I'm tired of hearing about...

[SPTO]

Actually I think when ESPN did that Greatest Teams of All Time bit with Bill Parcells he noted that the '85 Bears were the closest to a modern era team but size would be a problem for them and so on.

I do think that the '85 Bears would be successful today but maybe not as successful. One of the things that they did was intimidate the hell out of other teams and that was in no small part due to the aggressive nature of the defense. The way the game is called today most of the sacks and hard hits those guys put on the opponent would be flagged as illegal.

That being said if we could magically bring those guys back to their '85 form and plop them into the modern day NFL I think they'd do alright. A lot of people (who probably never saw him play and just looked at stats) seem to poopoo Jim McMahon but the guy had intangibles and played the game with reckless abandon. He had a fairly strong arm and great escapability. His problem was that he'd take it too far and end up taking punishing blows to the body which curtailed his effectiveness later in his career but even then in a backup/sometimes starter role he was very effective. Walter Payton would've been successful in ANY era and they had one guy with world class speed and a couple others who weren't exactly slowpokes in Gault, Gentry and McKinnon respectively.

The defense had some very good tough minded guys who played the game the right way and usually came up big when the situation demanded it.

So yeah the '85 Bears would be a pretty good team today.


I agree with those that say you can't automatically assume that today's game is the be all and end all. Strategically it's probably more complicated today with the passing offenses which bodes ill for the running game. One thing that today's game lacks in a major way is real engagement between the defensive and offensive lines. Yes I know zone blocking is pretty popular for some teams and is pretty effective but it nullifies the one on one battles which were more prevalent in the '80s and most of the '90s. In fact from a purely strategical point of view I think the '80s and '90s gave viewers a better game than what we see today.

In short, what we're witnessing today is the reverse of the ground and pound philosophy of the '60s and '70s so it doesn't seem so "bad" to most people but it negates a whole aspect of the game much the same way as the pass was neglected then, the run game is neglected to a great degree today. Even college football which has historically had more variety in styles of play between teams has become very homogenized to the point that they're spitting out players that would only be effective in one type of offense. (the spread)



Oh and i'm sick of hearing about Tim Tebow too. I hope he flames out in NYJ.

[slickdtc]

'85 Bears are like the '02 Bucs. Defense was incredible, multiple HOF'ers or soon-to-be HOF'ers (Sapp, Brooks, Barber most likely) and an offense that gets overlooked but had some players as well that just fit well for that team. Those Bucs are a decade old now, but still rather modern. That's probably the best comparison. Because the Ravens offense was truly terrible outside of Jamal Lewis.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by slickdtc

'85 Bears are like the '02 Bucs. Defense was incredible, multiple HOF'ers or soon-to-be HOF'ers (Sapp, Brooks, Barber most likely) and an offense that gets overlooked but had some players as well that just fit well for that team. Those Bucs are a decade old now, but still rather modern. That's probably the best comparison. Because the Ravens offense was truly terrible outside of Jamal Lewis.

That Shannon Sharpe guy was pretty good too.

[Chip Douglass]

Quote: Originally Posted by slickdtc

'85 Bears are like the '02 Bucs. Defense was incredible, multiple HOF'ers or soon-to-be HOF'ers (Sapp, Brooks, Barber most likely) and an offense that gets overlooked but had some players as well that just fit well for that team. Those Bucs are a decade old now, but still rather modern. That's probably the best comparison. Because the Ravens offense was truly terrible outside of Jamal Lewis.

'85 Bears are like the '02 Bucs...with a vastly better offense. The '85 Bears finished 2nd in points scored compared to the Bucs' 18th.

The 1985 Bears were dominant in 1985, which is really all that matters when you're comparing teams that played in different eras. If you include the playoffs, the Bears had the highest net point differential (+339) in the history of the league.

[Herschie]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chip Douglass

The 1985 Bears were dominant in 1985, which is really all that matters

True, lucky us, 1985 is the only season that matters in NFL history!

[ImTellinTim]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chip Douglass

'85 Bears are like the '02 Bucs...with a vastly better offense. The '85 Bears finished 2nd in points scored compared to the Bucs' 18th. The 1985 Bears were dominant in 1985, which is really all that matters when you're comparing teams that played in different eras. If you include the playoffs, the Bears had the highest net point differential (+339) in the history of the league.

Their playoff run was absolutely ridiculous. Two shutouts and a 91-10 scoreline.

[Herschie]

Quote: Originally Posted by ImTellinTim

Their playoff run was absolutely ridiculous. Two shutouts and a 91-10 scoreline.

Interesting they beat the Cowboys 44-0 in the regular season. Well, the Rams beat the Cowboys 20-0 in the playoffs, and the Bears beat the Rams 24-0 in the NFC Championship Game. The Rams were 20 points better than the Cowboys, and the Bears were 24 points better than the team that beat the Cowboys. Add 'em together, and you get 44. Spooky!

[Chip Douglass]

Quote: Originally Posted by Herschie

True, lucky us, 1985 is the only season that matters in NFL history!

Well, yeah, that's exactly what I said if you ignore the second half of the sentence that you quoted.

My point is that comparing teams that played decades apart is worthless, so you compare how dominant they were relative to their peers. Pro-football-reference's Simple Rating System does this and they have the 1985 Bears listed as the greatest team of the Super Bowl era.