Bears Are Perfect (8-0) and Getting Better

Walter Payton, who is smarter than the average Bear, is older than most of his teammates and is trying to keep up with them. He knows the Chicago Bears are 8-0 and are now the only unbeaten team in the NFL. He also knows they have not yet had a game closer than eight points.

But he still believes they can play better.

“I really don’t think this team has reached its potential yet,” Payton said after Sunday’s 27-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. “I think this team is capable of putting 60 points on the board against somebody. We haven’t done that yet.”

He was asked if he was kidding.

“Kidding?” Payton asked. “Me?”

They do not call him Sweetness for nothing. A recent Sports Illustrated poll of 200 NFL players listed Payton as just about the nicest opponent on any field. This is the same poll that listed Bear safety Gary Fencik as just about the nastiest opponent on any field.

Only three men on the Bear roster have played 10 years or more, and Payton and Fencik are two of them. But they are hardly has-beens. Payton, for example, rushed for 118 yards Sunday and caught five passes, taking one of them 20 yards for a touchdown.

“I have to do something ,” Payton said later, sweetly. “The young guys look up to you when you’re as old as me. They expect me to do something to help if I want to keep playing with them.”

Kidding, still kidding. It is just that the Bears suddenly have a cavalcade of stars. They used to have just one--Payton. Now they have Jim McMahon, the rebel with a cause who plays quarterback; Willie Gault, arguably the world’s fastest wide receiver; piggyback William (The Refrigerator) Perry, the world’s largest running back, and assistant coach Buddy Ryan’s defense, which shows something different every week.

They also have wide receiver Dennis McKinnon, who caught a 33-yard touchdown pass Sunday, and kicker Kevin Butler, who had two field goals in the first half.

And that is not all they have. Middle linebacker Mike Singletary is considered a superstar here, with good reason, but Wilber Marshall and Otis Wilson are the linebackers who are playing fired-up football of late. Between them, they had three interceptions Sunday. Wilson ran his back for a touchdown and also sacked Viking quarterback Tommy Kramer twice.

With five interceptions, the Bears now have 21 for the season, which is as many as they had all last season. “Our defense has taken on a little different complexion,” said Fencik, the “dirty” Yalie who changes into preppy sweaters and tasseled loafers in the locker room. “We still have the brute force up front, but we have finesse in the secondary to back it up.”

The Bears were involved for a while in a rare tight game, leading 13-7 in the third period, when defensive end Richard Dent stormed the backfield, swatted a ball that Kramer was just about to throw and deflected it into the arms of Wilson, who ran 23 yards for the score.

No more was heard from the Vikings. In the fourth quarter, Payton, pulling down an over-his-head screen pass with one hand, practically walked into the end zone from 20 yards out to make the score 27-7. Both teams brought in reserve quarterbacks for the final 9 1/2 minutes.

That is probably all she wrote for the Vikings (4-4) in the Central Division race. The Bears are so far in front that one opponent, Tampa Bay, already has been mathematically eliminated--with eight games to go.

“We’re still worried about Detroit especially with them beating Miami,” Bear Coach Mike Ditka said. “We still have to play them twice.”

One minor worry went out the window. “We’d like to see the Rams lose so we could be the only unbeaten team,” Fencik said.

Wish granted, a couple of hours later.

It is not going to be easy for the Bears to keep their machine clean. They have road games remaining at Dallas, at Miami, at the New York Jets, at Detroit and at Green Bay. Only three of their eight remaining games will be at home.

Ditka is maintaining perspective. He has not yet seen his team with its back to the wall in the final minutes. He has not yet seen his team play an opponent with an impressive record. He has not even seen if Refrigerator Perry can run back punts or go long for the bomb.

“If we ever put it all on the right track,” Ditka said, measuring his words, “we can be pretty darn good.”

Perry, the TV star of last week’s episode of “Monday Night Football,” did not get a chance to play offense against Minnesota. No opportunities arose. “We didn’t get a chance to get the reverse to him,” Ditka said, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.

Ditka did, however, use Perry on the defensive line for an extended period for the first time since the rookie joined the team. Ryan, the defensive mastermind who prior to training camp referred to Perry as a wasted draft choice, is reluctant to give rookies playing time. Ditka and Ryan do not always see eye to eye on who should be on the field.

After playing Perry at nose guard in this game, Ditka said: “I mentioned it to somebody and he responded.” It was his discreet way of saying that he told Ryan to put Perry’s big self in there.

Feeling good about the game and about things in general, Ditka smiled to himself at his own remark and began to leave the room.

“So when does Perry get to throw a pass?” a reporter shouted to Ditka before he could get away.

“As soon as he jumps over the goal post,” Ditka said.