1985 Chicago Bears season The 1985 Chicago Bears season was their 66th regular season and 16th post - season completed in the National Football League . The club posted a 15 - 1 record , earning them the top seed in the NFC for the playoffs . The Bears defeated their three post season opponents by a combined score of 91 - 10 en route to a victory in Super Bowl XX , their ninth NFL Championship . The team ' s starting middle linebacker , linebacker Mike Singletary was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the UPI Defensive NFC Player of the Year . Running back Walter Payton won the NFC Offensive Player of the Year , head coach Mike Ditka was named NFL Coach of the Year and defensive end Richard Dent was named Super Bowl MVP . The 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins for the unofficial 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 " " , ranking behind the 1972 Dolphins . Many sources , however , such as ESPN , rate the 1985 Chicago Bears as the greatest NFL team ever . Season review . The Bears were one of the most dominating teams of their era . Led by Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan , the Bears ’ revolutionized defensive play calling their 46 defense . The irony of the success of the 46 defense was that two of the Bears top defensive players , linebacker Al Harris and strong safety Todd Bell missed the entire season due to contract disputes . Additionally , the team possessed several talented offensive players to back up their defense . The Bears started their season by trailing their ( then ) divisional rivals in the first game , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , the Bears rallied back to claim a ten point margin of victory . The Bears then played the New England Patriots , where the Bears ’ defense smothered the Patriots ’ offense . The following week , backup quarterback Steve Fuller was called up to take the place of Jim McMahon , who was sidelined with a pinched nerve . With the Bears trailing the Minnesota Vikings , eventually allowed an anxious McMahon to return to the game . Without any delay , McMahon spearheaded a Bears comeback and victory . The Bears dominated many teams during the season , including Tom Landry ’ s famed Dallas Cowboys , whom the Bears defeated 44 - 0 . The Bears ’ hopes for a perfect season were thwarted when Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins defeated the Bears on Monday Night Football during week thirteen , 38 - 24 . Nevertheless , the Bears won the remainder of the games , and earned the NFC ’ s top playoff seed with a 15 - 1 record . The Bears defense only allowed 12 . 4 points / game . After the loss to the Dolphins , most of the team recorded the song " The Super Bowl Shuffle . " Playoffs . NFC Divisional Playoff : Chicago Bears 21 , New York Giants 0 . The Bears defense dominated the game by allowing only 32 rushing yards and sacked Giants quarterback Phil Simms for 60 yards . Chicago ' s first touchdown resulted on a New York punt attempt from their own 12 - yard line . The wind caught the ball just enough for punter Sean Landeta to completely miss it , and Shaun Gayle picked it up and ran 5 yards for a touchdown . Bears quarterback Jim McMahon later threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter , both to Dennis McKinnon . McMahon finished the game with 216 passing yards , while running back Walter Payton rushed for 94 yards . NFC Championship : Chicago Bears 24 , Los Angeles Rams 0 . The Bears defense dominated the game by limiting Rams running back Eric Dickerson to 46 yards , and holding quarterback Dieter Brock to 10 out of 31 completions for 66 passing yards . Los Angeles only gained 130 yards of total offense . Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon scored on a 16 - yard touchdown run in the first quarter , and later threw a 22 - yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault in the third quarter . Kicker Kevin Butler kicked a 34 - yard field goal in the first period . In the fourth quarter , defensive lineman Richard Dent forced Brock to fumble , and linebacker Wilber Marshall picked up the loose ball and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown . Super Bowl XX : Chicago Bears 46 , New England Patriots 10 . The Patriots took a quick lead after linebacker Larry McGrew recovered a fumble from Walter Payton at the Chicago 19 - yard line on the second play of the game , setting up Tony Franklin ' s 36 - yard field goal 1 : 19 into the first quarter . The Bears struck back with a 7 play , 59 - yard drive , featuring a 43 - yard pass completion from Jim McMahon to wide receiver Willie Gault , to set up a field goal from Kevin Butler , tying the score 3 - 3 . After both teams traded punts , Richard Dent and linebacker Wilber Marshall shared a sack on Eason , forcing a fumble that lineman Dan Hampton recovered on the Patriots 13 - yard line . Chicago then drove to the 3 - yard line , but had to settle for another field goal from Butler after rookie defensive lineman William " Refrigerator " Perry was tackled for a 1 - yard loss while trying to throw his first NFL pass on a halfback option play . On the Patriots ' ensuing drive , Dent forced running back Craig James to fumble , which was recovered by linebacker Mike Singletary at the 13 - yard line . Two plays later , Bears fullback Matt Suhey scored on an 11 - yard touchdown run to increase the lead 13 - 3 . New England took the ensuing kickoff and ran one play before the first quarter ended , which resulted in positive yardage for the first time in the game ( a 3 - yard run by James ) . But after an incomplete pass and a 4 - yard loss , they had to send in punter Rich Camarillo again , and receiver Keith Ortego returned the ball 12 yards to the 41 - yard line . The Bears subsequently drove 59 yards in 10 plays , featuring a 24 - yard reception by Suhey , to score on McMahon ' s 2 - yard touchdown run to increase their lead , 20 - 3 . After the ensuing kickoff , New England lost 13 yards in 3 plays and had to punt again , but got the ball back with great field position when defensive back Raymond Clayborn recovered a fumble from Suhey at their own 46 - yard line . Patriots coach Raymond Berry then replaced Eason with Steve Grogan to see if he could spark the Patriots offense . But Grogan could only lead them to the 37 - yard line and they decided to punt rather than risk a 55 - yard field goal attempt . The Bears then marched 72 yards in 11 plays , moving the ball inside the Patriots 10 - yard line . New England kept them out of the end zone , but Butler kicked his third field goal on the last play of the half to give Chicago a 23 - 3 halftime lead . The Bears had absolutely dominated New England in the first half , holding them to 21 offensive plays ( only 4 of which resulted in positive yardage ) , - 19 total offensive yards , 2 pass completions , 1 first down , and 3 points . Meanwhile , Chicago gained 236 yards and scored 23 points themselves . After the Patriots received the second half opening kickoff , they managed to get one first down , but then had to punt after Grogan was sacked twice . Camarillo , who punted 4 times in the first half , managed to pin the Bears back at their own 4 - yard line with a Super Bowl record 62 - yard punt . But the Patriots defense still had no ability to stop Chicago ' s offense . On their very first play , McMahon faked a handoff to Payton , then threw a 60 - yard completion to Gault . Eight plays later , McMahon finished the Super Bowl record 96 - yard drive with a 1 - yard touchdown run to make the Bears lead 30 - 3 . On New England ' s second drive of the period , Chicago cornerback Reggie Phillips intercepted a pass from Grogan and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead 37 - 3 . On the second play of their ensuing possession , the Patriots turned the ball over again , when receiver Cedric Jones lost a fumble after catching a 19 - yard pass from Grogan . A few plays later , McMahon ' s 27 - yard completion to receiver Dennis Gentry moved the ball to the 1 - yard line , setting up perhaps the most memorable moment of the game . William " the Refrigerator " Perry was brought on to score on offense , as he had done twice in the regular season . His touchdown made the score 44 - 3 . The Patriots finally scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter , advancing the ball 76 yards in 12 plays and scoring on an 8 - yard pass from Grogan to receiver Irving Fryar . But the Bears defense dominated New England for the rest of the game , forcing another fumble , another interception , and defensive lineman Henry Waechter ' s sack on Grogan in the end zone for a safety to make the final score 46 - 10 . One irony in the Bears victory was that Payton had a relatively poor performance statistically running the ball and never scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XX , his first and only Super Bowl appearance during his Hall of Fame career . However , if one views the game and watches the Patriot ' s defense , it is clear that their primary goal was stopping Payton and he frequently had three and four defenders keyed on him on nearly every play . This allowed the rest of the Bear ' s offense far more opportunities to score than had the Patriots employed a more balanced defense . Ultimately Payton was the Bears ' leading rusher during the game , the Patriots defense held him to only 61 yards on 22 carries , with his longest run being only 7 yards . He was given several opportunities to score near the goal line , but New England stopped him every time before he reached the end zone ( such as his 2 - yard loss from the New England 3 - yard line a few plays before Butler ' s second field goal , and his 2 - yard run from the 4 - yard line right before McMahon ' s first rushing touchdown ) . Thus , Chicago head coach Mike Ditka opted to go for other plays to counter the Patriots defense . Perry ' s touchdown and McMahon ' s rushing touchdowns are widely considered as scoring opportunities that were denied to Payton . Ditka has since gone on record stating that his biggest regret of his career was not creating a scoring opportunity for Payton during the game . McMahon , who completed 12 out of 20 passes for 256 yards , became the first quarterback in a Super Bowl to score 2 rushing touchdowns . Bears receiver Willie Gault finished the game with 129 receiving yards on just 4 receptions , an average of over 32 . 2 yards per catch . He also returned 4 kickoffs for 49 yards . Suhey had 11 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown , and caught a pass for 24 yards . Singletary tied a Super Bowl record with 2 fumble recoveries . Eason became the first Super Bowl starting quarterback to fail to complete a pass , going 0 for 6 attempts . The Bears also dominated Patriots starting running back James , holding him to 1 yard on 5 carries , with 1 fumble . Grogan completed 17 out of 30 passes for 177 yards and 1 touchdown , with 2 interceptions . Although Fullback Tony Collins was the Patriots leading rusher , he was limited to just 4 yards on 3 carries , and caught 2 passes for 19 yards . New England receiver Stephen Starring returned 7 kickoffs for 153 yards and caught 2 passes for 39 yards .