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Ranking the Best Chicago Bears Backup QBs of the Super Bowl Era

Kyle Orton, Steve Fuller, Mike Tomczak or someone else, which Bears backup QB rates the best ever at relieving the starter and producing?
Gene Chamberlain|
Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman ham it up for the cameras in Bourbonnais as the 2006 run to the Super Bowl was to begin.
Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman ham it up for the cameras in Bourbonnais as the 2006 run to the Super Bowl was to begin. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

It's a long-standing tradition in Chicago, maybe even moreso than deep dish pizza and painting the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day.

That would be the favoritism shown the backup quarterback of the Chicago Bears.

It's not clear which sports writer, comedian or frustrated fan came up with the saying but it began long ago and it is tried but true: The post popular player in Chicago is always the backup quarterback.

With the advent of Caleb Williams, it has become less of a thing.

This week the backup or backups could be tested as they try to etch their name among the accomplishments or misadventures of past Bears backup QBs.

Here are the 10 greatest Bears backup QBs of the Super Bowl era, although this tradition actually seemed to begin before then when Ed Brown, Steve Bartowski and George Blanda were the QBs in the 1950s. Or it may have been earlier in the 50s when it was Steve Romanik, Bob Williams and Blanda vying for playing time. That was too much before the modern game for anyone to care.

What is certain is it's much more fun to sort through the pile of poor Bears backup QBs after years of misery at the position, but here are the top backups ranked anyway.

1. Steve Fuller

Over the years Fuller's achievement often gets overlooked or downplayed due to statistics like passer ratings and QBR or EPA. The role of the backup is not necessarily to take away the starter's job or put up dazzling stats. It is very simple: Win games while the starter is unavailable. It's plain and simple. If they minimize mistakes and let the game plan work, lean on the running game and defense, they can succeed. Fuller quarterbacked them effectively in two playoff seasons, he had a 4-1 record as starter in their only Super Bowl season. In the previous year, 1984, he started and finished the upset of the Washington Redskins in a road playoff game, certifying the rise of Mike Ditka's regime. They needed a good backup with Jim McMahon's availability always in question. The biggest knock on Fuller was he couldn't dance (see the Super Bowl Shuffle).

2. Mike Tomczak

T-zak came in during the 1986 season after McMahon's shoulder injury and the Bears went 7-0. In fact, for the '86, '87 and '88 seasons the Bears went 15-3 when Tomczak started, and this included the famed Super Bowl XXI 1/2 win. That was the season opener in 1987 against the world champion Giants, a team the Bears thought would never have won had McMahon been healthy. He wasn't again when that game came but Tomczak was fantastic on that opening night in destroying Lawrence Taylor and the Giants defense, 34-19. Tomczak never made it as a pure starter because he couldn't negotiate the Ditka psyche, and later when he got the chance he was forced to split time with Jim Harbaugh. What would have happened if Ditka had only leaned on Tomczak in 1986 instead of turning to Doug Flutie? We will never know.

3. Kyle Orton

All Lovie Smith and Ron Turner asked of this rookie from Purdue in 2005 was hand it off to Thomas Jones, throw to Muhsin Muhammad occasionally and let the defense win. Much like Tomczak did with the great 1980s defenses, Orton played to that strength and did what was needed while Rex Grossman recovered from injury. The Bears went 10-5 with Orton at QB in 2005 and went on to win their division before losing in their first playoff game with Grossman back starting. Orton might have been the best overall quarterback among the Bears backups on this list because he eventually went on to start in Denver and Buffalo, had 82 total starts with 42 wins and 101 TD passes. But as far as his backup work in Chicago, he's No. 4 on the charts.

4. Steve Walsh

The QB who made their 1994 run to the playoffs and road postseason victory in Minneapolis possible, he was originally a Cowboys QB under Jimmy Johnson. In 1994, he relieved injured Erik Kramer as starter (shoulder) and led the Bears to eight wins in 11 starts. Walsh didn't have much of an arm but the ball was in the right place for Curtis Conway and Jeff Graham when it needed to be there.

5. Josh McCown

It's probably true the Bears didn't realize what they actually had. When he replaced injured Jay Cutler in 2013, and also in his first stint in 2011, McCown had amazing efficiency statistics. He had a 109.0 passer rating in 2013 when he was 3-2 as a starter. He won four of his seven starts as a Bears backup overall, which is the bottom line. McCown was not quite the same QB when he was elsewhere and for his career had only a 79.0 passer rating.

6. Virgil Carter

The name wouldn't be familiar to many younger Bears fans and Carter was more known later for his contract dispute with George Halas, but in 1968 as a rookie he suddenly provided energized play at the position when they needed it most. The Bears had strong backups based on reputations in the 1960s but none of them produced. Then the Bears went 4-1 with Carter coming in during the same season when Gale Sayers' knee was wrecked. The Bears made a run at the playoffs in the NFL's Central Division under Carter, but then he suffered a broken ankle in November. The Bears lost their final game to Green Bay and missed the playoffs as Minnesota won the division. Then Carter left after some disparaging remarks about Halas. The infamous phrase "chicken bleep" was used then in relation to the organization.

7. Mike Phipps

Although Phipps was known for being the Bears starter in 1979 and leading them to a 9-1 record in their run to the playoffs, he was only one of the backups in 1978 after he had been Cleveland's starter. That's essentially how he wound up being starter the next year. After midseason 1978, the Bears were entrenched in a losing streak with Bob Avellini at QB. Rookie Vince Evans didn't appear ready to do much more than run with the ball. They went to Phipps and he won three straight starts after a tight loss to Atlanta in his first effort. A 3-1 record as backup set the stage for him to become starter in a 1979 when they overcame a 3-5 start to win six straight and make the playoffs.

8. Shane Matthews

Matthews had his stint as starter but seemed at his best when he took over as backup. The Bears were 3-2 in 2000 when he started instead of Cade McNown, and then when they won the division in 2001 they were 2-1 when they had to turn to Matthews due to Jim Miller's injuries. He played the high-percentage game, was mostly an immobile passer who lacked the big arm Miller had, but he made plenty of correct, safe decisions. He led the 2001 wins over the 49ers and Browns that Mike Brown capped with OT interceptions.

9. Dave Krieg

He had little hands, fumbled a lot and came to the Bears near the end of a long NFL career, but in 1996 he helped them salvage what they could after Erik Kramer "broke his neck," as coach Dave Wannstedt liked to say and still says. Kramer didn't actually break his neck or he'd have been in a wheelchair. He had two herniated cervical discs in his neck and Krieg led them to a 6-6 record in his place as starter, a very solid performance in his 17th season of 19 he played, after becoming near legend in Seattle.

10. Brian Griese

With all due respect to Tyson Bagent, Phipps keeps him out of the top 10 at the moment. Face it, all Bagent did as starter in 2023 for injured Justin Fields was beat two really bad teams and lose to two playoff teams. A QB who was better elsewhere as a starter, Griese took over in 2007 for struggling Grossman and led the Bears to a 3-3 record that included a thrilling comeback win in Philadelphia. Coaches trusted him more than Orton at the time. He probably didn't help his cause by telling reporters he called all the plays in his two-mninute drive during that win at Philadelphia. It didn't sit well with coaches, namely their offensive coordinator, Turner.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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