1986 Chicago Bears season




















1986 Chicago Bears season
Chicago Bears logo.svg
Head coach
Mike Ditka
(5th season)
General manager
Jerry Vainisi
(Since 1983)
Owner
The McCaskey Family
(Family control since 1921; Virginia McCaskey since 1983)
Home fieldSoldier Field
Results
Record14–2
Division place1st NFC Central
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (Redskins) 27–13
Pro Bowlers
AP All-Pros

  • ← 1985

  • Bears seasons


  • 1987 →

The 1986 Chicago Bears season was their 67th regular season and 17th post-season completed in the National Football League. The Bears entered the season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, as they had won in 1985. Chicago managed to finish 14–2, one game off of their 1985 record of 15–1, and tied the New York Giants for the league’s best record.


After winning the championship in 1985, the Bears seemed like a dynasty in the making. However, quarterback Jim McMahon 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, however, derailed his season. McMahon played in only six of the team’s first 12 games.


Aided by a strong offensive line, the Bears were once again led on offense by Walter Payton. 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, Steve Fuller and Doug Flutie, 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 #1 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.[3] 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.




Contents





  • 1 1986 NFL Draft


  • 2 Roster and staff

    • 2.1 Staff


    • 2.2 Roster

      • 2.2.1 Depth chart



    • 2.3 Preseason



  • 3 Regular season

    • 3.1 Schedule



  • 4 Game summaries

    • 4.1 Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns


    • 4.2 Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles


    • 4.3 Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers


    • 4.4 Week 15: at Detroit Lions


    • 4.5 Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys



  • 5 Playoffs

    • 5.1 Game summary



  • 6 Standings


  • 7 References


  • 8 External links




1986 NFL Draft












































































1986 Chicago Bears draft
Round
Pick
Player
Position
College
Notes

1
27

Neal Anderson * 

Running back

Florida

2
55

Vestee Jackson 

Cornerback

Washington

3
82

David Williams 

Wide receiver

Illinois

4
110
Paul Blair 

Tackle

Oklahoma State

5
138

Lew Barnes 

Wide receiver

Oregon

6
166

Jeff Powell 

Running back

Tennessee

7
194
Bruce Jones 

Defensive back
North Alabama

8
221

Maurice Douglass 

Defensive back

Kentucky

9
249

John Teltschik 

Punter

Texas

10
277
Barton Hundley 

Defensive back
Kansas State

11
305

Glen Kozlowski 

Wide receiver

Brigham Young


      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career


Roster and staff



Staff








Coaching Staff of 1986 season

Front office



  • Virginia Halas McCaskey – Owner


  • Michael McCaskey – Team president


  • Jerry Vainisi – General manager


  • Ray Earley – Equipment manager


  • Gary Haeger – Assistant equipment manager


  • Rod Graves – Director of player personnel

Coaches



  • Mike Ditka – Head coach


  • Steve Kazor – Assistant head coach[a]


  • Ed Hughes – Offensive coordinator


  • Vince Tobin – Defensive coordinator

 

Position coaches



  • Greg Landry – Quarterbacks


  • Johnny Roland – Running backs


  • Dick Stanfel – Offensive line


  • John Levra – Defensive line


  • Dave McGinnis – Linebackers


  • Jim LaRue – Secondary

Trainers



  • Brian McCaskey – Assistant trainer


  • Clyde Emrich – Weightlifting/Strength

 

Scouts


  • Jim Dooley


  • Pete McGrane – Video team


Roster










Complete Roster of 1986 season

Quarterbacks


  • 9 Jim McMahon

  • 4 Steve Fuller

  • 18 Mike Tomczak

  • 2 Doug Flutie

Offensive backs


  • 34 Walter Payton RB

  • 26 Matt Suhey FB

  • 20 Thomas Sanders RB

  • 29 Dennis Gentry RB

  • 33 Calvin Thomas RB

  • 35 Neal Anderson RB

Receivers


  • 83 Willie Gault

  • 81 Lew Barnes

  • 82 Ken Margerum

  • 86 Clay Pickering

  • 89 Keith Ortego

Tight ends


  • 87 Emery Moorehead

  • 80 Tim Wrightman

 

Kickers


  • 6 Kevin Butler K

  • 8 Maury Buford P

Offensive line


  • 74 Jim Covert T

  • 62 Mark Bortz G

  • 63 Jay Hilgenberg C

  • 57 Tom Thayer G

  • 78 Keith Van Horne T

  • 71 Andy Frederick OL

  • 75 Stefan Humphries OL

  • 79 Kurt Becker G

  • 52 Larry Rubens C

  • 68 Paul Blair T

Defensive line


  • 99 Dan Hampton DE

  • 95 Richard Dent DE

  • 76 Steve McMichael DT

  • 72 William Perry DT

  • 70 Henry Waechter DL

  • 73 Mike Hartenstine DE

  • 90 Al Harris DE

 

Linebackers


  • 50 Mike Singletary MLB

  • 55 Otis Wilson SLB

  • 58 Wilber Marshall WLB

  • 51 Jim Morrissey LB

  • 53 Dan Rains LB

  • 54 Brian Cabral LB

  • 59 Ron Rivera LB

Cornerbacks


  • 27 Mike Richardson

  • 24 Vestee Jackson

  • 48 Reggie Phillips

Defensive backs


  • 23 Shaun Gayle

  • 25 Todd Bell

  • 36 Maurice Douglass

Safeties


  • 22 Dave Duerson SS

  • 45 Gary Fencik FS

 

Reserve Lists



  • 21 Leslie Frazier CB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg


  • 49 Riley Walton TE (IR) Injury icon 2.svg


  • 85 Dennis McKinnon WR (IR) Injury icon 2.svg


  • 93 Glen Kozlowski WR (IR) Injury icon 2.svg

Rookies in italics



Depth chart







Preseason






































WeekDateOpponentResultGame siteRecord
1August 3, 1986Dallas Cowboys
W 17–6
Wembley Stadium1–0
2August 9, 1986Pittsburgh Steelers
W 33–13
Three Rivers Stadium2–0
3August 16, 1986Indianapolis Colts
W 38–21
Soldier Field3–0
4August 23, 1986St. Louis Cardinals
L 7–14
Soldier Field3–1
5August 30, 1986Buffalo Bills
W 31–17
Notre Dame Stadium4–1


Regular season



Schedule























































































Week
Date
Opponent
Result
Attendance
1
September 7, 1986

Cleveland Browns
W 41–31

66,030
2
September 14, 1986

Philadelphia Eagles
W 13–10

65,130
3
September 22, 1986
at Green Bay Packers
W 25–12

55,527
4
September 28, 1986
at Cincinnati Bengals
W 44–7

55,146
5
October 5, 1986

Minnesota Vikings
W 23–0

63,921
6
October 12, 1986
at Houston Oilers
W 20–7

46,026
7
October 19, 1986
at Minnesota Vikings
L 23–7

62,851
8
October 26, 1986

Detroit Lions
W 13–7

62,064
9
November 3, 1986

Los Angeles Rams
L 20–17

64,877
10
November 9, 1986
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
W 23–3

70,097
11
November 16, 1986
at Atlanta Falcons
W 13–10

55,520
12
November 23, 1986

Green Bay Packers
W 12–10

59,291
13
November 30, 1986

Pittsburgh Steelers
W 13–10

61,425
14
December 7, 1986

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
W 48–14

52,746
15
December 15, 1986
at Detroit Lions
W 16–13

75,602
16
December 21, 1986
at Dallas Cowboys
W 24–10

57,256


Game summaries



Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns























1234Total
Browns7771031
• Bears21371041

  • Date: Sunday, September 7


  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago


  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.


  • Game attendance: 66,030


  • Game weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C (Sunny); wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)


  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen





























































[4]




Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles



Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears






















1234OTTotal
Eagles3007010
Bears
00100313

  • Date: Sunday, September 14


  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago


  • Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST


  • Game attendance: 65,130


  • Game weather: 66 °F or 18.9 °C (Cloudy), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)


  • Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com



























Week 12: vs. Green Bay Packers



Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears



















1234Total
Packers003710
Bears
270312

  • Date: Sunday, November 23


  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago


  • Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST


  • Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C), wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)


  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit


  • TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan & Johnny Morris


  • Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com



























Week 15: at Detroit Lions



Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions



















1234Total
Bears
0301316
Lions337013

  • Date: Monday, December 15


  • Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan


  • Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST


  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)


  • Television network: ABC


  • Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com





































Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys



Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys



















1234Total
Bears
7143024
Cowboys0001010

  • Date: Sunday, December 21


  • Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas


  • Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST


  • Game weather: 47 °F (8.3 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)


  • Referee: Fred Wyant


  • Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
































Playoffs












Week
Date
Opponent
Result
Attendance
Divisional
January 3, 1987

Washington Redskins
L 27–13

65,141


Game summary




NFC Divisional Playoff: Washington Redskins at Chicago Bears – Game summary



















1234Total
Redskins7071327
Bears0130013

at Soldier Field, Chicago



  • Date: January 3, 1987


  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT


  • Game weather: 33 °F (0.6 °C), wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)

  • Boxscore [1]



Game information








The 1986 Bears earned a first round playoff bye, but in their opening playoff game, they were upset at home by the Washington Redskins. 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. “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 Joe Jacoby and Russ Grimm, the Washington offensive line was able to pick up the Bears patented blitzes. Washington quarterback Jay Schroeder 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































































NFC Central



W

L

T

PCT

DIV

CONF

PF

PA

STK

Chicago Bears(2)
14
2
0
.875
7–1
10–2
352
187
W7

Minnesota Vikings
9
7
0
.563
6–2
8–4
398
273
W1

Detroit Lions
5
11
0
.313
3–5
4–8
277
326
L4

Green Bay Packers
4
12
0
.250
3–5
3–9
254
418
L1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2
14
0
.125
1–7
1–13
239
473
L7


References




  1. ^ "1986 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em


  2. ^ "1986 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.


  3. ^ The Best Show in Football: The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p. 294, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007,
    ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6



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




External links




  • 1986 Chicago Bears Season at www.bearshistory.com









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