Chicago Bears: Reliving the 1985 Super Bowl win

Last Sunday, NBC showed the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots.

As a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, I’ve always wanted to see them win a title. Thing is, while I was alive in 1985, I am too young to have remembered the game. I was not yet five and a half years old when the ball was kicked off.

So I was intrigued to see that NBC was showing more or less the whole broadcast (it appears the broadcast was trimmed a bit for time) of the game, with an interview of Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton mixed in.

Watching the game now, 34 years and change later (they may be the ’85 Bears, but the championship game was, of course, played in 1986), I learned that some of what we thought about that team and that game wasn’t entirely true, and some was spot on.

For example, we all know Walter Payton didn’t score in the game, but I think history has forgotten a big part of why he didn’t – the Patriots’ defensive game plan. The Pats keyed on him from the start and didn’t let up even as the Bears countered by using Matt Suhey to carry the ball while also utilizing the passing game to move downfield. Payton also fumbled on the opening drive, and that may have changed the Bears’ plans.

Yes, the Bears chose to run William “the Refrigerator” Perry on a short-yardage play with goal to go instead of Payton. That’s a tough decision to defend in hindsight. But over a quarter of the game remained, and with the Bears rolling, it appeared Payton would get another chance.

And he did. But with Jim McMahon out and Steve Fuller in and the game in hand, the offense wasn’t quite as smooth. Still, Payton did drop a pass that could’ve led to a score, if not a big gain, on one drive. And even with the Bears running the ball to chew clock, the Pats still swarmed Payton and backup Calvin Thomas. Other players also had dropped passes on plays that could’ve potentially set up a Payton score.

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Perhaps if McMahon stays in the game instead of leaving due to injury, the offense gets more red-zone chances, and Walter gets his score.

The other aspect of the game that history seems to forget is that it was close early. After Payton’s fumble, New England had a short field and two passing misfires cost them a chance at the end zone. At least of the passes appeared to be a fairly easy catch. So the Pats settled for a field goal. Even after the Bears mounted a strong drive on their next possession, they, too, had to settle for three instead of six.

The teams swapped punts, and then the Bears’ vaunted defense came to life, forcing a fumble. But they fell short of the end zone again after Perry was brought in to try a pass and got sacked. After the D forced another fumble, Suhey finally found the end zone.

From there, the rout was on.

Still, for one quarter, the Pats’ hung in there with the Bears. The Bears’ defensive prowess was evident from the start, but it took nearly a full quarter for the team to really get going.

Watching the game did reinforce one thing we knew – that D was awesome. I wish the broadcast had as many camera angles as today’s games do, in order to see some of the action away from the ball. Even without that, it was clear the Pats’ line couldn’t stop the pass rush, especially as the game wore on, and as Steve Grogan replaced Tony Eason as New England’s QB. Then there were the forced fumbles and a later pick-six. All told, New England lost four fumbles and was picked off twice.

When it comes to forgotten tidbits, there’s more. For all the talk about the dominant D, the offense was also unstoppable. Payton may have been held in check, but Suhey had several key rushes, and Willie Gault had 43- and 60-yard receptions.

Some of the key plays were made by players whose names never become part of Bears’ lore. We all know about Payton and McMahon and Richard Dent and Gault and Tom Thayer, but quick – who had that pick-six? If you said Reggie Phillips, you’d be correct. And the safety that capped off the scoring? Came on a sack by Henry Waechter. Neither of those two guys has been a fixture of the ’85 Bears media circuit that continues to this day.

The Bears also benefited from some questionable calls. There should’ve been a 10-second runoff at the end of the first half, but since there wasn’t, they got another field goal in before the break. Gault was ruled in bounds on a key catch when replays showed he wasn’t.

If you’re a Bears fan, I hope you watched or at least set your DVR. The trip down memory lane was worth it, and if you’re under the age of 45 or so, surprisingly educational.