Yds, INT
Gale Sayers 18 Rush, 106 Yds, 2 TD
Jimmy Jones 3 Rec, 64 Yds :