Super Bowl 1986

Following an owner’s meeting that was held in Dallas on December 14, 1982, Super Bowl XX was awarded to New Orleans, Louisiana. This was to be the sixth time that New Orleans was provided with a chance to host the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XX was played between the AFC’s New England Patriots and NFC’s Chicago Bears on January 26, 1986, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to decide which team would be crowned champions of the 1985 football season.

The Chicago Bears dominated the game, clocking up a 36-point margin of 36 point

Notable for:

• Super Bowl XX was the last time at which both teams made their Super Bowl debuts.
• Chicago coach Mike Ditka became the second person (after Tom Flores) to be awarded a Super Bowl ring as both a coach and a player.
• Prior to Super Bowl XX, the Patriots were a relatively low performing team that seldom attracted any attention. However, they established a name for themselves by winning three away games to secure their first title as the AFL champions and make it to the Super Bowl.
• Super Bowl XX is also well known for the Bears antics off the field. Members of the Bear’s team, including Payton, McMahon, Dent, Perry, and linebacker Mike Singletary collaborated on the “Super Bowl Shuffle” rap, which reached position 41 in the charts and even won the team a Grammy award nomination.

The game got off to an exciting start when New England’s Tony Franklin kicked a 36-yard field goal just 1.19 into the game, taking the fastest lead in Super Bowl history. However, the Bears rebounded in style while the Patriots increasingly lost ground. Before the end of the first quarter, the Patriots had lost a touchdown and two field goals, and had turned the ball over twice. The score was certainly reflective of the game on the field; the Bears had built a 236-yard advantage versus New England’s minus 19.

Chicago scored a further touchdown in the opening minutes of the second quarter, extending their lead to 20-3. By halftime, this had been extended to 23-3, and things did not get any better for the Patriots in the third quarter. The team continued to lose ground on the offense while their defense was unable to hold the Bears off, sustaining three further touchdowns.

As they had done throughout the game, the Bears dominated the final quarter of the game, accumulating in an impressive victory of 46-10.