Ranking The 10 Greatest Chicago Sports Teams In History

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26 Jan 1986: Quarterback Tony Eason #11 of the New England Patriots is brought down by linebacker Wilber Marshall #58 of the Chicago Bears during Super Bowl XX game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bears won the game 46-10. /

The 1985 Chicago Bears. 2. team. 57. . .

When a team is revered as strongly as the 1985 Chicago Bears are even to this day, you know they must’ve been pretty good. This was a team that had been slowly put together over the course of a decade. It started way back in 1975 with the arrival of all-time running back Walter Payton and from there was assembled piece by piece over the subsequent years.

In 1979 it was Hall of Fame defensive tackle Dan Hampton. Two years later a young linebacker from Baylor named Mike Singletary came aboard. Perhaps the two most critical years though were in 1982 and 1983. Mike Ditka took over as head coach in ’82 and he drafted Jim McMahon as his quarterback that same year. The next offseason saw the arrival of Jimbo Covert, Willie Gault, Tom Thayer, Mark Bortz, Dennis McKinnon and last but not least, Richard Dent.

People got a preview of how good the team could be in 1984 when they reached the NFC championship game, the defense setting the record for most sacks in a season (72) along the way. It was in 1985 though that it all came together. The Bears were unstoppable that season. The offense racked up 456 points and 2,761 rushing yards. The defense? They entered the realm of legend.

After a shaky start to the season, Buddy Ryan’s bunch suffocated opponents into submission. They pitched four shutouts including back-to-back games in the playoffs against the Giants and Rams. They allowed just 198 points all season, had 80 sacks (including the playoffs) and forced a total of 64 turnovers. The Bears went 15-1 in the regular season and trampled the Patriots in Super Bowl XX for a 46-10 win.

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