Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of email questions from fans on ChicagoBears.com.
I read that the Bears record for defensive touchdowns in a season is eight set in 1942. Everyone seems to agree that the '85 Bears featured the most dominant defense in team history. How many defensive touchdowns that that unit score?
Don S.
Rockford, Illinois
The famed 1985 Bears defense scored five touchdowns, four on interception returns by cornerbacks Leslie Frazier (29 yards) and Mike Richardson (36), linebacker Otis Wilson (23) and defensive end Richard Dent (1); and one on a five-yard fumble return by linebacker Ron Rivera. The defense added a two more TDs in the playoffs on linebacker Wilber Marshall's 52-yard fumble return in the NFC Championship Game and cornerback Reggie Phillips' 28-yard interception return in Super Bowl XX. The defense scored multiple TDs in only one game as Richardson and Dent both got in the end zone in a 44-0 rout of the Dallas Cowboys. The 2012 Bears have become the first team in NFL history to score five defensive touchdowns in the first five games of a season.
How close is Lance Briggs to setting an all-time NFL record for interception return touchdowns by a linebacker? I can't imagine anyone had a lot more than five.
John G.
Pennsylvania
Lance Briggs is very close. With five interception return touchdowns in his career, he's only one behind Bobby Bell and Derrick Brooks, who share the record among linebackers with six. Briggs is tied for third all-time with former Bears head coach Jack Pardee.
I was at the 1985 home opener against Tampa Bay and I swear the temperature had to be in the mid-90s. I remember the Bears were down at the half and blew the Bucs out in the second half. Is it possible your facts about the hottest Bears home game are incorrect?
John R.
That's always a possibility! But the information I have shows that the temperature at kickoff for the 1985 opener against the Bucs at Soldier Field was 81 degrees, making it the seventh warmest Bears game since 1963. I remember that game well too. The Bears were losing 28-17 at halftime before Leslie Frazier sparked the comeback by intercepting a pass Richard Dent had deflected and returning it 29 yards for a touchdown. Jim McMahon threw a nine-yard TD pass to fullback Matt Suhey and scored on a one-yard plunge as the Bears outscored the Bucs 21-0 in the second half to win 38-28.
