Thread: Championships Missed: The Lost Years, Part Four - The 1986-88 Seasons - New Frontpage Article

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

Ur absolutely right the season goes down the chute w/o a healthy Cutler. In light of the Facebook garbage that took place against him last year it would'nt surprise me if some guys are going to be "gunning" for Cutler ( looking to injure him ). If that turns out to be the case, then turnabout is fair play and our Dmen better do the same to the other teams QB. Clean hits are one thing. Anything suspicious, like a sneaky disguised low hit etc ...... should be met with the same kind of retaliation. Hope none of this happens. But if it does .................

I would think that if anything, there would be more helmet-to-helmet blows on Cutler simply because that's the preferred attack mechanism from the likes of James Harrison and others. But that's entirely possible. I would hate to think that there are players who would do something so cowardly as that to ruin Cutler's season. This is a non-issue now in my estimation, but one that I'm willing to stand up for Cutler and defend him over as it pertains to his well-being and good character.

Thanks for this, good stuff.

These were my first 3 Bears teams as a kid, I was 9-11 years old. I wrote a review of those specific seasons myself for a junior high project, 20 years ago.

I don't think I'll ever get over that '86-'87 divisional game against the Skins, just cause I was young & at that time, the Bears "couldn't" lose. So when they did it was some kind of surreal nightmare.

As a kid watching that '86 team, I really did believe they were going to win. I haven't seen a better Bears defense since. I think '88 was probably the 2nd best I've seen, followed by 2006.
The '86 Bears defense was better than '86 Giants defense, that is unquestionably the greatest game in NFL history that DIDN'T happen.
I've carried some sort of subliminal (unnecessary) hatred for Washington ever since, just because I felt THAT robbed in 1986. Not so much in '87 because after the Monday Night game against San Francisco, I didn't think the Bears were the team to beat anymore. The '87 team was similar to '91 in that both years the 49ers laid epic beatings on them on late season Monday nighters & after those games the Bears went into hibernation BEFORE the playoffs started.

".....but the Bears still managed to hold on and win their remaining games, and that led them to a 14-2 mark, the number one seed out of the NFC"

I wonder about this......how could the Bears have been the #1 seed when the Giants had the same 14-2 and a better record within the NFC? was there different tie-break rules back then?

"....including a heartbreaking loss that could have been avoided versus the Minnesota Vikings in the last game of the season. In that game, instead of running out the clock with Anderson, who had rushed for 122 yards on the day, Mike Tomczak, that game's starting QB in the place of an ever-ailing Jim McMahon, threw a short screen pass that was intercepted and returned 94 yards for the game-winning touchdown by Walker Lee Ashley. Still, the Bears were division champions, and would get home field advantage throughout the playoffs."

That is a game I'll always remember. '88 was the first year I saw every game.
Viks were scary that year (9 pro bowlers) & they absolutely mowed teams over. Then they blew it in the next to last week so that final game on Monday night meant nothing to the Bears, they had the division & #1 seed locked-up.
Bears were down 21-0, brought it back to 21-20 & were driving for the lead when Tomchuck threw that pick. What a bonehead play. Lost 28-27 cause there were no 2-pointers back then. Maybe the best I ever felt about a loss, because the Bears did out-play them & deserved to win against the team that most of the bandwagon people were riding with.

Yeah.....those were hard years to live through.
But I loved those guys & even though they didn't win it all, I think if you were around to see those years, you probably won't forget them.

Originally Posted by Jeff Pearlman

Wow. That was pretty fascinating. So I just spent A LOT of time researching the final years of Walter Payton's career (OK, quick plug: New book drops 10.4 ... "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton") and I really think much blame belongs to McMahon, and the way he sorta fractured the locker room. Obviously he was a gutsy player, beloved by many teammates. But when Flutie arrived, McMahon did everything possible to make sure he WASN'T accepted. And, as Jay Hilgenberg told me, "Doug could really play. He could have been the right guy." When McMahon showed up wearing the No. 22 red QB jersey, and mocked Flutie on Carson ... well, it fractured an already unstable unit. Just my take ...

10-4 on the book (see what I did there?). Glad to have you on the board. I'll keep my eye out for the book.

I wasn't old enough to really understand what was going on in world of Chicago Bears football back from 1984-1991. The only time I ever followed football back in those days started in the 1989 season with the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I didn't really start watching sports until then, to be perfectly honest. But I find history to be fascinating, and it was my great pleasure to delve into a world in which I hope to work in the future.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

I wasn't old enough to really understand what was going on in world of Chicago Bears football back from 1984-1991. The only time I ever followed football back in those days started in the 1989 season with the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I didn't really start watching sports until then, to be perfectly honest. But I find history to be fascinating, and it was my great pleasure to delve into a world in which I hope to work in the future.

What was going on was Mike McCaskey almost single handedly destroying the team piece by piece. He may have known a lot about business but he knew nothing about the business of pro football or how to run a team. He basically disassembled one of the greatest teams ever to play in the NFL. That Bears team rivaled those that dominated pro football in the 40's. We should have won three Super Bowls instead of one.