They weren't supposed to be there. Honestly, if you asked a casual NFL fan in October of 1985 who was going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, you’d hear about the Dolphins or maybe the Raiders. The Patriots? They were basically the team that found new and inventive ways to break their fans' hearts every December. But then something shifted.
The 1985 New England Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. Think about that for a second. They didn't have the luxury of home-field advantage or a warm Foxboro crowd. They had to go into the Meadowlands, then the Orange Bowl—a place where they historically just withered—and finally the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was a gritty, improbable, and slightly chaotic run that ended in a collision with arguably the greatest defense to ever step onto a football field.
Most people remember 1985 for the Chicago Bears. They remember the "Super Bowl Shuffle" and Mike Singletary’s terrifying eyes. But the story of the team they beat is actually way more interesting if you like underdogs who punch above their weight class.
The Quarterback Carousel: Grogan vs. Eason
The dynamic under center for the 1985 New England Patriots was... complicated. You had Tony Eason, the young, high-pedigree "New Breed" quarterback who could throw a beautiful spiral but lacked what old-school coaches called "moxie." Then you had Steve Grogan.
Grogan was basically held together by medical tape and sheer willpower. By 1985, his neck was stiff, his knees were shot, and he played like a man who didn't mind if he broke a rib as long as the pass was caught.
Coach Raymond Berry started the season with Eason, but after a rough start, Grogan came in and sparked a six-game winning streak. It was classic 80s football. Grogan brought the grit, Eason brought the arm. When Grogan eventually went down with a broken leg late in the season, the keys were handed back to Eason. It created this weird tension where the fan base never quite knew which version of the offense they were going to get. One week they looked like world-beaters; the next, they were just trying to survive.
The Backfield Muscle
While the quarterbacks were swapping starts, the real identity of this team lived in the dirt. Craig James was the workhorse. He rushed for over 1,200 yards that season, which was a massive feat back then. He wasn't particularly flashy, but he was reliable. Tony Collins complemented him perfectly as a versatile threat out of the backfield.
If you look at the stats, the Patriots' offense wasn't some high-flying aerial circus. It was a "cloud of dust" operation. They ranked 6th in the league in rushing yards but only 19th in passing. They wanted to tire you out. They wanted to hit you until you got tired of hitting back.
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The "Squish the Fish" Phenomenon
You cannot talk about the 1985 New England Patriots without talking about the Orange Bowl jinx. Before the 1985 AFC Championship game, the Patriots had lost 18 consecutive games in Miami. Eighteen. It was a psychological wall that seemed impossible to climb.
The Dolphins were the only team to beat the '85 Bears that year. Dan Marino was at the absolute peak of his powers. Logic said the Patriots were going to get shredded.
Instead, New England forced six turnovers.
It was a defensive masterclass by guys like Andre Tippett, who was essentially a human wrecking ball that season. Tippett finished the year with 16.5 sacks. He was the AFC Defensive Player of the Year and, quite frankly, doesn't get enough credit in the "greatest linebackers ever" conversation because he played in the shadow of Lawrence Taylor.
The Patriots didn't just win; they dominated. They ran the ball down Miami's throat, and the "Squish the Fish" mantra became a part of New England folklore. For one week, it felt like the Patriots were the team of destiny.
The Super Bowl XX Reality Check
Then came the Bears.
Super Bowl XX is often cited as one of the most lopsided games in history, and yeah, the 46-10 scoreline doesn't lie. But what people forget is that the 1985 New England Patriots actually scored first.
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Early in the first quarter, the Patriots recovered a Walter Payton fumble. They couldn't move the ball—this would become a theme—and settled for a Tony Franklin field goal. 3-0 New England. For about two minutes, there was hope.
Then the "46 Defense" arrived.
The Bears' pass rush was a literal nightmare. Tony Eason went 0-for-6 and was sacked three times before being pulled for Steve Grogan. Grogan didn't fare much better, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked another four times. New England finished the game with negative-19 rushing yards. Yes, negative.
It was a brutal way for a historic season to end, but in hindsight, nobody was beating that Chicago team. The 1985 Patriots weren't a "bad" team because they lost that game; they were a very good team that ran into a once-in-a-century buzzsaw.
Why This Team is Still Misunderstood
There’s this lingering narrative that the 1985 Patriots were "lucky" to be in the Super Bowl. People point to the turnovers in the Miami game or the Raiders' mistakes in the Divisional round.
But luck doesn't win three straight road playoff games.
This team had five Pro Bowlers. They had John Hannah—arguably the greatest offensive guard to ever live—playing in his final season. Raymond Berry, a Hall of Fame receiver himself, had coached this group into a disciplined, tough-nosed unit that excelled at capitalizing on other people's mistakes.
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They weren't "lucky." They were opportunistic.
The tragedy of the 1985 New England Patriots isn't the Super Bowl loss. It’s the drug scandal that broke almost immediately after the game. Within 24 hours of the Super Bowl ending, reports surfaced about widespread drug use within the locker room. It fractured the team's reputation and overshadowed what should have been a celebratory homecoming. It took years for the franchise to recover from the fallout of that era, leading into the lean years of the early 90s before the Kraft/Bledsoe/Brady era changed everything.
A Legacy of Grit
If you go to Gillette Stadium today, you see the six Super Bowl banners. It’s easy to forget that before the dynasty, there was '85. This was the team that proved the Patriots could actually get there.
They showed that a team of overachievers, led by a crippled quarterback and a terrifying linebacker, could break a two-decade-long jinx in Miami. They were the bridge between the "Patsy" years and the modern dominance.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Historians
To truly understand the impact of the 1985 New England Patriots, you should look beyond the Super Bowl box score.
- Study the Film of Andre Tippett: If you want to see how to play outside linebacker, watch Tippett’s 1985 tape. His technique in shedding blocks and his pursuit speed were ahead of his time.
- Analyze the Miami Game Plan: The 1985 AFC Championship is a perfect case study in how to neutralize a high-powered passing attack with a physical ground game and disguised coverages.
- Revisit the John Hannah Legacy: 1985 was the swan song for "The Hog." Watch how he pulls on run plays. It’s a clinic in offensive line play that is still taught in coaching circles today.
- Acknowledge the Road Path: Winning three road games in the playoffs is still one of the hardest feats in professional sports. Only a handful of teams have done it since.
The '85 Patriots weren't the "Greatest Team Ever," but they were the greatest "Never Say Die" story of their decade. They weren't supposed to be there, and that’s exactly what made them special.