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It was hard to take many positives for the Chicago Bears
from the 1981 season, aside from the fact that a new coach with a firey
attitude would roll into town the following January. Players began to comment
by season's end about the lack of discipline among some players. During the
October 19th loss to Detroit at the Silverdome, it has recently been made
public that a starting wide receiver entered the locker room early to make some
personal telephone calls. Bears Coach Neill Armstrong failed to discipline the
player, which led to widespread dissention.
The team's record for the first half of the season was 2-6,
their worst start to a season since 1975. In many of these performances, the
Bears were humiliated. On October 19th, new Detroit quarterback Eric Hipple put
on the best opening performance on Monday Night Football in history. Many
thought he would choke in his national television debut, but he was on fire as
the Lions defeated Chicago 48-17.
However, there was one positive realized during the 8th game
of the season. San Diego, with its high-powered offense led by Dan Fouts, John
Jefferson, Chuck Muncie, and Kellen Winslow, came into town as heavy favorites.
Noone expected them to be shut down by the Chicago defense that featured such
unknown rookies as Mike Singletary. However, defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan
was experimenting with a new defense he called the "46", named after
hard-hitting safety Doug Plank. To counter San Diego's potent passing attack,
Ryan installed an experimental lineup that featured 5 linemen, 1 linebacker,
and 5 defensive backs (dubbed his 5-1-5). Ryan's gamble paid off, as San Diego
was unable to get their passing game untracked, and the Bears won in overtime,
20-17.
After another loss at Tampa, Chicago traveled to Kansas City
to face another powerful AFC West team. The Bears battled them fiercely, and
the game ended up deadlocked at 13-13 at the end of regulation. The Bear
defense was on fire, harassing Kansas City's offense the whole game. In almost
a repeat of the previous year, rookie wide receiver Ken Margerum returned the
opening kickoff over 50 yards, which resulted in Chicago's game-winning field
goal by new kicker John Roveto.
After the win at Kansas City, the Bears lost three straight,
dropping their season record to 3-10. The final game of this three-game losing
streak was a 10-9 loss at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day. Chicago held their own,
and Walter Payton put on a show with a 38 carry, 183 yard performance. Perhaps
the best television shot of the day was that of a screaming Dallas tight ends
coach named Mike Ditka, whom the Bears organization would become re-acquainted
with soon.
Ditka's arrival was almost delayed, however, as the team put
on a late-season 3 game win streak. Coach Neill Armstrong would point to this
as the sign that things were turning around before the decision was made to
release him. Included in the 3 game streak to end the season were victories at
Oakland, and at home over Denver. This completed the sweep of the powerful AFC
West teams. Most importantly, these four victories signaled the emergence of a
soon-to-be dominant defense, which played a large role in all the victories.
Neill Armstrong was indeed dismissed by George Halas on
January 5, 1982, and a new head coach, Michael Keller Ditka, was introduced to
Chicago on January 20th.
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