The Bears vs. Steelers rivalry isn’t exactly one at the high end of NFL lore. That’s not surprising. For most of their existence the two teams have spent their years in different conferences, so the encounters are often once every four years. It’s hard to build any sort of heat between two franchises that way. At the same time that doesn’t mean there aren’t some fascinating tidbits to explore. Here are a few examples.
Pittsburgh is 1-12 playing in Chicago
The series is a rather remarkable one in terms of head-to-head encounters. Pittsburgh has owned the Super Bowl era with six championships since 1974. However, it’s the Bears who have owned them. Chicago leads the series by a comfortable 18-7-1 margin. Much of that domination coming courtesy of their home field. The Steelers have always had problems playing in Chicago, going an ugly 1-12 during their visits there. Their lone victory came in 1995 when they escaped with a 37-34 win in overtime.
The series has featured four shutouts, all by the Bears
By far the biggest trademark of both franchises has been their legacy of defense. The hottest debate between the two is who had the greatest defense ever. Was it the Steel Curtain of the 1970s led by Joe Green, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount? Or was it the “46” defense of the 1980s led by Dan Hampton, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary.
Well if a defensive legacy is based on numbers, then the title belongs in Chicago. Four times in their 26 meeting has a team been shut out. All four of those times it was the Bears doing it to the Steelers. Not only that, but all four were in Pittsburgh.
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Jay Cutler won his first game as a Bear against them
The longest-tenured quarterback of the modern era for Chicago was Jay Cutler. He was their unquestioned starter for eight seasons. Most remember his last victory over the Vikings on Halloween night, but they sometimes forget his first. Yep, that came during the Steelers’ most recent visit to Chicago way back in 2009.
They were defending Super Bowl champions while the Bears were coming off a brutal 21-15 loss to Green Bay. Undeterred, Cutler engineered some late-game magic to upset the champs 17-14 for his first victory as a Bear.
The Bears plucked some Hall of Fame players from Pittsburgh
One thing about the city of Pittsburgh? It’s always been a giving place, especially in terms of talent to the NFL. There have been many natives from there who went on to have great careers. The most famous of course is probably quarterback Dan Marino. What Chicago fans may not know is that town has also been a regular supply line of great players to the Bears franchise as well.
Three names stand out the most. Stan Jones became a Hall of Fame offensive lineman for them in the 1950s and ’60s. Jimbo Covert was left tackle for them in the 1980s and member of the All-Decade team. Easily the most famous though was iconic tight end and Bears head coach Mike Ditka.
The Steelers traded Chicago the draft pick that became Dick Butkus
Last but certainly not least is one of the rare instances the two teams did business together. Back in the 1960s the NFL was in the middle of a war against the upstart American Football League. This ushered in an era of aggressive business where teams often made deals with each other based on what was best for the league rather than just the teams.
In 1964 the Bears surrendered their second and fourth round picks in exchange for the Steelers’ first rounder in 1965. As luck would have it that pick became the #3 overall that year. With it head coach and team owner George Halas decided to infuse his defense with some young blood in the guise of Illinois linebacker Richard Marvin Butkus.
He would go on to become the most feared man in football history, the great Dick Butkus.
