1985 Bears Coverage: Bears snap winless preseason streak

Every day of the 2015 Chicago Bears season, Chicago Sun-Times Sports will revisit its coverage 30 years ago during the 1985 Bears’ run to a Super Bowl title.

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Bears snap winless preseason streak

Originally published Sept. 2, 1985

The Bears’ victory gave Buffalo the NFL’s only winless pre-season record, 0-3-1, but coach Mike Ditka said that was beside the point. “The thing we were looking for was execution,” he said. “I saw good

execution. Yeah, you can say the running backs ran good, but also there were some gaping holes. I could have limped through a couple of them.”

The first-half run-pass balance was virtually even, with 21 pass plays and 22 runs, including four from the pocket by quarterback Jim McMahon. “This is what I’ve been trying to do. Get into an even thing,”

Ditka said.

Ditka blamed himself for poor play selection on McMahon’s second interception, at Buffalo’s goal line. He said the other interception was McMahon’s fault for not waiting for a receiver to get open. McMahon had one interception in 142 attempts before his kidney injury last season.

About 3,000 tickets are available for the Bears’ season opener at noon Sunday against Tampa Bay. It will be telecast locally if all tickets are sold before noon Thursday.