Wilber Marshall and the '85 Bears Backers.....

[DukeSlater]

.....Do you guys feel Marshall was great in pass coverage in the pros?

What about the 1985 Bears' backers in coverage individually?

Thanks!

[JohnTurney]

.....Do you guys feel Marshall was great in pass coverage in the pros?

What about the 1985 Bears' backers in coverage individually?

Thanks!

For a linebacker? Very good. I think Dr Z has it right when he talked about Seth Joyner being the best cover LBer of that era, William Thomas right there. Not sure Marshall was quite as fluid, but he was darn good. In the 46 he had the tight end man to man, and he seemed to be able to get to the zone, and also cover a running back . . . he was good at buzzing the flat, too.

Wilson, less so, but there are times he lined up as a CB versus the Redskins when Didier split out wide. However Wilson was better at rushing, IMO.

[DukeSlater]

Thanks, John.

On the 30 For 30 on the 1985 Bears, did you guys hear Ditka say the backers were not good in pass coverage, so they went to the 46 Defense to get more pressure, protecting blitz schemes, etc.?

That is the way I understood it.

[DukeSlater]

Junior Seau and Gradishar were excellent in pass coverage as well.

[JohnTurney]

Thanks, John.

On the 30 For 30 on the 1985 Bears, did you guys hear Ditka say the backers were not good in pass coverage, so they went to the 46 Defense to get more pressure, protecting blitz schemes, etc.?

That is the way I understood it.

Well . . . Ditka and Buddy Ryan have kind of a rivalry as to who gets more credit for SB XX. Ryan, of course, promotes the 46 and I have heard Ditka take subtle shots at it. They did use the 46 about 40% of the time in 1984 and 1985, and about 20% in 1986 and years after.

The question is why? Ditka, at another time said the corners were good at coverage so that allowed them to use the 46 because if your corners stink then there will be wide-open receivers (even if your QB is dead).

TJ Troup could explain it later, but myview is Marshall was good at coverage. Wilson, not so good and Singeltary was smart, right place, right time, but was better around the LOS, but that was nothing new. When the Bears went nickle Wilson left the field,Singletary and Marshall were still on the field. I don't know how much they used dime, since not a lot of teams were running 4-wide . . . I would have to look (I have all the 85 games on DVD) to see if marshall or Singeltary was the lone LBer in dime.

Here is a link to a post I did, at the bottom you can see screen shots of Wilson as a CB on the TE in that particular "4-4" defense they used that day with Cliff Thrift in the lineup

http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/ ... -otis.html

[DukeSlater]

Thanks again, John.

[Bryan]

Just to comment on Wilber Marshall, I think he was the closest thing to Bobby Bell since Bobby Bell. Marshall could have played any number of positions. His size/speed was off the charts. Marshall was dominant early in his career; Mike Singletary won the NFL DPOTY in 1985 but he was probably the 2nd best LB on his own team.