Oct. 28, 1963 - The Eagles came up with a gritty defensive performance yesterday at Wrigley Field, but the Bears were even better in this department and backed it up with sufficient punch for a 16-7 victory before a sellout crowd of 48,514. The Bears, rebounding from their first defeat at San Francisco last week, intercepted four passes, recovered two Philadelphia fumbles, and stymied halfback Timmy Brown in the second half as they remained in a first-place tie at 6-1 with the Packers in the NFL’s Western Conference. King Hill, filling in for the injured Sonny Jurgensen, was treated so roughly by the aggressive Bear defenders that he collapsed as he was leaving the field and wound up in Illinois Masonic Hospital. Dr. Oscar Sugar reported last night that Hill had a mild concussion and would probably be all right. He planned to X-ray Hill today as a precautionary measure. Vince McNally, the Eagles’ general manager, stayed in Chicago with the quarterback. Hill, who was the victim of repeated Bear blitzes, was flattened by Doug Atkins, 255-pound defensive end, on the last play that the Eagles had the ball. Hill managed to get off a pass a split second before he was hit, and it was promptly picked off for the Bears’ fourth interception with 11 seconds remaining. For Chicago, fullback Joe Marconi, who led the Chicago ground game with 62 yards on 16 carries, scored the winning TD on a 23-yard swing pass from Billy Wade. “We thought we’d have trouble with the Eagles,” said Bear coach George Halas, “even without Jurgensen playing. We thought they might steal one from us — with those great receivers, that team could have a great day any time, no matter who’s passing. As it turned out, the Eagles gave us one of our toughest games, aside from our interceptions. They made it easier to win than it may have been otherwise.” Mike Ditka, the Bears’ outstanding tight end, was displeased despite the victory. “I had a lousy game,” he said. “It was a poor offensive showing by all of us. We’re lucky. You don’t win many games with only 16 points.” Quarterback Wade concurred. “We would have liked to score more. The Eagles are tougher than people realize.”
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