1986 Chicago Bears season

1986 Chicago Bears season

Head coach	Mike Ditka (5th season)
General manager	Jerry Vainisi (Since 1983)
Owner	The McCaskey Family (Family control since 1921; Virginia McCaskey since 1983)
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	14–2
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (Redskins) 27–13
Pro Bowlers	7^[1] RB Walter Payton LT Jimbo Covert C Jay Hilgenberg DT Steve McMichael LB Wilber Marshall MLB Mike Singletary SS Dave Duerson
AP All-Pros	11^[2] WR Dennis Gentry RB Walter Payton RB Neal Anderson LT Jimbo Covert C Jay Hilgenberg DE Dan Hampton DT Steve McMichael LB Wilber Marshall MLB Mike Singletary CB Mike Richardson SS Dave Duerson

The 1986 Chicago Bears season was their 67th regular season and 17th post-season completed in the National Football League. The Bears entered the season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, as they had won in 1985. Chicago managed to finish 14–2, one game off of their 1985 record of 15–1, and tied the New York Giants for the league's best record.

After winning the championship in 1985, the team seemed like a dynasty in the making. However, quarterback Jim McMahon showed up to training camp 25 pounds overweight – the product of the post-Super Bowl partying he'd partaken in. Nonetheless, he was once again named as the starter. Injuries, however, derailed his season. McMahon played in only six of the team's first 12 games.

In week 12, McMahon was on the receiving end of one of the most vicious hits in NFL history. In a game against the Green Bay Packers, McMahon was blindsided by Packers defensive lineman Charles Martin. Martin had gone into the game with a hit list of Bears players. McMahon was his first victim. After McMahon threw an interception, Martin hoisted the quarterback into the air and slammed him into the ground, a few seconds after the play had ended. McMahon writhed on the ground in pain, having suffered a separated shoulder. He was out for the remainder of the year. Still, the Bears won that game, and went undefeated for the rest of the regular season as well. McMahon's loss may have been a blessing in disguise, as by any standard, he was having a horrible season.

Aided by a strong offensive line, the Bears were once again led on offense by Walter Payton. Payton remained his usual stellar self, posting his 10th and final 1000-yard season. With McMahon's poor play, as well as the equally poor play of backups Mike Tomczak, Steve Fuller and Doug Flutie, Payton was the sole spark on offense, which ranked 13th in the NFL.

As had been the case the year before, the Bears were once again led by their explosive defense. Any shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball were more than made up for on the defensive side. They once again were ranked #1 in the NFL. The Bears' defense became the third defense in the history of the NFL to lead the league in fewest points allowed and fewest total yards allowed for two consecutive seasons.^[3] The Bears' 187 points allowed is the fewest surrendered by any team in the 1980s (other than the strike-shortened 1982 season) – even fewer than the 198 points the Bears allowed in their historic 1985 season.

However, the Bears were not able to recapture their magic from the season before and were bounced from the playoffs in their first game by the Washington Redskins.

1986 NFL Draft

Main article: 1986 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1986 Chicago Bears draft
1	27	Neal Anderson *	Running back	Florida
2	55	Vestee Jackson	Cornerback	Washington
3	82	David Williams	Wide receiver	Illinois
4	110	Paul Blair	Tackle	Oklahoma State
5	138	Lew Barnes	Wide receiver	Oregon
6	166	Jeff Powell	Running back	Tennessee
7	194	Bruce Jones	Defensive back	North Alabama
8	221	Maurice Douglass	Defensive back	Kentucky
9	249	John Teltschik	Punter	Texas
10	277	Barton Hundley	Defensive back	Kansas State
11	305	Glen Kozlowski	Wide receiver	Brigham Young
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record
1	August 3, 1986	Dallas Cowboys	W 17–6	Wembley Stadium	1–0
2	August 9, 1986	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 33–13	Three Rivers Stadium	2–0
3	August 16, 1986	Indianapolis Colts	W 38–21	Soldier Field	3–0
4	August 23, 1986	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–14	Soldier Field	3–1
5	August 30, 1986	Buffalo Bills	W 31–17	Notre Dame Stadium	4–1

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1986	Cleveland Browns	W 41–31	66,030
2	September 14, 1986	Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–10	65,130
3	September 22, 1986	at Green Bay Packers	W 25–12	55,527
4	September 28, 1986	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 44–7	55,146
5	October 5, 1986	Minnesota Vikings	W 23–0	63,921
6	October 12, 1986	at Houston Oilers	W 20–7	46,026
7	October 19, 1986	at Minnesota Vikings	L 23–7	62,851
8	October 26, 1986	Detroit Lions	W 13–7	62,064
9	November 3, 1986	Los Angeles Rams	L 20–17	64,877
10	November 9, 1986	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–3	70,097
11	November 16, 1986	at Atlanta Falcons	W 13–10	55,520
12	November 23, 1986	Green Bay Packers	W 12–10	59,291
13	November 30, 1986	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 13–10	61,425
14	December 7, 1986	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 48–14	52,746
15	December 15, 1986	at Detroit Lions	W 16–13	75,602
16	December 21, 1986	at Dallas Cowboys	W 24–10	57,256

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	7	7	7	10	31
• Bears	21	3	7	10	41

Date: Sunday, September 7
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 66,030
Game weather: 63°F; (Sunny) wind 9
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary

Q1	CLE	Gross recovered fumble in end zone (Bahr kick)	CLE 7–0

Q1	CHI	Gentry 91 yard kickoff return (Butler kick)	Tie 7–7

Q1	CHI	Payton 2 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 14–7

Q1	CHI	Marshall 58 yard interception return (Butler kick)	CHI 21–7

Q2	CLE	Mack 3 yard run (Bahr kick)	CHI 21–14

Q2	CHI	Butler 47 yard field goal	CHI 24–14

Q3	CLE	Mack 14 yard run (Bahr kick)	CHI 24–21

Q3	CHI	Payton 11 yard pass from McMahon (Butler kick)	CHI 31–21

Q4	CLE	Bahr 22 yard field goal	CHI 31–24

Q4	CHI	Butler 19 yard field goal	CHI 34–24

Q4	CLE	Brennan 15 yard pass from Kosar (Bahr kick)	CHI 34–31

Q4	CHI	Suhey 6 yard run (Butler kick)	CHI 41–31

^[4]

Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Eagles	3	0	0	7	0	10
• Bears	0	0	10	0	3	13

Date: Sunday, September 14
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 65,130
Game weather: 66°F, (Cloudy) wind 12 mph

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary

1	Eagles	Paul McFadden 49-yard field goal	Eagles 3–0

3	Bears	Walter Payton 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 7–3

3	Bears	Kevin Butler 23-yard field goal	Bears 10–3

4	Eagles	Mike Quick 26-yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Paul McFadden kick)	Tie 10–10

OT	Bears	Kevin Butler 23-yard field goal	Bears 13–10

Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	3	7	10
• Bears	2	7	0	3	12

Date: Sunday, November 23
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST
Game weather: 41°F, wind 13 mph
Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary

1	Bears	Safety, Kenneth Davis tackled by Dan Hampton in end zone	Bears 2–0

2	Bears	Dennis Gentry recovered fumble in end zone (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 9–0

3	Packers	Al Del Greco 22-yard field goal	Bears 9–3

4	Packers	Ed West 46-yard pass from Randy Wright (Al Del Greco kick)	Packers 10–9

4	Bears	Kevin Butler 32-yard field goal	Bears 12–10

Week 15: at Detroit Lions

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bears	0	3	0	13	16
Lions	3	3	7	0	13

Date: Monday, December 15
Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan
Game start: 9:00 p.m. CST
Game weather: Indoors (dome)
Television network: ABC

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary

1	Lions	Eddie Murray 52-yard field goal	Lions 3–0

2	Bears	Kevin Butler 41-yard field goal	Tie 3–3

2	Lions	Eddie Murray 39-yard field goal	Lions 6–3

3	Lions	Leonard Thompson 4-yard pass from Chuck Long (Eddie Murray kick)	Lions 13–3

4	Bears	Kevin Butler 32-yard field goal	Lions 13–6

4	Bears	Matt Suhey 4-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Tie 13–13

4	Bears	Kevin Butler 22-yard field goal	Bears 16–13

Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys

Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bears	7	14	3	0	24
Cowboys	0	0	0	10	10

Date: Sunday, December 21
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST
Game weather: 47°F, wind 8 mph
Referee: Fred Wyant

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary

1	Bears	Walter Payton 1-yard run (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 7–0

2	Bears	Neal Anderson 58-yard pass from Doug Flutie (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 14–0

2	Bears	Willie Gault 33-yard pass from Doug Flutie (Kevin Butler kick)	Bears 21–0

3	Bears	Kevin Butler 31-yard field goal	Bears 24–0

4	Cowboys	Rafael Septien 50-yard field goal	Bears 24–3

4	Cowboys	Mike Renfro 11-yard pass from Steve Pelluer (Rafael Septien kick)	Bears 24–10

Roster and staff

Staff

Coaching Staff of 1986 season

Front office

Virginia Halas McCaskey – Owner
Michael McCaskey – Team president
Jerry Vainisi – General manager
Ray Earley – Equipment manager
Gary Haeger – Assistant equipment manager
Rod Graves – Director of player personnel

Coaches

Mike Ditka – Head coach
Steve Kazor – Assistant head coach^[a]
Ed Hughes – Offensive coordinator
Vince Tobin – Defensive coordinator

Position coaches

Greg Landry – Quarterbacks
Johnny Roland – Running backs
Dick Stanfel – Offensive line
John Levra – Defensive line
Dave McGinnis – Linebackers
Jim LaRue – Secondary

Trainers

Brian McCaskey – Assistant trainer
Clyde Emrich – Weightlifting/Strength

Scouts

Jim Dooley
Pete McGrane – Video team

Roster

Complete Roster of 1986 season

Quarterbacks

Offensive backs

Receivers

83 Willie Gault
81 Lew Barnes
82 Ken Margerum
86 Clay Pickering
89 Keith Ortego

Tight ends

87 Emery Moorehead
80 Tim Wrightman

Kickers

6 Kevin Butler K
8 Maury Buford P

Offensive line

74 Jim Covert T
62 Mark Bortz G
63 Jay Hilgenberg C
57 Tom Thayer G
78 Keith Van Horne T
71 Andy Frederick OL
75 Stefan Humphries OL
79 Kurt Becker G
52 Larry Rubens C
68 Paul Blair T

Defensive line

Linebackers

50 Mike Singletary MLB
55 Otis Wilson SLB
58 Wilber Marshall WLB
51 Jim Morrissey LB
53 Dan Rains LB
54 Brian Cabral LB
59 Ron Rivera LB

Cornerbacks

Defensive backs

Safeties

22 Dave Duerson SS
45 Gary Fencik FS

Reserve Lists

21 Leslie Frazier CB (IR)

49 Riley Walton TE (IR)

85 Dennis McKinnon WR (IR)

93 Glen Kozlowski WR (IR)

Rookies in italics

Depth chart

Defense

FS
Gary Fencik
⋅

WLB	MLB	SLB
Wilber Marshall	Mike Singletary	Otis Wilson
⋅	⋅	⋅

SS
Dave Duerson
⋅

CB
Mike Richardson
⋅

DE	DT	DT	DE
Richard Dent	William "Refrigerator" Perry	Steve McMichael	Dan Hampton
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

CB
Vestee Jackson
Reggie Phillips

Offense

WR
Willie Gault
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Jimbo Covert	Mark Bortz	Jay Hilgenberg	Tom Thayer	Keith Van Horne
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

TE
Emery Moorehead
⋅

WR
Keith Ortego
⋅

QB
Jim McMahon
Mike Tomczak

RB
Walter Payton
⋅

FB
Matt Suhey
⋅

Special Teams
PK Kevin Butler
P Maury Buford
KR Thomas Sanders
PR Lew Barnes
LS Jay Hilgenberg
H Steve Fuller

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 3, 1987	Washington Redskins	L 27–13	65,141

Game Summary

NFC Divisional Playoff: Washington Redskins at Chicago Bears – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	7	0	7	13	27
Bears	0	13	0	0	13

at Soldier Field, Chicago

Date: January 3, 1987
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Game weather: 33°F, relative humidity 85°F, round (wind) 7 MPH
Boxscore

Game information

First Quarter

WAS – Art Monk 28 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jess Atkinson kick) Redskins 7-0

Second Quarter

CHI – Willie Gault 50 yard pass from Doug Flutie (Kevin Butler kick) Tie 7-7
CHI – Kevin Butler 23 yard field goal. Bears 10-7
CHI – Kevin Butler 41 yard field goal. Bears 13-7

Third Quarter

WAS – Art Monk 23 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jess Atkinson kick) Redskins 14-13

Fourth Quarter

WAS – George Rogers 1 yard run (Jess Atkinson kick) Redskins 21-13
WAS – Jessie Atkinson 35 yard field goal. Redskins 24-13
WAS – Jessie Atkinson 25 yard field goal. Redskins 27-13

Redskins

Jay Schroeder. 15-32, 185 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int
Art Monk. 5 rec, 81 yards, 2 TD

Bears

Doug Flutie. 11-31, 134 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int
Walter Payton. 14 rush, 38 yards.

Turnovers

Redskins – 1
Bears – 4

The 1986 Bears earned a first round playoff bye, but in their opening playoff game, they were upset at home by the Washington Redskins. A holding penalty and a missed field goal by Kevin Butler frustrated the Bears in the first quarter. They still, however, managed to take a 13–7 lead into halftime. But their usually stout defense fell apart in the second half, allowing the Redskins to score 20 unanswered points.

"Maybe my dreams didn't come true", said Chicago Coach Mike Ditka. "The defense has to play outstanding and today they were just not up to the way the Redskins were playing."

Despite injuries to Redskins offensive linemen Joe Jacoby and Russ Grimm, the Washington offensive line was able to pick up the Bears patented blitzes. Washington quarterback Jay Schroeder was sacked only twice. He was also able to use the blitzes to his advantage, completing passes while being chased out of the pocket.

Trailing 14–13 in the 4th quarter, the Bears good fortune ran out, when the usually dependable Payton lost a fumble, which led to an 83-yard touchdown drive by the Redskins. The long drive perpetrated against the NFL's best defense seemed to take the wind out of the Bears' sails. A few minutes later, the Bears muffed a punt return which set up an easy field goal for the Redskins. The Bears lost 27–13.

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears⁽²⁾	14	2	0	.875	7–1	10–2	352	187	W7
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	398	273	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	277	326	L4
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	3–5	3–9	254	418	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–13	239	473	L7

References

↑ "1986 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
↑ "1986 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
↑ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.294, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-06.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: 1986 Chicago Bears season

1986 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com

Chicago Bears

Founded in 1919 Formerly the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Staleys Based in Chicago, Illinois Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois

Franchise	History Coaches Seasons Current season

Records	Records and statistics Franchise records All-time record versus NFL Team awards and honors Players Head coaches Pro Football Hall of Famers First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks

Stadiums	Staley Field Wrigley Field Soldier Field Memorial Stadium Soldier Field II

Lore	Fog Bowl 1932 Playoff Game First NFL Championship Game "The Sneakers Game" Monsters of the Midway T formation 46 defense 15–1 Super Bowl XX Bears 73, Redskins 0 Staley Swindle Cardiac Kids George S. Halas Trophy Brian Piccolo Award 75th Anniversary League Team NFL All-Time Team 2006 game vs. Arizona Cardinals

Culture	Brian's Song 1971 2001 "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" "The Super Bowl Shuffle" Bill Swerski's Superfans Chuck Swirsky Staley Da Bear Logos and uniforms Halas Hall A. E. Staley Jack Brickhouse Papa Bear Mike Ditka Roosevelt/Wabash 85386 Payton Chicago Honey Bears Jim Cornelison

Rivalries	Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Retired numbers	3 5 7 28 34 40 41 42 51 56 61 66 77 89

Key personnel	Chairman: George McCaskey President/CEO: Ted Phillips General Manager: Ryan Pace Head Coach: John Fox

Division championships (18)	1933 1934 1937 1940 1941 1942 1943 1946 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 2001 2005 2006 2010

Conference championships (4)	1956 1963 1985 2006

League championships (9)	1921 1932 1933 1940 1941 1943 1946 1963 1985 (XX)

Media	Radio: WBBM (AM) WCFS-FM (FM simulcast of WBBM) Personnel: Jeff Joniak (play-by-play) Tom Thayer (analyst) Zach Zaidman (sideline reporter and radio coach's show host) Television: WFLD (pre-season and most regular season games through Fox, official pre-game and post-game) Comcast SportsNet Chicago (in-season team programming) Personnel: Lou Canellis (gameday television host, pre-season sideline reporter) Sam Rosen (pre-season play-by-play) Jim Miller (pre-season analyst)

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (96)	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold Book:Chicago Bears :Category:Chicago Bears WikiProject Chicago Bears

Decatur / Chicago Staleys–Chicago Bears seasons

Decatur Staleys 1920 Chicago Staleys 1921 Chicago 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1986 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.