Cincinnati Bengals Flashback: 3 big moments vs. Bears
By Eric Bruns
This Sunday will be Andy Dalton’s second game against the team that drafted him. This time it is in Soldier Field where the Cincinnati Bengals are 4-2 against the Bears.
The Bengals are winning the series against the Bears overall at 6-5 so it’s in the cards for the good guys to win. They are improved from last year when Dalton made his return with Dallas to Paul Brown Stadium to eviscerate the Bengals 30-7. Now, let’s take a look at three big moments vs. the Bears.
Nov. 26, 1972 – Bengals start the series off with a win
Finding memorable or special games in this series was tough. However, I decided to pick this game for one main reason I will get to later.
Ken Anderson was drafted in 1971 and would only make four starts as a Bengal. Then in 1972, Ken was named the starter and played 13 games going 7-6 as a starter.
The Bengals ended up going 8-6 and unfortunately, missed the playoffs. The one game Anderson missed was in Soldier Field against the Bears, who had an even tougher season in 72 going 3-7-1 with one of those losses coming to Bengals back up and past starter Virgil Carter.
It was a defensive game with Carter throwing two picks and taking a sack. Quarterback Bobby Douglas had a very rough game for Chicago going 6-of-20 for 101 yards and also throwing two picks. A final score of 13-3 ended what appeared to be an ugly game in Chicago.
My favorite stat of the day leading me to write about this game comes from Pro Football Reference. Bears player Jim Harrison had two carries for 14 yards but it’s his receptions that are intriguing. Two receptions for -1 yards with a long reception of eight yards. This means he had another reception of -9 yards, which I would really love to see how that even happened. If anyone knows, drop how in the comment section!