- 1985 Chicago Bears season
Infobox NFL_season
team = Chicago Bears
year = 1985
record = 15-1
division_place = 1stNFC Central
coach =Mike Ditka
stadium =Soldier Field
playoffs = W NFC Divisional Playoff
W NFC Championship
WSuper Bowl XX The 1985Chicago Bears season was their 66th regular season and 16th post-season completed in theNational Football League . The club posted a 15-1 record, earning them the top seed in the NFC for the playoffs. It is considered to be the greatest season in team history Fact|date=September 2008. The Bears defeated their three post season opponents by a combined score of 91-10 en route to a victory inSuper Bowl XX , their ninth NFL Championship. The team's startingmiddle linebacker , linebackerMike Singletary was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the UPI Defensive NFC Player of the Year. Running backWalter Payton won the NFC Offensive Player of the Year, head coachMike Ditka was named NFL Coach of the Year anddefensive end Richard Dent was namedSuper Bowl MVP .The 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the undefeated 1972
Miami Dolphins for the unofficial title of the "Greatest NFL Team of All Time." [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=super/rankings/1-20 Greatest NFL Teams of All Time] ] In 2007, the 1985 Bears were ranked as the second greatest Super Bowl championship team on theNFL Network 's documentary series "", ranking behind the 1972 Dolphins. Many sources, however, such as ESPN, rate the 1985 Chicago Bears as the greatest NFL team of all-time. [http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?id=2742432 1985 Bears Voted Best Super Bowl Winner] ]Off season
1985 NFL Draft
eason Standings
NFC Divisional Playoff:
Chicago Bears 21,New York Giants 0Linescore Amfootball
Road=Giants
R1=0
R2=0
R3=0
R4=0
RT=0
Home=Bears
H1=7
H2=0
H3=14
H4=0
HT=21"at
Soldier Field ,Chicago "*Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
*TV announcers (CBS ):Pat Summerall and John MaddenThe Bears defense dominated the game by allowing only 32 rushing yards and sacked Giants quarterbacks for 60 yards. Chicago's first touchdown resulted on a New York punt attempt from their own 12-yard line. The wind caught the ball just enough for punter
Sean Landeta to completely miss it, andShaun Gayle picked it up and ran 5 yards for a touchdown. Bears quarterbackJim McMahon later threw two touchdown passes in the third period, both toDennis McKinnon . McMahon finished the game with 216 passing yards, while running backWalter Payton rushed for 94 yards.*Scoring
**CHI -Shaun Gayle 5 yd punt return TD (Kevin Butler kick) (CHI 7-0)
**CHI - 23 yard TD pass fromJim McMahon toDennis McKinnon (Butler kick) (CHI 14-0)
**CHI - 20 yard TD pass from Jim McMahon to Dennis McKinnon (Butler kick) (CHI 21-0)NFC Championship:
Chicago Bears 24,Los Angeles Rams 0Linescore Amfootball
Road=Rams
R1=0
R2=0
R3=0
R4=0
RT=0
Home=Bears
H1=10
H2=0
H3=7
H4=7
HT=24"at
Soldier Field ,Chicago "*Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
*TV announcers (CBS ):Pat Summerall and John Madden
*Referee: Jim TunneyThe Bears defense dominated the game by limiting Rams running back
Eric Dickerson to 46 yards, and holding quarterbackDieter Brock to 10 out of 31 completions for 66 passing yards. Los Angeles only gained 130 yards of total offense. Chicago quarterbackJim McMahon scored on a 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and later threw a 22-yard touchdown pass toWillie Gault in the third quarter. KickerKevin Butler kicked a 34-yard field goal in the first period. In the fourth quarter, defensive linemanRichard Dent forced Brock to fumble, and linebackerWilber Marshall picked up the loose ball and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.*Scoring
**CHI -Jim McMahon 16 yd TD run (Kevin Butler kick) (CHI 7-0)
**CHI - Kevin Butler 34 yd FG (CHI 10-0)
**CHI - 22 yd TD pass fromJim McMahon toWillie Gault (Butler kick) (CHI 17-0)
**CHI -Wilber Marshall 52 yd fumble return TD (Butler kick) (CHI 24-0)uper Bowl XX:
Chicago Bears 46,New England Patriots 10Linescore Amfootball
Road=Bears
R1=13
R2=10
R3=21
R4=2
RT=46
Home=Patriots
H1=3
H2=0
H3=0
H4=7
HT=10"at
Louisiana Superdome ,New Orleans, Louisiana "*Game time: 5:25 p.m. EST/4:25 p.m. CST
*TV announcers (NBC ):Dick Enberg ,Merlin Olsen , andBob Griese
*Referee:Red Cashion The Patriots took a quick lead after linebacker
Larry McGrew recovered a fumble fromWalter Payton at the Chicago 19-yard line on the second play of the game, setting upTony Franklin 's 36-yard field goal 1:19 into the first quarter. The Bears struck back with a 7 play, 59-yard drive, featuring a 43-yard pass completion fromJim McMahon to wide receiverWillie Gault , to set up a field goal fromKevin Butler , tying the score 3-3.After both teams traded punts,
Richard Dent and linebackerWilber Marshall shared a sack on Eason, forcing a fumble that linemanDan Hampton recovered on the Patriots 13-yard line. Chicago then drove to the 3-yard line, but had to settle for another field goal from Butler after rookie defensive lineman William "Refrigerator" Perry was tackled for a 1-yard loss while trying to throw his first NFL pass on ahalfback option play . On the Patriots' ensuing drive, Dent forced running back Craig James to fumble, which was recovered by linebackerMike Singletary at the 13-yard line. Two plays later, Bears fullbackMatt Suhey scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to increase the lead 13-3.New England took the ensuing kickoff and ran one play before the first quarter ended, which resulted in positive yardage for the first time in the game (a 3-yard run by James). But after an incomplete pass and a 4-yard loss, they had to send in punter
Rich Camarillo again, and receiverKeith Ortego returned the ball 12 yards to the 41-yard line. The Bears subsequently drove 59 yards in 10 plays, featuring a 24-yard reception by Suhey, to score on McMahon's 2-yard touchdown run to increase their lead, 20-3. After the ensuing kickoff, New England lost 13 yards in 3 plays and had to punt again, but got the ball back with great field position when defensive backRaymond Clayborn recovered a fumble from Suhey at their own 46-yard line. Patriots coachRaymond Berry then replaced Eason withSteve Grogan to see if he could spark the Patriots offense. But Grogan could only lead them to the 37-yard line and they decided to punt rather than risk a 55-yard field goal attempt. The Bears then marched 72 yards in 11 plays, moving the ball inside the Patriots 10-yard line. New England kept them out of the end zone, but Butler kicked his third field goal on the last play of the half to give Chicago a 23-3 halftime lead.The Bears had absolutely dominated New England in the first half, holding them to 21 offensive plays (only 4 of which resulted in positive yardage), -19 total offensive yards, 2 pass completions, 1 first down, and 3 points. Meanwhile, Chicago gained 236 yards and scored 23 points themselves.
After the Patriots received the second half opening kickoff, they managed to get one first down, but then had to punt after Grogan was sacked twice. Camarillo, who punted 4 times in the first half, managed to pin the Bears back at their own 4-yard line with a Super Bowl record 62-yard punt. But the Patriots defense still had no ability to stop Chicago's offense. On their very first play, McMahon faked a handoff to Payton, then threw a 60-yard completion to Gault. Eight plays later, McMahon finished the Super Bowl record 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to make the Bears lead 30-3. On New England's second drive of the period, Chicago cornerback Reggie Phillips intercepted a pass from Grogan and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead 37-3.
On the second play of their ensuing possession, the Patriots turned the ball over again, when receiver
Cedric Jones lost a fumble after catching a 19-yard pass from Grogan. A few plays later, McMahon's 27-yard completion to receiverDennis Gentry moved the ball to the 1-yard line, setting up perhaps the most memorable moment of the game. William "the Refrigerator" Perry was brought on to score on offense, as he had done twice in the regular season. His touchdown made the score 44-3.The Patriots finally scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, advancing the ball 76 yards in 12 plays and scoring on an 8-yard pass from Grogan to receiver
Irving Fryar . But the Bears defense dominated New England for the rest of the game, forcing another fumble, another interception, and defensive linemanHenry Waechter 's sack on Grogan in the end zone for a safety to make the final score 46-10.One irony in the Bears victory was that Payton had a relatively poor performance statistically running the ball and never scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XX, his first and only Super Bowl appearance during his Hall of Fame career. However, if one views the game and watches the Patriot's defense, it is clear that their primary goal was stopping Payton and he frequently had three and four defenders keyed on him on nearly every play. This allowed the rest of the Bear's offense far more opportunities to score than had the Patriots employed a more balanced defense. Ultimately Payton was the Bears' leading rusher during the game, the Patriots defense held him to only 61 yards on 22 carries, with his longest run being only 7 yards. He was given several opportunities to score near the goal line, but New England stopped him every time before he reached the end zone (such as his 2-yard loss from the New England 3-yard line a few plays before Butler's second field goal, and his 2-yard run from the 4-yard line right before McMahon's first rushing touchdown). Thus, Chicago head coach
Mike Ditka opted to go for other plays to counter the Patriots defense. Perry's touchdown and McMahon's rushing touchdowns are widely considered as scoring opportunities that were denied to Payton. Ditka has since gone on record stating that his biggest regret of his career was not creating a scoring opportunity for Payton during the game.McMahon, who completed 12 out of 20 passes for 256 yards, became the first quarterback in a Super Bowl to score 2 rushing touchdowns. Bears receiver
Willie Gault finished the game with 129 receiving yards on just 4 receptions, an average of over 32.2 yards per catch. He also returned 4 kickoffs for 49 yards. Suhey had 11 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown, and caught a pass for 24 yards. Singletary tied a Super Bowl record with 2 fumble recoveries.Eason became the first Super Bowl starting quarterback to fail to complete a pass, going 0 for 6 attempts. The Bears also dominated Patriots starting running back James, holding him to 1 yard on 5 carries, with 1 fumble. Grogan completed 17 out of 30 passes for 177 yards and 1 touchdown, with 2 interceptions. Although Fullback
Tony Collins was the Patriots leading rusher, he was limited to just 4 yards on 3 carries, and caught 2 passes for 19 yards. New England receiverStephen Starring returned 7 kickoffs for 153 yards and caught 2 passes for 39 yards.*Scoring
**NE -Tony Franklin 36 yd FG (NE 3-0)
**CHI -Kevin Butler 28 yd FG (3-3)
**CHI - Kevin Butler 24 yd FG (CHI 6-3)
**CHI -Matt Suhey 11 yd TD run (Butler kick) (CHI 13-3)
**CHI -Jim McMahon 2 yd TD run (Butler kick) (CHI 20-3)
**CHI - Kevin Butler 24 yd FG (CHI 23-3)
**CHI - Jim McMahon 1 yd TD run (Butler kick) (CHI 30-3)
**CHI -Reggie Phillips 28 yd interception return TD (Butler kick) (CHI 37-3)
**CHI - William Perry 1 yd TD run (Butler kick) (CHI 44-3)
**NE - 8 yd TD pass fromSteve Grogan toIrving Fryar (Franklin kick) (CHI 44-10)
**CHI - Safety, Steve Grogan sacked in end zone byHenry Waechter (CHI 46-10)Awards
*NFL Champions (9)
*National Football Conference Championship
*NFC Central Division Championship
*Richard Dent, Super Bowl XX Most Valuable Player
* Mike Ditka, 1985 AP NFL Coach of Year
* Mike Ditka, 1985 Sporting News NFL Coach of Year
* Mike Ditka, 1985 UPI NFL Coach of Year
* Walter Payton,Bert Bell Award
* Walter Payton,UPI NFC Player of the Year , Offense
* Mike Singletary,National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award
* Mike Singletary,UPI NFC Player of the Year , Defense
* Mike Singletary, NFC Defensive Player of the YearReferences
*
*"Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
*"The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995" (ISBN 0-89204-523-X)succession box
title =Super Bowl champion
years = 1985
before = San Francisco 49ers
1984
after = New York Giants
1986External links
* [http://www.bearshistory.com/seasons/1985chicagobears.aspx 1985 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com]
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