Bears Carry Coach Mikhli to Victory

Super Bowl: Bears 20, Jets 17

The Super Bowl is typically more about pagentry and hype than it is about 2 great teams playing a game for the ages. Tonight we got the game "for the ages" ! At 8:08 pm EST the game kicked off. The much anticipated matchup between the 16-2 Chicago Bears and the 13-6 NY Jets was underway.

On the second play from scrimmage Ken O'Brien hit Al Toon in stride for 34 yards. The only problem with the play was that Toon left the ball on the Rose Bowl turf and Chicago's Reg Phillips fell on top of it. The Jets would again turn the ball over with 6:44 left in the quarter as Freeman McNeil caught a 10 yard pass, but was stripped by Vestee jackson on the Jet 41. Jim McMahon put the pedal to the metal and hit Willie Gault in stride as he tookthe ball down to the Jets 1. That's where thing got interesting. McMahon tried to sneak it in but the Jets popped the ball out of his hand, but right into Walter Payton's to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

Bobby Humphrey then took the ensuing kick off back 71 yards and the Jets looked to be in business. Chicago tightened up the defense and the Jets were facing 3rd and long when O'Brien hit Wesley Walker on a corner route for the tying TD.

The Jets took the lead 14-7 on a 4 yard TD toss from O'Brien to backup TE Rocky Klever. The big play on the drive was a 49 yard delayed draw by Freeman McNeil, which brought the ball down to the Bear 4. The game was tied at halftime thanks to a 5 play 79 yard drive that culminated in a 7 yard McMahon to Ortego TD pass.

Chicago openend the second half trying to sneak a handoff to seldom used back Thomas Sanders. The Jets smelled this one coming and had him keyed correctly. DE Joe Klecko knocked the ball out of Sanders' hands and reserver DL Barry Bennett fell on it. Chicago's D came in and bailed out their offense. On successive plays Dan Hampton and Wilbur Marshall both sacked O'Brien and the Jets had to settle for a Pat Leahy field goal to take a 3 point lead.

For most of the second half the Bears offense went to the air and McMahon was either picked off or they were forced to punt. Chicago handed the ball to Payton who was stuffed on a 1 dice roll by Gastineau who was keying him correctly along with 7 other men in the box. The Bears got conservative and Kevin Butler kicked a 40 yarder to tie the game at 17.

Now the game gets interesting, as if it wasn't a nail biter up until this point. On the Bears next possession the Jets sent LB Bob Crable in on a blitz as McMahon tried to force the ball into a fatigued Payton. DB Johnny Lynn picked it off on the Bear 37 and ran the it back 9 yards closer to paydirt. The Jets moved the ball cautiously and after an 11 yard pass to Mickey Shuler they found themselves on the Bears 9 yard line, where Chicago's famed 46 defense stiffened. Content not to press their luck the Jets were happy to settle for a 26 yard Pat Leahy field goal attempt with 3:56 left to go in the game. If Leahy makes it the Jets go up by 3. Instead Dave Duerson got through the line and blocked the kick. The Jets blew a golden opportunity.

The Bears took over on their own 22 with less than 4 minutes to play in the Super Bowl and the score knotted at 17. McMahon fought his instincts to go for the big play and slowly drove his team down to the Jets 40 yard line. Feeling like they needed a big play the Jets threw an all out blitz at McMahon who handed the ball to his most realiable weapon Walter Payton. Sweetness busted throught the Jet blitzers and took the ball 33 yards down to the Jet 7 yard line. With a sure field goal staring them right in the eye all the Bears needed to do was grind down the clock before scoring. Instead with 1:37 left to go Joe Klecko struck again and blindsided ball carrier Matt Suhey and Charles Jackson fell on the pigskin and the Jets looked well on their way to escaping to OT. Improbable as it sounded the Jets had a chance to escape regulation and take their chances in an extra session. They needed to burn 1:28 off the clock, but they had the ball on their own 2 and Chicago had 2 time outs. The Bears new the Jets weren't going to pass, so they loaded up their run D and keyed the heck out of Freeman McNeil. The Jets knew they couldn't risk passing on their own 2 considering O'Brien is very susceptible to the sack and the Bears are very adept at getting the sack. Dave Jennings came on with :29 seconds left to punt the ball to safety. The Ivy league punter kicked it 39 yards to the Jet 48 yard line, where returner Lew Barnes took the ball 14 yards to New York's 34. With :20 seconds left to go McMahon hit tight end Emery Moorehead for 7 quick yards to move to the Jets 27 yard line. Kevin Butler came on and nailed a 44 yard FG with :13 seconds left to win the Super Bowl for the Chicago Bears in a wild and wacky finish.

The league sends congratulations to Coach Ed Mikhli on winning his first ever Distant Replay Tournament Championship !!!

NFC Title Game: Chicago edges New York by 1 to gain Super Bowl Birth

No one expected this - 69 points scored in a game featuring two of the best defenses in the NFL. . The key was six turnovers, four by NY and two by Chicago. Every turnover happened inside a team's own territory.The opening kick was typical. NY fumbled and Chicago recovered on the Giants' 18 yard line. Three plays later McMahon (19-41-198) found Payton(12-73 rushing; 7-47 receiving) for a 4-yard TD. Each team also returned an interception for a score.

Here's how things played out after the opening TD by the Bears. New York tied the game on their next possession moving 82 yards in just 9 plays. Stacy Robinson caught a 37 yard pass from Simms (23-38-299) for the score. Later in the quarter NY took just 3 plays to take a 14-7 lead.The big play was a 49 yard TD jaunt by Joe Morris (25-119).

The Chicago offense did nothing the rest of the half (70 total yards)while NY's next three possessions led to FGAs. Allegre made 2 of 3,missing a 50 yarder. The Giants looked very confident with a 20-7 lead at the break.

Chicago received the second half KO and moved 80 yards in just 6 plays.That made it 20-14, NY. The Giants then fumbled and things suddenly looked different on the Giants' sideline. No worries though as two plays later McMahon was picked by George Martin who took it to the house for a 27-14 lead.

The NY offense then disappeared. Their next 5 possessions totaled 16plays and 5 yards. Meanwhile the Bears sandwiched their own INT return for a TD between two scoring drives (40 and 73 yards). It was now 35-27Chicago midway through the last quarter. Time for the NY offense to wake up. A Landeta punt had pinned Chicago at their own one yard line. Giants' defense held and NY took over at the Chicago 37. They converted on 3rd and 10 and made just 8 yards on another 3rd and 10. It was 4th and goal from the 2. Down 8 points NY needed a TD and a two point conversion to tie. They went for it on 4th and 2 .... but failed.

All was not lost though as the Giants defense held and the NY offense took over at the Chicago 38 yard line with with 3:33 remaining. This time they converted a 3rd and 7, a 4th and 9 and a 3rd and goal from the six yard line. The last TD made it 35-33. Time for two. D**M - no two point conversion in 1986. The XP point is good, the onsides kick fails,and Chicago goes to the Super Bowl with a 35-34 win.

This was a tale of two halves. Eddie did a great job shutting down NY in the second half and revving up the Bears' offense at the same time.Chicago put up 28 points in the second stanza, including 21 unanswered.NY had a very un-Parcells game: 4 turnovers, 11 penalties and 5 sacks of Simms.

Congratulation to Eddie and the Bears. Too bad this wasn't the real NFC Championship game in 1986.

-contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

AFC Title Game: Jets 33, Broncos 10

The New York Jets headed into Mile High Stadium today with a lot of question marks. They were missing their top offensive player, RB Freeman McNeil and their sack master Mark Gastineau. Not having two important players like that will stop most teams. The Jets needed to get a great performance off of McNeil's understudy Johnny Hector and their D-line needed to pressure John Elway.


Denver needed to ride the hot hand, one John Elway. Elway has carried this pedestrian team on his shoulders and right arm all year and specifically in the post season. Without much of a running game Elway has been truly amazing with his right arm.

The first quarter saw neither team score, although the Jets did move down the field with ease on a long drive that should have yielded points but the normally reliable Pat Leahy missed a 39 yarder.

By the second quarter both offenses hit their stride. The Jets scored two TD's and looked to head into the locker room with a 7 point lead when Elway rallied his troops to drive for a half ending field goal. On the Jets 1st TD they were content to nickle and dime the Broncos until Ken O'Brien finally hit Al Toon with a 25 yard TD pass. Elway struck back by using his backs. Not in the conventional sense though. Elway tossed Steve Sewell and Gerald Wilhite 20+ yard passes to move down the field as the Jet secondary was focusing on his wideouts. Sewell caught a 9 yard medium pass to knot the score at 7. The Jets responded with a 13 play drive that lasted almost 7 minutes. O'Brien has a lot of weapons and he was content to spread the ball around. Johnny Hector had a 12 yard run on a draw play and tight end Mickey Shuler caught a 12 yard TD pass.

The first half ended with the score NYJ 14, DEN 10, which coincidently was the exact same score of the last time these two teams met in a title game. Unfortunately for the Broncos the results this time were quite different. In the second half the Jets capitalized on Bronco errors and outstanding quaterback play by O'Brien. New York reeled off 19 unanswered points to put the Broncos away and earn a trip to Pasadena.

Kenny O'Brien proved to be the better "class of 83" QB as he outdueled his much more hearalded counterpart Mr. Elway. OB threw for 356 yards and 4 TD's as he went 27 for 39. Johnny Hector peformed more than admirably rushing 17 for 79. On the defensive front the Jets shut Elway out in the second half. Al Toon was 9-134 and two TD's. Johnny Hector caught 7 passes for 65 yards and a TD as well.

AFC Div Rd: Denver 30, New England 20

For 3 and half quarters these two teams couldn't escape each other. Classic 1980's AFC ball was being played. Midway through the 4th the Patriots tied it at 20, when Irving Fryar caught a 2 yard toss from Tony Eason. The results were the awakining of the comback kid, John Elway, who rallied his team to 10 unanswered points and trip to he AFC title game. Elway moved the Broncs 65 yards in 7 plays as Rich Karlis kicked a 19 yard FG to put his team up by 3. After New England turned the ball over on downs Elway went for the juglar as he hit Steve Watson in stride for a 27 yard TD strike, which gave the Broncos an inurmountable 10 point lead.

New England only ran the ball 7 times all afternoon. Elway had 3 picks to go along with his 3 TD's. Tony Collins caught 11 passes for 99 yards in lieu of a running attack for the Pats. New England's Ronnie Lippett had 2 INT's off of Elway in a losing cause.

NFC Div Rd: Bears Scalp Skins 31-13

In real life the Skins came into Soldier field and went down 14-0 at the half only to come out of the locker room with a new game plan devised by resident genius Joe Gibbs, which enabled them to score 28 unanswered points and derail the Bears dynasty that was not to be. Of course in real life the Bears had to rely on "Bambi" aka..Doug Fluite, not Jim McMahon who was available to Coach Mikhli in SAT. You see Chicago was a completly different team with the punky QB at the helm. While statistically he was never a top rated passer, McMahon had all the intangibles one could want + he had a unique way of deflecting all the attention away from his teammates and onto his often injured shoulders.

This game got off to an auspicious start. At one point Washington had a 13-7 lead in the first quarter. One of their TD's came off of a blocked Maury Buford punt, which Rich Milot recovered and ran back 31 yards. After that all the scoring went Chicago's way. Dennis Gentry grabbed two TD catches as Washington keyed Walter Payton and McMahon made them pay dearly.

AFC Div Rd: Jets re-write history in Cleveland

History said the Jets would come into Cleveland and catch the Browns napping, but lose late due to ineffectiveness and a stupid penalty by Mark Gastineau. History has been re-written. Cleveland actually came out stoked early and the Jets seemed to be on their heels. Both teams exchanged field goals in the 1st quarter as a stalemate seemed to be in the mix.

The second quarter saw a frenzy of points put on the board (33 total). The key play being a Matt Bahr botched XP that gave the Jets a 1 point lead at the half. Cleveland moved the ball at will against the Jets pourus defense. Bernie Kosar hit Reggie Langhorne in stride for a huge 46 yard TD pass with :32 seconds left in the half to put the hometown team up by 6. As most fans headed to the warm corridors of Municipal Stadium to get their half time hot chocolate, amongst other beverages, Bobby Humphrey took a short Bahr kick back 90 yards and all of a sudden the Jets had a 1 point lead at the half.

Coaches Schneider and Weiss returned with their troops for second half that would ultimately decide the contest. Cleveland struck first as Bahr hit a 28 yard field goal to culminate an 8 play drive. Up by 2 the Browns now had to play some tight defense. 4:07 later the Jets traveled 80 yards and went up by 5 as Ken O'Brien hit Wesley Walker in the end zone for 15 yard TD strike.

Opposite of real life the 4th quarter was all Jets. Cleveland's passing game ground to a halt. The Cleveland receivers were all fatigued beyond belief. RB Earnest Byner only touched the ball 4 times. Cleveland's game play had gone awry. The Jets spent the whole 4th quarter double teaming and playing nickle D, just daring the Browns to run. The run never came. The Jets finally opened it up and began throwing the ball all over the place. Al Toon caught an 9 yard TD pass and Freeman McNeil caught one for 4 yards as the Jets pulled away. Ken O'Brien had a career day going 22-29-329-4TD-Int. He was unstoppable. Freeman McNeil had 100 yards, even, on the ground.

NFC Div Rd: Giants outlast 49ers at Meadowlands

The Giants advance to the conference championship game with a 24-13victory over a tough 49ers squad. The score is completely misleading as NY scored a late TD on a Joe Morris (26-84) run after SF failed on a 4th down attempt deep in their own territory.
The Giants showed very little offense in this game after their opening possession. That was a 12 play, 74 yard TD drive which ate up over eight minutes on the clock. The 49ers slowly came back on two Wersching FGs in the 2nd quarter (30 and 34 yards). Unfortunately Wersching missed two others in the same quarter (39 and 43) as NY had three possessions totaling seven plays in the quarter. The first half ended 7-6.

The next big play was a 53 yard interception return of a Montana(14-30-121-2 picks) to Rice (2-32) aerial by Perry Williams. That occurred early in the 3rd quarter. The Giants were content to sit on the14-6 lead. That contentment took a hit when Don Griffin took a Landeta(8-41.9) punt 60 yards to the NY 4. Three plays later Montana hit Clark for the score. A scream could be heard across the entire state of Arkansas when the 49er coach realized there were no 2 point tries in1986 - 14-13 New York.

That was about it for any offense in this game. Allegre managed a 30yard FG after the Giants took over at midfield on a short punt and decent return. The big play in that drive was a 15 yard personal foul against the 49ers. In fact the 49ers were plagued by penalties all day7-65 yards to 4-25 for NY (and two of those were delay of game penalties to move the ball back before punting).

As already noted the last score came on after SF failed on a 4th and 6from their own 24 with 2:10 remaining. Two face mask penalties and a 13yard run by Morris clinched the win. Final yardage: 241 SF to 203 for New York. Simms was 8-15 for 101 yards and was sacked 3 times (1 pick).Neither team lost a fumble. Hats off to Bill who simply couldn't overcome some bad rolls (two missed FGs and numerous key penalties). -contributed by Wayne Poniewaz-

NFC Wild Card: Was Redskins 33, LA Rams 0

A cold and windy day in D.C. sees the pass happy Skins up against the potent running attack of the Rams. The Skins receive the opening kickoff and start the drive at their own 22. 5 minutes later and Zendejas boots a 45 yard FG as the Skins drive stalls at the Ram 28 yard line. The Rams begin their first drive from their own 31 as Steve Dils gets the starting nod at QB. The Skins defense is expecting a heavy dose of Dickerson but the Rams come out firing and quickly move 35 yards in 4 plays but the next 3 plays net 0 yards and the Skins stop the Rams on a 4th and 9 pass attempt from the Washington 34.


The next drive sees the Skins trying to stretch the field and the 5th play of the drive nets a big pass interference call that puts the ball at the LA 8 yard line. This drive ends on a 7 yard toss to George Rogers. Washington now up 10-0. The next possession for the Rams ends on a 4th and 8 incomplete pass at the Washington 26 yard line. It seems the coach of the Rams does not have faith in his kicker today and the Skins are relieved! The Skins go 5 and out and Steve Cox boots one into the end zone as the Rams start the pivotal drive of the game from their own 20. 8 yards later the Skins defense comes up large and stuffs Dickerson for a 1 yard loss.


The Skins can only add a field goal but these two possessions have set the tone for the rest of the game. Redskins 13 Rams 0. Another 5 and out and a poor punt leaves the Redskins with great field position at the Rams 44. The Skins drive close enough for another Zendejas field goal and now lead 16-0. This will remain the score heading into halftime.


The Rams will have the ball starting the second half and put together their biggest threat of the game with a drive that lasts over 6 minutes. With first and goal from the 4 it looks like the Rams will claw their way back into the game but Dickerson is stopped twice for -3 yards and Dils is sacked by Steve Hamilton on 4th down. The defense comes through again and keeps the Rams off the scoreboard. After trading possessions the Redskins take over at their own 46 and drive to the Rams 15 yard line. Schroeder's next pass is picked off by Mickey Sutton but the referees call pass interference and Washington gets new life at the Ram 7 yard line! His next pass attempt finds Gary Clark in the back of the end zone and the Redskins are now up 23-0. Rogers will tack on a 1 yard TD run and Zendejas will add another field goal as the Rams never enter Washington territory again until 1:14 left in the game and time expires on them. Washington 33 Rams 0."

AFC Wild Card: NY Jets 24, KC Chiefs 0

How fitting was it that the green team would play the red team on Christmas day ? The Jets, who virutally backed into the playoffs after losing 5 straight played host to the Chiefs who found a way to win on special team and intangibles. The Jets found themselves in the uneviable position of having to try and recapture the lightning they had going during the days when they were 10-1 and the top rated team in the league.

At game time it was a toss up if Ken "I'm on my back more than a Vegas Call Girl" O'Brien was going to start. O'B has been battered, bruised and blitz over the past 5 weeks. The popular thought was that the more mobile Pat Ryan might get the nod. In fact the two alternated snaps on the first 3 plays before O'Brien got the reign.

The game started out with KC mysteriously winning the toss, but chosing to kick to the Jets. Nick Lowery's opening kickoff was into the wind and only went to the Jet 22, where Kurt Sohn, the Fordham Flash, turned on the Jets and returned it to just about mid field. New York gained 45 yards on the next two plays as both Al Toon and Wesley Walker caught long one's. Three plays later Freeman McNeil ran it in from the eight to put the Jets up 7-0.

Marty Lyons sacked Chiefs QB Bill Kenney for 5 yards on a second and seven to put the Chiefs in the proverbial hole. 2 plays later Lewis Colbert was on the field to punt for the first time on the day. Colbert would see extensive action on this blustery day in the swamps of Jersey.

The Jets took over on their own 39 and started moving just like the did on their first drive. A fine defensive stand by the Chiefs and some penalties stopped the Jets cold on KC's 35. Convetional wisdom would have seen the Jets bring on Dave Jennings to go for the coffin corner, but with the wind to their back the Jets elected to bring on Pat Leahy, who kicked a 57 yarder dead center. With the first quarter not even halfway through the Jets were up 10-0.

The next 3 drives were both 3 and outs. Two by KC and one by the Jets. The Jets seemed to be content to play a game of field position until they got possession at mid field and it was time to go to work on offense again. O'Brien struck quickly hitting Mickey Shuler for 24 and Wesley Walker for 25 to make it 1st and goal from the 1. Fullback Tony Paige got stuffed for 3 yards, but Freeman McNeil blasted through for a 4 yard TD run and after a Pat Leahy XP the Jets were up 17-0 with the first quarter not even complete.

The second quarter saw the Jets chew over 6 minutes off the clock on a nice drive that started from their 39 and culminated with a Ken O'Brien QB sneak. The big play on this drive came on a Johnny Hector 4 yard run off of a draw play on 3rd and 4 from KC's 8. If KC stops Hector the Jets have to settle for a FG and it's still a 3 score game.

The Jets took the pedal off the metal and basically tried to play safe football the rest of the afternoon and let the scoreboard and blustery weather be their ally. KC tried their best to fight until the end, but inept offense and inopportune penalties were their undoing.

New York will head for their fateful match-up with the Browns in Cleveland and KC will head back home to the heartland.

The Wild Card Round

The 1986 Playoffs featured 5 teams from each conference. The "Wild Card" round featured the top 2 non-divisional winners in a head to head matchup. The winner of the Wild Card game moved on to play the #1 seed in the conference, unless they were both from the same division. In case that occurred they would play the #2 seed.

Chiefs at Jets - A classic matchup between two charter AFL members. Unfortunately for both franchises they hadn't had much post season success (or opportunities) since those days. The Jets started the season 10-1 and looked to be cruising to the divsion title and the number 1 seed, when the wheels fell of the proverbial bus. Paul McGuire, on NBC, predicted that they would NOT win a game the rest of the season. True the form the SOJ (same old Jets) complied and backed their way into the post season with 5 straight losses. The Chiefs hadn't been invited to the post season for 15 years, since that fateful 1971 double OT loss to Miami. KC couldn't run the ball and they barely could pass it. Their defensive secondary was stout, but their main claim to fame was their wild and whacky special teams and their coach Frank "Crash" Gansz. KC pushed it's way into the post season by blocking punts, FG's and returning balls. In real life the Jets were so desperate they had backup QB, Pat Ryan start this game at the Meadowlands.

Rams at Redskins - The Rams relied on the legs of Eric Dickerson. Their defense was strong, but their passing game was just starting to get some life with the drafting of Jim Everett. Washington mastermind Joe Gibbs had his 3rd starting QB in the last 5 years. Jay Schroeder was better know as a minor league baseball player until Gibbs resurected him into Washington's starter. Schroeder could throw the deep ball, but was not adept when it came to checking down. Washington's lack of a dominant runner also put the game firmly on Schroeders shoulders.