Sept 8, 1985: Bears beat Bucs 38-28
This season marks the 25th anniversary of the 1985 Super Bowl Bears. We’ll look back at all of the games leading up to the last Lombardi Trophy being hoisted at Halas Hall. To take the full trip down memory lane, check out Run The Ball for a complete DVD series of the 1985 Bears season. Tell them Bear Goggles On sent you!
As Bears fans, we like to remember the ’85 Bears as the most dominant defense ever assembled. That wasn’t always the case. Sure, the Bears beat the Tampa Bay Bucs 38-28 on a sweltering day at Soldier Field where the Astroturf surface temperature reached 133 F but it wasn’t easy. See, it wasn’t always that crappy sod they have now – it used to be crappy artificial turf.
The Bears were coming off a less-than-stellar 1-3 preseason after a disappointing exit from the ’85 playoffs. The Bucs were, well, the Bucs. Tampa jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter that swelled to 28-17 by halftime. I wish I could have been in that locker room to know what was said. The Bears shut the Bucs out in the second half and stormed back with 21 unanswered second half points to bring home the first victory of the season.
Jim McMahon went 23-34 for 274 yards and 2 TD’s through the air and another pair of running TD’s. Walter Payton chipped in with 120 yards on 17 carries while Richard Dent started his season with 2 sacks of the Bucs’ Steve DeBerg.
Check out Pro Football Reference for the complete box score, team leaders and stats.