1984 Chicago Bears season The 1984 Chicago Bears season was their 65th regular season and 15th post - season completed in the National Football League . The club posted a 10 - 6 record , earning them a spot in the NFL playoffs . The Bears went on to lose in the NFC Championship Game 23 - 0 to the eventual Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers . Great expectations . The Bears opened 1984 in a new place - Platteville , Wisconsin . Coach Mike Ditka needed his team to get away from any distractions they might face at home , and they spent August 1984 in the cornfields getting ready for the campaign ahead . The team was on the verge of discovering a group of young leaders for the first time , began to show the most dominating defense the league would ever see , and pushed much farther than anyone expected them to go . The first 5 games of 1984 . There would be no opening day letdown in 1984 . Chicago started the season by throttling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34 - 14 . Then they blanked the Denver Broncos 27 - 0 behind a huge day from Walter Payton . This game featured a famous image from Payton ' s career - a 50 + yard run down the sideline , led by 2nd - year guard Mark Bortz , an 8th round pickup that was converted from defensive tackle . The next week , with Jim McMahon out as the Bears visited Green Bay , reserve quarterback Bob Avellini took the reins . Chicago ' s offense performed poorly , but managed a 9 - 7 victory . This contest marked the first meeting of Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg - a rivalry that would go down in history as arguably the dirtiest era in Chicago - Green Bay football . The next week , the Bears ' lack of offensive power was evident as they lost to the Seattle Seahawks 38 - 9 . After this loss , Ditka cut Avellini . The move didn ' t seem to matter because the following week the Bears lost to the Dallas Cowboys 23 - 14 . A season that started at 3 - 0 was becoming dimmer , as the team was suddenly 3 - 2 . Record breaker and quarterback problems . Walter Payton reached a major milestone as he surpassed Jim Brown as the game ' s all - time leading rusher in yards , he did it in the third quarter of an October 7 game at home against the New Orleans Saints . The Bears beat the Saints 20 - 7 . Then they lost 38 - 21 to the St . Louis Cardinals in St . Louis . Following this loss , they beat Tampa Bay 44 - 9 , and the Minnesota Vikings at home , 16 - 7 . Following the Minnesota win came the biggest challenge for the Bears - a showdown with the world champion Los Angeles Raiders . The Bears beat the Raiders 17 - 6 , a game that showcased the NFL ' s leading sacker , Richard Dent , who collected three against Raiders QB Marc Wilson . The Bears victory was marred by a kidney laceration received by their QB Jim McMahon , sending him to the sidelines for the remainder of the season . Who ' s really playing quarterback . Six - year veteran QB Steve Fuller had been acquired from the Los Angeles Rams prior to the ' 84 season for insurance in case McMahon was injured . The investment paid off . Fuller guided the Bears to a 2 - 1 record over the next 3 games . In the third game at Minnesota ' s new Hubert H . Humphrey Metrodome on November 25 , the team clinched its first NFC Central Division title . After the Minnesota game , Fuller was injured , and Chicago was faced with another quarterback problem . Ineffective Rusty Lisch replaced the injured Fuller and lost the December 3 game at San Diego , then started the following week against Green Bay at home . Lisch was again ineffective , so Ditka inserted none other than Walter Payton behind center in the shotgun formation . Payton was unsurprisingly ineffective as well , and the Bears lost to the Packers 20 - 14 . " Plan Z " to the playoffs . Fuller was expected to return by the playoffs , but Ditka didn ' t want to enter the postseason with another loss . Ditka went to " Plan Z " , and signed 14 - year journeyman Greg Landry to start his last NFL game against the Detroit Lions ( his old team ) , which he helped the Bears win 30 - 13 . Chicago was poised to enter the postseason for the first time since 1979 . The postseason . The first - round matchup sent the 10 - 6 Bears to Washington , a team that had lost to the Los Angeles Radiers in Super Bowl XVIII . Washington was heavily favored , but Chicago came away with a 23 - 19 victory that featured TD passes from Fuller as well as Payton on a halfback option pass . The momentum was clearly in the Bears ' favor as they travelled to San Francisco for their first appearance in a championship game of any sort since their championship year in 1963 . The line for the game came down steadily as the week wore on , but the Bears were shut out 23 - 0 . Fuller had performed poorly in games against tough opponents , and the offense sputtered as the 49ers were able to stop Walter Payton all day long . The team had gone farther than many had expected them to go in 1984 , and the season set the stage for their Super Bowl winning 1985 season .