Read The '85 Bears: We Were the Greatest Online
Authors: Mike Ditka,Rick Telander
The '85 Bears: We Were the Greatest (39 page)
Super Smooth Sailing
B
uddy Ryan had so much confidence in the Bears’ impregnable, take-no-prisoners defense that he predicted three fumbles by Rams All-Pro running back Eric Dickerson in the NFC Championship Game. Ryan was wrong. Dicker-son fumbled just twice. “If they would have run him more,” Ryan scoffed, “he would have had three.”
When Bear weather—frigid temperatures, howling winds, and swirling snow flurries—descended on Soldier Field, the Bears knew their first Super Bowl ticket was pretty well punched. In those conditions, Dickerson was the Southern California visitors’ only hope. And he couldn’t deliver, managing just 46 yards on 17 carries.
Worse, by falling behind 10–0 in the first 10 minutes and 34 seconds, the Rams were forced to play catch-up, and they had no chance against a defense that seemed to know what they were going to do before they even tried it and responded with ferocious effectiveness in a 24–0 thumping. Overwhelmed quarterback Dieter Brock completed just 10 of 31 passes for 66 yards with one interception. He was sacked three times and spent the entire afternoon running for his life.
When did the Bears seize control? “Kickoff,” said Dan Hampton, centerpiece of the defensive line that thwarted Dickerson and intimidated Brock. Early on, Hampton could see defeat in the Rams’ faces. “I can tell by looking in their eyes whether they want to play or not,” he said. “I knew they weren’t really sure they wanted to be in Chicago playing us.”
The Bears, who became the first team in NFL history to record back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs, were just as efficient if not as spectacular on offense, most notably Jim McMahon.
Offensive guard Mark Bortz blocks the Rams’ Gary Jeter as Jim McMahon prepares to pass.
The punky QB completed 16 of 25 throws for 164 yards, running for one touchdown when he was supposed to pass and passing for another touchdown when he was supposed to hand off. He threw against the wind and with the wind and through the wind in a performance that drew superlatives from hard-to-please coach Mike Ditka.
Among the hallmarks of the Bears’ run to the NFC championship was the rugged defense of linemen Steve McMichael.
“You don’t understand how well our quarterback threw the football,” Ditka said. McMahon’s favorite target was Walter Payton, who gained only 32 yards rushing but added 48 yards on seven receptions.
After the Rams went three-and-out on their first possession, McMahon took the Bears 56 yards in five plays for a 7–0 lead, scoring the touchdown on a 16-yard run. Kevin Butler added a 34-yard field goal before the first quarter ended, and the tone of the day was set.
McMahon converted Dickerson’s second fumble into a 22-yard TD pass to Willie Gault in the third quarter, waving off the draw play Ditka had sent in from the sidelines.
The defense got into the offensive act in the fourth quarter, Wilber Marshall returning Brock’s fumble 52 yards for the game’s final score after Brock had been dumped for the third time.
How one-sided was it? The Rams’ longest drive was 27 yards. They went three-and-out on eight of their 16 possessions and averaged just 2.2 yards per play.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m not happy about what happened today,” Ditka said. “But we’re on a mission, and it won’t be finished until we’re finished in New Orleans.”
Chicago 24, LosAngeles 0
JAN. 12, 1986, AT SOLDIER FIELD
Defense, cold send Bears on way to New Orleans
Willie Gault’s 22-yard touchdown reception. Jim McMahon waved off Mike Ditka’s call for a draw play and hit Gault, who had faked cornerback LeRoy Irvin inside and then run a corner route.
The Rams’ longest drive covered 27 yards. They averaged 2.2 yards per play.
Wilber Marshall steams into the end zone in the fourth quarter after scooping up a fumble.
BUDDY RYAN
Defensive coordinator
“I
n the meeting with defensive players the night before the Super Bowl I told them regardless of what happened, they’d always be my heroes, and walked out. They all were crying and yelling. It was a very emotional thing. I never planned much of anything like that. I found it works better if you have the feeling, you know?”
“Being carried off the field in the Super Bowl in New Orleans. That’s a great honor that your players carried you off after the game. It’s never been done to an assistant coach before or since.”
“I don’t have anything to tell you about Mike Ditka. I don’t have feelings either way.”
“Mr. Halas gave me the job a month before he hired Ditka and told me to hire my coaches.”
“A dumb player gets you beat, and a guy that’s scared will get you beat. You have to have intelligence and toughness. The players executed, and they just scared people. I think there was actually some fear. People laugh when you say ‘NFL’ and have somebody scared. Well, believe me, we had them scared.”
“When they started out as rooks, they were numbers. As they got up and played well, I started calling them by name.”
“If you remember, Mike Singletary and Todd Bell and Al Harris all held out that year. I spent the whole off-season begging them to sign up. Singletary did, but the other two didn’t come into the fold, so they didn’t get a Super Bowl ring.”
“Moments that year? Oh, they were all great. Dominated in the Super Bowl the way we did.”
“We’d always score the first 10 points of the game on defense and then give the offense the ball on the plus-40.”
“Dan Hampton and I own some horses together, and he’s kind of a country guy. Great player.”
“If something broke down, Gary Fencik would jump the pattern. He’s a super-smart guy. To play our defense, you had to be smart, and you had to be tough. Gary qualified both ways.”
“They wanted me to play a three-man line, so they went out and got a nose tackle [William Perry], so they thought. But he could only play a couple plays, and then he had to rest.”
“I used to play the players in racquetball in Chicago all the time. I competed that way. I beat them most of the time. McMahon could beat me. He’s too good for me. But most of them I could beat.”
