1989 Chicago Bears season The 1989 Chicago Bears season was their 70th regular season completed in the National Football League . The club posted a 6 - 10 record , and did not make the playoffs for the first time since 1983 . Winds of Change . In the winter of 1989 after Super Bowl XXIII , NFL owners and players ratified a new free agency plan . The plan would force teams to designated 37 players as " protected " , with the rest becoming free agents able to sign with any team during the months of March and April . The first 1989 winds of change began to blow when the team left long - time veteran Super Bowl champion players Otis Wilson and Mike C . Richardson unprotected . Al Davis ' Los Angeles Raiders signed both players , but neither would make the club that year and would be forced to retire . Another veteran of note unprotected was linebacker / defensive end Al Harris , who signed with Buddy Ryan ' s Philadelphia Eagles . Changes to the organization and team continued throughout the spring . Longtime offensive coordinator Ed Hughes was " promoted " to the title of assistant Head Coach , which simply meant that assistant Greg Landry took over as offensive coordinator while Hughes was relegated to coaching receivers . Head coach Mike Ditka announced at this time that that starting quarterback position was up for grabs , meaning incumbents Jim McMahon , Mike Tomczak and 1987 first - round draft pick Jim Harbaugh would battle for the starting role . McMahon had started the previous NFC Championship Game but couldn ' t muster the team to more than three points , so his long - standing starting job was by no means safe . The 1989 NFL Draft . What was good news for the Bears was that for the second straight season , they owned multiple picks in the first round of the draft . 1988 had brought young defensive talent in receiver Wendell Davis and running back Brad Muster , and in 1989 it was thought that urgent help would be needed on defense , with the loss of Wilson , Richardson , and Harris . Additional depth on the defensive line was needed as well , given that William Perry and Richard Dent had missed significant time in 1988 due to injury . Not only did the Bears have two first - rounders in 1989 , they actually had three . They owned their own pick , number 25 , and also had the 11th pick from the Raiders as part of the 1988 Willie Gault trade , and the 12th from the Washington Redskins for Wilber Marshall following the 1987 NFL Season . On draft day , the Bears selected cornerback Donnell Woolford 11th overall , then spent the 12th pick on Florida defensive end Trace Armstrong . Feeling good about the first two picks , and needing additional depth , the Bears traded the 25th pick to the Miami Dolphins for their high second and third - round picks . Additional wheeling and dealing gave the Bears a whopping 20 selections over the Draft ' s 12 rounds . Roughly eight of those players made the team and contribute . One that did not was ninth - round pick Byron Sanders from Northwestern . Byron ' s brother Barry had been selected by the Detroit Lions with the third overall selection . In Armstrong , Woolford , and John Roper , a linebacker selected with the second - round pick obtained from Miami , the Bears had their replacements for Wilson , Richardson and Harris . Chicago used the other pick obtained from Miami on offensive lineman Jerry Fontenot . Were it not for the two picks obtained from the Dolphins , and the two first - rounders the Bears would have had virtually nothing long - term from this 20 - player draft . But it was not the 1989 Draft that would harm the 1989 Bears - although the ' 89 draft would have a lot to do with the demise of the team leading up to Mike Ditka ' s dismissal three years later . One of the nails in the ' 89 coffin were failures high in the 1985 - 1988 drafts . A second - rounder was blown in 1985 on cornerback Reggie Phillips , released in 1988 . 1989 ' s second 2nd round pick was tackle Dave Zawatson , who did not make the 1990 roster . Third - round busts were James Maness in ' 85 , David Williams in ' 86 , the pick trade for Doug Flutie in 1987 , and Ralph Jarvis in 1988 . Fourth - round picks such as Paul Blair ( ' 86 ) and Sean Smith ( ' 87 ) weren ' t much better . the San Francisco 49ers built their late - decade dynasty around middle - round picks like Tom Rathman , Charles Haley and John Taylor during those years , while the Bears failed to restock as the Super Bowl Team of 1985 aged . This , along with letting Pro Bowl ers like Marshall and Gault leave , would force their ultimate downfall for more than a decade . Training Camp drama . Training camp 1989 opened with the usual holdouts that were common in the 1980s , even though without tree free agency players had no real leverage . Steve McMichael held out briefly in hopes of renegotiating the contract he had signed the previous season , and William Perry , Dave Duerson and Shaun Gayle missed several days before signing . The Most notable holdouts were the first round picks , Armstrong and Woolford . The former missed the first three weeks of camp , while the latter didn ' t sign until after the first preseason game . These holdouts would trigger a unique change in Bears draft philosophy the following season . The Bears quarterback problems . When Ditka was asked about Jim McMahon ' s status , prior to the season , he declared he had no intention of a trade but would listen to any offers that came this way . McMahon was traded to the San Diego Chargers days before the Chargers traveled to Soldier Field for a preseason meeting with the Bears . Hughes retired from the team shortly after the McMahon trade , stating he lost interest in coaching and that losing McMahon had no influence with his final decision to retire . Prior to traveling to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Vikings in December , the Bears stayed for three days at the University of Wisconsin – Madison to practice in their indoor facilities . There were protests by Madison residents over the university allowing the Chicago Bears to train in Wisconsin . With McMahon gone , Tomczak started the season at quarterback , with Harbaugh backing him up . Ditka felt good enough about the duo that he did not keep a third quarterback on the active roster . Regular season . First up for the Bears and entrenched starting quarterback Tomczak in 1989 were the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field . It was the defending AFC Champs versus the NFC runners - up , and the Bears endured 20 - 17 , despite Tomczak throwing an interception on his first pass attempt of the season . Defensive lineman Dan Hampton , playing in his 11th season , sacked Bengal quarterback Boomer Esiason twice and blocked a field goal attempt . He also displayed refreshing candor in his postgame interview . Asked to comment on fullback Brad Muster ' s fumble with 1 : 29 left in the game , Hampton said " If I had a knife , I would have stabbed him . " The following week Chicago hosted the Minnesota Vikings , who had swept the Bears the previous season . The Bears and Vikings stayed close the first three quarters , with Chicago holding a 10 - 7 fourth - quarter lead . In the final period , the Bears busted out for four touchdowns , ultimately beating the visitors 38 - 7 . The Bears moved to 3 - 0 with a win in the season ' s third week at Detroit , a game in which the offense racked up 542 net yards and 47 points . The Bears ' expected strong start set up a miracle match - up for ABC ' s " Monday Night Football " , as the 2 - 1 Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Soldier Field to face the undefeated Bears . The week preceding the game was filled with the drama of the Ditka - Buddy Ryan rivalry . Despite brash talk from Ryan , the Bears prevailed 27 - 13 and embarrassed the visitors on many fronts . Ditka used his usual sarcasm following the game , stating " I ' m not surprised ( about the 4 - 0 start ) , but I think a lot of people must be surprised , that we beat Cincinnati , Minnesota , Detroit and Philadelphia . We must be awfully lucky . " Then they lost 10 of the last 12 games . One of the 10 losses came at Lambeau Field in Green Bay , The Bears led late in the game , but the Packer quarterback Don Majkowski threw a controversial game - winning touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe to give the Packers a 14 - 13 win . The loss was so hard for Bears head coach Mike Ditka that in the 1990 Bears Media Guide , he put the game in the 1989 game - by - game results as the instant replay game .