Did a Washington reporter actually just ask Ron Rivera the following question this afternoon at the press conference?
“One of the cool things about having you as coach is you get to give us a glimpse of playing on one of the legendary Bears teams. Not asking you to make any comparisons, but the team that you have, the defense and the characters, the people you have now on this team: Do you have any similarities between the times when you were with Dan Hampton, the Fridge, Jim McMahon. I mean there are characters on this team too. Sometimes do you laugh at some of the similarities?”
Bless Ron Rivera; he reflexively went along with the question and answered in the affirmative. But as he was answering the question, I couldn’t help but notice Rivera never compared the games, the results, the type of games, beatdowns, etc.
RR: “I do; there are some things that do remind me. I’ll start with Buddy (Ryan). Buddy spoke his mind, and that is what I get with Jack (Del Rio). He is honest, upfront, and speaks his mind.
Jack’s on us up front, and he speaks his mind. I think that’s cool. I think it’s important for the players to know where they stand. You sit there, and you look at some of the personalities that we have on that defensive line, and you know, Jonathan [Allen] reminds me an awful lot of a [Hall of Fame Chicago Bears Defensive Lineman] Dan Hampton type guy. He really does. He’s a tough hombre type of guy, and that’s what you get with Jonathan. You get that toughness. You got a little bit of that gunslinger when you talk about Taylor [Heinicke], and you compare that to Mac [Former Bears QB Jim McMahon] in terms of personalities, I mean each team has its own personality, and we got some guys with personalities.”
Well, the Commanders are 7-5-1 after 13 games. The ’85 Bears didn’t lose until their 13th game, a road MNF game in Miami 38-24. They only had three games all season they did not win by at least two scores.
I was age 22 during that 1985 NFL season. The Bears were the most dominant team I had ever seen. The 1972 Dolphins had won every game, finishing 17-0, beating Washington 14-7 in SB VII. Yet, that Bears team not only beat teams, they often humiliated them. Many games were a beatdown.
How good were the 1985 Bears? Washington was 10-6 that season. But when they went to Chicago, the Bears embarrassed them 45-10. Dallas also finished 10-6, so when the Bears went to Dallas they humiliated the Cowboys on national TV 44-0.
How good was the ’85 Bears defense? Their starting quarterback Jim McMahon had a TD/INT ratio of only 15:11. Yet, he won all 11 games he started. When McMahon was injured, the Bears backup Steve Fuller had a TD/INT ratio 1:5. Yes, you read that correctly, 1 TD to 5 INT. Yet the Bears went 4-1 in those five games.
When they reached the playoffs, facing the best the NFC had to offer, the Bears shut out the Giants 21-0 and then the Rams 24-0. Then in Super Bowl XX, they destroyed the Patriots 46-10. Consequently, the ’85 Bears outscored their postseason opponents 91-10.
Next question, please?
