Sept. 23, 1963 - Chicago’s undefeated Bears solidified their position as an NFL power today yesterday by taking an undisputed lead in the Western Division with a well-earned 28-7 triumph over the up-and-coming young Minnesota Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium. It was their second victory and came on three touchdown passes by Billy Wade (pictured). Wade scored the other touchdown on a 1-yard sneak in the fourth quarter. Wade, turning in his second superb performance in eight days, had spectacular assistance from Mike Ditka, Johnny Morris, Ronnie Bull, and Rick Casares. Bull gave the Bears a lead in the first period when he took a 24-yard pass from Wade. After the Vikings had tied the score in the second period, Ditka sent the Bears to the intermission with a 14-7 advantage by taking a pass, scattering clutching Viking defenders, and blasting his way into the end zone on a 36-yard play. Big Mike scored the last touchdown on a 10-yard toss from Wade. All four scores were set up by Viking errors — two fumbles and two interceptions. The victory, however, was as complete as that with which the Bears rocked pro football last week in Green Bay. “We came up here with quite a bit of trepidation,” said Bears coach George Halas afterward. “This Viking team has a lot of spunk, and they showed in that first quarter. They have a good team, and I’m glad we don’t have to come back here this year.” Halas had praise for his quarterback. “Billy called a splendid game,” Halas said. “He was extremely accurate today. He picked the Viking secondary to pieces.” Halas said the Bears will continue to use their new simplified offense “because the boys seem to like it. They all know what to do.” The consensus of the Vikings was that they had made too many mistakes to win. Summed up quarterback Fran Tarkenton: “We beat ourselves with all the mistakes. You just can’t give up the ball as we did and win.”
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