Oct. 14, 1963 - The Chicago Bears scored 14 points in 55 seconds yesterday as they romped off to a 52-14 triumph over the hapless Rams. The massacre was witnessed by 40,476 sunbathers who sweltered under cloudless skies in mammoth Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was the Bears’ seventh consecutive NFL victory, five of which have been written into the books this year, and it was no contest. Big Mike Ditka (pictured) had his greatest day as a pro. He scored four touchdowns, three on passes from Bill Wade and one from Rudy Bukich, to tie the Bears’ club record set by Harlon Hill against San Francisco on Oct. 31, 1954. There were six interceptions by the Bears’ defense, including one that was returned for 35 yards by sophomore Bennie McRae for Chicago’s second touchdown in the second period, 55 seconds after Ditka had opened the scoring by giving the Bears a 7-0 lead on the next to last play of the first quarter. Chicago head coach George Halas was pleased but would not go overboard in his praise for the unbeaten leaders of the Western Division in the NFL. “No, they are not the greatest in Bear history,” he said. “Just a hell of a good team on five days so far this year. You can’t judge a team until it has played 14 games. But they are good. They are building up a great deal of pride. The defense is rooting for the offense, and the offense is rooting for the defense. Our Wade-to-Ditka passing combination is as good as we’ve had. And don’t forget that Rudy Bukich has come up with two tremendous performances.” Harland Svare, the young Ram coach who is under fire for his team’s poor showing, called the Bear defense the best he has ever seen. Asked to compare it with that of the Giants, with whom he played, Svare said: “This is much better. The Bears have so much more speed in the secondary. And they’re powerful.”
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