Everybody knows that the Hall of Fame game is a glorified scrimmage. Since it’s essentially a fifth preseason contest for the two teams involved, it’s not going to feature any starters playing. Nobody would risk injuries in something like that. Even so, it’s the first actual football being played during the new league year, so it’s still important. The Chicago Bears may have more reason to appreciate this game than others.
For one, it gives the new coaching staff under Matt Nagy an extra four quarters of simulated game action to evaluate this roster. It’s important to not underestimate how valuable that can be since every depth chart decision could have unexpected consequences during the season. There is another, more superstitious reason though.
It turns out that these “meaningless” games have historically been followed by a noticeable trend in final Bears records the corresponding seasons.
Chicago Bears have never had a losing season in HOF game years
Considering the Bears have the most players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with another in Brian Urlacher set to join the ranks, it seems to make sense they’d be fairly consistent in their success playing at Canton. Since 1968, the team has participated in four games there. They are 4-0 in those contests with wins over the Cowboys, Jets, Browns, and Dolphins.
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Game week for the Bears. Hall of fame game this Thursday in Canton, Ohio against Baltimore. Bears are 4-0 in HOF games.
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) July 30, 2018
That may mean nothing, but then again it’s hard to argue with what happened after each of those performances. To date the Bears have never finished with a losing record in years they played in a Hall of Fame game. In fact, three of those four seasons ended with them making the playoffs.
- 1968: Finished 7-7
- 1977: Finished 10-4 (made playoffs)
- 1990: Finished 11-5 (made playoffs)
- 2005: Finished 11-5 (made playoffs)
Fun fact? That 7-7 mark in 1968 would be the last .500 or better season the Bears would have for eight years when they played in their second Hall of Fame game. Just in case people weren’t ready to buy into the idea that this contest has a weird effect on this franchise whenever it comes up.
The 1977 occurrence helped end the longest playoff drought in franchise history. The 1990 one would feature Mike Ditka’s last playoff victory and the 2005 version foreshadowed Kyle Orton’s memorable rookie season. That makes it interesting wonder what could happen in 2018. Will the trend continue for the Bears? It would be quite the story if they surpassed expectations to post their first winning record in six years. A little luck never hurts.
