Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1985 season….in a game in which the Bears defeated the Patriots by the score of 46–10….thereby capturing their first NFL championship….as well as Chicago’s first overall professional sports title….since 1963….which was three years prior to the birth of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XX was played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans….as this was the first of nine Super Bowl appearances for New England…..cuz to this date, it was the 4th and most recent Super Bowl where both teams were making their Super Bowl debuts….as presently in 2017….this would only occur again if the Detroit Lions faced either the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars or the Houston Texans. Additionally, this is currently the only Super Bowl to match teams where both head coaches….Mike Ditka for the Bears and Raymond Berry for the Patriots….were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as players,…although Ditka did not get selected for the Hall of Fame until 1988….after Super Bowl XX was played. The Bears entered the game after becoming the second team in NFL history to win 15 regular season games….for with their then-revolutionary 46 defense….the Bears led the league in several defensive categories….such as outscoring their opponents with a staggering margin of 456–198….while recording two postseason shutouts….whereas the Patriots were considered a Cinderella team during the 1985 season while posting an 11–5 regular season record….but entered the playoffs as a wild card because of tiebreakers….and then defying the odds….the Pats posted three road playoff wins to advance to Super Bowl XX.
In their victory over the Patriots as seen in this video herewith….the Bears set or tied Super Bowl records for sacks (7), fewest rushing yards allowed (7) and margin of victory (36 pts)….while at the time, New England broke the record for the quickest lead in Super Bowl history with Tony Franklin’s 36-yard field goal at 1:19 into the first quarter after a Chicago fumble. But the Patriots were eventually held to negative yardage (−19) throughout the entire first half….while finishing the game with just 123 total yards from scrimmage….which is still today the second lowest total yards in Super Bowl history….behind the Minnesota Vikings (119 total yards) in Super Bowl IX. Bears DE Richard Dent was voted Super Bowl XX Most Valuable Player (MVP) after recording 1.5 quarterback sacks, forcing two fumbles and blocking a pass.
The telecast of the game on NBC’s included a broadcast crew of Bob Costas, Bob Griese, Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen….and was watched by an estimated 92.57 million viewers….so, to commemorate the 20th Super Bowl….NBC brought together all previous Super Bowl MVPs….who were honored during the pregame ceremonies.
Although this game was lopsided….1986 featured maybe the best Chicago Bears team ever assembled…..and certainly one of the most popular Bears team ever….which showcased Coach Mike Ditka, QB Jim McMahon, RB Walter Payton, WR Willie Gault, DT Steve McMichael, DT Wm “Refrigerator” Perry, DE Richard Dent and LB Mike Singletary….which makes this video well worth watching over and over again.
