I want to know if Marino and Co would have beaten the Chicago Bears a second time in 1985.
This was the one that would have given Marino a ring, IMHO.
Yes, the Bears were dominant that year … the key being "that year." Why? Because Buddy Ryan instituted a new type of defense that nobody knew how to stop, the overload defense. It has become a staple component of many defenses since then, including his sons Rob Ryan in Tampa and Rex Ryan in New York, Baltimore and Buffalo. But also, Mike Nolan in San Francisco and Miami. Essentially, you put so many pass rushers in one small area that the offense cannot possibly block them all, and like a jailbreak or a blitz, you scheme to get one guy unblocked to the QB, wrecking the play. It's hard to defend.
But the Dolphins ate the Bears for lunch. Why? First of all because there is no QB in the history of the NFL as good as Dan Marino at quickly analyzing the entire field of open receivers, flicking the ball out of his hands precisely on-target at the last second, and he was also very good at buying time and avoiding the rush. So, that pressure couldn't shut him down like it could most defenses. Also, Shula had built a team around Marino, so all of our TE's and RB's were good pass protectors who could pick up the most threatening of these overload blitzes. And, our entire OL was built to stop the pass rush, and Marino was regularly one of the least sacked or very least sacked QB in the NFL. He nullified the one dominant feature of the 1985 Bears.
I say the key was "that year" because the Dolphins tactics were studied in depth during the offseason, the one team that could beat the 1985 Bears was closely scrutinized, and the other teams started trying to duplicate it … and succeeded. The 1986 Bears defense was not nearly as dominant, because the Dolphins had given the league the blueprint.
Sure, that Chicago Bears team was stacked, great talent on both sides of the ball everywhere you looked. Dominant OL and HoF RB in Walter Payton. Good QB in Jim McMahon and a top WR in Willie Gault. The aforementioned defense was stacked with guys like Richard Dent, Steve McMichael, Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, and Wilber Marshall. It was a good team. But only in that first year when Buddy Ryan could shock the NFL with his new overload schemes was that Bears team truly dominant … that element of surprise took them from a good team to a great team. That free rusher to the QB is what dominated opposing offenses. And, that defense was completely destroyed by Dan Marino.
Sure, the Bears love to point to one fluke play where a Marino pass deflected off of the helmet of a Bears defensive lineman, and fortunately landed in Mark Clayton's hands … that was a fluke. But they love to gloss over the fact that Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins destroyed them, dominating the game and scoring on them at will. There was only ever going to be one winning team that day, and it was the Miami Dolphins.
Had the Dolphins won their home playoff game against Steve Grogan and the New England Patriots in our beloved Orange Bowl, it would have been different. Rather than the Super Bowl being a showcase for one of the Chicago Bears most dominant teams ever, it would have been a shrine to the Super Bowl victory of the NFL's greatest ever QB, Dan Marino, and another piece of glory for Head Coach Don Shula, and the yet another Super Bowl victory for the Miami Dolphins.
This whole artificial façade people want to place in front of Dan Marino's greatness to hide his production, would never have started. That Super Bowl trophy … should have been ours.
