1924 Chicago Bears season
NFL team season
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The 1924 Chicago Bears season was their fifth regular season completed in the National Football League. The team was unable to improve on their 9â2â2 record from 1923 and finished with an 8â3â4 record under head coach George Halas earning them a second-place finish in the team standings, the fourth time in the last five years. The Bears started slow with 2 ties and a loss, but quickly gained their stride, winning 6 of their last 8 games with two ties.
| 1924 Chicago Bears season | |
|---|---|
| |
| Owner | George S. Halas, Dutch Sternaman |
| Head coach | George Halas |
| Home stadium | Cubs Park |
| Results | |
| Record | 8â3â4 Overall 6â1â4 NFL |
| League place | 2nd NFL |
The Bears' only loss of the year was to the Cleveland Bulldogs, the eventual champions (the NFL officially considers the 1924 Bulldogs a different team than the Canton team from the previous year â however, all the players were the same). Despite coming in second, the Bears did defeat the cross-town rival Cardinals twice, both shutouts, and their future classic rival, the Green Bay Packers, once in a 3â0 shutout.
The Sternaman brothers again carried the team, with Joe Sternaman having his best season. The younger Sternaman scored 6 touchdowns, threw for another, had 9 field goals, and 12 PATs, finishing with 75 of the Bears' 136 points.
Schedule
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| â | September 21 | at Green Bay Packers | L 0â5 | â | Bellevue Park | ~ 4000 | â | [1] | |
| 1 | September 28 | at Rock Island Independents | T 0â0 | 0â0â1 | Douglas Park | 4,500 | Recap | ||
| 2 | October 5 | at Cleveland Bulldogs | L 14â16 | 0â1â1 | Dunn Field | Recap | [2][3] | ||
| 3 | October 12 | Racine Legion | T 10â10 | 0â1â2 | Cubs Park | 10,000 | Recap | ||
| 4 | October 19 | Chicago Cardinals | W 6â0 | 1â1â2 | Cubs Park | 12,000 | Recap | ||
| 5 | October 26 | Frankford Yellow Jackets | W 33â3 | 2â1â2 | Cubs Park | 8,000 [4] | Recap | ||
| 6 | November 2 | Rock Island Independents | T 3â3 | 2â1â3 | Cubs Park | 10,000 | Recap | ||
| 7 | November 9 | Columbus Tigers | W 12â6 | 3â1â3 | Cubs Park | 7,000 | Recap | ||
| 8 | November 16 | Racine Legion | T 3â3 | 3â1â4 | Cubs Park | 6,500 | Recap | ||
| 9 | November 23 | Green Bay Packers | W 3â0 | 4â1â4 | Cubs Park | 6,000 | Recap | [5] | |
| 10 | November 27 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 21â0 | 5â1â4 | Cubs Park | 13,000 | Recap | ||
| 11 | November 30 | Milwaukee Badgers | W 31â14 | 6â1â4 | Cubs Park | 1,000+ | Recap | [6] | |
| â | December 7 | Cleveland Bulldogs | W 23â0 | â | Cubs Park | 15,000 [7] | â | [8][9][10][11] | |
| â | December 13 | at Frankford Yellow Jackets | W 13â10 | â | Frankford Stadium | 20,000 | â | [12] | |
| â | December 14 | Rock Island Independents | L 6â7 | â | Cubs Park | 7,000 | â | [13][14] | |
| Note: Game in italics exhibitions (not recognized in league statistics). Thanksgiving Day: November 27. | |||||||||
Standings
| NFL standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |||
| Cleveland Bulldogs | 7 | 1 | 1 | .875 | 229 | 60 | W2 | ||
| Chicago Bears | 6 | 1 | 4 | .857 | 136 | 55 | W3 | ||
| Frankford Yellow Jackets | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 | 326 | 109 | W8 | ||
| Duluth Kelleys | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 56 | 16 | W1 | ||
| Rock Island Independents | 5 | 2 | 2 | .714 | 88 | 38 | L1 | ||
| Green Bay Packers | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 108 | 38 | L1 | ||
| Racine Legion | 4 | 3 | 3 | .571 | 69 | 47 | W1 | ||
| Chicago Cardinals | 5 | 4 | 1 | .556 | 90 | 67 | L1 | ||
| Buffalo Bisons | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 120 | 140 | L3 | ||
| Columbus Tigers | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 91 | 68 | L1 | ||
| Hammond Pros | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 18 | 45 | W2 | ||
| Milwaukee Badgers | 5 | 8 | 0 | .385 | 142 | 188 | L2 | ||
| Akron Pros | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 59 | 132 | W1 | ||
| Dayton Triangles | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | 45 | 148 | L6 | ||
| Kansas City Blues | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 46 | 124 | L2 | ||
| Kenosha Maroons | 0 | 4 | 1 | .000 | 12 | 117 | L2 | ||
| Minneapolis Marines | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 14 | 108 | L6 | ||
| Rochester Jeffersons | 0 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 156 | L7 | ||
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
The December contests
Roster
Although the Bears proclaimed themselves World Champions based on a December 7 victory over Cleveland following completion of the regular season, and were widely accepted as such in the press, league owners selected the Cleveland Bulldogs as NFL champions of 1924.
Future Hall of Fame players
- George Halas, end
- Ed Healey, tackle
- George Trafton, center
Other leading players
- Dutch Sternaman, halfback
- Joe Sternaman, quarterback
- Laurie Walquist, quarterback
- Hunk Anderson, guard
- John Bryan, back