Mike Singletary believes the 1985 Bears' defense would hold up today

Mike Singletary believes the 1985 Bears' defense would hold up today originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Comparing eras is one of the hardest arguments to construct in sports debate.

But Kyle Brandt on the "Good Morning Football" show dared to ask the opinion of 1985 Bears Hall of Famer Mike Singletary on how his historic defense would hold up against modern NFL quarterbacks.

"I think we'd be fine," Singletary said on the show. "I think with the defense that we had, we really had a tremendous rapport with each other. I think the communication was the thing that really made us geometrically align. We could make one guy into two or three because of the communication process that we had."

The 1985 Bears' defense is widely considered one of --- if not the greatest --- defenses of all time. In 1985, the Bears recorded a whopping 64 sacks, 34 interceptions and 24 fumbles. That's approximately four sacks, two interceptions and 1.5 fumbles per game.

In 1985, the Bears kept their opponents to under 13 points per game. Today, the NFL's best defense (Baltimore Ravens) kept their regular season opponents to a league-leading 16.1 points per contest.

Of course, generational talents like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson exist in today's NFL, making it harder on defenses. But the Bears weren't playing schlubs back then, either. Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino and other elite quarterbacks were present at the time.

In fact, during the Bears' Week 6 game against Montana, Jerry Rice and the San Francisco 49ers, they dominated. The Bears won, 26-10, keeping Montana to 160 passing yards while sacking him seven times. As for Rice? He caught the ball three times for 37 yards. That's it.

That Bears defense featured some all-time players, including Richard Dent, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Williams Perry, Otis Wilson, Dan Hampton, Gary Fencik and, of course, Singeltary. That's not to discredit the modern defenses of the NFL, who can contain the current talent at quarterback. But time doesn't age that Bears defense.

The Bears likely wouldn't be trampled on by today's players. If anything, as Singletary hinted toward, the Bears could probably put a beatdown on several elite teams today.

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