NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XX played on January 26, 1986, was won by the Champions of the NFC the Chicago Bears who defeated the AFC Champions the New England Patriots at the Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Chicago Bears had won the 1985 NFC Central Division coached by Mike Ditka with a regular season record of 15-1-0. The Bears point scoring average was 28.5 per game which ranked their offense 2nd best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 12.4 points per game conceded making their defense 1st overall in the league.

The Bears first postseason game was in the NFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the New York Giants who had finished regular season with a record of 10-6-0. The Giants point scoring average was 24.9 per game which ranked their offense 6th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 17.7 points per game conceded making their defense 5th overall in the league.

The New York Giants had reached the Divisional Playoffs after beating the San Francisco 49ers 17 - 3 in the NFC Wild Card Game.

In regular season the Bears and the Giants had not played against each other but overall the Bears were the better team in both offense and defense by quite a long way.

The Chicago Bears won their Divisional Playoff with ease by 21 points to 0.

The Chicago Bears next playoff opponents were the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. The Los Angeles Rams had won the 1985 NFC West Division and finished regular season with a record of 11-5-0. Their point scoring average was 21.2 per game which ranked their offense 15th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 17.3 points per game conceded making their defense 4th overall in the league.

The Bears and the Rams had not played against each other through the course of regular season but going by the form that the two teams had been in leading up to the game - the Bears 1 defeat in their previous 10 games as opposed to the Rams 5 defeats in their previous 10 games - the result looked to be a foregone conclusion.

Once again the Bears of ′85 demonstrated a masterclass in football and dished out a 24 - 0 beating to the Rams to win the NFC Championship. Could any team give the Bears a real test?

The Chicago Bears opponents in Super Bowl XX were the New England Patriots who had finished second in the 1985 AFC East Division coached by Raymond Berry with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Patriots point scoring average was 22.6 per game which ranked their offense 10th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 18.1 points per game conceded making their defense 6th overall in the league. The New England Patriots had reached the postseason games as a Wild Card team.

The Patriots first playoff was in the AFC Wild Card Game and their opponents were the New York Jets coached by Joe Walton. The New York Jets who also played in the AFC East had finished regular season with a similar record to the New England Patriots of 11-5-0. The Jets had a point scoring average of 24.6 per game which ranked their offense 7th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 16.5 points per game conceded making their defense 3rd overall in the league.

The New England Patriots and the New York Jets had played each other twice in the course of regular season when each team had a home field win. The games had been close and fairly low scoring but overall one could quite easily think that the New York Jets looked the more likely to win as they were a higher ranking team and into the bargain were playing at home.

However, the Patriots showing a good standard of play won nicely by 26 points to 14.

The New England Patriots next playoff game was in the AFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the Los Angeles Raiders. The Raiders had won the 1985 AFC West Division and finished regular season with a record of 12-4-0. Their point scoring average was 22.1 per game which ranked their offense 12th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 19.2 points per game conceded making their defense 9th overall in the league.

The Patriots and the Raiders had met once in regular season when the Raiders had won quite comfortably by 35 points to 20.

Although the Raiders had been a Division winner with a good win ratio, their averages for points scored & conceded were not that impressive and those figures were definitely no better than what the Patriots had achieved. An in form team could quite possibly have the beating of the Los Angeles Raiders.

With nothing to lose and a lot to gain from their playoff season, the New England Patriots showing a most tenacious spirit won their AFC Divisional Playoff tie by 27 points to 20.

The New England Patriots next game was in the AFC Championship where their opponents were the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins had won the 1985 AFC East Division and finished regular season with a record of 12-4-0. Their point scoring average was 26.8 per game which ranked their offense 4th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 20 points per game conceded making their defense 12th overall in the league.

In the 1985 regular season the Patriots and the Dolphins had played against each other twice. Each had won their home fixture in what proved to be very close narrow margin games. Going by the book, there did not look a lot between them.

However, the Patriots whilst showing no signs of stopping their improved playoff season form, dished out another lesson in football to defeat the Miami Dolphins by 31 points to 14 to win the 1985 American Football Conference Championship Game.

Super Bowl XX had a clear favorite who were the Chicago Bears and even though the New England Patriots were on a roll it was hard to give them any realistic chance against the mighty Bears.

In the game though it was the Patriots who scored the early points in the first quarter when Tony Franklin kicked a 36 yard field goal but from that point on until into the fourth quarter the Bears made it just one-way traffic.

The Bears quickly built up an unassailable lead and they were 23 - 3 up by half-time. Whilst hardly stopping for breath, the Bears came out at the start of the third quarter and were on the offense immediately to score another 21 points without reply. The Bears now held a 44 - 3 lead to take into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, with the Bears name already etched on the trophy, the New England Patriots did at last show they had got some ability to score when Irving Fryar managed to get them their only touchdown of the game and Tony Franklin converted the following kick at goal. Not done for, the Bears did manage to get another two points themselves when defensive end Henry Waechter tackled Patriots Quarterback Steve Grogan in the end zone to be awarded a safety.

The Chicago Bears won Super Bowl XX by 46 points to the New England Patriots 10.

Chicago Bears Defensive End Richard Dent was named the Super Bowl XX MVP after sharing 2 sacks, forcing 2 fumbles and blocking a pass.

Note
The Chicago Bears playoff averages were 30.3 points scored per game (28.5 regular season) and an average of 3.3 points conceded per game (12.4 regular season).

The New England Patriots playoff averages over 4 games were 23.5 points scored per game (28.5 regular season) and an average of 23.5 points conceded per game (18.1 regular season).

In Conclusion
In 1985 the Chicago Bears were truly awesome. Their averages for points scored and allowed throughout the playoffs both showed marked improvement. In fact, defensively they were more or less impossible to score against.

The New England Patriots were doing well in the early playoffs showing a nice level of improvement, that is until they met the Bears and after Super Bowl XX the Patriots were a well beaten team.

In the end the Chicago Bears were the only one′s made of the right sort of stuff.

The tougher the game the better the Bear!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Chicago Bears (NFC)	13	10	21	2	-	46
New England Patriots (AFC)	3	0	0	7	-	10