Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots took to the field for Super Bowl XX. The Bears strong defense, "46 Zone", stopped any and all opponents, except for the Miami Dolphins, in their tracks. On the strength of it and a good running game, they went 15-1 in the regular season. They won their NFC playoff games in highly convincing fashion, pitching a pair of shut outs. It was a team full of characters, such as the rebellious Jim McMahon, the silky smooth Walter Payton, the aggressive Mike Singletary, and a lovably large rookie simply known as the Fridge, William "Refrigerator" Perry. This image was best capitalized on by the infamous "Super Bowl Shuffle", a rap song the Bears recorded during the season. Even though it was in essence a novelty song, it actually peaked at #41 on the Billboard charts and got a Grammy nomination for best R&B song by a group. Whereas the Bears were national stars, the new England Patriots came in under the radar. The Patriots narrowly made the playoffs as the second wild card, the last playoff seed under the rules of that time, and were forced to spend all of the postseason on the road if they were to get to New Orleans, which was hardly likely in the eyes of most.

Yet the Patriots shocked everybody, beating the New York Jets, Los Angeles Raiders, and the Dolphins on the road to make a stunning Super Bowl appearance. New England took the quickest lead in Super Bowl history when Tony Franklin kicked a 36-yard field goal with less then two minutes elapsed in the first period. The score came about because of Larry McGrew's fumble recovery at the Chicago 19-yard line. However, the Bears rebounded for a 23-3 first-half lead, while building a yardage advantage of 236 total yards to New England's minus 19. Running Back Matt Suhey rushed eight times for 37 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown run, and caught one pass for 24 yards in the first half. After the Patriot's first drive of the second half ended with a punt to the Bears' 4-yard line, Chicago marched 96 yards in nine plays with quarterback Jim McMahon's 1-yard scoring run capping the drive. McMahon became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history to rush for a pair of touchdowns. The Bears completed their scoring via a 28-yard interception return by reserve cornerback Reggie Phillips, a 1-yard run by defensive tackle/fullback William Perry, and a safety when defensive end Henry Waechter tackled Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan in the end zone. Bears defensive end Richard Dent became the fourth defender to be named the game's most valuable player after contributing one and a half sacks. The Bears' victory margin of 36 points was the largest in Super Bowl history, surpassing the previous mark of 29 held by the Los Angeles Raiders when they topped Washington 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII. McMahon completed 12 of 20 passes for 256 yards before leaving the game in the fourth period with a wrist injury.

The National Football League's all-time leading rusher, Bears running back Walter Payton, carried 22 times for 61 yards. Wide receiver Willie Gault caught four passes for 129 yards, the fourth most receiving yards in a Super Bowl. Chicago coach Mike Ditka became the second man (Tom Flores of Raiders was the other) to win a Super Bowl ring as a player and as a coach. The NFC champion Chicago Bears, seeking their first NFL title since 1963, scored a Super Bowl record 46 points in downing AFC champion New England 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, at the Louisiana Superdome, January 26 . The previous record for most points in a Super Bowl was 38, shared by San Francisco in XIX and the Los Angeles Raiders in XVIII. The Bears' league leading defense tied the Super Bowl record for sacks (7) and limited the Patriots to a record low seven rushing yards. The Patriots had earned the right to play the Bears by becoming the first wild-card team to win three consecutive games on the road. The NBC telecast replaced the final episode of M*A*S*H as the most viewed television program in history, with an audience of 127 million viewers, according to A.C. Nielsen figures. In addition to drawing a 48.3 rating and a 70 percent share in the United States, Super Bowl XX was televised to 59 foreign countries and beamed via satellite to the QE II. An estimated 300 million Chinese viewed a tape delay of the game in March. NBC Radio figures indicated an audience of 10 million for the game.