I just watched the entire “Inside Look: Mike Ditka” on Comcast. He was asked questions about his life and career, and was reflecting on many things. He said two things that I said all along and bear fans debated with me, and Ditka is now saying EXACTLY the same things I said. One of the key points he made was that opponents “didn’t understand” the 46 defense, which is exactly what I’ve said since about 1983. I talked about how easy it was to beat the defense, where it was very vulnerable, and how you couldn’t sit in the pocket. Within a year or two of 1985, no one played it anymore, including Buddy Ryan, because they did figure it out.
Regarding the bears’ 46 defense in 1985, this is a quote from Ditka on the program: The key to that defense was Buddy Ryan. He was ahead of his time. What he taught, what he created, what he had those guys believing in worked. Can you run that same defense as effectively today? No. They would spread you out and they would attack you and too many vulnerable spots. But people didn’t understand it and they thought to attack that defense, you had to protect first. No, you had to spread people out and attack. You could never sit back and wait because you weren’t going to have time. And he was far ahead of his time when it came to that. And he had those guys all believing in it, and they, you know, loved Buddy, and he did a great job.
The other point was about Dan Hampton. Previous posts covered the fact that I said throughout his career that Mike Singletary was overrated, and owed a large part of his success to having Dan Hampton in front of him. I said he was a very good leader and good against the run (thanks in part to tremendous help from the line), but was weak against the pass. bear fans argued with me, and then Singletary himself said, years after he retired, that he watched gamefilms and called Hampton to tell him that he owed his success to him. Hampton’s response was something like: “You’re just realizing that?” On this program, Ditka said that Singletary was injured and missed a game, so they had to play Ron Rivera at middle linebacker. He said Rivera had 24 tackles that game, and Rivera said after the game that no one got to him due to the defensive line. This was during a discussion on Dan Hampton.
These points were all obvious at the time, and I was vocal about them, but it’s taken years for bear fans to hear the truth from the players and coaches.
The 85 Bears had a dominant defense because of the l., not the Scheme.,.
they would dominate today and would be sending QB’s and Wide receivers to Hospitals every week.
Larry, while I agree with you on a lot of issues, I have to veer from that for
just a moment. I think a lot of statements made in documentaries like this are
made with a level of humility, in order not to look like a jerk. There’a s lot
of truth in what Ditka said about the 46, but I still say that Mike Singletary
was a great MLB, worthy of the Hall of Fame, and I’ll give you two players to
compare him with. First, there was Willie Lanier, a HOF MLB with the Chiefs in
the 60s & 70s. Lanier played behind a mountainous defensive line led by
Hall of Famer Buck Buchanan at right tackle (same as Hampton), and was able to
smash in to ballcarriers unblocked and untouched for years, and he also had
All-Pro Jim Lynch on one side and the Chiefs’ greatest player, Bobby Bell on the
other. The other example is from your own Packers, with Ray Nitschke playing
behind Henry Jordan and the great Willie Davis, and between Lee Roy Caffey and
All-Pro Dave Robinson at linebacker. Dick Butkus, as tremendous as he was,
would have been even greater if he’d have had even half a defensive tackle
playing in front of him. So, a good line makes good linebackers great, and a
great line makes great linebackers even greater.
Jeffrey, Singletary was overrated, and I said this throughout his career. He didn’t start at the beginning of his career because he didn’t have the speed. He couldn’t cover offensive players. Just because teams ran on first and second down and didn’t thow in his area made him look good. What did Stanley Morgan do on the second play of the Super Bowl (after the tight end dropped a wide-open pass when his knee buckled on the first play)? Morgan ran a quick slant over the middle, was wide open behind Singletary, and dropped the TD pass. Yes, he looked dominant based on how teams played them and should be in the HOF. Had teams been smart, he wouldn’t be in the HOF. This is not an anti-bear statement. I said throughout Dan Hampton’s career that he was incredible and one of the best defensive linemen to ever play. When you consider the number of knee surgeries he had and the level he played at, he was unbelievable. Singletary was not fast, couldn’t cover, and looked great due to the line. Ron Rivera had 24 tackles and said he wasn’t touched! I also said for years at the beginning of his career that Urlacher was overrated, and might end up being great, but wasn’t for the first few years, even though everyone said he was. Tight ends would be wide open behind him, but the passes would be underthrown, and he’d intercept them. Then Sports Illustrated ran a players poll on who the most overrated players were, and Urlacher was right up there. I did say he could end up being great, and he did, but wasn’t in the beginning. I predicted Singletary wouldn’t be very good when Hampton left, and that’s exactly what happened. Granted he was toward the end of his career, but the dropoff was huge. Even Singletary admitted he owed his success to Hampton. As I mentioned, he watched gamefilms a few years ago and said he was basically astounded that he then realized he owed his success to Hampton. He said he called Hampton to tell him that, and Hampton said, “You’re just realizing that?” That’s exactly what I said Singletary’s entire career.