The '85 Bears by Mike Ditka

Author:Mike Ditka
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2010-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

GAME 9

Chicago 16, Green Bay 10

Circus Stars: Perry, Payton

Six personal fouls in the first half and a horde of cheap shots might have made it a pro wrestling match. William Perry’s first touchdown catch might have made it a circus. Instead, Walter Payton turned the Bears’ ninth straight victory into a personal tour de force. He matched the third-best performance of his career by rushing for 192 yards and sealed the Bears’ closest victory of the season with a 27-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Payton’s winning score came on an audible. Coach Mike Ditka had called for a pass to Payton to the left side, but when Jim McMahon saw the defense stacked, he changed the play to a run behind tackle Keith Van Horne on the right. Payton cut through the line, broke a tackle at the 20-yard line and outran the Green Bay secondary to the end zone. It was his 13th 100-yard performance in 20 games against the Packers, the 68th 100-yard game of his career, and his fourth in a row.

Payton’s heroics were preceded by Perry’s debut as a receiver. Trailing 3–0 early in the second quarter, the Bears sent Perry into the back-field. Payton had to tell him where to line up before the Refrigerator put his 308 pounds into slow motion toward the flat. Two weeks earlier, Perry had blasted Green Bay linebacker George Cumby into the end zone. This time Cumby was the victim again.

“They saw him coming and got out of the way,” Ditka said.

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