Regular season
- * – Indicates that the number of starts is not known for that year for each quarterback
These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). They are listed in order of the date of each player's first start at quarterback for the Bears.
The early era of the NFL and American football in general was not conducive to passing the football, with the forward pass not being legalized until the early 1900s and not fully adopted for many more years. [1] Although the quarterback position has historically been the one to receive the snap and thus handle the football on every offensive play, [2] the importance of the position during this era was limited by various rules, like having to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage before a forward pass could be attempted. [3] These rules and the tactical focus on rushing the ball limited the importance of the quarterback position while enhancing the value of different types of backs, such as the halfback and the fullback. [4] Some of these backs were considered triple-threat men, capable of rushing, passing or kicking the football, making it common for multiple players to attempt a pass during a game. [5]
As rules changed and the NFL began adopting a more pass-centric approach to offensive football, the importance of the quarterback position grew. [3] [4] Beginning in 1950, total wins and losses by a team's starting quarterback were tracked. [6] Prior to 1950, the Bears had numerous players identified as playing the quarterback position. However, the combination of unreliable statistics in the early era of the NFL and the differences in the early quarterback position make tracking starts by quarterbacks impractical for this timeframe.
| Season(s) | Quarterback(s) |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Johnny Lujack (0–1) |
| 1956 | Ed Brown (0–1) |
| 1963 | Billy Wade (1–0) |
| 1977 | Bob Avellini (0–1) |
| 1979 | Mike Phipps (0–1) |
| 1984 | Steve Fuller (1–1) |
| 1985 | Jim McMahon (3–0) |
| 1986 | Doug Flutie (0–1) |
| 1987 | Jim McMahon (0–1) |
| 1988 | Mike Tomczak (1–0) / Jim McMahon (0–1) |
| 1990 | Mike Tomczak (1–1) |
| 1991 | Jim Harbaugh (0–1) |
| 1994 | Steve Walsh (1–1) |
| 2001 | Jim Miller (0–1) |
| 2005 | Rex Grossman (0–1) |
| 2006 | Rex Grossman (2–1) |
| 2010 | Jay Cutler (1–1) |
| 2018 | Mitchell Trubisky (0–1) |
| 2020 | Mitchell Trubisky (0–1) |
These quarterbacks have the most starts for the Bears in regular season games (through the 2023 NFL Season)
| Name | |
|---|---|
| GP | Games played |
| GS | Games started |
| W | Number of wins as starting quarterback |
| L | Number of losses as starting quarterback |
| T | Number of ties as starting quarterback |
| % | Winning percentage as starting quarterback |
| Name | Period | GP | GS | W | L | T | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Cutler | 2009 - 2016 | 102 | 102 | 51 | 51 | — | .500 |
| Ed Brown | 1955 - 1961 | 98 | 66 | 39 | 25 | 2 | .591 |
| Jim Harbaugh | 1988 - 1993 | 89 | 65 | 35 | 30 | — | .538 |
| Sid Luckman* | 1939 - 1949 | 128 | 61 | — | — | — | — |
| Jim McMahon | 1982 - 1988 | 66 | 61 | 46 | 15 | — | .754 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 2017 - 2020 | 51 | 50 | 29 | 21 | — | .580 |
* – Indicates that the quarterbacks career record is unknown
Through the 2020 NFL Season
| Name | Comp | Att | % | Yds | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Cutler | 2,020 | 3,271 | 61.8 | 23,443 | 154 | 109 |
| Jim Harbaugh | 1,023 | 1,759 | 58.2 | 11,567 | 50 | 56 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 1,010 | 1,577 | 64.1 | 10,609 | 64 | 37 |
| Erik Kramer | 913 | 1,557 | 58.6 | 10,582 | 63 | 45 |
| Sid Luckman | 904 | 1,744 | 51.8 | 14,686 | 137 | 132 |
| Jim McMahon | 874 | 1,513 | 57.8 | 11,203 | 67 | 56 |
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