1985 was, without a doubt, the year of the Chicago Bears. Their only loss of the season was on a memorable Monday Night in Miami, when Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins lit up the Bears defense for a 38-24 victory. Aside from that game, the Bears completely dominated the rest of the NFL, finishing with a 18-1 record. Other division winners in the NFC were Dallas in the East, and Los Angeles in the West, with the Wild-Cards going to New York and San Francisco. In the AFC, it was Miami in the East, Cleveland in the Central, and Los Angeles in the West, with the Wild-Cards going to New York and New England. In the Wild-Card games, the Patriots beat the Jets in the AFC game 26-14, while the Giants beat the 49ers 17-3 in the NFC. In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the Patriots beat the Raiders 27-20, while the Dolphins beat the Browns 24-21. In the NFC, the Rams shut out the Cowboys 20-0, while the Bears did the same to the Giants 21-0. In the conference championship games, the Patriots would win all three games on the road as a Wild-Card team and beat the Dolphins 31-14, despite the fact that Miami beat New England both times during the regular season. In the NFC, the Bears would win their second consecutive playoff game by way of a shut-out, as they blanked the Rams 24-0, setting up the match-up for Super Bowl XX. The Bears defeated the Patriots by the score of 46–10, capturing their first NFL championship since 1963, three years prior to the birth of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XX was played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. In their victory over the Patriots, the Bears set or tied Super Bowl records for sacks (seven), fewest rushing yards allowed (seven), and margin of victory (36 points). At the time, New England broke the record for the quickest lead in Super Bowl history, with Tony Franklin's 36-yard field goal 1:19 into the first quarter after a Chicago fumble. But the Patriots were eventually held to negative yardage (-19) throughout
the entire first half, and finished with just 123 total yards from scrimmage, the second lowest total yards in Super Bowl history, behind the Minnesota Vikings (119 total yards) in Super Bowl IX. Bears defensive end Richard Dent, who had 1.5 quarterback sacks, forced two fumbles, and blocked a pass, was named the game's Most Valuable Player.