Thread: Payton TD gave Bears win in cheap-shot-filled

Payton TD gave Bears win in cheap-shot-filled game
By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 12/31/2010 6:19 PM

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Bears’ unforgettable Super Bowl XX championship season, ChicagoBears.com takes a look back at the famed 1985 team every week.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The bad blood between rival coaches Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg boiled over in a memorable Bears-Packers confrontation on Nov. 3, 1985 at Lambeau Field.

The Packers, who at times looked like they were auditioning for a professional wrestling match, were assessed four personal fouls in a first half that was filled with cheap shots and questionable plays.

Ultimately, the Bears put the game in the hands of Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, who responded by rushing for 192 yards on 28 carries, including a 27-yard TD early in the fourth quarter that turned a 10-9 deficit into a 16-10 victory.

“I thought Payton’s exhibition was maybe as good as I’ve ever seen a guy with a football under his arm,” Ditka said after the game.

The tone for the game was set before kickoff when the Bears arrived in the locker room to find a bag of fertilizer, which apparently had been delivered there by a Wisconsin radio station.

In the first quarter, Packers cornerback Mark Lee was kicked out of the game after throwing Payton over the Bears bench on a running play.

“Those things don’t intimidate me,” Payton said later. “They just make me reach down deeper.”

Later in the game, Green Bay safety Ken Stills drilled fullback Matt Suhey several seconds after the whistle had blown, a dirty play that the Packers coach applauded.

“I don’t mind that,” Gregg said. “He took a crack at somebody. That’s aggressive football.”

“I kind of heard the whistle, but then I didn’t want to hear it,” Stills said.

Jim McMahon struggled, completing only 9 of 20 passes for 58 yards. One of his throws resulted in a four-yard touchdown to defensive tackle William “Refrigerator” Perry.

The 300-plus-pound rookie, who had rushed for a TD two weeks earlier in a win over the Packers at Soldier Field, went in motion from left to right, turned up field and was wide open in the end zone.

“They saw him coming and got out of the way,” Ditka said.

“How can you practice against a 300-pound guy coming out of the backfield?” said Packers linebacker Brian Noble. “You practice for that pattern to be run by a normal fullback. You try to expect anything, but we weren’t expecting a pass. We weren’t expecting a 300-pound something or other to run a pass pattern. How is he going to outrun anybody? The coverage was blown, that was it.”

Perry’s TD gave the Bears a 7-3 lead. After the Packers went ahead 10-7 on Jim Zorn’s 55-yard TD pass to running back Jessie Clark in the third quarter, Steve McMichael sacked Zorn in the end zone for a safety, closing the gap to 10-9.

Payton then saved the day, breaking a Noble tackle and cruising into the end zone with 10:31 left in the game to give the Bears a lead they would not relinquish.

“I knocked the crap out of Payton,” Noble said. “He’s such a good athlete that he just kept on going.”

The same was true of the Bears, who improved to 9-0 en route to a 15-1 season and the Super Bowl XX championship.

LINK
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/New...?story_id=7448