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.
Jets discover the `Monsters’ are for real
Brian Hewitt
Originally published Dec. 15, 1985
Marvin Powell had more fun talking about the Bears yesterday than he did losing to them.
Powell plays right tackle for the New York Jets, which lost to the Bears 19-6 at wickedly windy Giants Stadium. In the off-season Powell attends New York University Law School. He frequently quotes William Shakespeare. His idol is Winston Churchill. At 9, he reportedly read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”
You get the idea.
“When my family was migrating north back in the ’40s and the ’50s,” Powell began, “they told stories of the Monsters of the Midway. Today I found out for real. They’re monsters all right.”
The Bears (14-1) outgained the Jets (10-5) by more than two to one, they recovered all three Jet fumbles and they sacked Jet quarterback Ken O’Brien four times.
“They showed up physically and mentally,” said Powell. “And that’s the difference between them and the other 27 teams in the league. They love to play.
“They weren’t better than we thought because we knew they were fantastic. Today they showed the whole country they’re fantastic.”
The Bears were even a little lucky.
On the first play of the second period Bear quarterback Jim McMahon aimed long and high for wide receiver Willie Gault down the left sideline. At least one tip later it was a loose ball. The officials ruled it an incomplete pass but replays showed strong safety Kirk Springs had intercepted.
“I bobbled the ball,’ said Springs, “but when I hit the ground the ball bounced into my hands. It never hit the ground.”
On the next play the officials called a personal foul on backup safety Lester Lyles. They did not, however, announce it to the crowd. “I only found out about it several plays down the road when somebody on the sidelines said it was me,” said Lyles. “I have no idea what I did.”
Jet cornerback Johnny Lynn said he thought they flagged Lyles for “messing” with Bear tight end Tim Wrightman’s faceguard at the line of scrimmage.
Suddenly the Bears had a first and 10 at the Jets’ 45. Seven plays later they scored the game’s only touchdown on a seven-yard pass from McMahon to Wrightman, who had beaten Jet free safety Harry Hamilton.
“The Bears are beatable,” said New York linebacker Bob Crable. “But you have to play a perfect game with no penalties and no mental mistakes to beat them.”
Jet left tackle Reggie McElroy made a year’s supply of mistakes in one afternoon. His first was thinking he could match Bear defensive end Richard Dent in quickness. “I underestimated his speed,” said McElroy.
Dent sacked O’Brien twice, both times causing fumbles. Jet coach Joe Walton tried to stop the bleeding by replacing McElroy with Ted Banker. But it didn’t work.
“We had a hard time pass blocking,” said Walton. “That was obvious.” O’Brien entered the game with the league’s highest
quarterback rating. He left with a sore throwing elbow and only 12 completions in 26 attempts for 122 yards.
Walton said the Jets attempted to blunt the Bear pass rush with quick, five-step quarterback drops. “Exclusively,” he said. “But nothing seemed to work.” It was the Jets’ first loss at home after six victories.
“It’s one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played in,” said Jet defensive end Mark Gastineau. Gastineau, who led the league in sacks last year and the year before, got to McMahon once but suffered a badly sprained ankle while failing to intimidate Bear right tackle Keith Van Horne.
The defeat was so thorough Crable even admired the way the Bears broke the rules. Early in the third period the Bears utilized wide receiver Dennis McKinnon to set an illegal “pick” on Jet linebacker Lance Mehl that freed Walter Payton. It worked and the Bears gained 65 yards on the play. Moments later Kevin Butler’s 31-yard field goal gave the Bears a 13-6 lead.
“That’s part of the game,” said Crable, “if they can get away with it.”
The rest of the Jets just scratched their heads. It made sense. And it didn’t make sense.
“If you try to apply logic to this game, you’ll drive yourself insane,” Powell said.
Shakespeare couldn’t have said it any better.
