1985 Bears vs. 1986 Bears: An NFL Simulation From Chicago Sports Stuff & Strat-O-Matic
Can the woulda-shoulda-coulda '86 Bears hang with the GOATs?
WE ALL KNOW everything there is to know about the 1985 Chicago Bears:
There’s the 15-1 regular season record.
There’s the 46-10 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.
There’s the epic defense.
There’s the Mike Ditka/Buddy Ryan feud.
There’s The Super Bowl Shuffle.
We don’t, however, recall much about the 1986 Bears, so let’s have a refresher course.
They put together a regular season record of 14-2.
Quarterbacks Jim McMahon and Mike Tomczak combined for 13 wins and zero losses.
Walter Payton racked up 1,715 yards from scrimmage and finished sixth in MVP voting.
The defense allowed a total of 187 points, an average of 11.7 points per game, tops in the league. (For comparison the 1985 team allowed 198 points, 12.4 per game.
They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Washington Redskins, falling 27-13, thus no Super Bowl Shuffle.
Point is, the ‘86 Bears were a really, really good team that will always live in the shadow of the previous year’s champs…and justifiably so, because, y’know, playoff flameout.
But should the ‘86ers be easily dismissed? Nope, primarily because their quarterback room all but doubled as a hospital ward.
Jim McMahon jacked up his shoulder on Opening Day, then, 11 weeks later — in one of the most egregious late hits in NFL history — was body-slammed by Green Bay Packer D-lineman/asshole Charles Martin, ending his year and, effectively, his career.
Mike Tomczak suffered a season-ending leg injury in the first quarter of Chicago’s Week 15 game in Detroit.
All of which led to Doug Flutie starting the aforementioned flameout.
A college football legend, the diminutive Flutie was a C+ pro, but quarterbacks who stand 5’10” and weigh 190 generally don’t get high grades in the NFL.
All of which is why it was exactly zero surprise that, against a solid ‘Skins defense, Flutie shit the bed in remarkable fashion, compiling 134 yards on 11-of-31 passing, with two interceptions and a sack thrown in for good measure.
With a healthy McMahon, the 1986 Bears could’ve been year two of an eventual dynasty. As it was, the most monstrous of the Midway Monsters were one-and-done.
This all begs the question, which squad was scarier, the charismatic 15-1 Super Bowl winners or the injury-riddled 14-2 almosts?
Chicago Sports Stuff asked the fine folks at Strat-O-Matic to game out how an ‘85 vs ‘86 Bears-a-thon might look. And to make things interesting, we had McMahon starting under center for the champs, while Tomczak got the nod for the would-coulda-shouldas.
FIRST QUARTER
Soldier Field fans expecting a high-level rumble were disappointed by the first 15 minutes, a mistake-filled, scoreless mess.
The usually sure-footed kicker Kevin Butler missed a 42-yard field goal attempt for the Super Bowl winners, while Otis Wilson and Gary Fencik each intercepted a Tomczak hurl, two of the whopping six picks thrown by the Ohio State product.
In the most aesthetically-pleasing play of the frame, the ‘86 version of Walter Payton ripped off a 41-yard run that led to…nada.
1985 Bears - 0
1986 Bears - 0
SECOND QUARTER
Despite a pair of turnovers — one via an interception by Leslie Frazier, and one via a fumble by Ken Taylor — the 1986 squad owned the scoreboard.
After Kevin Butler hit a field goal for each team (how fun is Strat-O-Matic?!?), Tomczak orchestrated a lovely two-minute drive for the ‘86ers, capped off by a touchdown run courtesy of Matt Suhey.
The ‘85 squad blocked Butler’s extra-point attempt, thus 1986 went into the locker room with the lead.
1986 Bears - 9
1985 Bears - 3
THIRD QUARTER
The defensive intensity was in full effect after the half, with Leslie Frazier again picking off Tomczak on the 86er’s first drive of the half, a turnover that led to a five-yard touchdown scamper from Walter Payton.
A Kevin Butler field goal with three minutes left in the quarter pulled the 85ers within two heading into the final stanza.
1986 Bears - 12
1985 Bears - 10
FOURTH QUARTER
The champs’ offense woke up.
Okay, “woke up” is a relative term here — they only scored ten points in the quarter — but McMahon’s 46-yard touchdown strike was a thing of beauty, while Butler’s 30-yard field goal with 90 second left on the clock in the wrapped up the scoring…and massively bummed out an already-bummed-out ‘86 squad.
1985 Bears - 20
1986 Bears - 12
