The final game of The Canon Review Football Fix Weekend (and yes, I know it's not the weekend anymore, but due to connectivity issues this post was delayed a day) features two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time playing in a week 6 game from 1993 as John Elway led the Denver Broncos against Brett Favre's Green Bay Packers. The Packers got out to a quick 17-0 lead, then went into halftime leading 30-7. But John Elway and the Broncos wouldn't go away, as the Broncos got within three points before finally falling to the Pack 30-27. A few notes about this game.
- Back in 1993, Brett Favre wasn't a quarterback revered by the media for his gunslinging ways and 'playing like a kid out there'. Instead he was a talented young quarterback who had trouble handling the blitz and sometimes moved too fast for his own good. In this game, Favre was rahter inconsistent. In the first half, Favre was great, constantly finding the open man and throwing a 66 yard touchdown to tight end Jackie Harris. In the second half, Favre didn't do so well, as he threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Denver LB Mike Croel (and probably shouldn't have counted as the receiver was clearly interfered with). One pick was really bad in particular, as Favre panicked on a safety blitz and threw a wobbling duck in the air that landed in the hands of CB Le-Lo Lang that gave the ball back to the Broncos on the Green Bay 43 with just over two minutes left. I mean, as soon as Favre let go of the ball, I knew exactly what was going to happen. To be fair to Favre, he didn't have any help at all from his running game (Favre had his team's longest run with a 17 yard scamper in the first quarter), so the Broncos pretty much played the pass for most of the second half because they knew Green Bay couldn't run on them, so that may have contributed to Favre's poor second half. Also, it was refreshing to watch a game with Brett Favre in it where the announcers didn't bend over backwards trying to explain that a Favre INT was somehow the receiver's fault, as TNT announcers (yes this game was on TNT) Gary Bender and Pat Haden were fair with Favre instead of deifying him like some current announcers have done in recent seasons.
- As for the other legendary quarterback, John Elway actually set a career high for moss passes thrown in a game with 59, and most completions with 33 (although that record was later topped). It's not surprising that Elway threw so much since the Broncos trailed big early and basically spent the last three quarters in a hurry-up offense, but despite the Packers constantly playing nickel and dime packages, Elway did rather well. His favorite target during the game was WR Vance Johnson, who made his impact felt on the game with 10 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. Not only that, but Johnson made two or three remarkable catches and always seemed to make the catch just when the Broncons needed another third-down conversion. Elway's legendary arm strength was on display in this one, as he threw a couple of passes that almost went through his receivers, and threw one to Johnson so fast that even though a Packer was nearly in front of him, Elway's pass somehow got through for a first down.
- The Packers came into this game 1-3 after signing the biggest free agent of all time, DE Reggie White. Before the game, the announcers stated that Reggie went to the coaching staff and told them that despite the poor start, he still felt that coming to Green Bay was the right decision. Well, good for Reggie for not panicking after his first four games of a five year contract. I mean, what did they expect him to say, that the Packers suck and he should have gone to San Francisco or Miami instead? Anyway, Reggie had a whale of a ball game here, getting three sacks and many pressures on Elway. White was lined up against Denver OT Russell Freeman all game long, and poor Russell never had a chance. When White bull-rushed, he'd go through Freeman. When White decided to go to the outside, he got by Freeman with ease. When Freeman decided to block low, White hurdled over him and still got heat on the quarterback. With less than two minutes left in the game and the Broncos just outside of field-goal range, White decided that he'd just go ahead and clinch the win himself, getting back-to-back sacks on Denver's final two plays of the game. Simply put, White was the best player on the field that night.
- Denver's defense played excellent in the second half, but in the first half they weren't so good. TE Jackie Harris particularly gave them trouble, as for the game he caught 5 passes for 128 yards and a 66-yard touchdown. Most of Harris's catches came against Denver ILB Karl Mecklenburg, a fine player in his own right but also a player that struggled to keep up with the much faster Harris. Harris was actually the perfect player for Brett Favre, a tight end with downfield speed who could also make the tough catch in the middle of the field. Instead of becoming a star in Green Bay in playing in Super Bowls, Harris decided to chase the money and signed with Tampa Bay after the 1993 season, and was really never quite as good as he was during the 1992 and 1993 seasons for the Packers, while the Packers moved on with Mark Chmura taking his spot. No offense to Chmura, but Harris was the better athlete and better pass-catcher (although Harris wasn't much of a blocker) and had Harris stayed in Green Bay, I'm willing to bet that Chmura would have either been on the bench or on another team during Green Bay's Super Bowl run.
- Denver had a couple of key plays late in the fourth quarter that went the other way against them. On third down and inside Green Bay territory with less than four minutes to go, Elway fired a pass to rookie WR Tony Kimbourgh that hit the rookie in the hands and bounced to the ground (and also led Kimbourgh straight into S Mike Prior, who creamed him). On the next play, Elway seemed to convert a fourth down with a pass to WR Derek Russell at the 25 yard line, but a false start by Freeman nullified the play and led to the Broncos punting it away. If either play goes the Broncos way, K Jason Elam more than likely kicks a field goal and takes the game into overtime, or Elway leads the Broncos to another touchdown and gets yet another comeback victory, as it looked as if the Packers' offense was so out of sync that it would be hard to imagine them scoring after blowing a 23 point lead.
- A couple of other tidbits from this game: One, two sets of brothers, the Sharpes (Sterling and Shannon), and the Widells (Doug and Dave) played against each other in the game. In fact, the announcers mentioned that the Sharpe brothers had a $20,000 bet for who would have the most catches at the end of the season. Sterling won by the way, with a total of 112 to Shannon's 81. Second, despite being in the NFL for 24 seasons, this was the Broncos' first trip to Lambeau Field. Third, John Elway and Brett Favre would only fave each other twice in their careers, the first being this game, and the second being Super Bowl XXXII, where the Broncos won 31-24.
Well, that's all for now. I think I've overdosed on football for the time being, although since there probably won't be NFL football for three years the only option I'll have is to watch classic NFL games such as this. After this game, both teams would go on to make the playoffs, with the Broncos losing to the Los Angeles Raiders in the first round and the Packers beating the Detroit Lions before falling to the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label classic games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic games. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Washington Redskins at Chicago Bears, October 6, 1991
Man, I don't know about you, but I'm already missing football. Also, with labor talks breaking down and a possible lookout looming more than ever, we may not see NFL football for a while. So, all weekend long, I have decided to watch a game each day and review it. Today's post is about the week 6 game in 1991 between the Chicago Bears (4-1) versus the Washington Redskins (5-0), a game that featured four future Hall of Famers, two Super Bowl winning coaches, the former and current coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and Matt Millen. At the end of day, it was the Redskins that would emerge victorious, by a 20-7 margin. Here are a few notes about this game:
- The stars of this game were the Washington Redskins defense, particularly their defensive line. Bears QB Jim Harbaugh had no time to throw all day long and took tremendous hits thanks to the pressure from DTs Tim Johnson and Eric Williams, as well as DE Charles Mann. In an attempt to put more pressure on Harbaugh, the 'Skins would often line up Mann inside across from Bears C Jay Hilgenberg, and for most of the first half Hilgenberg just couldn't handle him before eventually slowing him down in the second half. Even though Harbaugh took lots of hits, the Bears never made an adjustment by keeping an extra back in to block or putting Harbaugh in the shotgun until late in the game. As a result, Harbaugh was rushed into making some terrible throws and finished the day 17-41 with three interceptions. Harbaugh was so rattled that on one play, he kept dropping back before finally floating a pass in the air attended for RB Neal Anderson, but LB Kurt Gouveia just waited for the ball to come down and picked it off easily. Needless to say, it was not Harbaugh's finest day.
- Even though the Redskins won 20-7 and were only up 10-7 at the end of the third quarter, the score does not illustrate how much they outplayed the Bears in this game. In fact, the Redskins could have had two more touchdowns had Mark Rypien been more accurate. In the first quarter, WR Gary Clark had CB Leumel Stinson beat downfield, but Rypien underthrew it and Stinston picked it off at the five yard line. In the third quarter, Clark once again beat his man downfield, but this time Rypien rushed his throw despite nobody being around him and overthrew his man. I will say that Rypien played a decent game, though he received a lot of help from Clark and WR Art Monk. Monk in particular had a strong game, catching two touchdown passes and making a key catch on fourth down despite taking not one, but two hard hits from Bears secondary players. Monk's stats weren't that impressive (6 catches, 69 yards), but he had the biggest individual impact on the game and played like, well, a Hall of Famer.
- Rypien was also a lot more mobile then I remember him being. Sure, he wasn't Michael Vick like, but for a big guy Rypien could move back in the pocket. One of the keys to the Redskins offense getting on track was Rypien's ability to roll out of the pocket to the right and buying him extra time to find a receiver. That way, not only could Rypien buy more time, but it also moved the play away from Bears DE Richard Dent, and it didn't hurt that the 'Skins had All-Pros Mark Schlerth and Joe Jacoby on the right side and that the Bears were without their other defensive end, Trace Armstrong.
- While Harbaugh didn't have the best game, he didn't get a lot of help either. The Redskins kept Anderson in check for most of the game, holding the back for 73 yards. A bigger problem for Harbaugh was the drops by his receivers, as the Bears dropped five passes in the first half. The biggest came in the first quarter where Harbaugh had Wendell Davis wide open at midfield and threw a perfect strike, only for Davis to drop it. Davis may not have scored on the play, but he had enough room to get at least in field goal range, and the whole game might have changed had Davis held on to that ball.
- For a while, it looked as if the referees were going to take over the game, as there were eight penalties called in the first quarter alone. Some were legitimate, but each team had a big run taken back on holding calls that were borderline at best, and all the penalties really slowed the game's pace to a crawl and took the Bears' crowd out of the game. Speaking of which, John Madden would constantly express his surprise at the lack of noise the Bears fans were making, considering they were playing at home against a top-notch opponent. Eventually, this lethargy carried over to the Bears, who played with a lack of urgency and spark all game long. Even coach Mike Ditka was surprisingly calm as his team made mistake after mistake.
- The game was called by Pat Summerall and John Madden, which is always a good thing, unless the game is over and Madden blabs about whatever just happens to be on his mind at the time. He spent an entire minute talking about Redskins LB Matt Millen and how the number 57 just didn't suit Millen. In Madden's mind, 57 was too long a number. I have no idea what he meant by that, but that's what he said.
So that's that. After this game, the Redskins would win their next five games before finally losing to the Cowboys, then the Redskins would go on to win the Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills. The Bears would finish 1991 at 11-5, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys in what turned out to be the final playoff game Mike Ditka would coach, unless he decides to come back in the future, which seems unlikely. At the end of the day, the Bears just didn't have enough firepower to overtake the challenging Redskins' defense, and despite some shaky play from Mark Rypien and a running game that was ineffective, the Redskins made this game look easy. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- The stars of this game were the Washington Redskins defense, particularly their defensive line. Bears QB Jim Harbaugh had no time to throw all day long and took tremendous hits thanks to the pressure from DTs Tim Johnson and Eric Williams, as well as DE Charles Mann. In an attempt to put more pressure on Harbaugh, the 'Skins would often line up Mann inside across from Bears C Jay Hilgenberg, and for most of the first half Hilgenberg just couldn't handle him before eventually slowing him down in the second half. Even though Harbaugh took lots of hits, the Bears never made an adjustment by keeping an extra back in to block or putting Harbaugh in the shotgun until late in the game. As a result, Harbaugh was rushed into making some terrible throws and finished the day 17-41 with three interceptions. Harbaugh was so rattled that on one play, he kept dropping back before finally floating a pass in the air attended for RB Neal Anderson, but LB Kurt Gouveia just waited for the ball to come down and picked it off easily. Needless to say, it was not Harbaugh's finest day.
- Even though the Redskins won 20-7 and were only up 10-7 at the end of the third quarter, the score does not illustrate how much they outplayed the Bears in this game. In fact, the Redskins could have had two more touchdowns had Mark Rypien been more accurate. In the first quarter, WR Gary Clark had CB Leumel Stinson beat downfield, but Rypien underthrew it and Stinston picked it off at the five yard line. In the third quarter, Clark once again beat his man downfield, but this time Rypien rushed his throw despite nobody being around him and overthrew his man. I will say that Rypien played a decent game, though he received a lot of help from Clark and WR Art Monk. Monk in particular had a strong game, catching two touchdown passes and making a key catch on fourth down despite taking not one, but two hard hits from Bears secondary players. Monk's stats weren't that impressive (6 catches, 69 yards), but he had the biggest individual impact on the game and played like, well, a Hall of Famer.
- Rypien was also a lot more mobile then I remember him being. Sure, he wasn't Michael Vick like, but for a big guy Rypien could move back in the pocket. One of the keys to the Redskins offense getting on track was Rypien's ability to roll out of the pocket to the right and buying him extra time to find a receiver. That way, not only could Rypien buy more time, but it also moved the play away from Bears DE Richard Dent, and it didn't hurt that the 'Skins had All-Pros Mark Schlerth and Joe Jacoby on the right side and that the Bears were without their other defensive end, Trace Armstrong.
- While Harbaugh didn't have the best game, he didn't get a lot of help either. The Redskins kept Anderson in check for most of the game, holding the back for 73 yards. A bigger problem for Harbaugh was the drops by his receivers, as the Bears dropped five passes in the first half. The biggest came in the first quarter where Harbaugh had Wendell Davis wide open at midfield and threw a perfect strike, only for Davis to drop it. Davis may not have scored on the play, but he had enough room to get at least in field goal range, and the whole game might have changed had Davis held on to that ball.
- For a while, it looked as if the referees were going to take over the game, as there were eight penalties called in the first quarter alone. Some were legitimate, but each team had a big run taken back on holding calls that were borderline at best, and all the penalties really slowed the game's pace to a crawl and took the Bears' crowd out of the game. Speaking of which, John Madden would constantly express his surprise at the lack of noise the Bears fans were making, considering they were playing at home against a top-notch opponent. Eventually, this lethargy carried over to the Bears, who played with a lack of urgency and spark all game long. Even coach Mike Ditka was surprisingly calm as his team made mistake after mistake.
- The game was called by Pat Summerall and John Madden, which is always a good thing, unless the game is over and Madden blabs about whatever just happens to be on his mind at the time. He spent an entire minute talking about Redskins LB Matt Millen and how the number 57 just didn't suit Millen. In Madden's mind, 57 was too long a number. I have no idea what he meant by that, but that's what he said.
So that's that. After this game, the Redskins would win their next five games before finally losing to the Cowboys, then the Redskins would go on to win the Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills. The Bears would finish 1991 at 11-5, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys in what turned out to be the final playoff game Mike Ditka would coach, unless he decides to come back in the future, which seems unlikely. At the end of the day, the Bears just didn't have enough firepower to overtake the challenging Redskins' defense, and despite some shaky play from Mark Rypien and a running game that was ineffective, the Redskins made this game look easy. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Canon Video Game Review: Altered Beast (Sega Genesis)
Today's review comes from an idea from reader Ben W. Mr. W was playing Altered Beast as part of the Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Playstation3, and then suggested that I should do a review about this game. At first, I wasn't very receptive of this idea, but after thinking about it for more than five seconds, I couldn't think of a reason not to do it, so here we are. Altered Beast was the first 16-bit game to be released on home video game consoles, in this case being for the Sega Genesis. Published and Developed by Sega, Altered Beast was originally an arcade game before being ported onto the Genesis in 1989. So, while Altered Beast is a historically significant game, is is a very good game? Here is the cover for Altered Beast, courtesy of allgame.com
In Altered Beast, you are a dead Roman solider brought back to life by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the clutches of the nefarious Neff. Why Zeus decides to revive a dead guy instead of getting somebody else to rescue his daughter, or even do it himself, is a mystery. Anyway, you RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE, as Zeus commands you in a voice that sounds like a 14 year-old talking in a deep voice. Along the way, you must do battle with zombies, two-headed werewolves, and other mysterious creatures. If you hit enough werewolves, you get a power-up, where you turn into a slightly more powerful human. After the third power-up, you go into BEAST mode, becoming a werewolf or a tiger or some other powerful beast depending on what level you're on. After becoming and altered beast, the boss of the level will appear, so you have to do battle with that and defeat him to move on, where some Leonard Nimoy looking dude will strip you of your powerups before advancing. With each level, the process repeats itself. Get three power ups, fight the boss, move on. Simple enough, right?
Your ability to defeat your enemies is severely compromised by the fact that your character can't really do a whole lot. He can punch, kick, and jump, and that's pretty much it. This would be acceptable if your character didn't have the range of Mini-me. Therefore, you have to get really close to your opponent and hope that your punch lands before his does, basically. As for kicking, well our hero seems to favor the leg kick, because that's all he does, besides the non-effective 'lie on your back and kick straight up'. method. If you are to do a ducking attack, I'd recommend just doing a low punch instead, as at least you have range with that attack and it looks like you are punching your opponents in the family jewels. With each power-up, your strikes become more effective, and once you enter beast mode, you really start to kick ass, as now you can throw stuff at your opponents and do crazy flying attacks as well. Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of time, because the boss shows up pretty quickly after you turn into a beast. At each level, an Uncle Fester looking wizard will transform into some hideous creature and he'll start firing crap at you as well. At the first level, the guy turns into a hideous ogre and throws screaming heads at you. Yes, I said screaming heads. Here, take a look from this picture courtesty of mobygames.com:
As far as graphics go, it's not too bad considering it was the first 16-bit game to be released. Of course, there would be other 16-bit games with superior graphics later on, but at the time it was probably rather remarkable. The animations were a bit clunky, and I noticed a few issues with collision detection. Sound-wise, I must say that the score of Altered Beast was actually pretty good, and really added a lot to the atmosphere of the game. The voiceovers were kind of silly, and it got rather tiresome to hear "Welcome to your doom" at the end of each level. There are only five levels, sou if you know what you're doing, you could beat the game in 20 to 30 minutes. The controls are very simple (A punches, B kicks, C jumps), but I found them a bit sluggish at times, as I'd often times have to hit the punch button three or four times in order to get one punch in. At first, I thought it might be the controller, but after playing a couple of other games and having no trouble, I realized it was the game instead.
Overall, there are some people that seem to consider Altered Beast as a timeless classic. Well, even though it might be historically significant, I wouldn't consider it a classic by any means. The levels are repetitve, the controls are sluggish, and it really offers no replay value after the first time you beat it. For its time, Altered Beast was a great achievement, but time has passed this mediocre side-scroller by. Overall, I'd give it a 4.7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
In Altered Beast, you are a dead Roman solider brought back to life by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the clutches of the nefarious Neff. Why Zeus decides to revive a dead guy instead of getting somebody else to rescue his daughter, or even do it himself, is a mystery. Anyway, you RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE, as Zeus commands you in a voice that sounds like a 14 year-old talking in a deep voice. Along the way, you must do battle with zombies, two-headed werewolves, and other mysterious creatures. If you hit enough werewolves, you get a power-up, where you turn into a slightly more powerful human. After the third power-up, you go into BEAST mode, becoming a werewolf or a tiger or some other powerful beast depending on what level you're on. After becoming and altered beast, the boss of the level will appear, so you have to do battle with that and defeat him to move on, where some Leonard Nimoy looking dude will strip you of your powerups before advancing. With each level, the process repeats itself. Get three power ups, fight the boss, move on. Simple enough, right?
Your ability to defeat your enemies is severely compromised by the fact that your character can't really do a whole lot. He can punch, kick, and jump, and that's pretty much it. This would be acceptable if your character didn't have the range of Mini-me. Therefore, you have to get really close to your opponent and hope that your punch lands before his does, basically. As for kicking, well our hero seems to favor the leg kick, because that's all he does, besides the non-effective 'lie on your back and kick straight up'. method. If you are to do a ducking attack, I'd recommend just doing a low punch instead, as at least you have range with that attack and it looks like you are punching your opponents in the family jewels. With each power-up, your strikes become more effective, and once you enter beast mode, you really start to kick ass, as now you can throw stuff at your opponents and do crazy flying attacks as well. Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of time, because the boss shows up pretty quickly after you turn into a beast. At each level, an Uncle Fester looking wizard will transform into some hideous creature and he'll start firing crap at you as well. At the first level, the guy turns into a hideous ogre and throws screaming heads at you. Yes, I said screaming heads. Here, take a look from this picture courtesty of mobygames.com:
As far as graphics go, it's not too bad considering it was the first 16-bit game to be released. Of course, there would be other 16-bit games with superior graphics later on, but at the time it was probably rather remarkable. The animations were a bit clunky, and I noticed a few issues with collision detection. Sound-wise, I must say that the score of Altered Beast was actually pretty good, and really added a lot to the atmosphere of the game. The voiceovers were kind of silly, and it got rather tiresome to hear "Welcome to your doom" at the end of each level. There are only five levels, sou if you know what you're doing, you could beat the game in 20 to 30 minutes. The controls are very simple (A punches, B kicks, C jumps), but I found them a bit sluggish at times, as I'd often times have to hit the punch button three or four times in order to get one punch in. At first, I thought it might be the controller, but after playing a couple of other games and having no trouble, I realized it was the game instead.
Overall, there are some people that seem to consider Altered Beast as a timeless classic. Well, even though it might be historically significant, I wouldn't consider it a classic by any means. The levels are repetitve, the controls are sluggish, and it really offers no replay value after the first time you beat it. For its time, Altered Beast was a great achievement, but time has passed this mediocre side-scroller by. Overall, I'd give it a 4.7 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers, NFC Playoff Game, January 9, 1988
Earlier this week, the Green Bay Packers came into the home stadium of the number one seed in the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons, and beat them. Not only that, but the same thing happened in the AFC when the Jets beat the Patriots. Now, while the Jets beating the Patriots was kind of a big deal, I had a much more personal interest in the Falcons' loss over the Packers, as the Falcons have been my favorite team ever since I started watching football. As a Falcons fan, I'd be lying if I stated that I was totally shocked by the result, as rooting for a team that has had 12 winning seasons in its 45 year existence tends to make you expect the worst as a fan. But this was supposed to be different. After all, Matt Ryan had a 21-2 record in his career at the Georgia Dome, and the Falcons had beaten the Packers earlier in the season. But by now you probably know what happened, Aaron Rodgers played the best game of his life, the Falcons had no answers on defense and couldn't move the ball on offense, and the Packers were the team that advance to the NFC Championship Game.
So, you're probably wondering just what does all this have to do with a playoff game in 1987 (well, technically 1988, but it was during the 1987 season) between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Well, just like the Falcons, the 49ers were the number one seed in the conference that year, finishing with a 13-2 record (the season was shortened a game due to a player strike) and seemed poised to make a run at the Super Bowl. Unlike the 2010 Packers, the 1987 Vikings were not expected to make a game out of this, as they finished 8-7 and were picked by hardly anyone to beat the mighty 49ers, especially considering that they were starting a backup quarterback in Wade Wilson. So what happened? Well for one Vikings wide receiver Anthony Carter had the best playoff game a wide receiver has ever had, and the great Joe Montana struggled with the wet field and the Vikings pass rush, and the upstart Vikings knocked San Francisco out of the playoffs with a 36-24 victory in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. A few notes about this game:
- This game had a few, though not many, similarities to the debacle that occurred in Atlanta on Saturday night. For one, neither the Vikings nor the Packers ran the ball particularly well in their respective games. The Vikings' leading rusher was Darrin Nelson, who ran for a mere 42 yards, and their only big run gain came from a 30-yard reverse to Carter. Meanwhile, the Packers ran for 96 yards on 31 carries Saturday. Another thing was that both the Packers' and Vikings' quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Wade Wilson, respectively, were able to use their speed and scrambling ability to constantly escape the pass rush to keep the play alive and make a play downfield (although Rodgers is a much better player than Wilson). Also, in the second quarter of each game, both losing quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Matt Ryan, through an ill-advised out pattern to the left side that was picked off by a cornerback (Reggie Rutland for the Vikings, Tremon Williams for the Packers) which resulted in both men racing down the sidelines and score back-breaking touchdowns that put the game out of reach.
- The Vikings gained 397 yards on offense, and Anthony Carter was responsible for 257 of them. Carter did his damage in a variety of ways, from catching short slant patterns and picking up a few extra yards after the catch, to his 30 yard run on a reverse, to two big time catches on deep balls thrown by Wilson. In the second quarter, Wilson threw a pass that was tipped by 49ers cornerback Don Griffin, only for Carter to snatch it out of the air and race downfield for a 63 yard gain before finally being knocked out of bounds. In the third corner, Carter made one of the best catches I've ever seen with a leaping, over-the-shoulder grab on a deep pass on the sideline over cornerback Tim McKyer, and then somehow keeping both feet in bounds despite McKyer hitting him while in mid air. While Carter did not score a touchdown in this game, it's safe to say that without him, the Vikings would have never scored a touchdown in this game, and Carter did all of this while a) playing on a soggy field on which his foe, 49ers WR Jerry Rice, struggled on all game, and b) with a myraid of injuries, including a sore shoulder and strained groin muscle. Carter's 227 yards set an NFL record for most receiving yards in a playoff game (that has since been broken), and his 257 yards from scrimmage remains the second highest total in playoff history.
- Meanwhile, the 49ers offense wasn't quite as sharp, as Joe Montana had an uncharacteristically bad game in the playoffs. A lot of the credit for that should go to the Vikings defense, as DE Chris Doleman hounded Montana all day and got 2 sacks on LT Bubba Paris. Also, Vikings cornerbacks Carl Lee, Issiac Holt, and Reggie Rutland did what seemed like the impossible and held Jerry Rice, who came into the game scoring a touchdown in each of his last 13 games, to 3 catches for 28 yards and no touchdowns. Things got so bad for Montana that Bill Walsh pulled him in the middle of the third period for Steve Young, a much quicker quarterback. Young played pretty well, leading the 49ers with 72 rushing yards and completing 12 of 17 passes, and after every big play made by Young, the cameras would cut to Montana on the sidelines with an annoyed look on his face. At the end, Walsh and Montana had an awkward conversation on the sideline with Montana seemingly wanting nothing to do with his coach at the time, which was fascinating to watch. Say what you will about Walsh having a quick trigger finger, but the offense wasn't doing anything under Montana, and sometimes a change at QB will give a team the spark it needs, so it was the right call, even if it was ultimately for naught.
- There were a couple of points where the 49ers could have changed the course of the game. The biggest one came on the final play of the first quarter with the score knotted at 3. Wilson dropped back to pass, and threw to WR Leo Lewis in double coverage. S Ronnie Lott cut in front of the receiver to pick off the ball and was stopped deep in Vikings territory. But DB Tory Nixon grabbed Lewis just before the pass got there and was called for pass interference. To make matters worse, the interference was totally unnecessary as Lott would have picked the pass off even if Nixon hadn't laid a finger on Lewis. So instead of having the ball deep in their opponents territory, the 49ers allowed the first deep pass to Carter and eventually a touchdown pass to Carl Hilton. Also, the 49ers could have gone into halftime down by 7, but K Ray Wersching missed a 26 yard field goal at the end of the half, which certainly didn't help matters.
- Chuck Nelson, the Vikings kicker, came into the game with a 54 percent field goal success rate (13-24) and in 1987 was one out of eight of field goals past 40 yards, despite playing half his games in a climate controlled dome. In this game, the spirit of Lou Groza must have possessed Nelson, as he hit all five of his field goal attempts on a sloppy field, and two of those were past 40 yards, including a 47 yard kick in the wind that just got over the crossbar. The Vikings had some severe trouble in the red zone in this game, as they had no running game and would constantly get stuffed trying to run the ball in the end zone, so Nelson's contribution was quite important, and the Vikings may not of won had he not had the best game of his career that day.
So, what happened after the 49ers lost a game after being the number one seed. Well, they won the Super Bowl the next two seasons. The 1996 Broncos also repeated this feat after their shocking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So that's something for Falcons and Patriots fans to take comfort in. Of course, the 2008 Giants and Titans also lost in similar circumstances and haven't been back to the playoffs since, so you can never tell with these types of things. In this game, the 49ers had an off-day in every facet of the game and faced a wide receiver that had a career day. Stuff like that happens. If the two teams played 10 times, the 49ers would likely win seven or eight times out of 10. But in the playoffs, you only get one shot, and the Minnesota Vikings took advantage of their one chance by playing a great game. After this game, the Vikings came within a Darrell Green tipped pass from going to the Super Bowl, or at least to overtime in the NFC Championship Game, as they lost 17-10 to the Redskins when the game ended on a goal line stand. These two teams would meet again in the second round of the 1988 and 1989 playoffs, but the 49ers had the Vikings number each time. However, on this day, facing a team that coach Bill Walsh called his best team, the Vikings shocked the world, which goes to show that you never know what to expect in football.
Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than let me know about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
So, you're probably wondering just what does all this have to do with a playoff game in 1987 (well, technically 1988, but it was during the 1987 season) between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Well, just like the Falcons, the 49ers were the number one seed in the conference that year, finishing with a 13-2 record (the season was shortened a game due to a player strike) and seemed poised to make a run at the Super Bowl. Unlike the 2010 Packers, the 1987 Vikings were not expected to make a game out of this, as they finished 8-7 and were picked by hardly anyone to beat the mighty 49ers, especially considering that they were starting a backup quarterback in Wade Wilson. So what happened? Well for one Vikings wide receiver Anthony Carter had the best playoff game a wide receiver has ever had, and the great Joe Montana struggled with the wet field and the Vikings pass rush, and the upstart Vikings knocked San Francisco out of the playoffs with a 36-24 victory in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. A few notes about this game:
- This game had a few, though not many, similarities to the debacle that occurred in Atlanta on Saturday night. For one, neither the Vikings nor the Packers ran the ball particularly well in their respective games. The Vikings' leading rusher was Darrin Nelson, who ran for a mere 42 yards, and their only big run gain came from a 30-yard reverse to Carter. Meanwhile, the Packers ran for 96 yards on 31 carries Saturday. Another thing was that both the Packers' and Vikings' quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Wade Wilson, respectively, were able to use their speed and scrambling ability to constantly escape the pass rush to keep the play alive and make a play downfield (although Rodgers is a much better player than Wilson). Also, in the second quarter of each game, both losing quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Matt Ryan, through an ill-advised out pattern to the left side that was picked off by a cornerback (Reggie Rutland for the Vikings, Tremon Williams for the Packers) which resulted in both men racing down the sidelines and score back-breaking touchdowns that put the game out of reach.
- The Vikings gained 397 yards on offense, and Anthony Carter was responsible for 257 of them. Carter did his damage in a variety of ways, from catching short slant patterns and picking up a few extra yards after the catch, to his 30 yard run on a reverse, to two big time catches on deep balls thrown by Wilson. In the second quarter, Wilson threw a pass that was tipped by 49ers cornerback Don Griffin, only for Carter to snatch it out of the air and race downfield for a 63 yard gain before finally being knocked out of bounds. In the third corner, Carter made one of the best catches I've ever seen with a leaping, over-the-shoulder grab on a deep pass on the sideline over cornerback Tim McKyer, and then somehow keeping both feet in bounds despite McKyer hitting him while in mid air. While Carter did not score a touchdown in this game, it's safe to say that without him, the Vikings would have never scored a touchdown in this game, and Carter did all of this while a) playing on a soggy field on which his foe, 49ers WR Jerry Rice, struggled on all game, and b) with a myraid of injuries, including a sore shoulder and strained groin muscle. Carter's 227 yards set an NFL record for most receiving yards in a playoff game (that has since been broken), and his 257 yards from scrimmage remains the second highest total in playoff history.
- Meanwhile, the 49ers offense wasn't quite as sharp, as Joe Montana had an uncharacteristically bad game in the playoffs. A lot of the credit for that should go to the Vikings defense, as DE Chris Doleman hounded Montana all day and got 2 sacks on LT Bubba Paris. Also, Vikings cornerbacks Carl Lee, Issiac Holt, and Reggie Rutland did what seemed like the impossible and held Jerry Rice, who came into the game scoring a touchdown in each of his last 13 games, to 3 catches for 28 yards and no touchdowns. Things got so bad for Montana that Bill Walsh pulled him in the middle of the third period for Steve Young, a much quicker quarterback. Young played pretty well, leading the 49ers with 72 rushing yards and completing 12 of 17 passes, and after every big play made by Young, the cameras would cut to Montana on the sidelines with an annoyed look on his face. At the end, Walsh and Montana had an awkward conversation on the sideline with Montana seemingly wanting nothing to do with his coach at the time, which was fascinating to watch. Say what you will about Walsh having a quick trigger finger, but the offense wasn't doing anything under Montana, and sometimes a change at QB will give a team the spark it needs, so it was the right call, even if it was ultimately for naught.
- There were a couple of points where the 49ers could have changed the course of the game. The biggest one came on the final play of the first quarter with the score knotted at 3. Wilson dropped back to pass, and threw to WR Leo Lewis in double coverage. S Ronnie Lott cut in front of the receiver to pick off the ball and was stopped deep in Vikings territory. But DB Tory Nixon grabbed Lewis just before the pass got there and was called for pass interference. To make matters worse, the interference was totally unnecessary as Lott would have picked the pass off even if Nixon hadn't laid a finger on Lewis. So instead of having the ball deep in their opponents territory, the 49ers allowed the first deep pass to Carter and eventually a touchdown pass to Carl Hilton. Also, the 49ers could have gone into halftime down by 7, but K Ray Wersching missed a 26 yard field goal at the end of the half, which certainly didn't help matters.
- Chuck Nelson, the Vikings kicker, came into the game with a 54 percent field goal success rate (13-24) and in 1987 was one out of eight of field goals past 40 yards, despite playing half his games in a climate controlled dome. In this game, the spirit of Lou Groza must have possessed Nelson, as he hit all five of his field goal attempts on a sloppy field, and two of those were past 40 yards, including a 47 yard kick in the wind that just got over the crossbar. The Vikings had some severe trouble in the red zone in this game, as they had no running game and would constantly get stuffed trying to run the ball in the end zone, so Nelson's contribution was quite important, and the Vikings may not of won had he not had the best game of his career that day.
So, what happened after the 49ers lost a game after being the number one seed. Well, they won the Super Bowl the next two seasons. The 1996 Broncos also repeated this feat after their shocking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So that's something for Falcons and Patriots fans to take comfort in. Of course, the 2008 Giants and Titans also lost in similar circumstances and haven't been back to the playoffs since, so you can never tell with these types of things. In this game, the 49ers had an off-day in every facet of the game and faced a wide receiver that had a career day. Stuff like that happens. If the two teams played 10 times, the 49ers would likely win seven or eight times out of 10. But in the playoffs, you only get one shot, and the Minnesota Vikings took advantage of their one chance by playing a great game. After this game, the Vikings came within a Darrell Green tipped pass from going to the Super Bowl, or at least to overtime in the NFC Championship Game, as they lost 17-10 to the Redskins when the game ended on a goal line stand. These two teams would meet again in the second round of the 1988 and 1989 playoffs, but the 49ers had the Vikings number each time. However, on this day, facing a team that coach Bill Walsh called his best team, the Vikings shocked the world, which goes to show that you never know what to expect in football.
Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this or other posts, or ideas for future posts, than let me know about them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams, NFC Playoff Game, December 26, 1977
With the Minnesota Vikings playing so poorly tonight against the Chicago Bears in the outdoors, it got me in the frame of mind to watch another football game where the elements played a role. So I went online and watched the 1977 playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams, in a game that would later be dubbed "The Mud Bowl". The Rams had lost to Minnesota in both the 1974 and 1976 playoffs in Minnesota, and most experts figured that since the Rams had home field advantage this time around, that the Rams would finally dispose of their tormentors. But a torrential rainstorm made the L.A. Coliseum field a quagmire of slop, and as it turns out, actually gave the tough-minded Vikings the advantage, as they had more experience in rough conditions from playing their home games at Exhibition Stadium. Of course, the Vikings did the dumbest thing they could have done and moved to an indoor stadium five years later, taking away whatever homefield advantage that playing in the cold in Minnesota would have given them, but that's another topic for another time. Anyway, the Rams also had a huge advantage in that Minnesota QB Fran Tarkenton was injured and unable to play, so 32 year old journeyman Bob Lee had to take the snaps for the Vikings. All of that added up to a hill of beans for the Rams, as once again they found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard against the Vikings, losing by a 14-7 margin. A few notes about this game.
- The Vikings head coach, Bud Grant, seemed to have the right game plan in place for this type of game. With the field as bad as it was, Grant decided to have Lee throw often early in the game, although Lee didn't throw anything deep. It worked on the first drive, as Lee was 5 for 5 and the Vikings scored after a five yard run by Chuck Foreman. After that, Lee didn't complete any of the six passes he attempted, as by that point the Vikings switch exclusively to the running game, finishing the game with 28 straight running plays (the last three were really kneeldowns, but they count as run all the same).
- Both teams' featured running backs, Foreman and the Rams Lawrence McCutheon, actually did pretty well, as each player got over 100 yards. McCutheon broke off a couple of big runs to end up with 102 yards on 16 carries, while Foreman ran tough on 31 carries for 101 yards. The difference between the two teams became the fullbacks, as Robert Miller of the Vikings gained 66 yards on the ground and through the air, while the Rams' fullback, John Cappelletti, gained only 15 yards and missed large portions of the game due to being 'bone-weary', at least according to the announcers.
- Kudos goes to the Vikings, whom in spite of the muddy conditions, only fumbled the ball once early in the game, and didn't turn the ball over one time. This in spite of being -18 in turnovers during the regular season. Meanwhile, the Rams QB, Pat Haden, threw only six interceptions during the regular season, but threw three in this game against the Vikings (one was a desperation heave on the game's last play). That included a pick in the end zone by the Vikings Nate Allen, and another pick deep in Vikings territory on a wobbler by Paul Krause. Actually, I thought the Krause pick might have been tipped, but no, Haden's pass came out side to side instead of spiraling, and Krause was easily able to get under the ball and snatch it.
- Also, DT Alan Page of the Vikings was quite impressive in this game. After McCutheon broke off a 27 yard run early in the game, it was Page, a lineman, that chased down the speedy running back and prevented an even bigger gain. Page also got a sack when he sped by C Rich Saul in the third quarter, and also pressured Haden a few times and made some key plays stopping the run for the Vikings. Not bad for a 240 pound defensive tackle, which was small for that position even back in 1977. If Page came around today, he'd either be moved to linebacker or maybe defensive end. Quite frankly, you won't find many lineman in history that were as quick as Alan Page. Also, you won't find many as durable as Vikings DE Jim Marshall, as the 39 year old Marshall was playing in his 284th straight game. Not only that, but Marshall also made a few big plays for the Vikings, tipping a pass and making a big tackle for loss in the second half of the game. After the game, the network interviewed Page and Marshall, who both spent two minutes complaining about the officiating. If they did that today, chances are both men would be fined heavily, but that's just how things were back then.
- As for the announcers, it was a treat listening to Vin Scully. Yes, he's more known for baseball, but Scully's just as skilled at announcing football games. As for his partner, Alex Hawkins, well let's just say that he's at least better than Jon Gruden and Tony Siragusa.
- As you might expect for a game called the Mud Bowl, the field was a giant mess. Even at the beginning of the game, the whole middle of the field was nothing but mud. This resulted in everybody being covered in mud to the point where it was hard to tell who was who for the Vikings because their white jerseys were completely covered in mud. All except for Vikings' receivers Ahmad Rashad and Sammy White, who stood on the outside of the field and didn't have much to do as the Vikings ran every play right up the middle. Rashad caught a couple of passes early, while White wasn't even thrown the ball, as I can recall. As for the Rams, you could kind of see their numbers through the mud, as they were painted in yellow, but each team's offensive line was just coated in mud. The Vikings even changed jerseys at halftime, but about five plays in, they were just as dirty as they were before the change.
- I was struck mostly by how conservative each team was. Yes, the game was somewhat played in difficult conditions, but I was still surprised when the Vikings began to take a knee on first down with three minutes to play in the game. Also, when the Rams were driving during the last play of the game, they still kept two backs in the backfield and even ran a draw play with 30 seconds to go and no timeouts. I guarantee you won't see a team do that in the game nowadays. However, Bud Grant wasn't all conservative, as after his team scored in the fourth quarter, the Vikings pulled off an onside kick and kept the ball a little longer, which was great because nobody expected it, especially the guy trying to catch the ball.
- While Fran Tarkenton didn't play due to injury, another Hall of Fame quarterback was also on the sidelines. Yep, the Rams had Joe Namath on the bench, as he had lost the job to Haden early in the season. That didn't stop Hawkins and Scully from speculating whether we would see Namath come in at some point, but Broadway Joe never got into action in what would be his final game in uniform.
- The video I watched also showed the postgame show, and during it, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder declared that Chuck Knox had coached his last game in Los Angeles, and that George Allen would replace him. While Allen did not come to coach the Rams, Snyder was at least right about Knox, as he resigned before he could get fired, in spite of five straight division titles. It would not be the last game Knox coached for the Rams, as he came back in 1992 in an ill-fated move to coach the Rams through three straight losing seasons. While the Rams never reached the Super Bowl under Knox, they would reach the Superbowl in 1979 under Ray Malavasi. As for the Vikings, they got the privilege of being decimated by the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, losing to the 'Boys 26-13 in what proved to be Bud Grant's only loss in the NFC Championship game.
Well, thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this or previous reviews, then send them to me either by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com or by leaving a comment on the blog.
- The Vikings head coach, Bud Grant, seemed to have the right game plan in place for this type of game. With the field as bad as it was, Grant decided to have Lee throw often early in the game, although Lee didn't throw anything deep. It worked on the first drive, as Lee was 5 for 5 and the Vikings scored after a five yard run by Chuck Foreman. After that, Lee didn't complete any of the six passes he attempted, as by that point the Vikings switch exclusively to the running game, finishing the game with 28 straight running plays (the last three were really kneeldowns, but they count as run all the same).
- Both teams' featured running backs, Foreman and the Rams Lawrence McCutheon, actually did pretty well, as each player got over 100 yards. McCutheon broke off a couple of big runs to end up with 102 yards on 16 carries, while Foreman ran tough on 31 carries for 101 yards. The difference between the two teams became the fullbacks, as Robert Miller of the Vikings gained 66 yards on the ground and through the air, while the Rams' fullback, John Cappelletti, gained only 15 yards and missed large portions of the game due to being 'bone-weary', at least according to the announcers.
- Kudos goes to the Vikings, whom in spite of the muddy conditions, only fumbled the ball once early in the game, and didn't turn the ball over one time. This in spite of being -18 in turnovers during the regular season. Meanwhile, the Rams QB, Pat Haden, threw only six interceptions during the regular season, but threw three in this game against the Vikings (one was a desperation heave on the game's last play). That included a pick in the end zone by the Vikings Nate Allen, and another pick deep in Vikings territory on a wobbler by Paul Krause. Actually, I thought the Krause pick might have been tipped, but no, Haden's pass came out side to side instead of spiraling, and Krause was easily able to get under the ball and snatch it.
- Also, DT Alan Page of the Vikings was quite impressive in this game. After McCutheon broke off a 27 yard run early in the game, it was Page, a lineman, that chased down the speedy running back and prevented an even bigger gain. Page also got a sack when he sped by C Rich Saul in the third quarter, and also pressured Haden a few times and made some key plays stopping the run for the Vikings. Not bad for a 240 pound defensive tackle, which was small for that position even back in 1977. If Page came around today, he'd either be moved to linebacker or maybe defensive end. Quite frankly, you won't find many lineman in history that were as quick as Alan Page. Also, you won't find many as durable as Vikings DE Jim Marshall, as the 39 year old Marshall was playing in his 284th straight game. Not only that, but Marshall also made a few big plays for the Vikings, tipping a pass and making a big tackle for loss in the second half of the game. After the game, the network interviewed Page and Marshall, who both spent two minutes complaining about the officiating. If they did that today, chances are both men would be fined heavily, but that's just how things were back then.
- As for the announcers, it was a treat listening to Vin Scully. Yes, he's more known for baseball, but Scully's just as skilled at announcing football games. As for his partner, Alex Hawkins, well let's just say that he's at least better than Jon Gruden and Tony Siragusa.
- As you might expect for a game called the Mud Bowl, the field was a giant mess. Even at the beginning of the game, the whole middle of the field was nothing but mud. This resulted in everybody being covered in mud to the point where it was hard to tell who was who for the Vikings because their white jerseys were completely covered in mud. All except for Vikings' receivers Ahmad Rashad and Sammy White, who stood on the outside of the field and didn't have much to do as the Vikings ran every play right up the middle. Rashad caught a couple of passes early, while White wasn't even thrown the ball, as I can recall. As for the Rams, you could kind of see their numbers through the mud, as they were painted in yellow, but each team's offensive line was just coated in mud. The Vikings even changed jerseys at halftime, but about five plays in, they were just as dirty as they were before the change.
- I was struck mostly by how conservative each team was. Yes, the game was somewhat played in difficult conditions, but I was still surprised when the Vikings began to take a knee on first down with three minutes to play in the game. Also, when the Rams were driving during the last play of the game, they still kept two backs in the backfield and even ran a draw play with 30 seconds to go and no timeouts. I guarantee you won't see a team do that in the game nowadays. However, Bud Grant wasn't all conservative, as after his team scored in the fourth quarter, the Vikings pulled off an onside kick and kept the ball a little longer, which was great because nobody expected it, especially the guy trying to catch the ball.
- While Fran Tarkenton didn't play due to injury, another Hall of Fame quarterback was also on the sidelines. Yep, the Rams had Joe Namath on the bench, as he had lost the job to Haden early in the season. That didn't stop Hawkins and Scully from speculating whether we would see Namath come in at some point, but Broadway Joe never got into action in what would be his final game in uniform.
- The video I watched also showed the postgame show, and during it, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder declared that Chuck Knox had coached his last game in Los Angeles, and that George Allen would replace him. While Allen did not come to coach the Rams, Snyder was at least right about Knox, as he resigned before he could get fired, in spite of five straight division titles. It would not be the last game Knox coached for the Rams, as he came back in 1992 in an ill-fated move to coach the Rams through three straight losing seasons. While the Rams never reached the Super Bowl under Knox, they would reach the Superbowl in 1979 under Ray Malavasi. As for the Vikings, they got the privilege of being decimated by the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, losing to the 'Boys 26-13 in what proved to be Bud Grant's only loss in the NFC Championship game.
Well, thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any ideas for future reviews, or comments about this or previous reviews, then send them to me either by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com or by leaving a comment on the blog.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Miami Dolphins vs. Houston Oilers - November 20, 1978
Today's post is about the 1978 Monday Night Football classic between the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Oilers. I guess I could have waited another day to watch some NFL football, but since my viewing area always shows Carolina Panthers games, I decided to watch some good football instead. Well, let me tell you, this was one heck of a football game between two quality teams who laid it all out there on the field in front of a rabid Houston audience. The Oilers eventually won the game, 35-30. A few notes about this game.
- This game is primarily remembered as being Earl Campbell's breakout game, as the fullback scored four touchdowns in front of a national television audience. In his prime, Campbell was a force of nature. Not only was he the most punishing runner of his time and maybe of all-time, Campbell also possessed the speed to break off huge runs, as he did in this game with an 81-yard scamper, blowing by the entire Dolphins defense with nary a hand touching him. While that was impressive, I was more impressed with a 3 yard-run by Campbell early in the game. On this play, Campbell lowered his shoulder and lifted a defensive back in the air with a charging run. On another play, Campbell rammed his head into a linebacker, and the linebacker fell straight down on his butt. Overall, Campbell put together a tremendous performance, and for my money, he's the best power back to ever play in the NFL with the exception of Jim Brown.
- Of course, a running back is only as good as the blocking in front of him, and Campbell had some excellent blocking in front of him on this night, especially from his fullback Tim Wilson. Wilson, a man who would go on to play eight years in the NFL, did an excellent job blocking for his halfback. It seemed like the Oilers could run the ball at will, and a lot of that was due to Wilson, who constantly sealed off Miami's athletic linebackers and opened huge holes for Campbell to run through. As a whole, the Oilers' offensive line was very solid, despite losing starting guard George Reihner early in the game.
- Two things about Miami QB Bob Griese. One, Griese was wearing these huge black eyeglasses under his helmet the whole game, which is quite a rare look for an NFL player. To be honest, it looked as if an accountant was playing quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Two, Griese played a heck of a ballgame, throwing the ball with surgical precision and spreading the ball around to nine different receivers. Overall, Griese went 23 of 33 for 349 yards, and should have had even better numbers, as the Dolphins' receivers dropped a couple of easy passes. Griese only made one mistake in the game, and it happened to come at the worst possible time. With the Dolphins down 28-23 and driving down the field, Griese launched a pass down the middle of the field to his tight end, Andre Tillman. Unfortunately, the ball sailed on Griese and led Tillman into safety Mike Reinfeldt, who not only laid out Tillman with a big hit, but tipped the ball into the hands of Oilers linebacker Steve Kiner for the game clinching interception. Still, Griese was quite impressive, and announcer Howard Cosell repeatedly referred to Griese as the best quarterback in the game.
- Come to think of it, both Cosell and Frank Gifford were rather positive throughout the game. Sure, they weren't quite as complimentary as Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski on today's version of MNF, but the two were rather quick to dish out praise. Some of it was deserved, but a couple of comments were rather silly in hindsight, such as Cosell claiming that Dolphins linebacker Kim Bokamper would be better than Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks.
- At the beginning of the game, Dolphins RB Delvin Williams was the league's leading rusher. While Williams displayed a wide array of skills, from speed to pass catching to running tough up the middle, and played well, he did have one weakness that came into focus during the game. On more than one occasion, Williams decided to run backwards when faced with some traffic, which resulted in some big losses late in the game. These days, running backs are always taught to go forward, and this game showed why, as Williams had two runs with a 7-yard loss. Of course, he then followed up those losses with big runs, so I guess it evened out in the end.
- One player on Houston's defense that I couldn't help noticing was outside linebacker Robert Brazile. Brazile possessed incredible speed for a 230 lb man, and was the key man in Houston's 3-4 defense. In fact, I couldn't help but notice that Houston used Brazile much like the Giants would use Lawrence Taylor in later years, moving Brazile from one side to the other and constantly sending him on blitzes. I found this rather interesting because it is Taylor that is credited for being the original 3-4 rush linebacker, when three years prior to Taylor's debut, the Oilers were utilizing Brazile in the same manner, although he was sent into coverage quite often as well. The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that maybe we should take a second look at Brazile's accomplishments, as even though Brazlie played in seven Pro Bowls and was named to the All 1970s team, he is largely forgotten today, and that's a shame.
Well, I guess that's enough for now, as I am tired and I want to go to bed. If you have any memories or thoughts about this game, then I would like for you to post those in the comments section. Also, if you have any ideas for future posts, then let me know about them either by leaving a comment of by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
- This game is primarily remembered as being Earl Campbell's breakout game, as the fullback scored four touchdowns in front of a national television audience. In his prime, Campbell was a force of nature. Not only was he the most punishing runner of his time and maybe of all-time, Campbell also possessed the speed to break off huge runs, as he did in this game with an 81-yard scamper, blowing by the entire Dolphins defense with nary a hand touching him. While that was impressive, I was more impressed with a 3 yard-run by Campbell early in the game. On this play, Campbell lowered his shoulder and lifted a defensive back in the air with a charging run. On another play, Campbell rammed his head into a linebacker, and the linebacker fell straight down on his butt. Overall, Campbell put together a tremendous performance, and for my money, he's the best power back to ever play in the NFL with the exception of Jim Brown.
- Of course, a running back is only as good as the blocking in front of him, and Campbell had some excellent blocking in front of him on this night, especially from his fullback Tim Wilson. Wilson, a man who would go on to play eight years in the NFL, did an excellent job blocking for his halfback. It seemed like the Oilers could run the ball at will, and a lot of that was due to Wilson, who constantly sealed off Miami's athletic linebackers and opened huge holes for Campbell to run through. As a whole, the Oilers' offensive line was very solid, despite losing starting guard George Reihner early in the game.
- Two things about Miami QB Bob Griese. One, Griese was wearing these huge black eyeglasses under his helmet the whole game, which is quite a rare look for an NFL player. To be honest, it looked as if an accountant was playing quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Two, Griese played a heck of a ballgame, throwing the ball with surgical precision and spreading the ball around to nine different receivers. Overall, Griese went 23 of 33 for 349 yards, and should have had even better numbers, as the Dolphins' receivers dropped a couple of easy passes. Griese only made one mistake in the game, and it happened to come at the worst possible time. With the Dolphins down 28-23 and driving down the field, Griese launched a pass down the middle of the field to his tight end, Andre Tillman. Unfortunately, the ball sailed on Griese and led Tillman into safety Mike Reinfeldt, who not only laid out Tillman with a big hit, but tipped the ball into the hands of Oilers linebacker Steve Kiner for the game clinching interception. Still, Griese was quite impressive, and announcer Howard Cosell repeatedly referred to Griese as the best quarterback in the game.
- Come to think of it, both Cosell and Frank Gifford were rather positive throughout the game. Sure, they weren't quite as complimentary as Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski on today's version of MNF, but the two were rather quick to dish out praise. Some of it was deserved, but a couple of comments were rather silly in hindsight, such as Cosell claiming that Dolphins linebacker Kim Bokamper would be better than Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks.
- At the beginning of the game, Dolphins RB Delvin Williams was the league's leading rusher. While Williams displayed a wide array of skills, from speed to pass catching to running tough up the middle, and played well, he did have one weakness that came into focus during the game. On more than one occasion, Williams decided to run backwards when faced with some traffic, which resulted in some big losses late in the game. These days, running backs are always taught to go forward, and this game showed why, as Williams had two runs with a 7-yard loss. Of course, he then followed up those losses with big runs, so I guess it evened out in the end.
- One player on Houston's defense that I couldn't help noticing was outside linebacker Robert Brazile. Brazile possessed incredible speed for a 230 lb man, and was the key man in Houston's 3-4 defense. In fact, I couldn't help but notice that Houston used Brazile much like the Giants would use Lawrence Taylor in later years, moving Brazile from one side to the other and constantly sending him on blitzes. I found this rather interesting because it is Taylor that is credited for being the original 3-4 rush linebacker, when three years prior to Taylor's debut, the Oilers were utilizing Brazile in the same manner, although he was sent into coverage quite often as well. The point I'm trying to make, I guess, is that maybe we should take a second look at Brazile's accomplishments, as even though Brazlie played in seven Pro Bowls and was named to the All 1970s team, he is largely forgotten today, and that's a shame.
Well, I guess that's enough for now, as I am tired and I want to go to bed. If you have any memories or thoughts about this game, then I would like for you to post those in the comments section. Also, if you have any ideas for future posts, then let me know about them either by leaving a comment of by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers, NFC Championship Game, January 14, 1990
Well, I was ready for some football today, so I decided to take in a game from the past. This particular game was the 1989 NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, played at Candlestick park in San Francisco. The 49ers went 14-2 during the regular season and had to be considered the favorites, but the Rams seemed to be getting hot at the right moment, winning two straight road games against the Eagles and Giants to get to this point. Not to mention that Los Angeles had beaten San Francisco, at Candlestick, earlier in the season, and nearly beat them again in Los Angeles. This game featured two teams that are very familiar with each other, with both teams having top notch offenses that few other teams had been able to stop during the regular season. This could have been a heck of a game. Instead, the 49ers completely dominated and made the Rams look terrible. A few thoughts from this game.
- This was actually a close game for a while, as the Rams stopped the Niners on the first drive and drove down the field for a 23-yard field goal. If there was one play that could have completly changed the game, it came late in the first quarter with the Rams up 3-0 and at the San Francisco 40 yard line. The Rams faked a reverse, and quarterback Jim Everett fired deep to an open Willie "Flipper" Anderson. It looked like a sure touchdown, but free safety Ronnie Lott raced from the other side of the field and got to the ball just in time to deflect it out of bounds. It was one of the better plays you will see a safety make, and if Lott hadn't made that play, the Rams are up 10-0 and who knows what happens from there. Instead, the Rams were forced to punt, and the rest is history.
- Joe Montana, the 49ers quarterback, just carved the Rams' defense up all day long. Montana completed 26 out of 30 passes for 262 yards. The Rams seemed determined to not let the deep ball beat them, so what did Montana do? Well, he did an excellent job of finding the weakness of the Rams coverage nearly every time he went back to pass. The Rams were forced to start a young James Washington at safety, and while Washington would later become a good player with the Dallas Cowboys, it was clear that he was overmatched in this game. Montana zeroed in on Washington, constantly picking on him and working the middle of the field with a lot of success.
- If there was one drive that summed up the game, it came with two minutes left in the first half. With the score 14-3 San Francisco, the Niners started at their own 18 yard-line, and from there Montana went to work, spreading the ball out to different recievers, from star running back Roger Craig to wideout Mike Sherrard, who was only playing his second game in three years due to injuries. Even after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (which was unwarranted, by the way, as the Rams were more at fault) pushed the Niners back fifteen yards to the Rams' 18 with 14 seconds left, Montana and the 49ers calmly and cooly came right back, as Montana found John Taylor in the end zone after Taylor burnt Leroy Irvin on a slant route for a touchdown. After the extra point, the 49ers were up 21-3 and never looked back.
- Tom Rathman, the 49ers Fullback, was quite simply a beast. He was one hard man to bring down, and when you did bring him down he would make sure it would be a painful experience for the defender. At one point he dragged Washington a couple of yards downfield before going down, and Rathman was constantly running over defenders. Oh yeah, Roger Craig wasn't any easier to bring down either, as his high-kicking running style usually left defenders with a knee in the face. The two backs combined for 245 yards from scrimmage and made life tough for Rams defenders.
- You know what you don't see at all anymore? Kickers that kick the ball barefoot. The Rams had one in Mike Lansford, who wore a shoe on his plant foot and left his kicking foot bare. Even when the field was cold or muddy, and this game featured quite a muddy field, Lansford left the foot sans shoe. Since he lasted nine years in the NFL, I guess it worked for him, but I doubt if we will ever see another barefoot kicker again in the NFL. It seems like kicking the ball with a bare foot would hurt like hell, but what do I know?
- This was not a good game for Rams QB Jim Everett, and in many ways his performance in this game affected him for the rest of his career. Everett started out okay, but the 49ers pass rush was getting to him, and Everett started to make mistakes, throwing constantly into double coverage, not stepping into his throws for fear of getting hit, which led to underthrown passes, and throwing three interceptions, two of which I wondered just what the heck he was trying to do, as there were at least three 49ers around the area he threw it. The lowpoint for Everett, and the play that ultimately defined his career, came in the third quarter. On third down, Everett dropped back to pass. With no one really close to hitting him, Everett dived on the ground with the ball, eventually being touched down for a sack. Check it out for yourself:
- From that point on, the Rams and their fans never truly believed in Everett, a quarterback who by the way, led the NFL in touchdown passes in 1988 and 1989. Although Everett put up good stats in 1990, the Rams fell to 5-11 and both Everett and the Rams went downhill from there until Everett was shipped to New Orleans and the Rams left L.A. to go to St. Louis. If only Ronnie Lott hadn't of gotten to that ball, than Jim Everett might be a Hall of Fame quarterback in the Rams might still be in Los Angeles. Funny how one single play can change everything, isn't it?
Bottom line, the Rams got licked, and this game is just classic Montana, as he leads the 49ers with machine like precision. At times it just looked too easy, as if Montana and his receivers were just playing catch in the backyard. From here, the 49ers would crush the Denver Broncos by a 900-10 margin (actually 55-10) and win the Super Bowl, while the Rams would have to leave town before reaching the NFC Championship Game again. Today, Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and the rest of 1989 49ers are remembered as one of the greatest teams of all-time, while Jim Everett is remembered mainly for this video:
Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Next time on The Canon Review should be fun, provided you're a fan of the former wrestler Van Hammer. Otherwise, well, you have been warned.
- This was actually a close game for a while, as the Rams stopped the Niners on the first drive and drove down the field for a 23-yard field goal. If there was one play that could have completly changed the game, it came late in the first quarter with the Rams up 3-0 and at the San Francisco 40 yard line. The Rams faked a reverse, and quarterback Jim Everett fired deep to an open Willie "Flipper" Anderson. It looked like a sure touchdown, but free safety Ronnie Lott raced from the other side of the field and got to the ball just in time to deflect it out of bounds. It was one of the better plays you will see a safety make, and if Lott hadn't made that play, the Rams are up 10-0 and who knows what happens from there. Instead, the Rams were forced to punt, and the rest is history.
- Joe Montana, the 49ers quarterback, just carved the Rams' defense up all day long. Montana completed 26 out of 30 passes for 262 yards. The Rams seemed determined to not let the deep ball beat them, so what did Montana do? Well, he did an excellent job of finding the weakness of the Rams coverage nearly every time he went back to pass. The Rams were forced to start a young James Washington at safety, and while Washington would later become a good player with the Dallas Cowboys, it was clear that he was overmatched in this game. Montana zeroed in on Washington, constantly picking on him and working the middle of the field with a lot of success.
- If there was one drive that summed up the game, it came with two minutes left in the first half. With the score 14-3 San Francisco, the Niners started at their own 18 yard-line, and from there Montana went to work, spreading the ball out to different recievers, from star running back Roger Craig to wideout Mike Sherrard, who was only playing his second game in three years due to injuries. Even after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (which was unwarranted, by the way, as the Rams were more at fault) pushed the Niners back fifteen yards to the Rams' 18 with 14 seconds left, Montana and the 49ers calmly and cooly came right back, as Montana found John Taylor in the end zone after Taylor burnt Leroy Irvin on a slant route for a touchdown. After the extra point, the 49ers were up 21-3 and never looked back.
- Tom Rathman, the 49ers Fullback, was quite simply a beast. He was one hard man to bring down, and when you did bring him down he would make sure it would be a painful experience for the defender. At one point he dragged Washington a couple of yards downfield before going down, and Rathman was constantly running over defenders. Oh yeah, Roger Craig wasn't any easier to bring down either, as his high-kicking running style usually left defenders with a knee in the face. The two backs combined for 245 yards from scrimmage and made life tough for Rams defenders.
- You know what you don't see at all anymore? Kickers that kick the ball barefoot. The Rams had one in Mike Lansford, who wore a shoe on his plant foot and left his kicking foot bare. Even when the field was cold or muddy, and this game featured quite a muddy field, Lansford left the foot sans shoe. Since he lasted nine years in the NFL, I guess it worked for him, but I doubt if we will ever see another barefoot kicker again in the NFL. It seems like kicking the ball with a bare foot would hurt like hell, but what do I know?
- This was not a good game for Rams QB Jim Everett, and in many ways his performance in this game affected him for the rest of his career. Everett started out okay, but the 49ers pass rush was getting to him, and Everett started to make mistakes, throwing constantly into double coverage, not stepping into his throws for fear of getting hit, which led to underthrown passes, and throwing three interceptions, two of which I wondered just what the heck he was trying to do, as there were at least three 49ers around the area he threw it. The lowpoint for Everett, and the play that ultimately defined his career, came in the third quarter. On third down, Everett dropped back to pass. With no one really close to hitting him, Everett dived on the ground with the ball, eventually being touched down for a sack. Check it out for yourself:
- From that point on, the Rams and their fans never truly believed in Everett, a quarterback who by the way, led the NFL in touchdown passes in 1988 and 1989. Although Everett put up good stats in 1990, the Rams fell to 5-11 and both Everett and the Rams went downhill from there until Everett was shipped to New Orleans and the Rams left L.A. to go to St. Louis. If only Ronnie Lott hadn't of gotten to that ball, than Jim Everett might be a Hall of Fame quarterback in the Rams might still be in Los Angeles. Funny how one single play can change everything, isn't it?
Bottom line, the Rams got licked, and this game is just classic Montana, as he leads the 49ers with machine like precision. At times it just looked too easy, as if Montana and his receivers were just playing catch in the backyard. From here, the 49ers would crush the Denver Broncos by a 900-10 margin (actually 55-10) and win the Super Bowl, while the Rams would have to leave town before reaching the NFC Championship Game again. Today, Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and the rest of 1989 49ers are remembered as one of the greatest teams of all-time, while Jim Everett is remembered mainly for this video:
Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Next time on The Canon Review should be fun, provided you're a fan of the former wrestler Van Hammer. Otherwise, well, you have been warned.
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