1956: Caroline Stars as Bears Edge Cards

The game between the NFL’s two Chicago franchises, the Bears and Cardinals, on December 9, 1956 had significant meaning for both teams. While the rivalry was always significant, in this instance both clubs were battling to remain in contention in their respective conferences.

The Bears, coached by Paddy Driscoll, the replacement for the (briefly) retired George Halas, had a 7-2-1 record and were trying to keep pace in the Western Conference with the Lions, who had beaten them badly at Detroit the previous week. FB Rick Casares was leading the NFL in rushing and QB Ed Brown was a productive passer who had an outstanding target available in end Harlon Hill. Injuries were a problem at halfback, however, and J.C. Caroline (pictured above), a NFL rookie who had spent a year in the CFL and was performing well in the defensive backfield, was to get a shot on offense.

The Cardinals were under the guidance of second-year Head Coach Ray Richards and had a 6-4 tally that put them behind the Giants in the Eastern Conference. While the Bears regularly contended, the Cards had not finished with a winning record since 1949. They featured the league’s second-best rusher, all-purpose HB Ollie Matson. They also had a good defensive backfield that included DHBs Dick “Night Train” Lane and Lindon Crow. QB Lamar McHan had potential and was a good fit in the team’s split-T offense, but could be temperamental and lost his starting job at one point during the season.

There were 48,606 fans in attendance on a cold day at Wrigley Field, and they saw a game that proved to be a tense and hard-fought affair. In the first quarter, Ollie Matson (pictured at left) took a pitchout and raced 65 yards for an apparent touchdown, but it was called back due to a penalty on the offense.

The game remained scoreless until the second quarter, when a shanked punt by John Roach of the Cardinals that traveled only 17 yards gave the Bears the ball at the Cards’ 27. The result was a 36-yard field goal by George Blanda to break the deadlock.

With time running out in the first half, an Ed Brown pass was intercepted by Lindon Crow and the Cards tied the score at 3-3 on the last play before halftime as Pat Summerall booted a field goal from 42 yards that barely cleared the crossbar.

In the third quarter, the Bears put together a 60-yard drive highlighted by the running of Casares and J. C. Caroline and a pass by Ed Brown to Harlon Hill that picked up 21 yards to the Cards’ 16. The series was capped by Caroline running for the last three yards and a touchdown. Blanda added the extra point for the seven-point lead.

On the next series by the Cards, Matson ran 83 yards down the sideline for another apparent TD, but again the play was nullified, this time by a holding penalty. The game had no more scoring the rest of the way. There were opportunities, but it was a rough day for the placekickers. George Blanda missed three of his four field goal attempts, all of which were blocked, and Pat Summerall was successful on only one of five tries, with two of them blocked.

With time running out in the fourth quarter, the contest came down to a wild finish. Following the interception of a Bears’ pass at the goal line, a free-for-all broke out that involved a half dozen players and a number of fans, bringing police and ushers onto the field to help restore order. Linebackers Bill George of the Bears and Carl Brettschneider of the Cardinals were ejected once the situation was calmed. On the next play, “Night Train” Lane, put in as a receiver, caught a pass from Lamar McHan that traveled 40 yards in the air. The play covered 75 yards and it appeared that Lane was sure to score a potentially game-tying touchdown, but he was caught by Caroline at the Chicago seven, the rookie’s flying tackle causing a fumble that safety McNeil Moore recovered for the Bears. The fumble was of no consequence as the final gun sounded shortly thereafter and the Bears came away with a tough 10-3 win.

The Bears had the edge in total yards (302 to 265), with258 yards of their total coming on the ground while they completed only three passes out of 15 attempts. They also led in first downs (16 to 11). The Cards turned the ball over five times, to four suffered by the Bears, but the Cards were undone by penalties, two of which negated the long potential scoring runs by Ollie Matson.

J.C. Caroline rushed for 68 yards on 16 carries that included the game’s only touchdown while making the biggest defensive play at the end. Rick Casares (pictured at right) gained 117 yards on 25 carries and Ollie Matson ended up rushing for just 26 yards on 9 attempts.

The win for the Bears kept them a half-game behind Detroit in the Western Conference standings, setting up a showdown with the Lions in the season finale that they won. Ending up with a 9-2-1 record, Chicago was thrashed by the Giants in the NFL Championship game.  The loss officially eliminated the Cardinals from contention in the Eastern Conference. They won their finale to finish in second place at 7-5.

“He was simply great out there,” said Coach Driscoll of the Bears about J.C. Caroline. “We hadn’t intended on using him much on offense, but what could we do after he took over?”

Caroline received Rookie of the Year honors from The Sporting News and was named to the Pro Bowl after intercepting six passes, two of which he returned for touchdowns. In his stint on offense, he rushed for 141 yards on 34 carries (4.1 avg.) and scored twice more.

Rick Casares finished as the NFL rushing leader with 1126 yards on 234 carries (4.8 avg.) and 12 touchdowns. He scored another two TDs among his 23 pass receptions and led the league in that category as well with 14. Ollie Matson remained the runner-up in rushing as he gained a career-high 924 yards on 192 attempts (4.8 avg.) and scored five times. Adding in pass receptions and kick returns, he topped the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1524.

The long pass reception for “Night Train” Lane was his only one of the season and one of eight, for 253 yards and a TD, over the course of his career. He was a consensus first-team All-NFL and Pro Bowl selection for his prowess in the defensive backfield as he intercepted seven passes, returning them for 206 yards and a TD.

1955: Cardinals Hand Bears Key Defeat in Major Upset

The Chicago Bears were 6-3 and had won six straight games as they took on their cross-town rivals, the Chicago Cardinals, at Comiskey Park on November 27, 1955. George Halas, the owner and in his third stint as head coach, had announced that this would be his last season on the sideline and the club was focused on winning one last title for “the Papa Bear.” They were in first place in the Western Conference, a half game in front of the Rams, a club they had beaten twice.

The Cardinals were 3-5-1 and had lost their last two games coming into the annual intercity contest with the Bears. Under first-year Head Coach Ray Richards, the club had some outstanding talent in HB Ollie Matson (pictured above) and defensive halfback Dick “Night Train” Lane, but was by no means considered a match for its rival. They were 16.5-point underdogs coming into the game.

There were 47,314 fans in attendance in a heavy snowstorm, and even though it was the Cardinals’ home field, many of those were Bears fans, judging from the cheers for the Bears’ players during the pregame introductions. The turf was soft and muddy due to the weather conditions and the lights were turned on during the first quarter.

The tone for the game was set early as the Cardinals took the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards in 13 plays for the first score. QB Lamar McHan threw a pass intended for end Gern Nagler that was deflected but grabbed by end Don Stonesifer, who completed the play for a 28-yard touchdown.

The Bears took possession and were forced to punt. Matson received the kick at his own 23 yard line and returned it 77 yards for another Cardinals TD. Before the opening period was over, rookie HB Dave Mann scored on a 19-yard run to open up a 21-0 margin for the Cards.

The lead was extended to 27-0 in the second quarter after FB John Olszewski ran for a 41-yard touchdown. While PK Pat Summerall missed the extra point, it hardly mattered. The Bears finally got on the board when QB George Blanda ran for a one-yard TD, but were in a deep hole at 27-7 as the first half ended.

Any hopes that the Bears might climb out of that hole ended when they fumbled the ball away in their first two possessions of the second half. Summerall kicked field goals of 12 and 40 yards, and Mann contributed a long touchdown dash of 61 yards to add to the rout at 40-7 after three periods.

Matson and Stonesifer finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter, with the Hall of Fame halfback plunging in for a TD from a yard out and the end catching a seven-yard pass from McHan. The Bears scored an inconsequential touchdown in the last minutes as third string QB Bob Williams connected with end John Hoffman on a 23-yard pass play. The final score of the stunning upset was 53-14.


The Cardinals gained 301 yards on the ground, averaging 5.7 yards per attempt, and 175 passing for an overall total of 474, to 211 yards for the Bears. Dave Mann (pictured at left) led the club in rushing with 108 yards and two TDs. The Cards also led in first downs, 20 to 12, while the Bears turned the ball over five times (four interceptions, one fumble) to just two suffered by the Cardinals.

The Cardinals also led with 9 penalties, to four by the Bears. While tempers flared occasionally, a fight broke out near the end that caused two Bears and a Cardinal to be ejected.

The Bears, who were the top rushing team in the NFL, gained only 25 yards on the ground, with 186 through the air. QB Ed Brown, normally a reliable thrower, missed on all seven of his pass attempts. It was the worst beating the Cardinals had inflicted on the Bears since 1929, when Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns.

“When you’re a Cardinal, part of the job is beating the Bears,” said veteran Charley Trippi, a Hall of Fame halfback in his prime who was finishing his career as a punter. “We beat them at their own game, with good blocking and good tackling.”

The loss proved devastating to the Bears’ postseason hopes – they dropped behind the Rams, and while they won their last two games to end up with an 8-4 record, LA did likewise to win the Western Conference title at 8-3-1. The Cardinals went 4-7-1 and tied the Eagles for fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Ollie Matson led the NFL in punt return average (18.8 yards on 13 returns) and, with the touchdown against the Bears, was the only player in the league to return two for scores during the season. His 1325 all-purpose yards (475 rushing, 237 receiving, 245 returning punts, 368 returning kickoffs) ranked second.

Dave Mann ran for 336 yards on 85 carries and caught 16 passes. He also ran back kickoffs as he totaled 609 all-purpose yards and handled much of the team’s punting (in addition to Trippi).

Don Stonesifer (pictured below) led the Cardinals in pass receiving with 28 catches for 330 yards and five touchdowns.

As for George Halas, while he did indeed step down as head coach (while continuing to run the club from the front office), it did not prove to be a permanent retirement. He returned to the sideline in 1958 and won another championship in ’63 before finally retiring for good after the 1967 season.