Super Bowl XX - Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots: 1st Half
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73,818 in the Louisiana Superdome saw both defenses dominate the first period.
Quarter 1 To the chagrin of the Bears defense, which had their collective hearts set on a third straight shutout, the Patriots scored first thanks to a turnover. After Willie Gault returned the kickoff to the 18, Walter Payton ran for 6y.  L: Steve Nelson and Garin Veris (60) chase Walter Payton. R: Payton fumbles on the next play. "My fault," said QB Jim McMahon afterward. "I called the wrong play." He called the wrong formation and sent Payton in the wrong direction.
The Bear defense looked at the turnover as a chance to display their skill. "It was what we wanted," Singletary said. "They could have gotten it at the one, and I think we would have been happy about it. We were excited about getting on the field and letting them know no matter what the situation is, they're not scoring."   L: Larry McGrew beats Jim Covert to Payton's fumble. R: Guy Morriss prepares to snap the ball for the Patriots' field goal. Following Coach Raymond Berry's surprise game plan, QB Tony Eason threw the ball three straight downs. Under pressure immediately, he threw off his back foot, lofting the pass to the left sideline to Lin Dawson, who stumbled as the ball went through his arms. Dawson was taken off on a stretcher with an injury to his left knee - a blow to New England since they wanted to use two tight ends to help blunt the fierce Bear rush. When play resumed, dropping MLB Mike Singletary, whose ability to cover passes like a safety was a key factor in the success of the 46 defense, got a hand in front of a slant-in pass to WR Stanley Morgan. Finally, just before getting hit , Eason overthrew WR Stephen Starring in the end zone. So bare-footed Tony Franklin booted a 35y field goal. Patriots 3 Bears 0 (13:41)
The Patriots set a new Super Bowl record for taking the lead quickly. Ditka had covered that possibility in his pregame talk. "Don't let one bad play ruin it."
The Bears answered right back with a field goal of their own. Gault returned 13y to the 31. QB Jim McMahon dodged a bullet when he flipped a pass on a down and out pattern to TE Emery Moorehead. ROLB Don Blackmon got his fingers on the ball but couldn't pull it in with clear sailing ahead of him.
Berry on the third down incompletion: "The Bears came with an overload blitz. Eason read the blitz and put the ball up on the go pattern and Starring is running the slant. Stephen Starring was a not a real [smart] guy. If he had read that blitz, we [would have scored] because the corner jumped the slant. Eason was right on the money three times in a row, and we were 0 for 3. It was that kind of day." Singletary: "They had scored only three points, but we found that jarring. Not that they had scored first but they had scored at all. We fully expected to shut them out. So it was like a wake-up call. ... I looked up at the message board, and it said that 15 of the 19 teams that scored first won the game. I thought, yeah, but none of those 15 had ever played the Bears." "I turned and didn't react quick enough," said Blackmon of the potential touchdown.
Gault, a world class sprinter, went in motion from left to right, then streaked down the right side to take in a beautiful pass just a stride behind LCB Ronnie Lippett to the 25, who was out of position in zone coverage.
Raymond Clayborn: "Donnie was one of the best cover linebackers that I ever played with. He had the ball right in his hands read to take it all the way to the house. After that, the rout was on." Ditka: "It would have been a pick. Jim's whole key throwing the ball was anticipation. He didn't have the strongest arm in the world. Not that his arm wa weak. But he had to get the ball out in front of guys. He got it a little behind him there." Singletary on Gault: "Willie didn't have the great hands but this guy had some speed. He could fly, and teams had to put two or three guys on him to make sure he didn't score a touchdown every play. Dennis McKinnon, our other wide receiver, allowed Willie to be our featured receiver. He knew that Willie could open up the entire offense. ... I don't think anybody understood how important Willie was until we lost him. Without Willie, defenses could double team McKinnon or give Walter (Payton) a tough time with an eight-man front."
RB Matt Suhey then carried twice for a first down at the 14. The Pats defense stiffened and held Payton to a gain of just a yard. Then Blackman almost got another pick, this one intended for Walter. On third down, McMahon had to run out of the pocket and did a somersault to the artificial turf when hit low by Lippett at the 10. So rookie K Kevin Butler banged through a 28 yarder. Patriots 3 Bears 3 (9:20)
McMahon became the first quarterback to wear gloves in the Super Bowl. He needed them in frigid conditions in the Windy City. While using them in the NFC title game against the Rams, Jim found he could throw the ball better with gloves. So he wore them in the Superdome.
Starring took advantage of Chicago's weakest unit, special teams, returning the kickoff 36y to the 41. With announcers wondering why the Patriots, "a running team," were throwing so much, Eason called three straight pass plays. The first two were incomplete before LB Wilber Marshall looped from the outside around his down linemen to the inside and sacked Tony, who went into fetal position for a 10y loss. So Rich Camarillo punted 48y to Keith Ortego, who returned eight to the 29.
  L: Wilber Marshall sacks Eason as Otis Wilson (55) rejoices. R: P Rich Camarillo The Patriots had called six straight pass plays against six different defensive fronts. Result: Five incompletions and a 10y loss. The Bears were high-fiving because they had taken the AFC champs out of their offense before the end of the first quarter. Veteran backup QB Steve Grogan talked to Eason on the sideline during Chicago's next possession.
McMahon started by firing a strike to Gault to the 47. With Lippett concerned about Willie getting behind him, the receiver drove him deep, then turned to the sideline to take the well-timed throw. The Patriot rush disrupted the next two plays, forcing a throwaway and a McMahon scramble out of the pocket that resulted in a 3y sack by NT Dennis Owens. Payton gained three to bring out Maury Buford, who punted into the end zone.
 Maury Buford punts. Dent: "I felt I had a pretty good shot at him, and when I went to wrap up on him, I hit the ball."
Hampton: "It was just laying there. It's like one of those stop-action sequences in car-wreck films. It's like I can't get there fast enough and everything slows down, and then finally I took it just before somebody else did." McMichael: "I was adept at reading the offensive linemen. By their stance, you know if it's going to be a run or pass. How do you know? If they're rocked back like they're taking a shit in the woods, it's going to be a pass. Once you've seen that, you look at the quarterback, look at his eyes to see if he's looking downfield, trying to read the coverage. But when I looked at Eason - and this was from the start, right after Payton fumbled and they scored that field goal - his eyes were wide open and empty."   L: Dan Hampton recovers fumble. R: McMahon passes. "I was a decoy, a rabbit," said Payton. "They were putting two guys on me."
After McGrew dropped Payton for a 2y loss, the Bears got cute to their own detriment. 330lb DT William "Refrigerator" Perry came into the game and lined up in the backfield. He took a pitch from McMahon to the right and looked to throw the first pass of his career. But with his main target Moorehead covered, he was dropped by Owens for a loss of a yard. McMahon then faked to Payton and turned to throw to the left flat. But with Adams in his face, Jim just flipped the ball high and out of bounds. So Butler put the Bears in front for the first time with a 24y three-pointer. Bears 6 Patriots 3 (1:26) L: Steve Nelson and Larry McGrew stop Payton. R: Perry and Payton on cover of Time. Ryan had called Perry "one of the worst first-round draft choices I've ever seen." Buddy saw him as Ditka's guy. So Mike took the position that, "If he doesn't want to use you on defense, I'll use you on offense." Lined up in the backfield only inside the opponent's ten, the Fridge ran the ball five times for 7y with one touchdown.
This time the Chicago kickoff coverage unit stopped Starling at the 18. That's when disaster struck the Pats again. James tried the left side but fumbled when Dent planted his helmet in his back - a move that would bring a 15y penalty today. The scramble for the pigskin ended with Singletary gaining possession on the 13.
Ditka got the idea from 49ers coach Bill Walsh, who inserted huge offensive lineman Guy McIntyre in his backfield in the 23-0 victory over the Bears in the NFC title game the year before. When the Bears returned to San Francisco for a 1985 regular season game, Ditka had Perry line up in the backfield and run the ball. Over the next few weeks, the Fridge became a national phenomenon. He blocked for Payton, who scored twice, and even went in motion as a receiver and caught a touchdown pass. The media nicknamed him "The Galloping Roast," a playful takeoff on Red Grange, the "Galloping Ghost." "He was such an unlikely hero," recalled sportscaster Dick Enberg. "That big gap-toothed grin. The fact that somebody so big could move so well that Ditka put him in the backfield. He was any big man's dream." Dent on causing a fumble for the 11th time all season, including four in the playoffs: "I saw James coming toward me, and it didn't look like he knew which way to go. When I went to tackle him, I just stuck my hand in and stripped the ball."
This time the Bears found the end zone. With Payton being used as a decoy, Suhey gained two on the right side. Then he took a pitchout to the right again but spotted a crease in the defense and roared through McGrew to the end zone. Bears 13 Patriots 3 (0:23)
Ryan: "Certain players have an instinct. They know when to swipe the ball away."   L: Matt Suhey scores the game's first touchdown. R: Tony Eason passes. Ditka on Suhey's touchdown: "We had the Patriots back on their heels at that point, and I don't think we ever let them get any solid footing after that. I could feel that the guys were hungry. The defensive guys were pumped up; the guys on offense were pumped up. Hey, I was pacing up and down too, because I could feel that all the energy we had was going in a positive direction."
Starring made it only to the 16 this time. James ran for three - the first time the Pats had gained yardage in their first ten plays. The quarter ended with the Bears outgaining the Patriots 99 to -19.His touchdown run covered only 12y, but Suhey said, "I'm sure it'll be 50y by the time I turn 40." C Jay Hilgenberg: "I knew we had it won when Matt Suhey scored." End Q1: Bears 13 Patriots 3 Singletary: "Our game plan had been to shut down the run because we knew they had no chance passing the ball against us. After that first series, they tried to have a balanced offense by mixing a little passing and some running, but nothing had worked and they had fallen 10 points behind. They would have to play catch-up, and they were going to panic because they had to throw more."
Quarter 2 Eason's woes continued. He threw to Morgan on a quick out, but LCB Mike Richardson knocked the ball away. Then the Pats tried to fool the Bears. Eason took the shotgun snap but gave a delayed handoff to Greg Hawthorne coming across. But Hampton pushed past his blocker and dumped the ball carrier for a loss of 4. Camarillo got off a 48y punt that Ortego returned 12y to the Chicago 41. Keith Ortego runs back a punt. Singletary on the Bears' quarterback: "The media concentrated on some of the things he did to have fun - like wearing those wild sunglasses and designer headbands - but he was a serious player. He also had a tremendous amount of ability. The only negative thing was that his attitude was tougher than his body. This guy has a bad shoulder and a bad knees, yet he's eager to try to take a cornerback on. I'd tell him, 'Jim, please, lay down, slide, run out of bounds.' But he'd says, 'If he tries to hit me, I'm going to run over him.' ... He did not have a quarterback's mentality. He had a defensive player's mentality." |
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Starring returned the kick 10y to the 29. Runs by James (no gain) and Collins (-2) made it 3rd-and-12, a situation that made the Bears' eight-man front lick their chops. They "met at the quarterback" with Wilson, the first to arrive, credited with the 11y sack. One of the weirdest plays of the game came next. As Ortego settled under Camarillo's punt, he waved his arm for a fair catch. But then he handed the ball to Hawthorne on a reverse. When he was hit low by Leslie Frazier, he (a) was injured and (b) fumbled. Fortunately for the Bears, Dave Duerson fell on the ball. New England accepted the illegal fair catch penalty back to the Chicago 42.
Singletary: "I never thought in my life that I'd ever feel sorry for guys on the other side, but that year (2005) I did. I know I felt sorry for Tony Eason in our first game with New England. When I looked into his eyes, I could see his desperation and confusion. He knew he was going to get hit."
  Otis Wilson beats Dan Hampton (99) and Richard Dent to add to Eason's misery. Berry and his staff had seen enough of Eason. So Steve Grogan, bad knee and all, took over at quarterback. He was known for throwing to his wide receivers in contrast to Eason, who favored his backs and tight ends. The veteran was also allowed to call his own plays. Eason had been in for 15 plays, only one of which gained yardage. "Our problem was getting manhandled. I tried to scramble, but there was no place to go."
After Dent batted down Grogan's first throw just after it left his hand, Steve escaped the rush on second down by running to the right and hitting Collins for 8y. Then the Patriots finally made their initial first down of the day: a 6y pass and run to James in the left flat. At the end of the play, Perry missed the tackle and hit Singletary instead, knocking the Bears leader out of action for a play. After Collins gained three, Grogan overthrew two passes to give Camarillo his fourth chance to punt - a shank that traveled only 17y to the 20.
Berry: "Eason did his job, and I have a lot of respect for him, but it was obvious we were not able to protect him. I made the switch because Grogan wouldn't get sacked very often." RG Ron Wooten said the major problem was the seven-man Bears rush. "The pressure just got to us. When we couldn't move the ball on our first run, I thought, 'Where do we go from here? We can't pass, we can't run.' It was like trying to beat back the tide with a broom. It showed how completely demoralized we were." When New England made their first down, Singletary recalled: "I really got on everybody. 'They got too many yards on that play - what the heck were you doing?' I'd say stuff like that because I didn't want anybody to feel they could let up. I was always angry about something."
The Bears were now battling the clock. Two Payton 6y runs made it 1st-and-10 at the 32 at the two-minute warning. McMahon's pass went off the fingertips of TE Tim Wrightman. However, New England was penalized for illegal use of hands by Lippett. Jim tried the same pass to TE Wrightman with the same result except there was no penalty. Then Tippett batted down the next pass. From the shotgun, McMahon hit Gentry running across the field to the right. Dennis gained 14 before running out of bounds. Gentry next took a draw play handoff for 5y to the NE 41. As the clock ticked under a minute, McMahon found WR Ken Margerum over the middle for 29y to the 12 after which the Bears took their final timeout. The next play almost ended the drive. Gentry fumbled but recovered the ball himself after a gain of two. From the 10, McMahon zipped up the middle from the shotgun to the three. His tackler, S Fred Marion, tried to keep Jim on the ground, but he pushed the defender away and tried to get the next snap off before time ran out. In the confusion, Chicago was penalized 5y for a false start, which stopped the clock. So Butler booted a 24y field goal as time expired. Bears 13 Patriots 3(0:00)The Patriots' total offense for the first half? -19y The officiating crew did not have a good day. The field goal should not have counted. Hilgenberg deliberately snapped the ball to kill the clock before referee Red Cashion put it in play. That should have cost the Bears the three seconds left on the clock. But Cashion marked off only the 5y and left the Bears time to score.
The theme of the halftime show was Up with People presents "Beat of the Future." The fans did the "Super Bowl Shuffle" during the festivities.
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 Greg Hawthorne takes handoff.
 Ken Margerum |
