Good morning, Chicago.

On this date in 1986, the Bears won Super Bowl XX in New Orleans with a 46-10 victory over the Patriots.

The Bears entered the game as the only team ever to record two straight playoff shutouts. With the circus invading New Orleans, there were more stories than the 26 Tribune reporters on site could wish for, Tribune reporter Don Pierson remembered.

The Bears had seven sacks and held the Patriots to seven yards rushing. But it was Bears quarterback Jim McMahon who plunged for two touchdowns and directed an offense to the 46 points that cemented Buddy Ryan’s “46” defense into football immortality. McMahon’s only regret was not defying Mike Ditka again and letting Walter Payton score the final touchdown instead of William Perry, a mistake also regretted by Ditka and lamented by Payton more than he let on at the time.

“Yes, I was surprised,” said Payton of not getting the ball in close. “Yes, I was disappointed.”

A touchdown would have helped ease the memory of Payton’s fumble on the second play of the game that set up a Patriots field goal and prompted Patriots fans to march through the New Orleans airport the next day chanting, “We scored first! We scored first!”

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