The

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

season was their 67th

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

and 17th

post-season The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

completed in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The Bears entered the season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, as they had won in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. 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 The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

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 are the first team in NFL history to have consecutive seasons with 14 or more victories. After winning the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, the Bears seemed like a dynasty in the making. However, quarterback

Jim McMahon James Robert McMahon Jr. (born August 21, 1959) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. McMahon played college football at BYU, where he wa ...

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 In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

, the Bears were once again led on offense by

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

. 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 Michael John Tomczak (born October 23, 1962) is a former American football player. Tomczak played quarterback for several NFL teams from 1985 through 1999, including the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsb ...

, Steve Fuller and

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

, 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. 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. 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.

1986 NFL Draft

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns

Pro-Football-Reference.com
Retrieved 2014-Jun-06.

Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

*Source:''

Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers

*Source:''

Week 15: at Detroit Lions

*Source:''

Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys

*Source:''

Playoffs

Game summary

The 1986 Bears earned a first round playoff bye, but in their opening playoff game, they were upset at home by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. 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 Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

. “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 In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

Joe Jacoby Joseph Erwin Jacoby (born July 6, 1959) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL), where he won three Super Bowls during his tenure with the team. College career ...

and

Russ Grimm Russell Scott Grimm (born May 2, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh St ...

, the Washington offensive line was able to pick up the Bears patented blitzes. Washington quarterback

Jay Schroeder Jay Brian Schroeder (born June 28, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football at UCLA, after which he was selected in the third round (83rd overall) of the 1984 NFL draft by the Washington Redskin ...

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

References

External links

1986 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Chicago Bears Season NFC Central championship seasons

Chicago Bears seasons

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