1986 Chicago Bears

1986 Chicago Bears season
Head Coach	Mike Ditka
Home Field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	14–2
Place	1st NFC Central
Playoff Finish	Lost NFC Divisional Playoff
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1985	1987

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 done 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 throwing an interception, Martin hoisted McMahon 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 lead 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. 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.

Offseason

1986 NFL Draft

1986 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	27	Neal Anderson *	Running back	Florida
2	55	Vestee Jackson	Cornerback	Washington
3	82	David Williams	Wide receiver	Illinois
4	110	Paul Blair	Offensive 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	Safety	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

Personnel

Coaches / Staff

1986 Chicago Bears staff
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 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

1986 Chicago Bears final roster
	Quarterbacks  2 Doug Flutie  4 Steve Fuller 18 Mike Tomczak Running backs 35 Neal Anderson 34 Walter Payton 26 Matt Suhey FB 20 Thomas Sanders 29 Dennis Gentry KR/WR 33 Calvin Thomas FB Wide receivers 81 Lew Barnes 83 Willie Gault KR/WR 82 Ken Margerum 86 Clay Pickering 89 Keith Ortego Tight ends 87 Emery Moorehead 80 Tim Wrightman		Offensive linemen 79 Kurt Becker G 68 Paul Blair T 62 Mark Bortz G 74 Jim Covert T 63 Jay Hilgenberg C 57 Tom Thayer G 78 Keith Van Horne T 71 Andy Frederick T 75 Stefan Humphries G 52 Larry Rubens C Defensive linemen 95 Richard Dent DE 99 Dan Hampton DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 76 Steve McMichael DT 72 William Perry DT 70 Henry Waechter DL 90 Al Harris DE		Linebackers 58 Wilber Marshall OLB 51 Jim Morrissey LB 53 Dan Rains LB 50 Mike Singletary MLB 55 Otis Wilson OLB 54 Brian Cabral LB 59 Ron Rivera LB 52 Larry Rubens Defensive backs 25 Todd Bell 36 Maurice Douglass 22 Dave Duerson SS 45 Gary Fencik FS 23 Shaun Gayle DB 24 Vestee Jackson CB 48 Reggie Phillips CB 27 Mike Richardson CB Special teams  6 Kevin Butler K  8 Maury Buford P		Reserve lists 21 Leslie Frazier CB (IR) 49 Riley Walton TE (IR) 85 Dennis McKinnon WR (IR)  9 Jim McMahon QB (IR) 93 Glen Kozlowski WR (IR) Practice squad None - N/A Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Preseason

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

Schedule

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

Playoffs

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

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

Template:1986 NFC Central standings

External links

• 1986 Chicago Bears season article at Wikipedia
• 1986 Chicago Bears at jt-sw.com
• 1986 Chicago Bears season at Pro Football Reference
• 1986 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com