1985 Chicago Bears

Lore & Background

The Bears won their first twelve games of the season before losing to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football. The loss to the Dolphins would be the only loss the Bears would suffer that season, as they finished with a 15–1 record. This matched the 49ers' mark from the year before and tied the then-record for most wins in a regular season. The Bears' defense was ranked first in the league and only allowed 198 total points (an average of 12.4 points per game). The Bears won the NFC Central Division by seven games over the second-place Green Bay Packers and earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as the NFC’s top seed at Soldier Field. In their two playoff games against the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, the Bears outscored their opponents 45–0 and became the first team to record back-to-back playoff shutouts. Then, in Super Bowl XX at the Louisiana Superdome against the New England Patriots, the Bears set several more records. First, their 46 points broke the previous record of 38 that had been scored by the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII and again by the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. Their 36-point margin of victory also topped the 29-point margin of victory that the Raiders recorded over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Both of those records would stand until Super Bowl XXIV in New Orleans four years later, when the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos by 45 points, 55–10. This was the Bears' first championship since 1963 and is their most recent title.

In Their Own Story

The wind whipped off Lake Michigan, scouring the exposed skin of players huddled in the biting Soldier Field chill. Inside that circle, Mike Singletary's gaze burned with a ferocity that instantly silenced the chatter. 'They think they can run on us?' he growled, his voice slicing through the cold air like a knife. 'We are the wall.' The opposing quarterback dropped back, but before his foot could even plant, a blur of black and orange detonated from the line. Richard Dent exploded through the A-gap, the resulting sack shaking the turf like an earthquake. As the crowd erupted into a deafening roar, the defense offered no celebration—no dancing, no taunting. They simply reset, eyes locked on the next play, hungry to dismantle another offense piece by cold, calculated piece.

Reader's Guide

The 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins for the title of the greatest NFL team of all time. In 2007, the 1985 Bears were ranked as the second greatest Super Bowl championship team on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, ranking behind only the 1972 Dolphins. They also ranked #2 behind only the Dolphins on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary. Other sources rate the 1985 Chicago Bears as the greatest NFL team ever. The defense led the league in points allowed (198), yards allowed (4,135) and takeaways (54), a feat that was not accomplished again until the 2013 Seattle Seahawks defense.

Did You Know?

• The Bears' 46 points in Super Bowl XX broke the previous record of 38 set by the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII and matched by the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX.
• The Bears became the first team to record back-to-back playoff shutouts, outscoring the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams 45–0.
• The Bears' 36-point margin of victory in Super Bowl XX topped the 29-point margin recorded by the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.
• The Bears' defense allowed only 198 points in the regular season, an average of 12.4 points per game.