1986 Chicago Bears season

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. Although the Bears had an equal 14–2 record as the New York Giants for the league's best record, the Giants were seeded number one in the NFC for the playoffs due to the Giants having a better conference record (11–1) than that of the Bears (10–2). In going 14–2, the Chicago Bears were the first team in NFL history to have consecutive seasons with 14 or more victories.

1986 Chicago Bears season
Owner	The McCaskey Family
General manager	Jerry Vainisi
Head coach	Mike Ditka
Offensive coordinator	Ed Hughes
Defensive coordinator	Vince Tobin
Home stadium	Soldier Field
Results
Record	14–2
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Redskins) 13–27
All-Pros	11[1] 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
Pro Bowlers	7[2] RB Walter Payton LT Jimbo Covert C Jay Hilgenberg DT Steve McMichael LB Wilber Marshall MLB Mike Singletary SS Dave Duerson
← 1985 Bears seasons 1987 →

After winning the championship in 1985, the Bears 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 to his rotator cuff (including a flagrant late-hit by Charles Martin which exacerbated it), however, derailed his season. McMahon played in only six of the team's first 12 games.

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 1,000-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 1st 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. The 187 points allowed set the all-time NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game regular season at the time, which would not be broken until the 2000 Baltimore Ravens allowed a mere 165 points 14 years later.^[4]

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

Main article: 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

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 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 roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  2 Doug Flutie  4 Steve Fuller 18 Mike Tomczak Running backs (RB) 35 Neal Anderson 34 Walter Payton 20 Thomas Sanders 26 Matt Suhey 33 Calvin Thomas Wide receivers (WR) 81 Lew Barnes 83 Willie Gault 29 Dennis Gentry 89 Keith Ortego Tight ends (TE) 87 Emery Moorehead 80 Tim Wrightman

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Kurt Becker G 68 Paul Blair T 62 Mark Bortz G 74 Jim Covert T 63 Jay Hilgenberg C 75 Stefan Humphries G 57 Tom Thayer G 78 Keith Van Horne T Defensive linemen (DL) 95 Richard Dent DE 99 Dan Hampton DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 76 Steve McMichael DT 72 William Perry DT 70 Henry Waechter DT

Linebackers (LB) 90 Al Harris OLB 58 Wilber Marshall WLB 51 Jim Morrissey OLB 59 Ron Rivera MLB 50 Mike Singletary MLB 55 Otis Wilson SLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Todd Bell SS 36 Maurice Douglass CB/S 22 Dave Duerson SS 45 Gary Fencik FS 23 Shaun Gayle CB/S 24 Vestee Jackson CB 48 Reggie Phillips CB 27 Mike Richardson CB Special teams (ST)  8 Maury Buford P  6 Kevin Butler K 52 Larry Rubens LS

Reserve 54 Brian Cabral LB (IR) 21 Leslie Frazier CB (PUP) 71 Andy Frederick T (IR) 93 Glen Kozlowski WR (IR) 85 Dennis McKinnon WR (PUP)  9 Jim McMahon QB (IR) 53 Dan Rains LB (IR) 49 Riley Walton TE (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record
1	August 3, 1986	Dallas Cowboys	W 17–6	Wembley Stadium (London)	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 (OT)	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 7–23	62,851
8	October 26, 1986	Detroit Lions	W 13–7	62,064
9	November 3, 1986	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–20	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 (OT)	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

Team	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 or 17.2 °C (Sunny); wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• 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

^[5]

Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

Team	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 or 18.9 °C (Cloudy), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
• Referee: Dick Jorgensen
• TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton Dan Dierdorf

• 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

Team	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 (5 °C), wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan & Johnny Morris

• 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

Team	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: 8:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• 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

Team	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 (8.3 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
• Referee: Fred Wyant
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

• 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 Septién 50-yard field goal	Bears 24–3
4		Cowboys	Mike Renfro 11-yard pass from Steve Pelluer (Rafael Septien kick)	Bears 24–10

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

Quarter	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 (0.6 °C), wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• 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
view talk edit	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