Bears franchise milestones within reach

A few days ago our resident Chicago Bears historian, Jack M Silverstein, dropped a Twitter thread looking at a bunch of records that were withing reach for a few Bears’ players. He started it before the game against the 49ers and updated it right after, so make sure you check it out right here.

I wanted to share a few of those as well as a few others that could fall on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings in the 2018 season finale.

PASSING

Mitchell Trubisky was on pace to become the all-time passing leader for the Bears in one season, but the injured shoulder threw that off. However, he’s still climbing the all-time seasonal list and Rex Grossman is in his sights.

Trubisky currently has 3.060 yards passing, which is the 9th highest mark all-time for one Bears’ season. With 133 yards on Sunday he could jump past Grossman for 6th all-time. He can also catch Jay Cutler for top 5 with 214 yards passing.

Trubisky’s 24 touchdown passes is tied with Sid Luckman for 5th all-time in a season and 4th all-time is Cutler’s 27.

From a career standpoint, Trubisky’s 31 TD passes is tied with Vince Evans for 16th all-time in franchise history. Next on that career list is a three way tie of 33 TDs held by Grossman, Bob Avelini, and Mike Tomczak. He’s only 66 yards away from passing Kyle Orton to take 16th place in franchise career passing yards.

RUSHING

Jordan Howard needs 71 rushing yards to pass Anthony Thomas for 7th all-time in franchise history. His next rushing TD will break the tie with Thomas Jones and move him into sole possession of 9th place on that list.

RECEIVING

Running back Tarik Cohen has 69 receptions this year, which is 18th all-time. Above him on the list is a tie at 71 catches between Bernard Berrian and Dick Gordon. Cohen is also chasing Matt Forte for the most receiving yards in a season by a Bears’ running back. It’s a long shot, but with 92 yards he’ll pass Forte. He’s also 6 catches behind Forte for having the 2nd most receptions in a season from a Bear RB. Forte’s 102, which he did in 2014, is the most.

RETURNS

Cohen has a chance at being top 10 in a season as a punt returner as well. With 23 yards he’ll pass R.W. McQuarters for 10th all-time in one year. He’s currently 10th in all-time punt return yards for the Bears, and 54 yards will pass Virgil Livers for 9th.

TACKLING

Rookie Roquan Smith is just 9 tackles away from passing Brian Urlacher for the most as a Bears’ rookie.

Tackles for loss is a fairly new stat, but Leonard Floyd needs just 2 to tie Charles Tillman and Mark Anderson for 16th more in franchise history.

SACKS

A big 2 sack day from Akiem Hicks would push him past Philip Daniels for 18th most on the Bears’ career list.

Quarterback hits has only been tracked since 2006, but Mack only needs 2 to crack top 20 all-time for the Bears. Floyd needs 1 QBH to break a 9th place tie with Anderson at 32, which will then leave him trailing 8th place Pernell McPhee’s 38.

INTERCEPTIONS

Kyle Fuller is in a 5 way tie with 15 career interceptions and one more would create a 7 way tie at 26th overall in Bears history.

FORCED FUMBLES

Khalil Mack only needs one more forced fumble (7) to move into a 7 way tie into the top 20 all-time in that category for the Bears.

SCORING

Cody Parkey needs 8 points to pass Kevin Butler for the 10th most points in a Bears’ season. Two more extra points makes him the 10th highest in that category as well.

TEAM SCORING

Matt Nagy’s offense — and Vic Fangio’s opportunistic defense — has racked up 397 points in 2018, which is 5th most in franchise history. If the Bears can manage 13 points against the Vikings on Sunday they’ll move past the 1965 Bears.

WINS

The 2018 Bears have won 11 games and that’s tied for the 8th most in franchise history. The two teams above this squad with 12 wins is Mike Ditka’s 1988 team and George Halas’ 1926 version.

Whether or not the Bears play their starters on Sunday will ultimately determine if some of these milestones are hit.

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