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 becoming only the second team in NFL history to finish a season with a 15–1 record since the NFL went to a 16 game schedule in 1978. They earned the top seed in the NFC for the playoffs; they remain the last 15-win team to win the Super Bowl. It was the Bears' first NFL World Championship title since 1963.

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 Bears became the only team in NFL history to record back-to-back shutouts in the postseason, with a 21-0 win over New York and a 24-0 victory over the Rams.

The 1985 season was also the team's cheerleading squad Chicago Honey Bears' final season with the team, as team owner Virginia Halas McCaskey eventually severed all ties with them.

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 America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, ranking behind the 1972 Dolphins. Many sources, however, such as ESPN, rate the 1985 Chicago Bears as the greatest NFL team ever.

The Bears were first in scoring defense, allowing only 198 points in the regular season, with an average of allowing only 12.4 points/game, as well as scoring more points than given up. They were also second in scoring with 456 points, trailing only the Chargers that season. They also led the league in turnover differential at plus-23. The team also had 4 shutouts over the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams in the postseason.

Their defense, with their 46 defense and led by Buddy Ryan, was known for being one of the greatest in league history, with their linebacking corps (Mike Singletary, Wilber Marshall, and Otis Wilson) being ranked #5 for the greatest linebacking corps in NFL history in NFL Top 10. The Bears were famous (or infamous) for getting to the quarterback repeatedly, with a notable moment being a sack by Marshall against the Detroit Lions where he knocked quarterback Joe Ferguson unconscious. The irony of the defense's success 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.

After the loss to the Miami Dolphins, most of the team recorded the song The Super Bowl Shuffle (Defensive lineman Dan Hampton refused to participate due to the song's arrogance), becoming the first sports team to record a rap song (The 49ers recorded a post-disco song the year before). The song's popularity led to it being #41 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the song funded $300,000 in profit for the Chicago Community Trust to help needy families in Chicago with clothing, shelter, and food, hence Walter Payton's rap lyric: "now we're not doing this because we're greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy".

In 2011, the Bears made their visit to the White House, 25 years after their originally intended visit was cancelled due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Read more about 1985 Chicago Bears Season:  Standings, Roster and Staff, Playoffs, Awards, Hall of Famers, Players That Became Coaches

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