The Cleveland Browns travel to the Windy City to face the Chicago Bears in Week 15 of the 2025 NFL season.
This is one of the strangest rivalries in the league, as the Browns have only played the Bears 18 times, the fewest number of games against a team that was in the NFL when Cleveland joined in 1950.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Week 15, Chicago Bears
Cleveland dominated the series from 1950 to 1970, going 5-1 against Chicago and outscoring the Bears 189-72. But the Browns have dropped their
last four visits to Chicago and have not won against the Bears as the road team since 1969.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five memorable games between the Browns and the Bears.
November 30, 1969: Browns 28, Bears 24
The Browns walked into Wrigley Field in late November riding a streak of five wins and one tie in their past seven games, while the Bears were on their way to a 1-13 season.
Someone forgot to give the Bears the memo, however, as Chicago jumped out to a 14-point lead before the Browns got on the scoreboard in the second quarter, thanks to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Bill Nelsen to Paul Warfield. The teams then traded touchdowns, and Cleveland headed into halftime trailing by seven.
Chip Glass hauled in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Nelsen in the third quarter to tie the game, but the Bears answered back in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard field goal by Mac Percival, set up by a Cleveland fumble, to take a three-point lead with eight minutes remaining.
Nelsen then took the Browns on an eight-play, 90-yard touchdown drive, with Ron Johnson scoring on a seven-yard run. The Bears mounted one final offensive drive, but Cleveland’s defense held, and the Browns picked up the win to clinch their third consecutive Century Division crown.
The game not only marked Cleveland’s last appearance at Wrigley Field, but also the last time they would play in Chicago for 17 years. (Told you this was a weird series.)
September 7, 1986: Bears 41, Browns 31
Cleveland opened the season against the defending Super Bowl champion Bears, and while they lost, the Browns showed the rest of the NFL what was to come that season.
The Browns opened the scoring three plays into the game when Al Gross recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown that was upheld by the first use of instant replay in league history. Chicago’s Dennis Gentry returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards, and the Bears ripped off the next 21 points.
Cleveland slowly fought back and trailed by just three points following Kevin Mack’s second touchdown run of the game, this one a 14-yarder in the third quarter. But the Bears kept pushing the lead back to 10 points, and finally clinched the win on Matt Suhey’s six-yard touchdown run with two minutes remaining.
The Browns rolled up 349 yards of offense on Chicago’s vaunted defense as Bernie Kosar threw for 289 yards in the first game with offensive coordinator Lindy Infante.
November 4, 2001: Bears 27, Browns 21 (OT)
Things have rarely gone right for the Browns when they travel to Chicago, and this game was no different.
Cleveland once again jumped out to an early lead thanks to the defense as Courtney Brown returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown less than one minute into the game. The lead would grow to 14 points heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Tim Couch, including a 55-yarder to Kevin Johnson in the third quarter.
With the offense getting conservative in the fourth quarter, the defense tried to hold the Bears in check. But a nine-yard pass from Shane Matthews to Marty Booker brought the Bears within three points with 28 seconds remaining. The Bears recovered the onside kick, and James Allen caught a tipped pass in the end zone on the final play of regulation to send the game into overtime.
The Bears got the ball first in overtime, but Cleveland’s defense held and forced a punt. The Browns took over on their 12-yard line needing just a field goal to erase the memory of the final moments of the fourth quarter. Couch hit Johnson with a 16-yard pass on the first play, but following a sack, Couch’s pass for Jamel White was tipped and landed in the arms of Chicago’s Mike Brown, who returned it 16 yards for a game-winning touchdown.
December 15, 2013: Bears 38, Browns 31
A back-and-forth game did not go Cleveland’s way as the Bears won in Cleveland for the first time since 1972 and just the second time overall.
The Browns built a 10-3 lead in the second quarter after Tashaun Gipson returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown, but the Bears tied the score just before the half when Jay Cutler hit Brandon Marshall with a five-yard touchdown pass.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter before T.J. Ward returned a fumble 51 yards for a touchdown to give the Browns a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bears got rolling in the final period as they put up 21 consecutive points, including a 45-yard touchdown reception from Alshon Jeffery that was aided by two penalties on the Browns, and a 40-yard touchdown run by Michael Bush to open up a 14-point lead just before the two-minute warning.
Cleveland put up a garbage time touchdown on a 43-yard pass from Jason Campbell to Josh Gordon, but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick after being penalized for an illegal formation.
December 17, 2023: Browns 20, Bears 17
Cleveland’s defense sacked Chicago quarterback Justin Fields three times, forced three turnovers, and limited the Bears to 236 yards of total offense, but still needed a lucky bounce at the end of the game to pull out the win.
The Browns entered the fourth quarter trailing by 10 points, but a 33-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins trimmed the lead to seven. The defense was humming, and after forcing the Bears to punt on consecutive possessions, Joe Flacco finished off a six-play, 80-yard drive by hitting Amari Cooper with a 51-yard touchdown pass to tie the game just before the two-minute warning.
Chicago’s 10th punt of the game gave the ball back to the Browns, and Flacco took the Browns 63 yards in eight plays to set up Hopkins for a 34-yard field goal to put the Browns in the lead with 32 seconds remaining.
The Bears had one more shot, but Fields’ pass into the end zone on the game’s final play was knocked around by two Cleveland defenders before bouncing off the hands of Chicago’s Darnell Mooney and into the welcoming arms of Cleveland’s D’Anthony Bell to seal the victory.
The win was the second in a row for Cleveland in what would turn into a four-game winning streak to clinch a playoff spot.
What is your most memorable game between the Browns and Bears? Have your say in the comments.
More from dawgsbynature.com:
- ESPN drops some news about the Browns’ quarterback situation
- NFL picks and predictions for Week 2
- Daily Dawg Chow: Browns news (9/16/16)
- Browns’ Color Rush uniforms unveiled, but Cleveland won’t get to wear them in 2016
- Film Study: Browns’ only TD drive vs. Eagles
- Film Study: Browns’ 1st three offensive series vs. Eagles - All 3-and-outs, with a botched fake
- Daily Dawg Chow: Browns news (9/15/16)
