Remember the New York Giants' first Super Bowl win?
When Parcells was thin, Belichick was the quiet defensive coordinator, and Lawerence Taylor's legs were young and strong?
When the Bill Parcell's coached Giants crushed John Elway and the out-manned, out-muscled, out-hit Dan Reeves' Denver Broncos?
The next season, 1987, they opened with a prime-time game. Perhaps one of the most anticipated games in NFL history.
This year, the Giants face the Washington Redskins. But in 1987, pre-parity, the league was much better. The teams were much better. The top teams were much, much better.
Eagerly awaiting the Super Bowl Champion Giants were the previous year's champs, the big, bad, snarling Mike Ditka and the Chicago Bears.
The last time the teams had met was on the Bears' historic '85 Super Bowl run. The Bears had dominated and shut out the Giants 21-0. Giants QB Phil Simms was harassed and smashed all day, particularly by Bear DE Richard Dent, who had perhaps the most dominate defensive game in playoff history, sacking Simms 3.5 times, forcing two fumbles, and collecting seven tackles.
His teammates helped. A rattled Sean Landeta, the Giants' punter, missed the ball while punting in the winds of Soldier Field, and Bears safety Shaun Gayle picked up the rolling ball and ran for a score. 310-pound tackle knocked Giant RB Little Joe Morris from the game with a brutal hit.
Jim McMahon taunted Giants great Lawrence Taylor, who was being handled well by Bears All-Pro tackle Jimbo Covert, with a late-game bootleg.
But this was '87. Taylor was drug free. McMahon was hurt again. Walter Payton legs were a year older. Bears defensive mastermind Buddy Ryan was in Philadelphia. Bill Parcells' and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick were at the top of their games and on friendly terms.
The fall air at Soldier Field was electric with excitement. A players' strike-deadline loomed, but that night, two of the best defenses in NFL history would square off.
Hall of Famers dotted the field, Bears Coach Ditka was already in. LB Lawrence Taylor, LB Harry Carson RB Walter Payton, LB Mike Singletary, and DT Dan Hampton careers would take them there. Someday, Parcells and Belichick will be in Canton also.
But other Hall of Fame-caliber players lined up. Giants LB Carl Banks and Bears Tackle Jimbo Covert would be all-decade '80s players. Bears DE Richard Dent, LB Wilbur Marshal, C Jay Hilgenberg, and S Gary Fencik would all be nominated for the Hall.
On this Monday night, Sept. 14, Giant QB Phil Simms was talking trash to the Bears' defense as the Giants took the field. The Giants had jumped ahead on a Bear turnover, which Giant DB Tom Flynn turned into a three-yard fumble return.
The Bears, behind backup QB Mike Tomczak, had responded with a drive resulting in a Kevin Butler FG.
Now it was Simms turn. Payback time for the playoff thrashing in which he had been sacked six times and completed only 14 of 35 passes.
But the blond-haired QB ran into a Bear buzz saw. The Bears' defenders were barking back at him, telling him to bring it. And the Bears were bringing the blitz. The Bears were blitzing early and often.
Simms was hit on every pass play, as the relentless Chicago pressure flowed over him. RB Joe Morris tried to scoot outside on a key third down and was viciously clobbered by Bears DE Dan Hampton.
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2 months ago
Great article. I sure miss Ditka, Payton, and the old style Bears.
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