Chicago Bears: Comparing the 1985 defense to 2019 group

When evaluating NFL defenses, the standard for the last thirty-plus years has been the Super Bowl Champion1985 Chicago Bears.

The latest defense to draw comparisons to the Monsters of the Midway is the current Chicago Bears defense, which broke out to be the league’s best in 2018. The young group lead the team to the playoffs this season for the first time since 2010.

Headlined by players such as Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson, and Akiem Hicks, the Bears were the NFL’s top defense in the run stop, points per game, and turnovers. With the team still very much growing and developing, the Bears only figure to become a more dominant force in the NFL. With this being said, it is only fair to compare the league’s top current defense to the all-time greatest, especially considering the fact that both are Chicago Bears groups.

Comparing such a young group that has only appeared in the playoffs once and lost in the first round may be a bit of a stretch, but maybe not as much as one might think. Some of the similarities between the 1985 and 2019 rosters are simply striking. In fact, some of the players on the ’19 defense have solidified themselves as better than their 1985 counterparts.

The most exciting part about this current Bears defense is that some of the young stars on the roster such as Roquan Smith and Eddie Jackson are not done developing. With the addition of aggressive defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, the Bears may be able to put up even more impressive sack and turnover numbers than in 2018.

In this slideshow, each player from the 1985 defense will be compared to his 2019 counterpart in order to show the vast similarities between the two and the promise this current defense shows.