1988 Superbowl hypothetical:Bears vs Bengals

[RunRunRunPunt]

For anyone above 40 Im sure you all remember the dreaded NFC championship against the 49ers at Soldier Field.
The Bears and the Bengals were the No 1 seeds in their conference both with a 12-4 record.The same season Chicago defeated the 49ers 10-9 in a slugfest.
Unfortunately in the NFC championship game our offense ineptitude started to show off which would haunt us till present.

Now if ...the Bears had magically managed to advance to the Super Bowl...how d we stack against the Bengals?

If I remember correctly they were the No1 offense back then.Do the Bears lose or lay a beat down on Boomer Essiason?

Personally I think this would ve been a dog fight perhaps a 13-9 Bears victory.

For the record the Montana led 49ers won that year20-16

 

[JP Hochbaum]

I was 8 or 9 years old, and it is the first super bowl I vividly remember watching. It was when I became 49ers fan, when I didn't know any better, lol.

 

[Aquineas]

In that NFC Championship Game, the Bears looked old and slow. Jerry Rice used safety Todd Krumm as a pick, en route to a 41-0 ass-whuppin'. That one hurt. Edit: I was wrong; they lost 28-3. The 41-0 ass-whoopin' was the year before, sorry (The 49ers whooped our asses a lot after 1985).

Of course the Super Bowl happened, and ironically, the very first game of 1989 was against Cincinnati, with Esiason, James Brooks (man that dude was seriously underrated), Woods, Tim McGee, etc. The Bears won that game 17-14, though it looks like they perhaps shouldn't have.

 

[RunRunRunPunt]

Just a reminder the 49ers defeated the Bears 28-3 but it felt much worse

 

[Aquineas]

Just a reminder the 49ers defeated the Bears 28-3 but it felt much worse

Yeah I was wrong; I went back and changed the original post. The 49ers whooped our asses a lot starting during those years until the Bears finally won in 2001.

• 1987 49ers 41-0
• 1988 Bears 10-9, Niners 28-3
• 1989 Niners 26-0
• 1991 Niners 52-14
• 1995 Niners 44-15
• 2000 Niners 17-0
• 2001 Bears 37-31

 

[SlickWilly]

In that NFC Championship Game, the Bears looked old and slow. Jerry Rice used safety Todd Krumm as a pick, en route to a 41-0 ass-whuppin'. That one hurt. Edit: I was wrong; they lost 28-3. The 41-0 ass-whoopin' was the year before, sorry (The 49ers whooped our asses a lot after 1985).

Of course the Super Bowl happened, and ironically, the very first game of 1989 was against Cincinnati, with Esiason, James Brooks (man that dude was seriously underrated), Woods, Tim McGee, etc. The Bears won that game 17-14, though it looks like they perhaps shouldn't have.

I forgot about that thumping from the 9ers in 87. That must have been a really bad game cause the Bears were still a good team.

 

[hebs]

Yeah I was wrong; I went back and changed the original post. The 49ers whooped our asses a lot starting during those years until the Bears finally won in 2001.

• 1987 49ers 41-0
• 1988 Bears 10-9, Niners 28-3
• 1989 Niners 26-0
• 1991 Niners 52-14
• 1995 Niners 44-15
• 2000 Niners 17-0
• 2001 Bears 37-31

That was the Mike Brown OT win with the ricochet of T.O.’s alligator arms with Urlacher bearing down on him.

 

[smilebit]

I don't think the Bears would've won that game, what's haunted the Bears and what has always haunted the Bears is the lack of QB play. It's why the Bears didn't win a lot more in the playoffs, with the 4-6 defense, in the 80's. The '86 defense was statistically better than the '85 defense but was undone by the lack of a QB. The 4-6 defense was starting to get figured out by that time too.

Also, dare I say, had the Bears had to play the 49ers in the playoffs in the '85 season the Bears wouldn't have a Lombardi trophy. The 49ers knew how to beat the 4-6 and they beat the Bears twice in the playoffs in the 80's. Yes, I know they beat them earlier that year for them knocking them out of the '84 playoffs but the 9ers had the Bears number in the playoffs.

 

[ijustposthere]

I don't think the Bears would've won that game, what's haunted the Bears and what has always haunted the Bears is the lack of QB play. It's why the Bears didn't win a lot more in the playoffs, with the 4-6 defense, in the 80's. The '86 defense was statistically better than the '85 defense but was undone by the lack of a QB. The 4-6 defense was starting to get figured out by that time too.

Also, dare I say, had the Bears had to play the 49ers in the playoffs in the '85 season the Bears wouldn't have a Lombardi trophy. The 49ers knew how to beat the 4-6 and they beat the Bears twice in the playoffs in the 80's. Yes, I know they beat them earlier that year for them knocking them out of the '84 playoffs but the 9ers had the Bears number in the playoffs.

Because Ditka was a subpar coach. Walsh and Gibbs ate his fucking lunch.

 

[mecha]

Because Ditka was a subpar coach. Walsh and Gibbs ate his fucking lunch.

those guys were playing 8D chess with passing while most of the rest of the league were still playing checkers. shit like Marino putting up 5000 yards while other quarterbacks had like 2000 in that era is sick.

Bears likewise would've been fucked if they had to play the Dolphins in the Super Bowl instead of the Patriots I'm sure. just be thankful it played out the way it did I guess.

 

[TexasBearfan]

those guys were playing 8D chess with passing while most of the rest of the league were still playing checkers. shit like Marino putting up 5000 yards while other quarterbacks had like 2000 in that era is sick.

Bears likewise would've been fucked if they had to play the Dolphins in the Super Bowl instead of the Patriots I'm sure. just be thankful it played out the way it did I guess.

Gibbs owned Ditka....

I actually moved down near Cincy in '83 and watched the bengals as this was pre directv years....one of their best offensive weapons missed the Super Bowl against the 9'er up doing cocaine all night or that game may have turned out different.

I believe they had HOF Anthony Munoz at that time who I met bringing equipment to his house, awesome guy we literally talked football for over an hour

 

[UChiLAbear]

For anyone above 40 Im sure you all remember the dreaded NFC championship against the 49ers at Soldier Field.
The Bears and the Bengals were the No 1 seeds in their conference both with a 12-4 record.The same season Chicago defeated the 49ers 10-9 in a slugfest.
Unfortunately in the NFC championship game our offense ineptitude started to show off which would haunt us till present.

Now if ...the Bears had magically managed to advance to the Super Bowl...how d we stack against the Bengals?

If I remember correctly they were the No1 offense back then.Do the Bears lose or lay a beat down on Boomer Essiason?

Personally I think this would ve been a dog fight perhaps a 13-9 Bears victory.

For the record the Montana led 49ers won that year20-16

if I remember correctly Bears were hurting then. After they beat 49ers in regular season, injuries mounted. Dent broke a leg vs Pack, Perry I think broke an arm, Otis Wilson was out....FS out....so it was a different Bears team than it was in Oct. Also, 49ers were called for NO PENALTIES! To this day i believe NFL wanted the 9ers in SB and more importantly......McMahon out!

 

[UChiLAbear]

In 1986 Bears at Cinncy with basically their '88 SB Team....was a slaughter! 44-7.......but injuries did in the '88 Bears.

 

[UChiLAbear]

In 1984 the 2-Time defending NFC Champions Redskins (winning 1 SB) hosted Da Bears in a play off game. It was a Physical BEATDOWN! watch it if its online. One of the most lopsided beatings i've ever watched. The next season they played it was 45-10. So, the question is....what part of Ditka's lunch was Gibbs eating? Probably his thrown away Hostess cupcake wrapper. Oh btw.... Ditka was 3-2 vs Walsh in the regular season......0-2 in the playoffs, BOTH times getting da Bears with major injuries. But I get it, injuries r part of the game. Neither Gibbs or Walsh wanted da Bears when healthy under Ditka. Anyone thinking otherwise is either too young to remember, ignorant or a fool. I'll let u make ur own decision.

 

[UChiLAbear]

those guys were playing 8D chess with passing while most of the rest of the league were still playing checkers. shit like Marino putting up 5000 yards while other quarterbacks had like 2000 in that era is sick.

Bears likewise would've been fucked if they had to play the Dolphins in the Super Bowl instead of the Patriots I'm sure. just be thankful it played out the way it did I guess.

I don't know where to start......lol......8D chess? Really? SB XVIII.....where was this so called 8D chess? The Raiduhs RAN the ball (Marcus Allen 191 yds, team 231) down the proverbial throats of the chess players in the most lopsided SB up to that point. The chess players did score somewhere in the 2nd half but who cared at that point. The Checkmate happened in the first half. The next SB ur 5k yds passing guy...sorry to tell u this, was pretty much checkmated by Half Time. And he never went to another SB. And with all those yards too. Go figure?
Now, u said Miami would have beaten da Bears in the SB... i disagree... but we'll never know..... I'm presuming its based on the regular season game. Which is fair and understandable. However, do u remember the game? My guess is no. I do. Miami led 31-7 at the half. They got every break & bounce that was to get. Fine, that's part of the game. And they were so fortunate that the chances of that happening again were slim and none. And slim just left to go home.
At half time, Ditka was going to literally beat the fuck out of Buddy Ryan because Ditka told him during the 1st half to stop running the 46 Defense and he didn't. The Pass rush wasn't getting to Marino, so Ditka wanted more players in coverage. Some of the players had to hold Ditka back.
2nd half Bears play more basic 4-3 and hold Miami to 7 points. Bears out score them 17-7 in the half. If they had met in the SB, I guaran-fuckin-tee u the SB would have been more like the 2nd half of their regular season game than the first half. BTW ......Da Bears, to a man, WANTED TO play Miami in the SB.