Bears haven't been in NFC title game in 18 years

CHICAGO (AP) _ It's been 21 years since the Chicago Bears made their only appearance in the Super Bowl, looking like a potential dynasty. Now, at long last, they're one win away from going back.

Friday, January 19th 2007, 6:34 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) _ It's been 21 years since the Chicago Bears made their only appearance in the Super Bowl, looking like a potential dynasty. Now, at long last, they're one win away from going back.

The 1985 team rolled to a 15-1 record in the regular season and yielded just 10 points in three playoff victories. It had fiery Mike Ditka as coach and featured incomparable running back Walter Payton, quirky quarterback Jim McMahon and a dominating defense starring Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, Richard Dent and William ``The Refrigerator'' Perry.

The Bears seemed to be a long-term powerhouse. But Sunday's meeting with the New Orleans Saints will be their first appearance in the NFC title game since Jan. 8, 1989, when they lost to the 49ers at Soldier Field.

Since winning the Super Bowl, Chicago is 4-8 in the playoffs, including last Sunday's 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

It seems improbable _ nearly impossible _ that it's taken so long for the Bears to get this close.

``Oh yeah. Moreso for what we did right after we won the Super Bowl,'' said Tom Thayer, a guard on the Super Bowl champions. He's now a Bears radio commentator and played in Chicago's last NFC title game appearance.

``We had the best record in the NFL and that's where the disappointment lies, climaxing when we got beat by the 49ers in the NFC championship game,'' Thayer added.

One season after trouncing the Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl, the Bears finished 14-2 but were beaten in their opening postseason game by the Washington Redskins. Washington outscored the Bears 20-0 in the second half for a 27-13 win at Soldier Field. Subbing for an injured McMahon, Doug Flutie hit a 50-yard TD pass to Willie Gault but completed just 11 of 31 passes.

It was the Redskins returning to Soldier Field again in the divisional playoffs the next season, and Darrell Green's 52-yard punt return for a TD in the third quarter sent Washington to a 21-17 victory in Payton's final game. The loss followed an 11-4 season during which the Bears used strike replacement players for three games, including quarterback Sean Payton, now the coach of the Saints.

Finally, a playoff victory arrived in 1988 when the Bears went 12-4 and beat the Eagles 20-12 _ again at Soldier Field in what became known as the ``Fog Bowl.''

But a week later in the NFC championship game, with a return trip to the Super Bowl in the balance, the 49ers came to Chicago, and the Joe Montana-to-Jerry Rice combo was too much. Montana and Rice hooked up on two first-half TD passes, one for 61 yards, and all the Bears could manage was Kevin Butler's field goal in a lopsided 28-3 loss.

``The 49ers came in and kicked the heck out of us that one year,'' Ditka told the Chicago Tribune. ``We thought we could win it with our defense and we couldn't. We had to score some points and we didn't score any points.''

What does Thayer remember? The 17-degree temperature, for one.

``How cold of a day it was and also how disappointing. During the regular season we beat them 10-9 on 'Monday Night Football,' and they handed it to us,'' Thayer said.

``When you feel like you should and you don't make it, it's really disappointing. Believe me. It's a huge downer. But you can't forget what you've accomplished,'' said Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, also a member of the Super Bowl team and a starting linebacker on the squad that lost that day to the 49ers.

``Joe Montana,'' Rivera said, recalling the game. ``It was a heck of an experience, though.''

The Bears beat the Saints 16-6 in the first round following the 1990 season, again at home. But when they traveled to Giants Stadium the following week, they again couldn't muster enough offense, losing 31-3 to the eventual Super Bowl champions.

In their final playoff game under Ditka the following year, the Bears lost to Dallas 17-13 in the first round at Soldier Field. Chicago's only TD came on a pass from Jim Harbaugh to Tom Waddle, now a Chicago sportscaster, and the Bears lost despite rolling up 372 yards of offense.

Ditka was fired following a 5-11 finish in 1992. Dave Wannstedt managed two winning seasons in six years, getting the Bears to the playoffs after the 1994 season, when they went to the Metrodome and beat the Vikings in the first round 35-18 behind two TD passes from Steve Walsh.

But the following week, the Steve Young-led 49ers routed the Bears 44-15 in San Francisco in the divisional game.

Dick Jauron led the Bears to the division title when his 2001 team finished 13-3. Playing the final game at Soldier Field before it would be closed for a year for renovation, the Bears lost their divisional matchup to the Eagles 33-19.

Jauron was fired two years later after the Bears spent one of those seasons playing their home games in Champaign, Ill. Enter Lovie Smith, who's taken the Bears to back-to-back NFC North titles.

Chicago lost to Carolina in the divisional round a year ago 29-21, but got its first playoff win since Jan. 1, 1995 by beating the Seahawks in overtime.

``All you hear about is the '85 Bears constantly, and that's a lot of motivation, a lot of incentive to live up to what they've done,'' Bears running back Thomas Jones said.

``We know how the city loves football and the main thing is going out there and winning for ourselves and for all the hard work we put in. But also for the fans, because I don't think there's another city in the country that loves their football team more than Chicago.''