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| Date | January 26, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Richard Dent, defensive end | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Bears by 10[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Red Cashion | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 73,818[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | |||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Wynton Marsalis | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Bart Starr representing previous Super Bowl MVPs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Up with People presents "Beat of the Future" | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen and Bob Griese | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 48.3[4] (est. 92.57 million viewers)[5] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Market share | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of 30-second commercial | $550,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy | ||||||||||||||||||
Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1985 season. 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.
This was the fourth Super Bowl and, to date, the last time in which both teams made their Super Bowl debuts.[a] The Bears entered the game after becoming the second team in NFL history to win 15 regular season games. With their then-revolutionary 46 defense, Chicago led the league in several defensive categories, outscored their opponents with a staggering margin of 456–198, and recorded two postseason shutouts. The Patriots were considered a Cinderella team during the 1985 season, and posted an 11–5 regular season record, but entered the playoffs as a wild card because of tiebreakers; defying the odds, New England posted three road playoff wins to advance to Super Bowl XX.
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 (MVP).[6] Although he posted relatively mediocre game statistics and failed to score a touchdown himself, star running back Walter Payton was also later credited as being a major factor in the Bears' victory on account of the Patriots' heavy coverage of him giving other members of the team more and better opportunities to score.
The telecast of the game on NBC was watched by an estimated 92.57 million viewers.[5] To commemorate the 20th Super Bowl, all previous Super Bowl MVPs were honored during the pregame ceremonies.
- ^ DiNitto, Marcus (January 25, 2015). "Super Bowl Betting History – Underdogs on Recent Roll". The Sporting News. The Linemakers. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Super Bowl History". Vegas Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Super Bowl Winners". NFL.com. National Football Secession 6League. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "Super Bowl on TV (ratings)". CNN Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 25, 2004. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
- ^ a b "Historical Super Bowl Nielsen TV Ratings, 1967–2009 – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
- ^ Richard Dent became just the third defensive end to be named Super Bowl MVP; the first two defensive ends to be named as Super Bowl MVP were Harvey Martin and Randy White, who shared the award for Super Bowl XII.
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