Historical debate: would Miami have beaten CHI in the 1985 Super Bowl? | Page 5 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Historical debate: would Miami have beaten CHI in the 1985 Super Bowl?

Mach2 said:
Doubtful. They were missing some guys, including McMahon for that regular season match.

I also think it was their "destiny" to win the Championship that year.
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While MaMahon didn’t start the game, he had also not played in the Bears three games before they played the Dolphins and the Bears won all three of those games without McMahon.

The Bears defense was intact for the game and yet the Dolphins still put up 38 points against the Bears defense.

The Bears were an excellent team in 1985 and they deserved to win the SB but I’m sure they were very happy they didn’t have to face Marino and the Dolphins offense in the SB that year.

I have no idea if the Dolphins would have beat the Bears in the SB but they would have given the Bears a much tougher games than the Patriots did in the 1986 SB.
 
EJay said:
Citing that logic means the Dolphins shouldn’t have won the 1st matchup. But they did. Decidedly.

CHI couldn’t handle their offense nor Nat Moore in the slot. That wasn’t gonna drastically change had they played again, unless the Bears drastically changed up the defensive tactics that made them so fierce in the 1st place.

Again, I don’t think a lot of fans understand the concept of matchups.

It’s why you often see really good teams sometimes struggle with a bad team while dominating others with better personnel on the whole.

It’s why you often see Team A beat Team B, Team B beat Team C, and Team C beat Team A situations as well.

A non-playoff team with a losing record might give a SB contender trouble because the few strengths they have just happen lineup with the few weaknesses of the superior team.

While that MIA team was 12-4 and in no way a subpar team, their strengths lined up perfectly against the Bears weaknesses.

But against NE, that just wasn’t the case.

$#/t like that happens ALL the time.

That’s why football is often a game of “matchups”.
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Well we will never know
 
1972forever said:
While MaMahon didn’t start the game, he had also not played in the Bears three games before they played the Dolphins and the Bears won all three of those games without McMahon.

The Bears defense was intact for the game and yet the Dolphins still put up 38 points against the Bears defense.

The Bears were an excellent team in 1985 and they deserved to win the SB but I’m sure they were very happy they didn’t have to face Marino and the Dolphins offense in the SB that year.

I have no idea if the Dolphins would have beat the Bears in the SB but they would have given the Bears a much tougher games than the Patriots did in the 1986 SB.
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I think your post sums it up best.
 
For those who remember: The week before losing to the Patriots, the Dolphins struggled to defeat the Browns. They were down by 3 touchdowns late in the game, and had to pull off a miracle comeback.
Miami was not clicking on all cylinders when NE came came to town.
The collapse against New England felt - to me- like an inevitability. I remember, at the time, being mentally sure that Miami would win because New England never won in Miami. But in my gut, I was not certain. Then the turnovers started.
I think Miami was fizzling out down the stretch. I think, had they squeaked by New England, they wouldn't have had the juice to beat Chicago a second time.
I remember at the time a lot of "experts" thought that 1985 was one of Shula's best coaching jobs due to all the adversity and injuries he had. That team just couldn't hold up any longer.
 
I was at a USO Gala last night with my wife, Veronica. We ran into Riverboat Ron, so I snapped a pic with the wife. I felt bad about bringing up the 85 game against Miami - but I totally did. He said, "Marino had a hell of a game". I didn't want to be "that guy" so I mostly chatted nicely about the USO event, and I wished him well on the season. He was very generous with his time and seemed like a pretty good dude. John Riggins and Rocky Blier were also in attendance. I didn't mention my Miami fandom to Riggins...that image of him breaking a tackle from one of the Blackwood brothers and rumbling to the endzone in the 83 Superbowl is the stuff of nightmares.

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