Chicago Bears Super Bowl Wins, History, Appearances, and More

The Chicago Bears are one of the most iconic franchises in NFL history, and one of the oldest, yet Super Bowl titles have been hard to come by.

Prior to the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, The Monsters of Midway racked up a number of NFL championships between 1921 and 1963 but since the Super Bowl era, the Bears' appearances in the big game have been few and far between.

Below YouBet takes a closer look at each of Chicago's Super Bowl appearances and wins over the franchise's 103-year history.

Chicago Bears Super Bowl wins

Super Bowl XX: Bears vs. Patriots

Date: Jan. 26, 1986
Final score: Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Following George Halas' retirement from coaching in 1967, the Bears shuffled through a handful of head coaches before landing on former Chicago Bears tight end Mike Ditka, who won an NFL championship with Chicago as a player in 1963. Halas, who was also the founder and owner of the Bears, brought Ditka aboard in 1982 after a 6-10 season under Neill Armstrong. The Bears initially struggled but by Ditka's third season, Chicago had improved to 10-6 and reached the NFC Championship, where the Bears lost 23-0 to future Super Bowl champion San Francisco.

The next season, Chicago had the franchise's best season to date, going 15-1 in the regular season and marching all the way to Super Bowl XX, where they demolished the Patriots 46-10. Not only did the Bears dominate behind their stingy "46 defense," which allowed the fewest points, total yards, and rushing yards of any team during the regular season, but their offense was humming, with Pro Bowl quarterback Jim McMahon enjoying the best season of his career, and running back Walter Payton recording a then-career-high 1,551 rushing yards. Rookie lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry also became a popular fixture on the team, coming into the season weighing more than 380 pounds as a first-round draft pick and etching his name in Bears lore when he scored a touchdown on the Green Bay Packers while lining up as a running back inside Lambeau Field.

The Bears' only loss of the 1985 season occurred on Monday night, in their 13th game of the season, to the Miami Dolphins, the only team to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl in NFL history. Miami nearly reached the Super Bowl that season but was knocked out of the AFC Championship Game by New England. The Bears proceeded to record their famous "Super Bowl Shuffle" music video following Miami's loss. The song would go on to reach No. 41 on the Billboard charts and received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1987. ("Kiss" by Prince & The Revolution won the award.) Luckily for Chicago, the team backed up the song with a commanding victory in Super Bowl XX.

Chicago Bears Super Bowl losses

Super Bowl XLI: Colts vs. Bears

Date: Feb. 4, 2007
Final score: Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17
Location: Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Ditka went on to coach another seven seasons after his Super Bowl XX win and made the playoffs five more times but could never get back to the big game. Dave Wannstedt was hired to replace Ditka in 1993 and reached the postseason once, before Dick Jauron took over for a five-year stint and led the Bears to one Divisional Round appearance in 2001.

In 2004, the Bears organization hired rookie head coach Lovie Smith, who brought the Tampa 2 defensive scheme to Chicago, and rehired former offensive coordinator Ron Turner to help the Bears' offense the following year. In 2005, Chicago returned to the postseason and fell to the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional Round. The next year, they were back in the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history following an NFC-best 13-3 record.

First-round draft pick Rex Grossman led Chicago's offense, and the defense once again excelled, ranking fifth in yards allowed and first in fewest yards per drive. On special teams, Chicago boasted three Pro Bowlers, including rookie return man Devin Hester, who set an NFL record with six special teams touchdowns and returned a kickoff 92 yards to the end zone in Super Bowl XLI in the first 14 seconds of the game.

In the Super Bowl, Chicago went up 14-6 in the first quarter but was outscored 23-3 by the Colts in the next three quarters. Prince — the guy who stole a Grammy from Chicago — performed at Dolphin Stadium in one of the most iconic Super Bowl halftime shows in history.

Other Chicago Bears championship titles

Aside from their Super Bowl XX title, the Bears won eight total NFL Championships prior to the AFL-NFL merger. The first NFL championship came in 1921, Chicago's second season as a franchise, when it was known as the Chicago Staleys. George Halas was both a player and the head coach that season.

Chicago also earned an NFL championship in 1932 under Ralph Jones, then defended its title in 1933 under Halas, who returned as head coach to eliminate the need for an additional salary. Chicago went for a three-peat but lost the NFL championship game in 1934 and again fell short in 1937.

The Bears earned another title in 1940 and proceeded to reach the NFL championship game four straight seasons, winning all but 1942. Chicago won two more NFL titles in 1946 and 1963 and had one other losing appearance in the big game in 1956.