Bears–Cardinals rivalry
The Bears–Cardinals rivalry is a National Football League rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals.
It is the oldest rivalry in the NFL, featuring the only two franchises that remain from the league's founding in 1920. At the time, the teams were known as the Decatur Staleys and the Racine Cardinals. Despite the "Racine" name, the Cardinals were based in Chicago, named after the city's Racine Avenue. In 1921, the Staleys relocated to Chicago, and the rivalry became known as the "Battle of Chicago," a moniker it held for 38 years. This longstanding competition is considered the first true rivalry in NFL history, and is often referred to by modern media as the "NFL's oldest rivalry."
The rivalry began to diminish after the 1959 NFL season, when the Cardinals relocated from Chicago to St. Louis. Following the move, the NFL began treating the Bears and Cardinals as a standard inter-divisional matchup for scheduling purposes, leading to significantly fewer meetings between the teams. During the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, the league considered several realignment proposals for the newly formed National Football Conference, one of which would have placed the Bears and Cardinals in the same division. However, this option was ultimately rejected in favor of an alignment that placed the Bears in the NFC Central and the Cardinals in the NFC East. The rivalry further declined when the Cardinals relocated again, this time to Arizona in 1988.
The Bears lead the overall series, 60–30–6. The two teams have not met in the playoffs.
History
The first meeting
The Decatur Staleys and Racine Cardinals met for the first time on November 28, 1920 at Normal Park. Around 5,000 fans showed up to watch the Cardinals defeat the Staleys, 7–6. The loss was the only blemish in the Staleys record that season, and cost them the first American Professional Football Association title.Grange's debut and 0–0 games
Shortly after finishing his college career at the University of Illinois, Red Grange made his NFL debut with the Bears on Thanksgiving against the Cardinals in 1925. Around 36,000 fans showed up at Cubs Park to see the Bears tie the Cardinals 0–0. In fact, this was one of 17 consecutive games after their first meeting which ended in a shutout for either or both teams, with four 0–0 scores. The Cardinals would win their first of two NFL championships that season.The Ernie Nevers Game
The Cardinals' Ernie Nevers scored a still-standing NFL record of 40 points in a single game, doing so with six touchdowns and four extra points. Nevers scored all of the points in the Cardinals' 40–6 victory over the Bears on November 28, 1929. It was also the first game between the two teams since their inaugural game that did not end in a shutout.Pat Coffee's 97-yard touchdown
The Cardinals' 42–28 loss to the Bears at Wrigley Field in 1937 was mostly remembered for Pat Coffee's then-record 97-yard touchdown pass to Gaynell Tinsley, one of ten combined touchdown passes in the game.Spygate Incident
In 1934, both the Bears and the Cardinals practiced at Wrigley Field, but each team halted when they spotted spies and interlopers. Another incident occurred on October 7, 1942, when Cardinals head coach Jimmy Conzelman noticed two men in topcoats observing their practice. Conzelman later claimed the car belonged to a friend of one of the Bears. Bears owner George Halas dismissed the accusations as "ridiculous."1950s: Realignment and the last decade of the local rivalry
The Cardinals won their second NFL championship in 1947. After the 1949 NFL season, owners agreed to absorb the remnants of the All-America Football Conference. As part of this process, the enlarged league adopted a division alignment ostensibly to be based less on geography, in part with a view of ensuring all NFL franchises would have equal exposure in the two-team cities of New York and Chicago. The divisions were re-branded "American" and "National" with the Cardinals making the move to the American Division.Despite being in separate divisions, the Chicago teams nevertheless continued to play each other twice per year until 1953, when the divisions reverted to their traditional "Eastern" and "Western" names and the "Battle of Chicago" was reduced to a once-per-year affair.
By this time, the Cardinals were struggling on the field and at the gate. Nevertheless, in the 13 meetings between the Bears and Cardinals during the decade, the Bears only won seven of them. The Cardinals' last victory as a Chicago team over the Bears was a memorable one, as they won 53–14 at Comiskey Park in 1955 behind Ollie Matson's two touchdowns, including a 77-yard punt return. The Bears finished with a 47–19–6 all-time record against the Chicago Cardinals.
Even after moving to St. Louis and then much further west to Arizona, the Cardinals remained an "Eastern" team. It was not until the major realignment of prior to the 2002 NFL season that they finally became members of the NFC West.
1960–1987: Chicago vs. St. Louis
In the 1960 season, the Cardinals moved to St. Louis, with the Bears helping facilitate the move by paying $500,000 as "moving expenses", as they were now the sole owners of the expanding TV rights in Chicago.The Cardinals successfully kept its the team name despite the existence of the baseball Cardinals in the city. Coincidentally, both Cardinals franchises shared the same building during the football Cardinals' 28 seasons in St. Louis: Busch Stadium I from 1960 to 1965, and Busch Memorial Stadium from 1966 to 1987. Despite the relocation, some Chicago Cardinals fans couldn’t bring themselves to cheer for the Bears.
The Bears faced the Cardinals for the first time as a St-Louis based team in a preseason game in the 1963 season. They later met in a regular season game during the 1965 season. The two teams met only eleven times during the Cardinals' tenure in St. Louis, with the Cardinals amassing a 6–5 record. The Bears never played at Busch Stadium I. In the teams' first-ever meeting in St. Louis during the 1966 season, Cardinal defensive back Larry Wilson intercepted three passes, including a game-winning pick-six in St. Louis' 24–17 victory. Despite the Cardinals' success in St. Louis against the Bears, they only made four playoff appearances, and would once again be on the move after the 1987 season. The last-ever meeting between the Bears and St. Louis Cardinals came in the 1984 season, a game which saw Neil Lomax gash Buddy Ryan's 46 defense for six completions and 166 yards to Roy Green, and Ottis Anderson score two touchdowns in the Cardinals' 38–21 victory.
1988–present: Chicago vs. Phoenix/Arizona
The Cardinals moved further west to the Phoenix metropolitan area in 1988, becoming the Phoenix Cardinals. In their first matchup as a Phoenix-based franchise, the Cardinals hosted the Bears in Phoenix, but the near-sellout crowd was expected to be composed mostly of Bears fans. They then changed their name to the Arizona Cardinals in the 1994 season. As of 2021, the Bears won seven of 11 meetings with the Arizona Cardinals, but to this day, the teams have yet to face each other in the NFL playoffs.The Dennis Green Game
The most memorable game of the rivalry took place on Monday Night Football during the 2006 season. The then-undefeated Bears trailed the 1–4 Cardinals by 20 points at halftime. The Cardinals also held Bears quarterback Rex Grossman at just 14 completions in 37 passing attempts for 144 yards passing while getting six turnovers from the Bears quarterback as Grossman threw four interceptions and fumbled the ball twice and had a quarterback rating of 10.2 at the end of the game. However, the Cardinals still didn't win the game. At the end of the third quarter, Bears edge rusher Mark Anderson fumbled the ball out of Matt Leinart's hand and was recovered by Mike Brown for a touchdown and the Bears trailed 23–10 heading into the fourth quarter. However, Bears cornerback Charles Tillman returned a fumble by Edgerrin James that was forced out by Brian Urlacher 40 yards for a touchdown, and returner Devin Hester gave the Bears the lead with a 83-yard punt return touchdown. However, the Cardinals still had a chance to win. Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart attempted a comeback drive where he drove the Cardinals from their own 38 to the Bears 23 yard line. They had a shot to win but kicker Neil Rackers missed a 40 yard field goal with 52 seconds left to secure the Bears comeback victory. The final score was 24–23 Bears. After the loss, Cardinals head coach Dennis Green made a memorable post-game rant with the media, screaming "The Bears are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We played them in preseason—who the hell takes a third game of the preseason like it's bullshit? Bullshit! We played them in the third game—everybody played three quarters—the Bears are who we thought they were! That's why we took the damn field. Now if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!" The game made NFL Top 10 Meltdowns where it landed at #7 on the list and also made Top 10 Greatest Comebacks landing at #6.Players who played for both teams
| Name | Pos. | Years with Bears | Years with Cardinals |
| Jeff Blake | QB | 2005 | 2003 |
| Kevin Butler | K | 1985–1995 | 1996–1997 |
| Guy Chamberlin | End | 1920–1921 | 1927 |
| Chris Chandler | QB | 2002–2003 | 1991–1993 |
| Marcus Cooper | CB | 2017–2018 | 2016 |
| Dave Duerson | S | 1983–1989 | 1991–1993 |
| Ted Ginn Jr. | WR | 2020 | 2014 |
| Mike Glennon | QB | 2017 | 2018 |
| Brian Hoyer | QB | 2016 | 2012 |
| Thomas Jones | RB | 2004–2006 | 2000–2002 |
| Walt Kiesling | G | 1934 | 1929–1933 |
| Dave Krieg | QB | 1996 | 1995 |
| Cassius Marsh | LB | 2021 | 2019 |
| Wilber Marshall | LB | 1984–1987 | 1994 |
| Josh McCown | QB | 2011–2013 | 2002–2005 |
| Jim McMahon | QB | 1982–1988 | 1994 |
| Mike Nugent | K | 2017 | 2009, 2020 |
| Ricky Proehl | WR | 1997 | 1990–1994 |
| Antrel Rolle | CB | 2015 | 2005–2009 |
| Chester Taylor | RB | 2010 | 2011 |
| Javon Wims | WR | 2018–2020 | 2022 |