1985 Chicago Bears Vs 2007 New England Patriots

Before the New England Patriots lost in this year's Super Bowl, many compared them to the best single-season teams in NFL history. But for the sake of argument, I'm going to bring to light a matchup between the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2007 New England Patriots. Which one of these 18-1 teams would win? Well, I'm going to start breaking this matchup down by positions:

Offense

Quarterbacks

1985 Chicago Bears quarterbacks:
Jim McMahon(completed 178 of 313 pass attempts, 2,392 passing yards, 15 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions, three rushing touchdowns)
Steve Fuller(completed 53 of 107 pass attempts, 777 passing yards, 1 touchdown pass, 5 interceptions, five rushing touchdowns)

2007 New England Patriots quarterbacks:
Tom Brady(completed 398 of 578 pass attempts, 4,806 passing yards, 50 touchdown passes, eight interceptions, two rushing touchdowns)

Clearly, Tom Brady's 2007 campaign was one for the ages as he led the powerful and seemingly unstoppable New England offense into the Super Bowl after a MVP season. When his career is done, he'll be talked about as one of the greatest players to play the game. Meanwhile, the Bears quarterback situation had been in limbo since basically the Sid Luckman years in the 1940s, but Jim McMahon quarterbacked the team to a Super Bowl victory in 1985. Backup Steve Fuller started five games for the Bears which included their only loss on the 1985 season to the Miami Dolphins.

Advantage: 2007 New England Patriots

Running backs

1985 Chicago Bears running backs:
Walter Payton(324 rushing attempts, 1,551 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 49 receptions, 483 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns)
Matt Suhey(115 rushing attempts, 471 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 33 receptions, 295 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown)

2007 New England Patriots running backs:
Laurence Maroney(185 rushing attempts, 835 rushing yards, six touchdowns, four receptions, 116 receiving yards)
Kevin Faulk(62 rushing attempts, 265 rushing yards, 47 receptions, 383 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown)
Sammy Morris(85 rushing attempts, 384 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, six receptions, 35 receiving yards)

Walter Payton is arguably the greatest running back in NFL history and he won the league's MVP award in 1985. The Bears led the NFL in rushing behind Payton, and Suhey getting production from the fullback spot as well. Laurence Maroney played great down the stretch for the Patriots, but did miss three games because of injury. Morris did well in his place during that stretch. Kevin Faulk has been a steady player as well as valuable contributor in third down situations in his tenure with the Patriots and 2007 was no different for him.

Advantage: 1985 Chicago Bears

Wide receivers/tight ends

1985 Chicago Bears:
Willie Gault, wide receiver(33 receptions, 704 receiving yards, one touchdown reception)
Dennis McKinnon, wide receiver(31 receptions, 555 receiving yards, seven touchdown receptions)
Tim Wrightman, wide receiver(24 receptions, 407 receiving yards, one touchdown reception)
Emery Moorehead, tight end(35 receptions, 485 receiving yards, one touchdown reception)

2007 New England Patriots:
Randy Moss, wide receiver(98 receptions, 1,493 receiving yards, 23 touchdown receptions)
Wes Welker, wide receiver(112 receptions, 1,175 receiving yards, eight touchdown receptions)
Donte Stallworth, wide receiver(46 receptions, 697 receiving yards, three touchdown receptions)
Jabar Gaffney, wide receiver(36 receptions, 449 receiving yards, five touchdown receptions)
Ben Watson, tight end(36 receptions, 389 receiving yards, six touchdown receptions)

The 1985 Chicago Bears were built around running the ball, and the passing game gave the offense enough balance to keep opponents from keying in on Payton all the time. Gault was the speedy receiver, and the others were durable players for the Bears in 1985. Moorehead was a steady target in the middle of the field in the passing game as well as a punishing run blocker, too. The 2007 Patriots were absolutely loaded at wide receiver, and the off-season trade for Randy Moss from the Oakland Raiders really opened things up in the passing game as he set the record for the most receiving touchdowns in a season. Welker had a breakout year after being obtained in the off-season as well, and was unstoppable at times in the slot position. Stallworth and Gaffney provided big plays as well and depth at the position, too.

Advantage: 2007 New England Patriots

Offensive line

1985 Chicago Bears:
Jim Covert, tackle
Jay Hilgenberg, center
Keith Van Horn, tackle
Mark Bortz, guard
Tom Thayer, guard

2007 New England Patriots:
Matt Light, tackle
Nick Kaczur, tackle
Dan Koppen, center
Logan Mankins, guard
Stephen Neal, guard

The Patriots offensive line did a great job of protecting Brady in 2007, and they allowed just 21 sacks on the season. The ground game had 4.1 per rush for the Patriots, too. The 1985 Bears allowed 43 sacks on the season, but the team was ranked 5th in the league with 4.5 average yards per rush.

Advantage:
Pass blocking: 2007 New England Patriots
Run blocking: 1985 Chicago Bears

Defense

Defensive line

1985 Chicago Bears:
Richard Dent, defensive end(17 sacks, two interceptions, one defensive touchdown)
Dan Hampton, defensive end/tackle(6.5 sacks)
Steve McMichael, defensive tackle(eight sacks, one recorded safety)
William Perry, defensive tackle(five sacks)

2007 New England Patriots:
Ty Warren, defensive end(four sacks)
Richard Seymour, defensive end(1.5 sacks in nine games)
Vince Wilfork, defensive tackle(two sacks)
Jarvis Green, defensive end(6.5 sacks)

Buddy Ryan's 46 defense was extremely effective because of the four guys upfront on the defensive line. Dent led the NFL with 17 sacks on the season, and will likely make the Hall of Fame. The versatile Dan Hampton caused havoc from anywhere on the defensive line in route to a Hall of Fame career. Perry was in his rookie year, and instantly fit in with the rest of the defensive line. McMichael was a very durable lineman who often sacrificed himself by taking on constant double-team blocking in his career. The Patriots ran a 3-4 defensive scheme and rookie Jarvis Green filled in nicely when needed for the Patriots. Seymour is a good, versatile defensive lineman, but missed seven games due to injury. Wilfork constantly drew double-team blocks, and held his own against the run. Warren played well and contributed four sacks during the 2007 season.

Advantage: 1985 Chicago Bears

Linebackers

1985 Chicago Bears:
Mike Singletary(three sacks, one interception)
Otis Wilson(10.5 sacks, three interceptions, one defensive touchdown, one recorded safety)
Wilber Marshall(six sacks, four interceptions)

2007 New England Patriots:
Mike Vrabel(12.5 sacks)
Junior Seau(3.5 sacks, three interceptions)
Adalius Thomas(6.5 sacks, one interception, one defensive touchdown)
Tedy Bruschi(two sacks)
Rosevelt Colvin(four sacks, one interception, one defensive touchdown)

Singletary was the unquestioned leader on the Bears defense, and was making tackles all over the place. Wilson was an excellent pass-rusher and was good in coverage, too. Marshall had great year at the other outside linebacker spot, but is more remembered for his interception return touchdown in the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams while it was snowing. The Patriots started four linebackers because of the 3-4 defensive scheme, and it was very effective for them. Seau will be a Hall of Fame linebacker while Vrabel had a Pro Bowl year, too. Thomas, acquired as a free agent before the season, fit in well for Patriots. Bruschi continued to his good play on defense. Colvin had an injury-plagued season, but did contribute nicely when he played.

Advantage: 1985 Chicago Bears. The Patriots do have a slight edge in depth though.

Secondary

1985 Chicago Bears:
Leslie Frazier, cornerback(six interceptions, one defensive touchdown)
Mike Richardson, cornerback(four interceptions, one defensive touchdown)
Ken Taylor, cornerback(three interceptions)
Gary Fencik, safety(five interceptions)
Dave Duerson, safety(two sacks, five interceptions)

2007 New England Patriots:
Asanti Samuel, cornerback(six interceptions, one defensive touchdown)
Ellis Hobbs, cornerback(one sack, one interception, one defensive touchdown)
Randall Gay, cornerback(three interceptions, one defensive touchdown)
Rodney Harrison, safety(two sacks, one interception)
James Sanders, safety(two interceptions)

The Bears made some big plays in the secondary in large part because of the mayhem the defensive front seven caused. The starting secondary for the Bears combined to have 20 interceptions and two defensive touchdowns during the regular season. Fencik and Duerson were solid tacklers and good against the run, too. The Patriots also made big plays in the secondary with each starting cornerback having a defensive touchdown on the campaign. Harrison, after missing some game time due to a league suspension, continued his hard-hitting and agressive play at strong safety.

Advantage: Even

Special teams

Kickers

1985 Chicago Bears:
Kevin Butler(31 of 37 field goals made, 51 of 51 extra points made)

2007 New England Patriots
Stephen Gostkowski(21 of 24 field goals made, 74 of 74 extra points made)

Butler was in his rookie year as kicker, and had a great year for the Bears in 1985. Gostkowski was in his second year as kicker for the Patriots, and was good throughout the 2007 season.

Advantage: Even

Kickoff/Punt Returners

1985 Chicago Bears:
Willie Gault(22 kickoff return attempts, 577 kickoff return yards, one kickoff return touchdown)
Dennis Gentry(18 kickoff return attempts, 466 kickoff return yards, one kickoff return touchdown)
Ken Taylor(25 punt return attempts, 198 punt return yards)
Keith Ortego(17 punt return attempts, 158 punt return yards)

2007 New England Patriots:
Ellis Hobbs(35 kickoff return attempts, 911 kickoff return yards, one kickoff return touchdown)
Willie Andrews(four kickoff return attempts, 149 kickoff return yards, one kickoff return touchdown)
Wes Welker(25 punt return attempts, 249 punt return yards)

Both teams had two return touchdowns on the season with all them coming on kickoff returns. Overall, the teams had some big plays in the return games, but neither were outstanding enough to give the advantage to one team or the other.

Advantage: Even

Coaching

Mike Ditka was able to turn around a franchise that had been built around the running of Walter Payton, and finally gave them some balance with McMahon at quarterback. Buddy Ryan installed the 46 defense which at the time, few had an answer as to how to contain it. Bill Belichick has won three Super Bowls in four tries, and also did wonders in turning around a declining franchise. He has also seen a number of his coaches leave to take positions elsewhere, but his team has still stayed the course.

Advantage: 2007 New England Patriots

Regular season/Post-season competition

First and foremost, both teams were in an era in which the conferences they played in were better than the other. The 1985 Chicago Bears played in the midst of the NFC dominating in Super Bowl play in which that conference won 13 straight Super Bowls. The 2007 New England Patriots played in an era where the AFC had won the previous nine of 12 Super Bowls.

The 1985 Chicago Bears played six teams with four of them on the road during the regular season that made the playoffs in which all had no worse than a 10-6 record. They also played another 10-6 team against Washington, and beat them by 35 points. The average margin of victory against winning teams for the Bears was 17 points which does factor in the loss to Miami during the season. The average margin of victory for the Bears in the playoffs was 27 points which included two shutouts. The Bears outscored their opponents by 258 points in the regular season which equals a 16.1 margin of victory.

The 2007 New England Patriots also played six teams with three of them on the road that made the playoffs during the 2007 regular season. The average margin of victory against those teams was almost 20 points a game. The average margin of victory in the playoffs was a shade under five points per game which does factor in their loss to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. New England outscored their opponents by 315 points during the regular season which equals a 20 point margin of victory.

Advantage: Even

My game analysis

Obviously, these are two drastically different teams with two distinct ways of winning their games. The Patriots would have a chance because of Brady at quarterback and the spread formations would possibly cause problems for the Bears. However, the Patriots offensive line struggled all game long in the Super Bowl against a very good defensive line in the New York Giants. The Bears defensive line would therefore be more problematic for the Patriots to contain all game long. Not to mention, the Patriots also struggled in picking up blitzes in that Super Bowl loss, and Buddy Ryan's defense was notorious for blitzing players from anywhere.

On the other side of the ball, the Patriots 3-4 defensive scheme would likely cause trouble for the Bears in the passing game. This could be a problem if the Patriots got a lead in this game, and forced the Bears to alter their game plan by throwing more. However, the Patriots defense gave up an average of 4.5 yards per carry on the 2007 season, and the Bears had the same average as a team on offense. The Bears ability to run the ball at will with Payton would be a problem for the Patriots especially if Chicago had the lead late in the game.

I think both teams in the passing game would be disrupted because of the style of defenses that are run as well as their ability to cause confusion with their schemes. But the advantage the Bears have with Walter Payton at running back against a team that gave up 4.5 yards per rush would work in their favor. The Bears on defense have the advantage overall and would make the Patriots run more against a team that ranked first against the rush in 1985.

If the game is in inclement weather, the matchup favors the 1985 Chicago Bears. If it's on astroturf, the matchup favors the 2007 New England Patriots because of the passing game. On a neutral field, the Bears would win because of Payton being the factor in the game as well as their ability to stop the run after disrupting the passing game of New England. Also because of the fact that the Bears did win the Super Bowl - in dominating fashion. The 2007 New England Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl, so you can't be the better team if you didn't finish the best during your season.

Final score:
1985 Chicago Bears 24, 2007 New England Patriots 16
Payton scores two rushing touchdowns with one in each half, and finishes with over 100 rushing yards during the game. Trailing 17-6 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots get a touchdown from Brady to Welker because of being able to spread the Bears defense out in the second half to make the score 17-13. But their comeback falls short as the Bears get an interception return touchdown in the closing minutes to seal the win. The Patriots kick a field goal to close the gap to 24-16, but cannot recover the on-side kick to get another possession in the closing minute. The Bears force three turnovers, record five sacks, stuff the run, and repeatedly hit Brady all game on defense. The Bears score 17 points off turnovers. The Patriots force two turnovers, record three sacks, and score six points off turnovers in the loss.

Sources: pro-football-reference.com, sports.yahoo.com, nfl.com