Super Bowl XX — 1985 Season

Result

Super Bowl MVP

Richard Dent, DE, Chicago Bears

Starting lineups

Starting offense

Starting defense

Note: New England's Tony Eason technically started at quarterback but went 0-for-6 with no first down before Steve Grogan replaced him and played the bulk of the game - both quarterbacks' lines are recorded in the passing table above (Grogan's, since he threw the vast majority of the team's passes), matching the box score rather than reporting only the nominal starter. William Perry's 1-yard rushing touchdown came on a short-yardage goal-line package.

Box score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Game context

Super Bowl XX delivered one of the most dominant championship performances in NFL history, as the Chicago Bears crushed the New England Patriots 46-10 behind the era-defining "46 defense" of coordinator Buddy Ryan, setting a then-Super Bowl record for margin of victory and capping a regular season in which Chicago had outscored opponents 456-198. The Patriots, a surprise wild-card entrant who had upset three straight higher-seeded opponents on the road to reach the game, were completely overwhelmed. New England actually struck first, kicking a 36-yard field goal just 1:19 into the game after recovering a Walter Payton fumble, but the Bears took the lead for good on the ensuing possessions and never trailed again, building a 23-3 halftime lead and then blowing the game open with 21 third-quarter points. Chicago's defense was the story throughout: the Bears sacked New England quarterbacks seven times (a Super Bowl record), held the Patriots to just seven rushing yards (the fewest ever allowed in a Super Bowl), and limited New England to negative-19 total yards through the first half. New England's Tony Eason became the first Super Bowl starting quarterback to fail to complete a single pass, going 0-for-6 before being replaced by Steve Grogan, who fared better, completing 17 of 30 passes for 177 yards and a late touchdown that accounted for New England's only points beyond the early field goal. Defensive end Richard Dent was named Super Bowl MVP after recording 1.5 sacks, forcing two fumbles, and batting down a pass, setting the tone for a defense that also saw linebacker Mike Singletary tie a Super Bowl record with two fumble recoveries. Rookie defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry, already a cultural phenomenon during the regular season for his size and occasional offensive appearances, capped Chicago's dominance with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, bulldozing over a Patriots linebacker in the process and pushing the score to 44-3. Quarterback Jim McMahon became the first quarterback to score two rushing touchdowns in a single Super Bowl, and receiver Willie Gault caught four passes for 129 yards, including a 60-yard connection. Chicago's all-time leading rusher, Walter Payton, was held to just 61 yards on 22 carries by New England's defense, which keyed almost entirely on stopping him -- a game that head coach Mike Ditka later called one of his career's biggest regrets, for failing to get the future Hall of Famer into the end zone in his signature championship moment. The Bears' championship celebration was quickly overshadowed by the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster two days later, which led to the cancellation of the team's planned White House visit; the Bears would not receive official White House recognition for the title until 2011. NBC's broadcast drew roughly 92.57 million viewers, the first Super Bowl to surpass 90 million, reflecting the game's growing stature as a national cultural event even as Chicago's brand of ferocious, personality-driven defense became one of the most celebrated units in NFL history.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Super Bowl XX
• Pro-Football-Reference: Super Bowl Game Summaries