NFL Game Day Memories

GAME DAY MEMORIES

FIRST REGULAR SEASON OVERTIME GAME

The NFL initiated “sudden death” overtime for regular season games beginning with the 1974 season.  The new rule allowed for an extra fifteen minutes of play.  The first team to score won the game, regardless of whether the other team had a possession.  If the game remained tied after fifteen minutes it counted as a tie.

TRIVIA:  Who won the first regular season overtime game?

On September 22, 1974 the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium.  Joe Gilliam from Tennessee State led the Steelers.  Gilliam had outperformed Terry Bradshaw during preseason to win the starting job.  Charley Johnson, a 36 year-old veteran, quarterbacked the Broncos.

Both teams moved the ball up and down the field for four quarters.  The Broncos jumped out to a 21-7 lead.  The Steelers caught them at 21 and the teams traded touchdowns before ending four quarters tied at 35.  Two weeks into the 1974 season, the NFL had its first overtime game.

ANSWER:  The Broncos Jim Turner missed a 41-yard field goal in the overtime period.  The Steelers never really threatened.  The first NFL overtime game ended as it started, tied.

Bradshaw would recapture the starting job after week six and lead the Steelers to their first SB victory in SB IX.

The NFL changed the overtime rules for the 2012 playoffs (and for regular season games beginning in 2012).  The modified overtime rules are not pure sudden death.  http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14517430/no-more-sudden-death-new-ot-rules-in-effect

Ironically, the Steelers and the Broncos played the first game under the new overtime rules.  This time there was a winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CWdPXn4xqo

NFL Week Four Predictions

WEEK FOUR PREDICTIONS

XENA AND TANNER CHEW ON THE WEEK’S BIG GAMES

SAINTS@PACKERS – Both teams need this game badly.  The Packers are searching for their offense.  I think they find it against the terrible Saint defense.  New Orleans falls to 0-4 and the season is lost.

49ERS@JETS – 49ERS were not ready for the effort Minnesota brought to the field last week.  Harbaugh won’t let that happen again.  The Jets still look clumsy on offense and that won’t fly (pun intended) against the 49ER D.  Look for San Fran to get a methodical, unspectacular win.

GIANTS@EAGLES – On paper this is the best matchup of the week.  Philly has seemed a little out of sorts all year, and could easily be 0-3.  The Giants seem to be getting better each week and find playmakers off a deep bench.  I look for Vick to take more pain from a good front.  NFC East games are notoriously hard to pick, but I like the Giants in a game with lots of points.

BEARS@COWBOYS – The Bears are struggling to find an offensive identity.  I think you need to let Jay be Jay and take the good with the bad.  Problem is, that means the O line has to keep him upright.  Dallas does enough to win this one against a good but not great Chicago D.

NFL Top Ten - Backup QBs

NFL TOP TEN LIST

BEST PERFORMANCES BY BACKUP QB

Do you know a backup QB when you see him?  Before compiling my subjective list I first had to define who is a backup.  The criteria I used is a QB is performing as a backup if  the clear number one guy is not playing due to unfortunate events.  A starter gets injured.  A starter falters and the team makes an unanticipated call to the bullpen. 

My list excludes legitimate QB battles where there was controversy as to the appropriate starter.  Think of Roger Staubach and Craig Morton or Steve Young and Joe Montana.  I also exclude natural progressions, such as Jim Zorn giving way to David Krieg.

(10)JEFF GARCIA – Led Eagles to 5-1 regular season finish after taking over for an injured Donavan McNabb.  Eagles defeated Giants in wild card playoff round before losing 27-24 to the Saints in the divisional round.

(9)DON STROCK – Career backup who bridged the Griese and Marino eras.  Led Miami back from 24-0 deficit in January 1982 playoff game against San Diego.  Strock threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns.  The Chargers won  41-38 in overtime.  The “Epic in Miami" is on every list of the greatest NFL games.

(8)FRANK REICH – A career backup, primarily for Buffalo.  Best known for leading the Bills back from a 35-3 deficit against the Houston Oilers in a January 1993 playoff game.  The Bills won in overtime 41-38.

(7)TIM TEBOW – The Broncos were desperate when they benched Kyle Orton in favor of Tebow five games into the 2011 season.  Though it was seldom pretty, Tebow led the Broncos to a 7-4 finish and the AFC West title.  The Broncos then won a dramatic overtime game against the Steelers in round one before the Patriots crushed them in round two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy2wiZ-LZ_c

(6)MATT CASSEL – Cassel got the keys to the Porsche Patriot offense when a Kansas City tackler knocked Brady out for the 2008 season in week one.  Cassel led the Patriots to an 11-5 record.  Though the Patriots narrowly missed the playoffs that year, Cassel earned himself a fat contract and the chance to start for the Chiefs.  How ironic.

(5)KERRY COLLINS – Collins took command from an injured and emotionally troubled Vince Young early in the 2008 season and led the Titans to an unexpected 13-3 mark.  The season ended on a sour note when the Titans bobbled away a winnable game to the Ravens in the playoffs.

(4)JEFF HOSTETLER – Hostetler had played very little for the Giants before stepping in when Phil Simms suffered an injury late in the 1990 season.  Hostetler piloted the Giants to and through the playoffs.  The Giants famously beat the Buffalo Bills in SB XXV when Scott Norwood missed a game-winning field goal in the final seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHZFwDCNyA

(3)TRENT DILFER –The 2000 Ravens weathered a five-game stretch with no offensive TDs thanks to one of the most dominant defenses ever.  Dilfer took over from an extremely ineffective Tony Banks to give the Ravens just enough punch to get into the playoffs.  Once there, they dominated with defense and efficient offense.  Trent Dilfer was the ultimate game manager and has the SB ring to show for it.

(2)TOM BRADY – Yes that Tom Brady.  Maybe the Patriot fans know different, but I don’t think the Patriots planned for Brady to take many snaps away from Drew Bledsoe in 2001.  Brady took over for an injured Bledsoe in game two and guided the Pats to an 11-5 record.  With a little help from the tuck rule, The Pats made it to the SB.  Brady calmly led the Pats on a game-winning field goal drive after the Rams had rallied to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.  The rest, as they say, is history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFtX3JY1c0

(1)EARL MORRALL – Morall guided two different teams to SBs in relief of the star.  In 1968 he led the Baltimore Colts to a 13-1 regular season record.  For his efforts, Morall received the NFL MVP award. In the playoffs the Colts thrashed the Cleveland Browns to avenge their only regular season loss.  The Colts lost SB III to the New York Jets 16-7.  The Jet win established credibility for the AFL that merged with the NFL in 1970.

In 1972 Morrall replaced an injured Bob Griese after game five.  The Dolphins won their remaining nine games to finish a perfect 14-0 and Morrall claimed the AFC Player of the Year Award.   Griese returned when Morrall struggled in the AFC title game against Pittsburgh.  Griese remained the starter in SB VII that the Dolphins won to complete their perfect season.   

The NFL (AFL) Mad Gunners - Then and Now

In writing about the new Heidi game and the old Heidi game in my NFL WEEK THREE post, I started thinking about the way QB play has changed between now and then.  I had a sense that back in 1968 the AFL teams like the Jets and the Raiders were playing gunslinger football.  Conversely, I had the sense that the QBs today were playing more dink and dunk.  So, I looked at the best yardage years of the two QBs in the Heidi game from 1968 --Daryl Lamonica and Joe Namath, as well as for another noted AFL rifleman, John Hadl.  Hadl's and Lamonica's best yardage year was 1968, Namath's 1967.

I then looked at the numbers from the five dominant passers of 2011 to see how the QB measures had changed.  I used the great 1984 Dan Marino year as a stylistic bridge between the old school bombers and the new school surgeons.

What did I find?  The old guys as a group were much less likely to complete passes.  They completed a higher percentage of passes for touchdowns, gained more yards per completion, and threw tons more interceptions.  Of course, teams threw less frequently in the late 60's  than they do today and they played a 14 game season.   I focused more on what happened for each pass completed than for each pass attempted because to me, there is no fun in an incomplete pass.

Some observations:

• While the old guys had a gaudy 15+ yards for completion average, the guys in 2011 were not as dink and dunk on their completions as I thought they would be.  I suspect, though, the different styles of play would mean there was much more yards after catch (YAC) in 2011 than in 1967 or 1968.
• Dan Marino's 1984 year is quite phenomenal when viewed as a link to the two eras.  He could hang with the old guys in terms of TD%, yards/completion -- and he could hang with the new guys in the efficiency areas of completion % and TD/INT ratio.
• Aaron Rogers's 2011 was perhaps the greatest regular season a QB has ever had.  His efficiency numbers and impact per completion stand out even among the great QB performances in 2011
• If Ed Reed had played in the AFL in the late sixties, he might have intercepted 20 passes a year.

 Are today's QBs better?  Is the game more exciting now?  Do the rules so favor passing today that these comparisons are apples and oranges?  I don't know.  But it is fun sometimes to run the numbers and see how the game has changed.

Player	completions	compl%	TDs	TD%	Yards	Yds/comp	INT	TD/INT
Hadl	208	47.3	27	13.0%	3473	16.7	32	0.84
Lamonica	221	51.9	34	15.4%	3303	14.9	25	1.36
Namath	258	52.5	26	10.1%	4007	15.5	28	0.93
Marino	362	64.2	48	13.3%	5084	14.0	17	2.82
Rogers	343	68.1	45	13.1%	4643	13.5	6	7.50
Manning	359	61.0	29	8.1%	4933	13.7	16	1.81
Stafford	421	63.5	41	9.7%	5084	12.1	16	2.56
Brady	401	65.6	39	9.7%	5235	13.1	12	3.25
Brees	468	71.2	46	9.8%	5476	11.7	14	3.29