1985 Dolphins forever connected to perfect 1972 team after giving 12-0 Bears first and only loss

The 1985 Miami Dolphins won 12 games and advanced to the AFC Championship Game, falling short of a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

But that team’s greatest achievement came on the night of the Dec. 2, 1985, in front of a nationally televised “Monday Night Football” audience and a sold-out Orange Bowl.

The Dolphins, with a contingent of players from the undefeated 1972 team in attendance, upset the 12-0 Bears, 38-24, keeping the 1972 squad as the NFL’s lone perfect season.

If it was a bigger game than usual, most players didn’t give off that impression in its leadup. However, wide receiver Mark Duper provided a declaration that would prove prophetic.

“We’re going to kick their butts,” Duper told local reporters. “The Bears are in for the treat of their lives.”

In the three games before playing the Dolphins, the Bears had outscored opponents, 104-3. And with a defense now regarded as arguably one of the best in NFL history, Chicago was already being compared to some of the best teams ever, including the 1972 Dolphins.

“We were 12-0 at the time and that was the 13th game. Every game got bigger if you wanted to be undefeated,” Dan Hampton, a Hall of Fame defensive lineman, told the Miami Herald in a recent phone interview. “The Dolphins, obviously, were in the Super Bowl the year prior. They were extremely talented, and we understood the challenge. It was going to be hard.”

“It looked like if they got past us, they were going to skate,” defensive lineman Kim Bokamper told the Miami Herald. “We kind of knew that, but we were a good football team, too … We knew what was at stake in that game.”

Bokamper said he didn’t know members of the 1972 team were going to be in attendance. But the image of some of those legends pregame was a galvanizing force.

“It certainly brought the memories to us when you walk out and you saw [Larry Csonka] and you saw [Jim Kiick] and you saw some of those guys,” said Bokamper, who now works as a sports anchor for CBS South Florida. “I think we went into that game as if, ‘Let’s defend our turf.’ I think that’s what our mentality was. … We knew it was a big game and important game. But I think we when came in and saw those [players], it kind of gives you an extra jolt there.”

“I don’t remember whose idea it was [for the 1972 players to come to the game],” Csonka said, “but I think just the fact that we were there helped. I felt like it did. I don’t know. I think the Dolphins players, I think they responded to that.”

Led by coach Don Shula and then-third-year quarterback Dan Marino, the Dolphins leaned into their strengths against the Bears. Miami found a matchup it liked entering the game — wide receiver Nat Moore against outside linebacker Wilber Marshal — and exploited it for much of the night. Moore caught four passes for 75 yards and two of Marino’s three touchdown passes. Marino was sacked three times but mainly unscathed against the Bears’ vaunted defense.

“They had a great plan against our defense,” Hampton said. “And Wilber Marshal, as good of a player as he was, at 240 pounds couldn’t cover Nat Moore at 170.”

Miami scored 21 points in the second quarter, led 31-10 at halftime and never looked back. “At halftime, they were some fireworks between [coach Mike] Ditka and [defensive coordinator] Buddy Ryan,” Hampton said.

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On defense, the Dolphins sacked backup quarterback Steve Fuller four times and intercepted him twice. Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton rushed for 121 yards, setting a then-record with eight consecutive 100-yard games. But it was a side story on a night when Chicago’s record was no longer unblemished.

One of the lasting images from the night came in the third quarter. Marino released a pass from his hands and it hit Hampton’s helmet, careening into the air. But the ball dropped fortuitously into the hands of a wide-open Mark Clayton, who sprinted into the end zone, raising his hands into the air almost in disbelief.

“It was a s*** day at the office,” Hampton said.

“I would say I was outcoached by one of the greatest coaches in the business,” Ditka said.

The Bears would regroup after the defeat, winning their next six games en route to a Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. While Hampton still lamented what he calls a “bad 30 minutes” in the first half, he said the loss allowed Chicago to refocus ahead of their eventual championship run.

“When you’re 12-0, you think you can lasso the moon. … In the big scheme of things, we stubbed our toe,” Hampton said.

And while the 1985 Dolphins fell short of their ultimate goal, they preserved history and formed a lifelong connection with the 1972 team.

“I think it meant a lot,” Bokamper said. “I think every guy, every player that played on that ‘85 team in the Bears game, I think there was a bond created between the 17-0 guys and that ‘85 team that still exists today.”