Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28 Chicago Bears 38
Sunday 8 September 1985 at Soldier Field
TB7:54-1Q Magee 1 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
CHI2:49-1Q McKinnon 21 pass from McMahon (Butler kick)
TB2:27-1Q House 44 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
TB11:31-2Q J.Bell 11 pass from DeBerg (Igwebuike kick)
CHI8:09-2Q McMahon 1 run (Butler kick)
CHI2:35-3Q Butler FG38
TB1:09-2Q Wilder 3 run (Igwebuike kick)
CHI14:38-3Q Frazier 29 interception return (Butler kick)
CHI0:27-3Q Suhey 9 pass from McMahon (Butler kick)
CHI12:32-4Q McMahon 1 run (Butler kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
BUCS: Wilder 27-166, DeBerg 2-0.
BEARS: Payton 17-120, Suhey 8-27, McMahon 4-18, Thomas 3-12, Gentry 2-8.
PASSING
BUCS: DeBerg 21-13-160-2-3.
BEARS: McMahon 34-23-274-1-2.
RECEIVING
BUCS: J.Bell 6-74, Carter 3-18, House 1-44, Giles 1-18, Wilder 1-5, Magee 1-1.
BEARS: Payton 6-37, Gault 4-60, McKinnon 4-58, Thomas 3-32, Moorehead 2-31, Margerum 2-20, Wrightman 1-27, Suhey 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
BUCS: Castille 1-0.
BEARS: Frazier 1-29, Fencik 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
BUCS: Freeman 2-79, Bright 1-22, Magee 1-15.
BEARS: Gentry 2-44.
PUNT RETURNS
BUCS: Bright 1-21.
BEARS: Taylor 3-26.
SACKS
BUCS: Logan 1-11, Cannon 1-10, Davis 1-2.
BEARS: Dent 2-19.
GAME REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Click here for the gamebook and the play-by-play
Click here for how the Chicago press remembered the game
The Bucs opened the 1985 season on the road against the future Super Bowl champion Bears who began their SuperBowl Shuffle with a second half comeback win against Leeman Bennett's team. The Bucs looked awesome offensively in the first half against the famed 46 defense with James Wilder rushing for 120 of his yards in the first 30 minutes, and Steve DeBerg throwing three TD passes including one to Kevin House that came on the back of a 57-yard kick return by rookie Phil Freeman. The key play came early in the 2nd half when Leslie Frazier jumped on a DeBerg out pattern and returned it 29 yards for a score.
OFFENSEDEFENSE
LT69 Yarno LDE78 Cannon
LG72 Courson NT76 Logan
C60 Grimes RDE71 Lindstrom
RG62 Farrell LOLB51 Washington
RT73 Heller LILB58 Davis
WR89 House RILB52 Brantley
WR87 Carter ROLB53 Green
TE88 Giles LCB23 Castille
TE82 J Bell SS30 Greenwood
RB32 Wilder FS44 Sully
QB17 DeBerg RCB21 Holt
SUBSTITUTIONS
1 Igwebuike, 5 Garcia, 7 Risher, 24 Prior, 28 Carver, 29 Bright, 31 Curry, 40 Armstrong, 47 Dombrowski, 54 Randle, 56 Johnson, 57 Browner, 65 Fielder, 67 Morgan, 74 Sanders, 79 Kaplan, 80 Branton, 81 Freeman, 83 T Bell, 85 Witte, 86 Magee, 90 Holmes
DID NOT PLAY
68 Mallory
INACTIVE