1963: Buffalo’s Cookie Gilchrist Runs for 243 Yards and 5 Touchdowns

Fullback Carlton “Cookie” Gilchrist was a big athlete with an equally big personality. At 6’3” and 250 pounds, he was a behemoth for a running back in the 60s. He had gone directly from high school to the Canadian Football League (after a brief stint in the training camp of the Cleveland Browns), where he was an outstanding player for six seasons, appearing at fullback, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, linebacker, and placekicker. He was named a Divisional All-Star in five of those seasons - as a running back on each occasion and once as a linebacker as well. However, he also developed a reputation for being difficult to manage as he wore out his welcome with three different CFL teams (he started out with two years in the Ontario Rugby Football Union).

At age 27, Gilchrist joined the Buffalo Bills of the AFL in 1962 and was named league MVP by UPI after leading the league in rushing with 1096 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns (13 on the ground). A bruising power runner, he was also an outstanding pass blocker. But injuries that included torn rib cartilage, a broken toe, and sprained ankle ligaments slowed Gilchrist down in ’63. Running at about forty percent efficiency, he gained just 318 yards on 94 carries (3.4 yards per carry) through the first eight games. But then he picked up 125 yards on 26 attempts at Denver in the ninth game; it was a sign that he was returning to form.

Four games later, on December 8, 1963, the Bills hosted the New York Jets at War Memorial Stadium and Gilchrist ran for 243 yards on 36 carries. He not only set a new AFL record but exceeded Jim Brown’s existing NFL record by six yards.

Gilchrist scored the first TD of the game on a four-yard run in the first quarter and went on to accumulate five touchdowns on the day, all by rushing. His longest scoring run of the game was 19 yards in the fourth quarter as he repeatedly pummeled the Jets defense, and he was all the offense that Buffalo needed on this occasion. The final score was 45-14, and the only non-Gilchrist touchdown for the Bills came in the second quarter (after the big fullback had already twice rumbled into the end zone) on a 23-yard pass play from QB Daryle Lamonica to flanker Elbert Dubenion. Of Buffalo’s 370 total yards, Gilchrist had accounted for almost two thirds of it.


The unfortunate Jets had to face the Bills once again the following week at the Polo Grounds in the season finale, and Gilchrist carried 31 times for 114 yards and a TD as Buffalo won again, 19-10. The two wins to close out the regular season allowed the Bills to tie for first place in the weak Eastern Division with a 7-6-1 record. They lost the playoff to the Boston Patriots, 26-8, and Gilchrist was held to just 7 yards on 8 carries. The Jets ended up at the bottom of the division with a 5-8-1 record.

With the late rally, Gilchrist finished third in the AFL with 979 yards on a league-leading 232 carries (the first of three consecutive seasons in which he had the most rushes), for a 4.2-yard average and 12 TDs (he had two receiving scores to give him a total of 14). He was the league’s top rusher for a second time in 1964, but wore out his welcome with Head Coach Lou Saban and was traded to Denver.

Assertive to a fault, Gilchrist was both outspoken and independent-minded – traits not always appreciated in professional athletes, especially ones of color, during that era. But his accomplishments on the field spoke most eloquently to his toughness and ability, and teammates insisted that no matter what was said and done off the field, when it came time to play, Gilchrist was ready.

1952: Billy Howton Becomes First Rookie 1000-Yard Receiver with 200-Yard Game

When end Billy Howton was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1952 draft, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to play pro football. At 6’2” and 190 pounds, he thought he might be too thin, and had already accepted a high school coaching job. But Packers QB Tobin Rote, like Howton a Texan who had played collegiately at Rice, convinced him to give it a try. Rote proved, certainly in this instance, that he was a good judge of talent.

Howton not only made the team but had a significant impact in his rookie season. He scored on a 39-yard TD pass from Rote in the season-opening game against the Bears, and accumulated six touchdowns in his first five contests. Sure-handed and fast, he proved to be an outstanding deep threat and drew comparisons to legendary Green Bay end Don Hutson.

On December 7, 1952 in a game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Memorial Coliseum, Howton caught six passes for an even 200 yards. While his longest reception of the day was 76 yards, he didn’t score at all. But he did pass the thousand-yard mark in pass receiving yardage, something that happened rarely in those days and that no rookie had done before in the NFL.

Unfortunately, while the Packers showed improvement on both sides of the ball in ’52, they were no match for the better teams in the league; in this game, the Rams defeated them, 45-27. Both Rote and rookie Babe Parilli saw action at quarterback and, largely thanks to Howton’s heroics, accumulated 287 passing yards. However, they also combined to throw five interceptions, and adding two fumbles, the Packers turned the ball over seven times. The Rams also held Green Bay to 83 rushing yards on 36 attempts.

While the Packers were at one point 6-3 during the season, losses in the last three games on the road against the Lions, Rams, and 49ers gave them a 6-6 record for the season; they finished in fourth place in the National Conference. Still, it was progress, as the team hadn’t had a record anywhere near .500 since 1947. Meanwhile, the win for the Rams was their seventh of an eventual eight straight to close out the regular season, tying them with the Lions for first place in the National Conference with a 9-3 record. They lost the ensuing playoff to Detroit.

Billy Howton caught 53 passes for 1231 yards (an outstanding 23.2-yard average) and 13 touchdowns. He was the only thousand-yard receiver in the league (runner-up Bud Grant of the Eagles had 997). The touchdown receptions ranked second and the yards-per-catch average placed third. His yardage total remained the record for a rookie until Houston’s Bill Groman totaled 1473 yards in the AFL in 1960, and ranked second for another 38 years. The 13 TD catches were the rookie record until broken by Minnesota’s Randy Moss in 1998 (John Jefferson of San Diego tied the mark in 1979).

Quarterbacks Rote and Parilli certainly benefited from Howton’s presence – they ranked second and third in yards per attempt, respectively. Rote led the NFL with an 8.3 TD percentage.

Howton had one other thousand-yard season (1188 in 1956) on his way to retiring after the 1963 season as the career leader in both yards (8459) and receptions (503). However, Raymond Berry passed his career pass receptions mark the following year, and his yardage total in 1966. With the opening up of the passing game since the late 70s, his lifetime totals have been left in the dust and he has largely been forgotten (it didn’t help that he played with the Packers in their long down period pre-Vince Lombardi, and, after a year in Cleveland, with the Cowboys before they began to win). But his rookie season was one of the best ever for a pro receiver.

2004: Cowboys Overcome Seattle and Hasselbeck’s 414 Passing Yards

The Monday night matchup on December 6, 2004 at Seattle’s Qwest Field featured the hometown Seahawks (6-5) hosting the Dallas Cowboys (4-7). The Cowboys had gotten off to a dreadful 1-6 start before defeating the Bears the week before, while Seattle had fallen to Buffalo the previous week after winning three of the previous four games and sat atop the weak NFC West.

42-year-old WR Jerry Rice, a midseason pickup from Oakland, scored the first touchdown for Seattle on a 27-yard pass from QB Matt Hasselbeck in the first quarter. After a Billy Cundiff field goal for the Cowboys, Hasselbeck struck again for the Seahawks with a two-yard scoring pass to WR Darrell Jackson. However, the second quarter belonged to the Cowboys who added 16 points on a pass from QB Vinny Testaverde to WR Terrance Copper and an 8-yard run by RB Julius Jones. An attempted two-point conversion after the first TD failed, so with another Cundiff field goal, Dallas led at halftime, 19-14.

Jones scored his second touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run in the third quarter and, after Cundiff connected on a field goal for the third time, it appeared the Cowboys had the game in hand with a 29-14 lead. They had scored on five consecutive possessions, aided by two Seattle fumbles.

But it was the turn of the Seahawks to retake the momentum, as they proceeded to score on their next four possessions, first on three drives of over 70 yards apiece and then a 41-yard drive set up by FS Ken Hamlin’s interception at midfield. RB Shaun Alexander scored twice during this rally, on runs of one and 32 yards, and in between, Hasselbeck fired a 19-yard TD pass to WR Jerheme Urban that was capped by a successful Hasselbeck-to-Jackson play for a two-point conversion.

With 2:46 to play in the game, it was the Seahawks with a commanding 39-29 margin. On the next Dallas possession, Testaverde completed four consecutive passes that included a 34-yard touchdown pass to WR Keyshawn Johnson deep in the end zone to cut Seattle’s lead to 39-36. With 1:45 now remaining, the Cowboys successfully recovered an onside kick. Jones ran 16 yards for a key first down on third and nine with under a minute remaining, and then scored the winning touchdown on a 17-yard run two plays later (pictured).

Seattle had a last chance with 32 seconds to play, and Hasselbeck passed to Rice for 28 yards. But on the final play, Hasselbeck’s heave into the end zone was knocked away and the Cowboys had a 43-39 win.

Hasselbeck had an outstanding performance in defeat, completing 28 of 40 passes for 414 yards and three TDs, with no interceptions. Two Seattle receivers totaled over a hundred yards – Rice, with 145 yards on 8 catches, and Jackson, with 113 yards on a team-leading 9 receptions. RB Alexander, who became the first player in NFL history to reach 15 touchdowns in four consecutive seasons with his two scores, gained 83 yards on 21 carries.

Rookie Julius Jones was the running star for Dallas, gaining 198 yards on 30 carries, including the three TDs. Testaverde passed for 225 yards as he completed 18 of 34 passes, with two TDs and two interceptions. Keyshawn Johnson led the Cowboys receivers with 6 catches for 116 yards and the one score.

Overall, both teams combined for 912 yards of offense – 507 by Seattle and 405 for Dallas. The Cowboys became the first team ever on Monday Night Football to overcome a 10-point deficit in the last two minutes of a game.

The setback put the Seahawks at .500, but they won three of the last four games to win the NFC West with a 9-7 record. They lost to their chief competitor in the division, the St. Louis Rams, in the Wild Card round. Dallas lost three of four to end up at 6-10 along with the Giants and Redskins in the NFC East.

Matt Hasselbeck saw his numbers droop slightly from 2003, a season that had seen him go to the Pro Bowl for the first time, but he still passed for over 3000 yards (3382) for the third of an eventual four consecutive seasons. Jerry Rice, in the final season of his brilliant career, hauled in 25 passes for 362 yards and three TDs with Seattle (he caught another five passes for 67 yards and no scores for Oakland prior to being traded). Darrell Jackson had his most productive season, achieving career highs with 87 receptions for 1199 yards. Shaun Alexander led the NFC in rushing with 1696 yards (and missed leading the NFL by a yard) and scored 20 touchdowns.

Julius Jones was limited to eight games due to injury, but gained 819 yards rushing on 197 carries. Vinny Testaverde, at age 41, passed for 3532 yards in ’04, but also led the NFL by throwing 20 interceptions. Keyshawn Johnson, in his first season in Dallas, caught 70 passes for 981 yards and six touchdowns.

1974: Birmingham Defeats Florida for WFL Championship

The World Football League (WFL) came into being with grand pretensions. Founded by Gary Davidson, who had been involved with the American Basketball Association (ABA) and World Hockey Association (WHA), the plan was to create a world-wide league that would spread American football to other continents. As it was, the WFL took the field in 1974 with 12 US-based teams split into three divisions (the one Canadian franchise, in Toronto, shifted to Memphis before ever taking the field).

There were a number of rules changes that differentiated the WFL from the NFL (although the older league picked up a few of them, such as overtime in case of ties and moving the goal posts to the back of the end zone). Most notably, touchdowns were worth 7 points, and were followed by the “action point” – either a running or pass play, but no placekicking, and worth one point.

By the time the 20-game regular season came to an end, two teams had folded and two others had transferred to other cities. Large initial crowds turned out to have been padded by the handing out of free tickets, and ultimately most of the teams became mired in red ink. The playoffs were expanded from four to six to, finally, eight teams (80 % of the surviving teams in the end) with the Philadelphia Bell and the Hawaiians making it into the postseason with 9-11 records.

When the dust cleared after two rounds of playoffs, the Florida Blazers, who had placed first in the Eastern Division with a 14-6 record, faced the Birmingham Americans, the second place team in the Central Division at 15-5, for the league championship in what was called the World Bowl (or, more optimistically, World Bowl I) on December 5, 1974 at Birmingham’s Legion Field. Attendance was 32,376 for the location that had received the most fan support during the year in the WFL.

The Blazers, coached by Jack Pardee, had missed 15 payrolls and the players nearly boycotted the game. It appeared that they would fall easy prey to the Americans, who led 15-0 at the half and 22-0 after three quarters. Veteran QB George Mira directed the offense to three touchdowns – first, a one-yard run by RB Joe Profit; then a four-yard run by RB Art Cantrelle; and finally, a 26-yard TD pass from Mira to TE Bob Brown. Backup QB Matthew Reed ran for an action point after the second score, the only one that was successfully converted during the game, which proved to be crucial in the end. An apparent first quarter TD plunge by Panthers RB Tommy Reamon, in which it appeared that he had broken the plane before losing his grip on the ball, was ruled a fumble and, with the ball passing through the end zone, a touchback.

Florida came to life in the fourth quarter. QB Bob Davis threw touchdown passes of 39 yards to Reamon and 40 yards to TE Greg Latta. With 4:14 left in the game, Rod Foster returned a punt 76 yards for a TD in spectacular fashion to bring the Blazers to within a point. However, the Americans stopped Reamon on the ensuing action point attempt and held on to win, 22-21.

Fights broke out as the Americans ran out the clock. Florida CB Billy Hayes grabbed the game ball after the last play and ran for the locker room with Birmingham players in pursuit, ending in a shoving match under the end zone stands.

Mira (pictured) was the game’s MVP, more for his outstanding direction of the offense than his passing statistics, which came to five completions in 14 attempts for 90 yards with a TD and no interceptions. The team ran for a total of 211 yards, spread among four backs and Mira, who gained 27 yards on four carries. Joe Profit led the group with 58 yards on 21 attempts. TE Brown was the top receiver with three catches for 55 yards and a score.

Bob Davis ended up completing 8 of 21 passes for 184 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tommy Reamon, who led the league in rushing during the regular season, was also the top ground gainer in this game, carrying 13 times for 83 yards. WR Hubie Bryant was the team’s top receiver with 3 catches for 50 yards.

There were the usual celebratory comments after the game. Said Mira, “I’ve waited eleven years to be a starter on a championship team”. And Birmingham’s Head Coach Jack Gotta added, “I don’t know what happens tomorrow, but tonight is the greatest night of my life.”

Afterward, sheriff’s deputies took possession of the Americans’ uniforms, which were sold at a local sporting goods store.

The WFL made it back to the field for another season in 1975, but failed to complete the schedule; there was no World Bowl II. But the name “World Bowl” returned in the 1990s when the NFL’s developmental league, the World League of American Football, adopted the same name for its annual championship game.

1960: Paul Hornung Breaks Scoring Record vs. Bears, on Way to Record 176

After two seasons in the NFL, it appeared that Paul Hornung was on his way to being yet another Heisman-winning bust. A star quarterback at Notre Dame, he didn’t have the arm strength or throwing accuracy to play the position in pro football – as the team that made him the first selection in the 1957 draft, the Green Bay Packers, found out. The Packers were a losing team and Hornung was underachieving while constantly being shifted between fullback, where he lacked sufficient power, and halfback, where he lacked blazing speed.

The arrival of Vince Lombardi as head coach in 1959 changed things radically for the Packers as a team and for Hornung as a player. Lombardi quickly ascertained that the 6’2”, 220-pound Hornung had the all-around ability to fill the option halfback position that Frank Gifford had played with the New York Giants, where Lombardi had coached the offense. The individual skills may have seemed lacking, but the sum of all the parts proved to be far greater than anticipated.

The Packers went from 1-10-1 in 1958 to 7-5 in ’59, and Hornung, who also handled the placekicking, led the league with 94 points. In ’60, Hornung smashed Don Hutson’s 18-year-old single season scoring record in impressive fashion and proved conclusively that, as Lombardi said, “any time he gets within the 10 yard line, he smells the goal line”.

Against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field on December 4, Hornung put up a total of 23 points – tying his most in a game that season, and breaking Hutson’s record of 138 – in utilizing his various abilities. He kicked a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter to start the scoring, and a 41-yarder later in the period to give the Packers a 13-6 lead at the half.

Green Bay scored a total of five touchdowns, and Hornung successfully booted the extra points after each. Two of the TDs he accounted for himself – on a 17-yard pass from QB Bart Starr in the third quarter and a 10 yard run in the fourth quarter. Statistically, while FB Jim Taylor led the team in rushing (as usual) with 140 yards on 24 carries, Hornung ran the ball 14 times for 68 yards. He also caught three passes for another 32 yards.

The Packers rolled up 443 yards on offense in typically efficient fashion, with no turnovers, while the Bears lost a fumble and two interceptions (DE Willie Davis recovered the fumble for a score). The final score was 41-13 in favor of Green Bay.

The Packers, who came into the game at 5-4 after losing two straight, won three in a row to close out the regular season and topped the Western Conference with an 8-4 record. They lost the NFL Championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Chicago, at 5-3-1 prior to hosting Green Bay, went in the opposite direction, losing the remaining games and failing to score in either of the final two; they ended up in fifth place in the West with a 5-6-1 record.

Hornung scored a total of 176 points, which was the league record until finally broken by LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers 46 years later, in 2006 (and in 16 games, to Hornung’s 12). The breakdown on the scoring was: 15 touchdowns (13 rushing, 2 receiving), 15 field goals (out of 28 attempts), and 41 extra points (no misses).

As in the Bears game, his statistics didn’t dazzle – for the year he gained a respectable 671 yards on 160 carries for a 4.2-yard average gain, and caught 28 passes for 257 yards, averaging 9.2 yards. He completed 6 of 16 option passes for 118 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. But he was a unanimous first team All-NFL selection at halfback. And when it came to putting points on the board, there were few more proficient than the Golden Boy.

1961: Charley Hennigan Has Third 200-Yard Receiving Game of Season

The Houston Oilers, defending champions of the AFL, looked as though they wouldn’t defend their title very effectively when they got off to a 1-3-1 start in 1961. However, after owner Bud Adams dismissed Head Coach Lou Rymkus and replaced him with Wally Lemm, the team caught fire. On December 3, they hosted the top team in the Western Division, the San Diego Chargers, at Jeppesen Stadium. The result was a convincing 33-13 win, spurred by four George Blanda touchdown passes, three of them to flanker Charley Hennigan.

Hennigan was one of the key offensive performers behind Houston’s success, and on this day he caught 10 passes for 214 yards. It marked his third 200-yard game of the season, on the way to accumulating an overall pass receiving yardage record that would last for 34 years.

It hardly seemed likely that Hennigan would become a successful pro football player when he arrived at the team’s first training camp in 1960. He had drawn scant attention from the NFL when he came out of Northwest Louisiana in ’59, and had played briefly in Canada. Hennigan was teaching high school Biology in Jonesboro, Louisiana when he decided to take a shot at the new pro football league and signed with the Oilers. Fast but thin at 6’1”, 187 pounds, he didn’t do much in training camp or the preseason, but gained an advocate in assistant coach Mac Speedie, the former star end for the Cleveland Browns who coached the Houston receivers.

In the 1960 season opening game, Hennigan scored the first touchdown in team history on a 43-yard pass play from Blanda and had four catches for 85 yards in the first half – and then suffered a separated shoulder that required surgery and kept him out of action for three weeks. He came back to catch 44 passes for the Oilers in ’60, and did much more in 1961.

The team may have started slowly, but Hennigan didn’t as he went over a hundred yards in each of the first seven games, and twice went over 200 yards with a high of 272 yards on 13 receptions on October 13 at Boston. Two weeks later he caught 9 passes for 232 yards at Buffalo.

In all, Hennigan ended up with 10 hundred-yard games on the way to a season total of 1746 yards on 82 receptions (a 21.3 average gain) with 12 touchdowns (his three against the Chargers were his single-game high). The yardage total was finally exceeded in 1995 by both Jerry Rice of the 49ers (1848) and Isaac Bruce of the Rams (1781), and of course they did it in a 16-game season as opposed to 14. Oddly enough, Hennigan was even shut out in one game in ’61.

Hennigan and split end Bill Groman, who caught 50 passes for 1175 yards and 17 touchdowns (equaling the record at the time, held by Don Hutson and Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch) helped the Oilers to accumulate a team record 4392 yards through the air (not exceeded until 1980 by the Chargers). QB Blanda threw for 3330 of those yards, with a then-record 36 TD passes.

While Hennigan’s yardage total was eventually exceeded, the three 200-yard games in a season have not. Nor have the seven consecutive hundred-yard performances, although that was tied by Michael Irvin of the Cowboys in 1995, when, with 11, he also became the only NFL receiver to exceed Hennigan’s 10 hundred-yard games in ’61 (three others have also had 10). Granted, the level of competition in the AFL in 1961 was not on a par with the NFL or as high as it would be in just a few more years, but the numbers remain impressive decades later, when rules changes have significantly opened up the passing game.

Houston ended up winning nine consecutive games under Coach Lemm to finish the season, compiling an overall 10-3-1 record to again place first in the Eastern Division. They faced the Chargers, 12-2 and easily the best team in the West, in the AFL Championship game, which the Oilers won by the surprisingly low score of 10-3.

While Bill Groman’s numbers dropped off significantly after ’61, Hennigan remained one of the AFL’s best receivers and again led the league in pass receiving yards in 1964 (1546), the same year that he set a record with 101 receptions.

1985: Dolphins Hand Bears Only Loss of Season

The December 2, 1985 showdown at Miami’s Orange Bowl between the Dolphins (8-4) and Chicago Bears (12-0) may have been a regular season contest, but had all the feel of a playoff game. The game was scheduled for a Monday night, thereby increasing the exposure and hype (it remains the highest rated telecast in the history of Monday Night Football).

Under Head Coach Mike Ditka, the Bears not only had a perfect record coming into the game, but had typically dominated opponents throughout the season. The offense was solid, but the defense was what made the team special; utilizing defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan’s attacking 46 Defense, the team rolled up scores of 45-10 over Washington and 26-10 over the defending champion 49ers. They had recorded dominating back-to-back shutouts of the Dallas Cowboys (44-0) and Atlanta Falcons (36-0) in the previous two games.

The Dolphins, reigning AFC champs, weren’t in the same class defensively but featured an excellent passing game guided by third-year QB Dan Marino, who was coming off a record-setting year in 1984. Miami also was the only NFL franchise to have a team go undefeated throughout a season and continue on to win a championship, in 1972, a fact of which Head Coach Don Shula made sure his players were well aware. The frenzied crowd of 75,000 in attendance certainly was.

The Bears hadn’t allowed a touchdown in 13 quarters going into the game, but Marino ended that streak four minutes into the first quarter by firing a 33-yard TD pass to WR Nat Moore. Bears QB Steve Fuller, making his fourth consecutive start in place of injured starter Jim McMahon, hit WR Willie Gault on a 69-yard pass play down to the Miami 11 yard line and then tied the game with a one-yard TD on a quarterback sneak that tied the score at 7-7. However, when Fuad Reveiz responded with a 47-yard field goal, the Dolphins took the lead and never relinquished it.

Miami effectively put the game away in the second quarter. RB Ron Davenport scored twice from a yard out, with a 30-yard Kevin Butler field goal for the Bears sandwiched in between. The second Davenport score had been set up when the Dolphins converted two third downs – first, a 52-yard gain on a pass from Marino to WR Mark Duper on third and 12, and then 26 yards from Marino to WR Mark Clayton to the one yard line on third and 7. Shortly after the second Davenport TD, CB William Judson blocked a Maury Buford punt to give the Dolphins the ball at the Chicago six yard line. This set up Marino’s second TD pass to Moore to make the score 31-10 at halftime. Miami had scored on each of its first five possessions.

The Bears scored twice in the third quarter, but any possible comeback was negated by a poor kickoff by Kevin Butler after the first TD, giving the Dolphins good field position at the Chicago 46. Three plays later, Clayton scored on a 42-yard pass play from Marino (the ball was actually tipped by DE Dan Hampton) for a 38-17 lead. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, and in the end it was a stunning Miami victory at 38-24.

In the statistical battle, the Bears outgained the Dolphins with 343 total yards to 335 and accumulated more first downs as well (23-17). But Chicago turned the ball over four times, three on interceptions, and Miami capitalized on the opportunities. They also out-sacked the Bears, 6 to 3.

Dan Marino completed just 14 of 27 passes, but they were good for 270 yards with three touchdowns against one interception. All of the receptions were made by wide receivers – Mark Duper and Mark Clayton each caught five passes, with Duper leading in yards with 107 to Clayton’s 88, and Nat Moore contributed 4 receptions for 75 yards, including two TDs. Miami gained 90 rushing yards on the tough Bears defense, with RB Tony Nathan leading the way with 74 yards on 15 carries. Chicago’s great RB Walter Payton had a typically solid performance in a losing cause, gaining 121 yards on 23 attempts; it was his record-setting eighth consecutive hundred-yard rushing game.

For the season, Marino didn’t match his awe-inspiring statistics of 1984, but all the same led the NFL in pass completions (336), passing yards (4137), and TD passes (30). Clayton caught 70 passes for 996 yards and four TDs while Duper, injured for half the season, hauled in 35 passes for 650 yards and three scores. The 34-year-old Moore had 51 catches for 701 yards – his highest totals since 1977 – and led all Miami receivers with 7 touchdown catches.

The Bears went undefeated the rest of the way, finishing at 15-1 and winning the NFC Championship. Miami also won its remaining regular season games, closing out at 12-4 atop the AFC East, but the anticipated Super Bowl rematch between the teams was derailed when New England upset the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. Chicago easily won the ensuing Super Bowl over the Patriots by a 46-10 margin.