700 club
The Chicago Bears shutout the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on a nationally televised Thursday night game in Week 11 of the 2010 NFL Season. The 16-0 victory was an important one for the Bears who gained sole possession of the NFC North.
{GALLERY}The win was also historic as it marked the 700th victory in the franchise's history. The Bears, a charter team of the NFL in 1920, became the first NFL team ever to amass 700 regular season wins.
Last week the team sent numerous mementos from the milestone game to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The memorabilia from the Nov. 18, 2010 game includes the jersey, pants, and cleats worn by Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher; cleats worn by wide receiver/return man Devin Hester; gloves donned by running back Matt Forte; and the game-worn jerseys from quarterback Jay Cutler and defensive end Julius Peppers.
The pieces of memorabilia were placed on exhibit in a special display located inside the Hall of Fame's Pro Football Today Gallery.
Peppers recorded three sacks and Urlacher pitched in with four solo tackles, an assisted tackle, and one sack to fuel a dominant defensive effort that limited the Dolphins to a mere 187 yards and just one third-down conversion that night. The game marked just the second time in 40 years that the Dolphins suffered a shutout at home.
Forte led the Bears on offense with 97 yards on 25 carries and scored one touchdown on a 2-yard run in the third quarter. Cutler completed 16 of 25 passes for 156 yards. Hester, who was playing before friends and family in his hometown, had four catches for 41 yards and returned four punts for 27 yards.
The franchise began as the Decatur Staleys as a charter member of the NFL in 1920. The team moved to Chicago in 1921 and changed its nickname to the Bears one season later. No franchise is more represented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame than the Bears. Defensive end Richard Dent, who was elected to the Hall of Fame last month, is the 27th long-time member of the franchise to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Other Bears enshrined in Canton include Doug Atkins, George Blanda, Dick Butkus, George Connor, Mike Ditka, Paddy Driscoll, Jim Finks, Dan Fortmann, Bill George, Red Grange, George Halas, Dan Hampton, Ed Healey, Bill Hewitt, Stan Jones, Sid Luckman, Link Lyman, George Musso, Bronko Nagurski, Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Mike Singletary, Joe Stydahar, George Trafton, and Clyde "Bulldog" Turner.
Five other enshrinees – Guy Chamberlin, Jimmy Conzelman, Walt Kiesling, Bobby Layne, and Alan Page – also played for the Bears briefly but made their major contributions to football as members of other teams.
The first victory in franchise history came in similar fashion in that they shut out their opponent. The Staleys defeated the Moline Tractors, 20-0, on Oct. 3, 1920. The Staleys defense limited Moline to just one first down while Dutch Sternaman scored three rushing touchdowns (7, 5, and 4 yards) to provide all the scoring.
NFL.com: Watch game highlights of Bears’ 700th win>>>
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