Welcome back all! As we continue to get closer to the big Super Bowl showdown between San Francisco & Kansas City, it's time for another edition of "Super Bowl Flashbacks". Earlier in the week, we took a trip back to the early 1970s and re-visited Super Bowl V, and in today's post we take our DeLorean to 1985 (which only seems fitting, since that was the year 'Back to the Future' came out).
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The "Monsters of the Midway" had not been monsters at all for the better part of the previous two decades. The once storied Chicago Bears franchise had fallen on hard times ever since they won their last NFL Championship in 1963. The fortunes began to change, however, when a former player took over as head coach. Mike Ditka had played for George Hallas, and then spent several years playing for & coaching under legendary Dallas coach Tom Landry.
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Ditka was given the keys to the Bears, but he wasn't uniformly welcomed. Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan believed he was the right man for the job, but was passed over for Ditka. The defensive players made it clear they wanted Ryan back as their D-Coordinator and the Bears' brass obliged. It all came together beautifully in 1985, but not before a bit of a rocky start.
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The Bears surrendered 28 first-half points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at home at Soldier field nonetheless) in the season opener, but rallied back for a 38-28 victory. The defense clearly had an acclimation period to work through, but once they did, they became the most dominant unit in perhaps the history of professional football.
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The 1985 Bears' Defense went on to accomplish a number of amazing feats all season long that help to paint the picture of just how dominant they really were. They went on to hold their opponents to 10 points or less in a remarkable 14 of their 19 games (including the postseason). They outscored the opposition by a whopping 456-198 margin for the regular season, and held their opponents to just 10.7 points per game in their 15 regular season victories.
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Their lone defeat came when the 11-0 Bears traveled to Miami for a Monday night showdown with Dan Marino & the Dolphins' high-powered O'. It was a horror show for the Bears, as bad bounces, unlucky breaks, and blown coverages led to their lone defeat of the season - a 38-24 aberration. Including that stinker, the Bears' D still only surrendered 12.4 points per game for the 1985 season.
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Furthermore, they led the league with 64.0 total sacks, as every single D-lineman had at least 3, and including the playoffs, they also forced 64 turnovers - including a ridiculous 8 games where they forced 4 or more. Hall of Fame LB Mike Singletary was the league's Defensive POY, and HOF DE Richard Dent led the NFL in sacks with 17.0.
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Chicago wasn't all D though. QB Jim McMahon played in 13 games & threw for 2,392 yards and 15 scores and rushed for another 250+ yards on the ground. Legendary RB Walter Payton may have turned 31, but did not slow down one bit as he piled up 1,551 rushing yards and 9 scores, and caught another 49 passes for 483 yards and 2 scores. WR Willie Gault provided a valuable deep-threat as he averaged 21.3 yards per catch on the season, catching 33 for 704 yards. Dennis McKinnon added 31 for 555 yards and a team-best 7 receiving scores.
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The offense was especially impressive & unrelenting in the running game, where they led the league in rushing attempts (610), rushing yards (2,761), & rushing TDs (27). The Bears averaged 38.1 attempts, 172.6 rushing yards, and 1.7 rushing scores per game for the season. Coupled with their crushing and sophocating defense, and it was the perfect recipe for dominance.
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That was even more evident once the playoffs got underway as Chicago became the first & to date, only team to not allow a single point in their two playoff games prior to the Super Bowl. First, they crushed the Giants 21-0, while limiting them to just 181 total yards, then it was the LA Rams turn, as they were held to just 130 yards in a 24-0 spanking. Eric Dickerson & co. were no match, and the Bears were off to their first ever Super Bowl.
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Meanwhile, the team that would be standing on the opposite sideline as Chicago, had a very different path to Super Bowl XX. The New England Patriots went back to the days of the AFL (when they were known as the Boston Patriots), but much like Chicago, had endured a long stretch of overall lackluster play & failed seasons.
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The Patriots turned in a surprisingly solid regular season in 1985 behind youngsters QB Tony Eason, and RB Craig James (1,000+ yards rushing), finishing at 11-5. However, thanks to tie-breakers, they actually finished third in the AFC East (at the time each Conference had 3 Divisions, not the 4 that we have today) behind the Dolphins & Jets.
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New England also boasted an impressive defensive unit in their own right - finishing 5th in the NFL in total defense. Hall of Fame LB Andre Tippett led the AFC with 16.5 sacks. In fact, it would be the defense that led the way in their amazing run to the Super Bowl.
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Despite finishing 3rd in their division and having to go on the road three consecutive games, the Pats got it done. First it was a 26-20 upset of the Jets, then a 27-20 victory over the Raiders, and finally the most shocking of all...
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The Patriots hadn't won in Miami (in particular the Orange Bowl) since 1966 and had lost 18 consecutive games to the Dolphins in south Florida. Therefore, the 31-14 dismantling administered by New England was a complete shocker. The defense was to thank as they intercepted Marino twice and forced 6 turnovers in total. Tippett & co. had led one of the great Wild-Card runs through the playoffs to make their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
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With the Bears & Patriots both making their respective Super Bowl debuts, Super Bowl XX was the last time to date where both participants were making their S.B. debuts.
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The Super Dome in New Orleans was rocking for the showdown, as the Patriots were the team that got off to an incredibly fast start. Payton fumbled on just the 2nd play of the game and N.E. took over at the Bears' 19. 3 incompletions later and the Pats had a very quick 3-0 lead just 1:19 into the game. Which at the time, was the quickest lead in Super Bowl history.
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From that point however, the Bears completely dominated the game. In fact, New England was held to -19, yes that is correct, negative 19 total yards of offense in the first half. Six different Chicago players scored touchdowns in all, including 380-pound rookie defensive tackle William "the Refrigerator" Perry. It was only fitting that the Bears recorded a safety in the game as well. In the end, Chicago put the crown jewel on what was a season for the ages. The 46-10 complete annihilation produced the second lowest yardage total allowed in Super Bowl history, as New England could only manage 123 total yards for the game (the Vikings were held to just 119 yards by the Steelers in SB IX).
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Super Bowl XX will always be remembered as the pinnacle moment for one of the most dominant defenses in the history of the game. A novelty song - "Super Bowl Shuffle" - recorded by a number of the players, even made the Billboard charts at one point during the season. It matched the team of characters that they had both in leading them in Ditka & Ryan & the colorful personalities that they had at both sides of the ball. Before we part for today, take this last nugget into consideration for a moment - the Bears' D only allowed a TOTAL of 434 yards in their 3 postseason games, while outscoring their opponents 91-10. The song might have been "Super Bowl Shuffle", but it very well could have been "Super Bowl Dominance".
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