The NFC champion Chicago Bears, seeking their first NFL title since 1963, scored a Super Bowl-record 46 points in downing AFC champion New England 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. The previous record for most points in a Super Bowl was 38, shared by San Francisco in XIX and the Los Angeles Raiders in XVIII.
The Bears' league-leading defense tied the Super Bowl record for sacks (7) and limited the Patriots to a record-low seven rushing yards.
New England took the quickest lead in Super Bowl history when Tony Franklin kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:19 elapsed in the first period. The score came about because of Larry McGrew's fumble recovery at the Chicago 19-yard line.
However, the Bears rebounded for a 23-3 first-half lead, while building a yardage advantage of 236 total yards to New England's minus 19.
Running back Matt Suhey rushed eight times for 37 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown run, and caught one pass for 24 yards in the first half.
After the Patriot's first drive of the second half ended with a punt to the Bears' 4-yard line, Chicago marched 96 yards in nine plays with quarterback Jim McMahon's 1-yard scoring run capping the drive. McMahon became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history to rush for a pair of touchdowns.
The Bears completed their scoring via a 28-yard interception return by reserve cornerback Reggie Phillips, a 1-yard run by defensive tackle/fullback William Perry, and a safety when defensive end Henry Waechter tackled Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan in the end zone.
Bears defensive end Richard Dent became the fourth defender to be named the game's most valuable player after contributing 1½ sacks.
The Bears' victory margin of 36 points was the largest in Super Bowl history, bettering the previous mark of 29 by the Los Angeles Raiders when they topped Washington 38-9 in Game XVIII.
McMahon completed 12 of 20 passes for 256 yards before leaving the game in the fourth period with a wrist injury. The NFL's all-time leading rusher, Bears running back Walter Payton, carried 22 times for 61 yards.
Wide receiver Willie Gault caught four passes for 129 yards, the fourth-most receiving yards in a Super Bowl.
Chicago coach Mike Ditka became the second man (Tom Flores of Raiders was the other) to win a Super Bowl ring as a player and as a coach.
SCORING
Chicago
13 10 21 2 -- 46
New England
3 0 0 7 -- 10
NE- FG Franklin 36, 1:19 1st
CHI- FG Butler 28, 5:40 1st
CHI- FG Butler 24, 13:34 1st
CHI- Suhey 11 run (Butler kick), 14:37 1st
CHI- McMahon 2 run (Butler kick), 7:36 2nd
CHI- FG Butler 24, 15:00 2nd
CHI- McMahon 1 run (Butler kick), 7:38 3rd
CHI- Phillips 28 interception return
(Butler kick), 8:44 3rd
CHI- Perry 1 run (Butler kick), 11:38 3rd
NE- Fryar 8 pass from Grogan (Franklin kick),
1:46 4th
CHI- safety Waechter 0, 9:24 4th
TEAM STATISTICS
Chi. N.E.
Total First Downs
23 12
Rushing
13
1
Passing
9 10
Penalty
1
1
Total Net Yardage
408 123
Total Offensive Plays
76 54
Avg. Gain per Offensive Play 5.4
2.3
Rushes
49 11
Yards Gained Rushing (Net) 167
7
Average Yards per Rush 3.4
0.6
Passes Attempted
24 36
Passes Completed
12 17
Had Intercepted
0
2
Tackled Attempting to Pass 3
7
Yards Lost Attempting to Pass 15
61
Yards Gained Passing (Net) 241
116
Punts
4
6
Average Distance
43.3 43.8
Punt Returns
2
2
Punt Return Yardage
20 22
Kickoff Returns
4
7
Kickoff Return Yardage 49
153
Interception Return Yardage 75
0
Fumbles
3
4
Own Fumbles Recovered
1
0
Opponent Fumbles Recovered 4
2
Penalties
7
5
Yards Penalized
40 35
Total Points Scored
46 10
Touchdowns
5
1
Rushing
4
0
Passing
0
1
Returns
1
0
Extra Points
5
1
Field Goals
3
1
Field Goals Attempted
3
1
Safeties
1
0
Third-Down Efficiency 7/14
1/10
Fourth-Down Efficiency 0/1
1/1
Time of Possession
39:15 20:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Chicago
No. Yds. LG
TD
Payton
22 61
7 0
Suhey
11 52
11t 1
Sanders
4 15 10
0
Gentry
3 15
8 0
McMahon
5 14
7 2
Thomas
2 8
7 0
Fuller
1 1
1 0
Perry
1 1
1t 1
New England
No. Yds. LG
TD
Collins
3 4
3 0
Grogan
1 3
3 0
Weathers
1 3
3 0
C. James
5 1
3 0
Hawthorne
1 -4
4 0
Passing
Chicago Att.
Comp. Yds. TD Int.
McMahon 20
12 256 0
0
Fuller
4 0 0
0 0
Perry
0 0 0
0 0
New England Att. Comp.
Yds. TD Int.
Grogan
30 17 177
1 2
Eason
6 0 0
0 0
Receiving
Chicago
No. Yds. LG
TD
Gault
4 129 60
0
Gentry
2 41 27
0
Margerum
2 36 29
0
Moorehead
2 22 14
0
Suhey
1 24 24
0
Thomas
1 4
4 0
New England
No. Yds. LG
TD
Morgan
6 51 16
0
Starring
2 39 24
0
Fryar
2 24 16
1
Collins
2 19 11
0
D. Ramsey
2 16 11
0
Jones
1 19 19
0
C. James
1 6
6 0
Weathers
1 3
3 0
Interceptions
Chicago
No. Yds. LG
TD
Morrissey
1 47 47
0
Phillips
1 28
28t 1
New England
No. Yds. LG
TD
None
-- --
-- --
Punting
Chicago
No. Avg. LG
Blk.
Buford
4 43.3 52
0
New England
No. Avg. LG
Blk.
Camarillo
6 43.8 62
0
Punt Returns
Chicago
No. FC Yds. LG TD
Ortego
2 1 20
12 0
New England No.
FC Yds. LG TD
Fryar
2 0 22
12 0
Kickoff Returns
Chicago
No. Yds. LG
TD
Gault
4 49 18
0
New England
No. Yds. LG
TD
Starring
7 153 36
0
Chicago Bears New
England Patriots
== Offense ==
Hilgenberg, Jay C Brock, Pete
C
Bortz, Mark G
Hannah, John G
Thayer, Tom G
Wooten, Ron G
Covert, Jim T
Holloway, Brian T
Van Horne, Keith T Moore, Steve
T
Moorehead, Emery TE Dawson, Lin
TE
Gault, Willie WR Morgan,
Stanley WR
McKinnon, Dennis WR Starring, Steven
WR
Payton, Walter RB Collins, Tony
RB
Suhey, Matt FB
James, Craig FB
McMahon, Jim QB Eason,
Tony QB
== Defense ==
McMichael, Steve DT Williams, Lester
NT
Perry, William DT Adams, Julius
DE
Dent, Richard DE Veris, Garin
DE
Hampton, Dan DE Blackmon,
Don OLB
Marshall, Wilber OLB Tippett, Andre
OLB
Wilson, Otis OLB McGrew, Larry
ILB
Singletary, Mike MLB Nelson, Steve
ILB
Frazier, Leslie CB Clayborn, Raymond
CB
Richardson, Mike CB Lippett, Ronnie
CB
Fencik, Gary FS Marion,
Fred FS
Duerson, Dave SS James, Roland
SS
== Substitute ==
Andrews, Tom
Bowman, Jim
Buford, Maury
Camarillo, Rich
Butler, Kevin
Creswell, Smiley
Cabral, Brian
Fairchild, Paul
Frederick, Andy
Franklin, Tony
Fuller, Steve
Fryar, Irving
Gayle, Shaun
Gibson, Ernest
Gentry, Dennis
Grogan, Steve
Hartenstine, Mike
Hawthorne, Greg
Humphries, Stefan
Ingram, Brian
Keys, Tyrone
Jones, Cedric
Margerum, Ken
McSwain, Rod
Morrissey, Jim
Morriss, Guy
Ortego, Keith
Owens, Dennis
Phillips, Reggie
Plunkett, Art
Rivera, Ron
Ramsey, Derrick
Sanders, Thomas
Rembert, Johnny
Taylor, Ken
Reynolds, Ed
Thomas, Calvin L.
Tatupu, Mosi
Thrift, Clifford
Thomas, Ben
Tomczak, Mike
Weathers, Robert
Waechter, Henry
Williams, Ed
Wrightman, Tim
== Did Not Play ==
Ramsey, Tom