McMahon faked a handoff and dropped into the end zone for a long pass that hit Gault in stride down the right side at the 45. S Fred Marion grabbed Willie's shirt and pulled him down at the NE 36. Jim went to the other side for 14y to Moorehead. Payton took a pitchout through the left side for two, then repeated the play to the right side for four. Suhey carried twice for 4y each and a first down at the eight. McMahon then tried to hit McKinnon in the end zone, but Lippett defended nicely. On 3rd down, Jim rolled right and threw to Margerum, who was pulled down a half yard short of the goal line by Roland James. In came the Fridge, but McMahon sneaked it in himself to cap a 96y, nine-play drive. Bears 30 Patriots 3 (7:22) From the 20 after a touchback, Craig James dropped a swing pass, then gained three on a sweep. Lightning struck again when Grogan tried to connect with TE Derrick Ramsey, but the ball ricocheted forward to backup CB Reggie Phillips (playing because Leslie Frazier was injured) who caught it on the dead run at the 28 and streaked into the end zone. Bears 37 Patriots 3 (6:16) Getting quite a workout, Starring returned 25y to the 31. Grogan threw long to Morgan but CB Mike Richardson broke up the pass at the last second. Then WR Cedric Jones took a bullet over the middle but was hit almost immediately by FS Gary Fencik, causing a fumble that Marshall picked up at midfield. After chugging 13y, Wilber lateraled to Wilson, who was dropped at the NE 37. With the crowd chanting "Walter! Walter!", Payton gained seven and six before being dropped for a 4y loss by S James. Then "Sweetness" dropped a swing pass. On 2nd-and-14 from the 28, McMahon escaped the pocket to the right and flipped to RB Dennis Gentry who caught it inside the five at the sideline and was ruled to have stepped out of bounds at the one. In the most controversial play of the game, McMahon handed to Perry instead of Payton, and the behemoth drove through left tackle into the end zone. Bears 44 Patriots 3 (3:22)
Still fighting gamely, Grogan led a drive that reached the Chicago 18 - the first time the Patriots reached enemy territory on their own. He connected with Starring for 15, Morgan for 13, and Ramsey for 11. In between, Weathers ran for three. From the 29, Grogan hustled out of the pocket for 3y. An offside penalty put the ball at the 21, and Steve threw quickly to Weathers for three. But Hampton roared through and sacked the quarterback for a loss of ten to end the Pats' dreadful quarter.
End of Q3: Bears 44 Patriots 3

Quarter 4

The Patriots continued to their first touchdown against a Chicago defense that included a number of backups. Following another 5y penalty on the Bears, Grogan fired to Morgan to the seven. After a throwaway and a quick toss to Morgan that lost a yard, Steve found Irving Fryar down the middle at the goal line. Tony Franklin booted the PAT. Bears 44 Patriots 10 (13:14)
Three Payton runs fell a yard short of the first down marker. So Buford punted 41y to Fryar, who returned 12 to the NE 38.
But the turnover bug bit again as Ramsey took a 5y pass and lost the ball when CB Shaun Gayle hit him. Singletary made his second fumble recovery, this one at the Patriot 43.
With McMahon sidelined with an injured wrist, Steve Fuller took over at quarterback and went three-and-out on two incompletions that sandwiched a 3y run by Payton. Buford's punt was downed at the four.
After a long incompletion, Grogan threw screen passes to Morgan for 15 and Collins for 11. Staying hot, he hit Fryar for 16 at the left sideline to put the ball on the NE 46. But he went to the well once too often as LB Jim Morrissey intercepted the next aerial and returned it 47y to the five.
Surely Payton would get his touchdown now. But the Patriots dominated the line of scrimmage to hold him to 1y on each of two runs. To make matters worse, the Bears were penalized for an illegal block to move the ball back to the 14. Then an illegal forward pass penalty moved the pigskin 5y further away from the goal. Calvin Thomas gained 7 to the 11. On 4th-and-goal, Payton gave it another try but got only six to turn the ball over on downs.
Grogan faded into the end zone twice. The first resulted in an incompletion, but the second gave the Bears two more points when DT Henry Waechter downed Steve in the end zone.
Bears 46 Patriots 10 (5:36) After Gault returned the free kick 4y to the Bear 28, Fuller was sacked for a loss of 11, then overthrew two passes. So Buford punted 44y to Fryar, who returned 10y to the NE 49.
Three passes gained nothing to give the Bears the ball on their 20 after a touchback.
Thomas Sanders ran four times for a net gain of 15 interspersed with two Suhey runs for eight to run out the clock. FINAL SCORE: Bears 46 Patriots 10
Richard Dent became just the third defensive end to be named Super Bowl MVP. (Harvey Martin and Randy White of Dallas shared the award for Super Bowl XII.)

Watch the game ...

Final statistics

• Time of possession: Bears 39:15 Patriots 20:45
• First downs: Bears 23 Patriots 12
• Rushing: Bears 49-167 Patriots 11-7
• Passing: Bears 24-12-0/241 Patriots 36-17-2/116
• Return yardage: Bears 8-144 Patriots 9-165
• Fumbles-Lost: Bears 3-2 Patriots 4-4
• Penalties: Bears 7-40 Patriots 5-35
• Punting average: Bears 4-43.3 Patriots 6-43.8
• Attendance: 73,818
  

Postgame

Bears Locker Room

• When Payton arrived in the locker room, he threw his helmet into the lockers and went into a utility closet, locked the door, fell to his knees, and wept. Walter's agent and the Bears PR chief begged him to come out. When told his contract required him to give interviews, he shouted, "I ain't no damned monkey on a string." The Great One finally merged from the closet, stood before the lights, and answered questions. He admitted he wasn't as elated as his teammates. "I feel bad I didn't get in the end zone, but there have been other games where I didn't get in the end zone either. When they're keying on me, other guys put it into the end zone. I don't mind being a rabbit." In response to questions, Walter said, "Was I upset? Yes, I was upset. Was I disappointed? Yes, I was disappointed. Maybe in time it'll become better for me. But now it's just another game. The championship ring. I can't even wear it."
  In his autobiography, Payton wrote, "It would have been great to score one. ... In the days and weeks after the game, yes, I was bothered by it. But I was blessed to have parents who instilled in me that things happen for a reason. You may not understand it when it first happens, ... but there will come a time when it will be shown to you."
• Mike Ditka was asked about the Patriots' performance. "I'd rather talk about our team, about how well we played, about our great season. I don't think it would be right for me to talk about the Patriots. They had a fine season. Games like this one just happen." He added: "This is a fitting tribute to Mr. Halas. I always think of George Halas because of him I'm here, and I'll never forget that. He concluded with: "What a defense. They were unbelievable."
  That night, Ditka drank the bottle of champagne Halas had given him near the end of his life. Papa Bear had told him, "Mike, don't open it till you win the Super Bowl."
  Ditka was quoted in Payton's autobiography: "If I had one thing to do over again, I would make sure that he (Payton) took the ball into the end zone. I loved him; I had great respect for him. The only thing that really ever hurt me was when he didn't score in the Super Bowl, that killed me when I found out about it. I didn't think about it, I really didn't realize it. It just never crossed my mind, to be honest with you, that it was important. And then I realized how important it really was and I felt so bad about that over the years, but I couldn't undo it.In my mind, even when we were ahead 40-something to 10, or 30-something to 10, the only thing I kept looking at, and the only thing I kept thinking about, was winning the football game."
• Buddy Ryan: "This is the best defense I've ever been associated with. They went out and did a great job. Actually, we could have a lot of players as MVP - guys like Otis Wilson and Singletary. But as long as a defensive player was named, I don't care who it it."
• Jim McMahon was surprisingly subdued. "I thought I'd feel different after winning this game, but right now it's just another ball game, nothing special. The MVP thing? I don't vote on that stuff. I'm just happy for Richard."
  McMahon also came to regret not giving Payton a chance to score. "He played for so long and had been the Chicago Bears for so many years and to see him not get into the end zone, it had to hurt. But I don't think anyone recognized it during the game. I know I didn't. One of the touchdowns I scored was a play designed for Walter, but I spotted a hole and went in." On Perry's touchdown: "Ditka called for Perry to get the ball, and that's where I should have just given it to Wally and the hell with what Ditka wanted."
• Mike Singletary said the way the game started with New England recovering a fumble on the first series actually helped the Bears. "That really turned out to be positive for us. It gave us a chance to get in early and show what we could do." On Eason: "I could see in his eyes he was a little confused. I think we got them rattled. I felt then we should go get him, and that's what we did." Mike also said the Patriots came out emotionally charged up, challenging the Bears vocally as well as physically. "I felt they were trying to talk their way into winning the Super Bowl. It was cheap and petty. I was disappointed. I thought we were two quality teams."
• Matt Suhey: "I've always said Walter is probably the greatest runner ever in the game, but what people don't realize is that he is probably an even better blocker. It wasn't so much that the Patriots were keying on Walter as it was that he was blocking on them and opening holes. And our offensive line was just blowing people off the ball. I feel great for Walter, though. We're here because of him."
• DE Dan Hampton revealed that the Bears felt the game was a cinch the previous Wednesday. "No kidding. All week long, we had a lot of media coverage, and we could see Tony Eason's eyes. That's all we talked about before the game. He was scared to death, and all we had to do was get to him early, and the game could be over. That's pretty much how it went."
• S Dave Duerson proudly proclaimed: "We're the best of all time!"
  Bears fans had every reason to believe their dominant heroes would win several more Super Bowls. But Buddy Ryan became the head coach of the Eagles (who lost to the Bears in overtime in the second game of the '86 season). The '86 Bears with Vince Tobin as D-coordinator were slightly better on defense than the year before: 187ypg compared to 198ypg - both first in the NFC. They finished 14-2 despite McMahon playing only six games but lost to the Giants in the first playoff game. Their streak of winning the NFC Central Division continued for five years through the '88 season but they lost their first playoff game each year until '88 when they beat the Eagles in the famous "Fog Game" at Soldier Field before losing to the 49ers in the NFC title game. Ditka lasted through the '92 season. The Bears have yet to return to the Super Bowl as of 2021.

Patriots Locker Room

• Coach Berry: "The Bears were awesome. Our team doesn't have to apologize to anybody. We came up against a club that played much better than us. The Bears are in their prime. They're a perfectly balanced team and were very consistent today. If we had played as well as we possibly can, we still might have gotten beat." On his starting quarterback: "I could tell right from the start that Tony was struggling. But he's still a young quarterback who hasn't been around long enough to have seen many defenses as great as the Bears'. It wasn't a mistake to take him out. The mistake was, we turned the ball over to the Bears." He added: "This has been a tremendous year and experience for me. It's the greatest experience I've had in my life."
• Steve Grogan: "Our offensive line had a tough task in front of them. They go with a lot of pressure. You have to throw the ball with people in your face and take the hits."
• G John Wooten gave an explanation for the blowout. "We tried to change the personality of our team in one week. Dan Marino exposed their weaknesses, but we couldn't take advantage of them. If we had to do it again, I'd like to see us run right at them."
  LB Andre Tippett recalled: "After the game ... Don Blackmon and I were so upset - not at our team but just at the outcome. It wasn't what we envisioned. We didn't take the bus back to the hotel. We found another way out and walked back with our bags on our shoulders. The hotel wasn't too far. I think we were two or three blocks away. We were just commiserating with each other. To this day, I cringe when I go through Chicago. I cringe when I see the highlights too. But you have to honor and take your hat off to the better team. You could have put an all-star team together, and it wouldn't have been competitive against that defense. I don't think anybody could have beaten them."