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Back in May the NFL writers and editors at CBSSports.com gathered together to discu s the key figures and moments of every NFL franchise in the Super Bowl era. Before long we were discu sing every team's best and worst moments, along with their most-hated players and coaches, as well as some of the more bizarre things each team has been involved in. That spirited discu sion produced this series -- the Good, Bad, Ugly and, sometimes, Bizarre moments for every team. We continue with the .The Good The '85 Bears It's been more than 30 years since the 1985 Bears carried Buddy Ryan off the field in the aftermath of their 46-10 bludgeoning of the in XX, yet it's still the most iconic moment in the history of the Bears. It's still one of the most iconic moments in the history of the . And that 1985 Bears defense might still be the best in the history of football. It's also one of the most influential. When Ryan, the defensive coordinator of that '85 team, the -- to -- said it all. And to think, Ryan nearly wasn't even around for that '85 season. In January of 1982, the Bears fired head coach Neill Armstrong. Ryan could've followed Armstrong out the door if owner George Halas decided to clean house. He Ronnie Stanley Jersey had every reason to. Under Armstrong and Ryan, the Bears went 30-34. Ryan's defense had just finished ranked 19th in yards surrendered and 14th in points allowed. Halas hired Mike Ditka to replace Armstrong, but he retained Ryan. This letter, written by Ryan's players, might've had something to do with Halas' decision.On December 9th 1981, players wrote George Halas a letter asking the team to keep Buddy Ryan.Here it is. Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) The Bears entered 1985 fresh off a 10-6 season that ended in the NFC title game. They took their dominance a step further in '85, nearly running the table in the regular season. While posting a 15-1 record, the Bears managed to hold opponents to 258.4 yards per game -- Joe Flacco Jersey the lowest number in the league by a wide margin. The Bears actually gave up roughly 22 percent fewer yards than the average team in 1985. They allowed 12.4 points per game, also the lowest figure in the league (43 percent fewer points than the average team), and forced 41 percent more turnovers than the average team in 1985. They totaled 54 takeaways in all. That was just the regular season. In the playoffs, the Bears outscored their opponents 91-10. They didn't allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. They allowed 144.7 yards per game. After this past season, members of the ' defense compared themselves to the Bears' defense. So, I ran the numbers. . For however much the Broncos' defense dominated during their run -- and they really did, -- the Bears defense was so much better. Numbers aside, there was just something about Morgan Cox Jersey those '85 Bears. They were both charming (see: the Fridge) and confident (see: the Super Bowl shuffle). They were the bad boys (see: ) and the lovable stars (see: Walter Payton). Their quarterback actually mooned the media (we'll get to that in a bit). The relationship between the defensive coordinator and head coach went something like this: "We hardly ever spoke," Ryan said, "I'd just put the game plan on his secretary's desk and she'd put it on his desk. Not that he understood much of it." It worked, though. In large part because of Ditka. The former Bears tight end, who won a championship with the team in 1963, a Super Bowl with the after the 1971 season, and another Super Bowl with the Cowboys as an a sistant coach, didn't just experience succe s in 1985 as the Bears' head coach. He sustained the team's succe s over the years. In his 11 years as Chicago's head coach, Ditka won 63 percent of his games. There's something to be said, though, about their lack of another title -- then again, this is the franchise that wasted the great years of Dick Butkus. There's something strange that the Good side of the Bears' franchise is 1985, and not 1985, 1986, and 1987, which I gue s, in a way, could be the ugly side of the Bears, but I like to think of it as an affirmation of the 1985 team. The point being, it's really damn difficult -- in any sport, really -- to win a championship, no matter how much talent lies on a roster. The 73-win just fell a game short in the finals. The 16-0 Patriots also blew their chance. The 116-win Mariners didn't even advance to the World Series. Ditka's failure to win another Super Bowl shouldn't be viewed as a failure, it should be used to appreciate everything the Bears accomplished during the 1985 season. For one year, the Bears were as perfect of a team as we've ever seen in the era of the 16-game season. They didn't choke against the Patriots, they entered the game knowing they were going to trash them, and they did exactly that. Their failures in the years following that season represent just how much the odds were stacked against them going 15-1 in the regular season and perfect in the postseason. We may never see another team like them again.The Bad All of the quarterbacks For decades, Chicago tried its darnedest to live a quarterback-free lifestyle in a league where po se sing a stellar quarterback means you always have a shot to play until February. But the NFL is a league where not having a franchise Alex Lewis Jersey QB results in zero Super Bowls since 1985. I'm not really sure where to even begin with the incompetence of the Bears. I could start by listing out all of the starting quarterbacks Chicago endured since the days of Sid Luckman, who last played in 1950, but that seems like too long of a list and involves too much unnece sary reading. Instead, I want to talk about the impact the list had on the city of Chicago. Like a lactose-intolerant milk man or a gluten-intolerant baker, the Bears suffered from some devastating side effects from their quarterback-intolerant lifestyle. After surviving the days of Cade McNown (not to be confused with , which is something some Bears fans have had trouble with), Shane Matthews, Erik Kramer, and Bobby Dougla s -- the list really doesn't stop there, but I'm going to for the sake of my sanity -- the Bears finally landed a legitimate quarterback in . Of course, just to acquire a good-not-great signal caller, all they had to do was surrender two first-round picks and a third-rounder. But finally, in 2009, the Bears got their guy at the expense of future drafts. And they had no idea what to do with him. Mark Andrews Jersey Former general manager Jerry Angelo failed to construct an offensive line that could, you know, actually block, and as a result Cutler nearly died every single game for three years. Wonder why Cutler always looks so grumpy? It's because his Sundays typically involved this: Or maybe because his top receiver for so many years was The one time Cutler actually did die -- he tore his MCL in the 2010 NFC Championship Game -- half of the Bears fanbase dec
 
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