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2020 Greatest of All Time Sports Draft-Zow wins, Judges still suck (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter timschochet
- Start date
Dungeon Master
Footballguy
Without looking too deeply, Carew probably would have been ahead of Chipper and behind Brett.
Zegras11
Footballguy
Thanks, it was actually a lot of work, but all the summary and stories are right from the Wiki pages. I did mark down in my notes initially which ones to grab, so that these writeups would not take forever.
I've told this story before.... I wish I could write well, but my 8th English teacher was in Playboy the year before and College Freshman English teacher passed away a month into the class. We were given the choice of continuing with the new teacher or taking a C and not having to return.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Zow
Footballguy
That was Dungy and Manning's first SB win, making Tony the first Black coach to win a Super Bowl, and Manning finally got that first ring. It wasn't exciting, but it was at least somewhat historical. It also featured Rex Grossman, possibly the worst QB to make it to a Super Bowl.
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 2
Super Bowl I (1)
Date: Jan 15, 1967
Location: Los Angeles
Final Score: GB 35, KC 10
Line: GB -14
Halftime Show: Al Hirt, and marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State University
Cost of 30 second ad: $42,000
QB Stats: Dawson 16-27-1 211 1td, Starr 16-23-1 250 2td
Other Notable Stats: M.McGee 7-138 2td. Not much else. KC had five guys rush only 19 times. Dawson led with 24 yards. Jim Tayor and Elijah Pitts (now there's a FB name!) combined for 28-101, 3tds.
Big Plays: Longest Play was Max McGee's 37 yd TD catch with Rocket Jet Pack footage!.
Game Summary:
Entire Game (read below about it please)
First quarter
The teams traded punts on their first possessions, then the Packers jumped to an early 7–0 lead, driving 80 yards in six plays. The drive was highlighted by Starr's passes, to Marv Fleming for 11, to Elijah Pitts for 22 yards on a scramble, and to Carroll Dale for 12 yards. On the last play, Bart Starr threw a pass to reserve receiver Max McGee, who had replaced re-injured starter Boyd Dowler earlier in the drive. (Dowler had injured his shoulder two weeks prior after scoring a third quarter touchdown; Cowboys defensive back Mike Gaechter had upended him several steps after scoring and he landed awkwardly.) McGee slipped past Chiefs cornerback Willie Mitchell, made a one-handed catch at the 23-yard line, and then took off for a 37-yard touchdown reception (McGee had also caught a touchdown pass after replacing an injured Dowler in the NFL championship game). On their ensuing drive, the Chiefs moved the ball to Green Bay's 33-yard line, but kicker Mike Mercer missed a 40-yard field goal.
Second quarter
Early in the second quarter, Kansas City drove 66 yards in six plays, featuring a 31-yard reception by receiver Otis Taylor, to tie the game on a seven-yard pass to Curtis McClinton from quarterback Len Dawson. But the Packers responded on their next drive, advancing 73 yards down the field and scoring on fullback Jim Taylor's 14-yard touchdown run with the team's famed "Power Sweep" play. Taylor's touchdown run was the first in Super Bowl history. This drive was again highlighted by Starr's key passes. He hit McGee for 10 yards on third and five; Dale for 15 on third and ten; Fleming for 11 on third and five; and Pitts for 10 yards on third and seven to set up Taylor's TD run on the next play.
Dawson was sacked for an eight-yard loss on the first play of the Chiefs' next drive, but he followed it up with four consecutive completions for 58 yards, including a 27-yarder to Chris Burford. This set up Mercer's 31-yard field goal to make the score 14–10 at the end of the half.
At halftime, the Chiefs appeared to have a chance to win. Many people watching the game were surprised how close the score was and how well the AFL's champions were playing. Kansas City actually outgained Green Bay in total yards, 181–164, and had 11 first downs compared to the Packers' nine. The Chiefs were exuberant at halftime. Hank Stram said later, "I honestly thought we would come back and win it." The Packers were disappointed with the quality of their play in the first half. "The coach was concerned", said defensive end Willie Davis later. Lombardi told them the game plan was sound, but that they had to tweak some things and execute better.
Note: According to NBC Radio announcer Jim Simpson's report at halftime of the game, Kansas City led 11 to 9 in first downs at halftime, 181 to 164 in total yards, and 142 to 113 in passing yards (Green Bay led 51 to 39 in rushing yards). Bart Starr completed eight of 13 with no interceptions, while Len Dawson was 11 of 15 with no interceptions. Green Bay led 14–10 at halftime. Green Bay had the ball five times, although only for a minute or so on the last possession; they punted on their first possession, scored a touchdown on their second, punted on their third, scored a touchdown on their fourth, and had the ball when the half ended on their fifth. Kansas City had the ball four times – punting on their first possession, driving to a missed field goal on their second possession, scoring a touchdown on their third, and kicking a field goal on their fourth.
This means, in the second half, Green Bay led 12 to six in first downs, 197 to 58 in total yards, 115 to 25 in passing yards, and 82 to 33 in rushing yards (the Packers won the second half, 21–0). Starr and his late-game replacement, Zeke Bratkowski, were eight for 11 with one interception; Dawson and his late-game replacement, Pete Beathard, were just six for 17, also with one interception. Each team had the ball seven times in the second half, although Green Bay's first possession was just one play and their seventh possession was abbreviated because the game ended. Green Bay scored a touchdown on their first (one play) possession, punted on their second, scored a touchdown on their third, was intercepted at KC's 15-yard line on their fourth (just Starr's fourth interception of the year), scored a touchdown on their fifth, punted on their sixth, and had the ball when the game ended on their seventh possession. Kansas City was intercepted on their first possession – Wood's return to the five set up Pitts' touchdown which made the score 21–10 – and then punted on each of their next six possessions.
Third quarter
On their first drive of the second half, the Chiefs advanced to their own 49-yard line. But on a third-down pass play, a heavy blitz by linebackers Dave Robinson and Lee Roy Caffey collapsed the Chiefs pocket. Robinson, tackle Henry Jordan, and Packer right end Lionel Aldridge converged on Dawson who threw weakly toward tight end Fred Arbanas. The wobbly pass was intercepted by Willie Wood. Wood raced 50 yards to Kansas City's five-yard line where Mike Garrett dragged him down from behind. This was "the biggest play of the game," wrote Starr later. On their first play after the turnover, running back Elijah Pitts scored on a five-yard touchdown run off left tackle to give the Packers a 21–10 lead. Stram agreed that it was the critical point of the game. The Packers defense then dominated the Chiefs offense for the rest of the game, allowing them to cross midfield only once, and for just one play. The Chiefs were forced to deviate from their game plan, and that hurt them. The Kansas City offense totaled only 12 yards in the third quarter, and Dawson was held to five of 12 second-half pass completions for 59 yards.
Meanwhile, Green Bay forced Kansas City to punt from their own two-yard line after sacking Dawson twice and got the ball back with good field position on their own 44-yard line (despite a clipping penalty on the punt return). McGee subsequently caught three passes for 40 yards on a 56-yard drive. Taylor ran for one first down, Starr hit McGee for 16 yards on third-and-11, and a third down sweep with Taylor carrying gained eight yards and a first down at the Kansas City 13. The drive ended with Starr's 13-yard touchdown toss to McGee on a post pattern.
Fourth quarter
Midway through the fourth quarter, Starr completed a 25-yard pass to Carroll Dale and a 37-yard strike to McGee, moving the ball to the Chiefs 18-yard line. Four plays later, Pitts scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run to close out the scoring, giving the Packers the 35–10 win. Also in the fourth quarter, Fred Williamson, who had boasted about his "hammer" prior to the game, was knocked out when his head collided with running back Donny Anderson's knee, and then suffered a broken arm when Chiefs linebacker Sherrill Headrick fell on him. Williamson had three tackles for the game.
Hornung was the only Packer to not see any action. Lombardi had asked him in the fourth quarter if he wanted to go in, but Hornung declined, not wanting to aggravate a pinched nerve in his neck. McGee, who caught only four passes for 91 yards and one touchdown during the season, finished Super Bowl I with seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. After the game was over, a reporter asked Vince Lombardi about if he thought Kansas City was a good team. Lombardi responded that though the Chiefs were an excellent, well-coached club, he thought several NFL teams such as Dallas were better
#1. and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It remains the only Super Bowl to have been simulcast in the United States by two networks. NBC had the rights to nationally televise AFL games, while CBS held the rights to broadcast NFL games; both were allowed to televise the game
2) The players' shares were $15K each for the winning team and $7,500 each for the losing team.[16] This was in addition to the league championship money earned two weeks earlier: the Packers shares were $8,600 each[17] and the Chiefs were $5,308 each
3) Many people considered it fitting that the Chiefs and the Packers would be the teams to play in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had founded the AFL, while Green Bay was widely considered one of the better teams in NFL history (even if they could not claim to be founding members of their own league, as the Packers joined the NFL in 1921, a year after the league's formation). Lombardi was under intense pressure from the entire NFL to make sure the Packers not only won the game, but preferably won big to demonstrate the superiority of the NFL
4) The Chiefs saw this game as an opportunity to show they were good enough to play against any NFL team. One player who was really looking forward to competing in this game was Len Dawson, who had spent three years as a backup in the NFL before joining the Chiefs. However, the Chiefs were also nervous. Linebacker E. J. Holub said, "the Chiefs were scared to death. Guys in the tunnel were throwing up
5) The two teams played with their respective footballs from each league; the Chiefs used the AFL ball, the slightly narrower and longer J5V by Spalding, and the Packers played with the NFL ball, "The Duke" by Wilson.
6) Justin Peters of Slate watched all the Super Bowls over a two-month period in 2015 before Super Bowl 50. He mentioned the first Super Bowl's having "two dudes in rocket packs who flew around the stadium. I can forgive a lot of bad football as long as the game features two dudes in honest-to-God rocket packs.
7) Super Bowl I was the only Super Bowl that was not a sellout, despite the TV blackout in Los Angeles (at the time, local blackout was required even at a neutral site and even if the stadium did sell out). Of the 94,000-seat capacity in the Coliseum, 33,000 went unsold. Days before the game, local newspapers printed editorials about what they viewed as a then-exorbitant $12 ($92.18 in 2019 money) price for tickets, and wrote stories about how viewers could pull in the game from stations in surrounding markets such as Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
All known broadcast tapes of the game in its entirety were subsequently wiped by both NBC and CBS to save costs, a common practice in the TV industry at the time as videotapes were very expensive (one half-hour tape cost around $300 at the time, equivalent to $2260 in 2019 dollars), plus it was not foreseen how big the game was going to become. This has prevented studies comparing each network's respective telecast.
For many years, only two small samples of the telecasts were known to have survived, showing Max McGee's opening touchdown and Jim Taylor's first touchdown run. Both were shown in 1991 on HBO's Play by Play: A History of Sports Television and on the Super Bowl XXV pregame show.
In January 2011, a partial recording of the CBS telecast was reported to have been found in a Pennsylvania attic and restored by the Paley Center for Media in New York.The two-inch color videotape is the most complete version of the broadcast yet discovered, missing only the halftime show and most of the third quarter. The NFL owns the broadcast copyright and has blocked its sale or distribution. After remaining anonymous and communicating with the media only through his lawyer since the recording's discovery, the owner of the recording, Troy Haupt, came forward to The New York Times in 2016 to tell his side of the story.
NFL Films had a camera crew present, and retains a substantial amount of film footage in its archives, some of which has been released in its film productions. One such presentation was the NFL's Greatest Games episode about this Super Bowl, entitled The Spectacle of a Sport (also the title of the Super Bowl I highlight film).
On January 11, 2016, the NFL announced that, "in an exhaustive process that took months to complete, NFL Films searched its enormous archives of footage and were able to locate all 145 plays from Super Bowl I from more than a couple dozen disparate sources. Once all the plays were located, NFL Films was able to put the plays in order and stitch them together while fully restoring, re-mastering, and color-correcting the footage. Finally, audio from the NBC Sports radio broadcast featuring announcers Jim Simpson and George Ratterman was layered on top of the footage to complete the broadcast. The final result represents the only known video footage of the entire action from Super Bowl I." It then announced that NFL Network would broadcast the newly pieced together footage in its entirety on January 15, 2016–the 49th anniversary of the contest. This footage was nearly all on film with the exception of several player introductions and a post game locker room chat between Pat Summerall and Pete Rozelle.
My Comments: I had just turned seven when this game was played. This was randomly the second-to-last game I researched, and I wondered up until that point if I actually watched the game or not. Wasn't until the research that I found it was blacked out, so that would be a no, Bob. But, I likely would have watched it and I will watch the youtube link I posted soon. The game itself was pretty solid the first half as the Chiefs played right with them. Then the Packers stepped it up and the Chiefs folded in the second half and destroyed them. I guess that and SB II set up Willie Joe's SB III well. I wonder where I would have ranked it? I vividly remember watching it. This game had twice the winning margin of any other game on the list.....
Super Bowl I (1)
Date: Jan 15, 1967
Location: Los Angeles
Final Score: GB 35, KC 10
Line: GB -14
Halftime Show: Al Hirt, and marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State University
Cost of 30 second ad: $42,000
QB Stats: Dawson 16-27-1 211 1td, Starr 16-23-1 250 2td
Other Notable Stats: M.McGee 7-138 2td. Not much else. KC had five guys rush only 19 times. Dawson led with 24 yards. Jim Tayor and Elijah Pitts (now there's a FB name!) combined for 28-101, 3tds.
Big Plays: Longest Play was Max McGee's 37 yd TD catch with Rocket Jet Pack footage!.
Game Summary:
Entire Game (read below about it please)
First quarter
The teams traded punts on their first possessions, then the Packers jumped to an early 7–0 lead, driving 80 yards in six plays. The drive was highlighted by Starr's passes, to Marv Fleming for 11, to Elijah Pitts for 22 yards on a scramble, and to Carroll Dale for 12 yards. On the last play, Bart Starr threw a pass to reserve receiver Max McGee, who had replaced re-injured starter Boyd Dowler earlier in the drive. (Dowler had injured his shoulder two weeks prior after scoring a third quarter touchdown; Cowboys defensive back Mike Gaechter had upended him several steps after scoring and he landed awkwardly.) McGee slipped past Chiefs cornerback Willie Mitchell, made a one-handed catch at the 23-yard line, and then took off for a 37-yard touchdown reception (McGee had also caught a touchdown pass after replacing an injured Dowler in the NFL championship game). On their ensuing drive, the Chiefs moved the ball to Green Bay's 33-yard line, but kicker Mike Mercer missed a 40-yard field goal.
Second quarter
Early in the second quarter, Kansas City drove 66 yards in six plays, featuring a 31-yard reception by receiver Otis Taylor, to tie the game on a seven-yard pass to Curtis McClinton from quarterback Len Dawson. But the Packers responded on their next drive, advancing 73 yards down the field and scoring on fullback Jim Taylor's 14-yard touchdown run with the team's famed "Power Sweep" play. Taylor's touchdown run was the first in Super Bowl history. This drive was again highlighted by Starr's key passes. He hit McGee for 10 yards on third and five; Dale for 15 on third and ten; Fleming for 11 on third and five; and Pitts for 10 yards on third and seven to set up Taylor's TD run on the next play.
Dawson was sacked for an eight-yard loss on the first play of the Chiefs' next drive, but he followed it up with four consecutive completions for 58 yards, including a 27-yarder to Chris Burford. This set up Mercer's 31-yard field goal to make the score 14–10 at the end of the half.
At halftime, the Chiefs appeared to have a chance to win. Many people watching the game were surprised how close the score was and how well the AFL's champions were playing. Kansas City actually outgained Green Bay in total yards, 181–164, and had 11 first downs compared to the Packers' nine. The Chiefs were exuberant at halftime. Hank Stram said later, "I honestly thought we would come back and win it." The Packers were disappointed with the quality of their play in the first half. "The coach was concerned", said defensive end Willie Davis later. Lombardi told them the game plan was sound, but that they had to tweak some things and execute better.
Note: According to NBC Radio announcer Jim Simpson's report at halftime of the game, Kansas City led 11 to 9 in first downs at halftime, 181 to 164 in total yards, and 142 to 113 in passing yards (Green Bay led 51 to 39 in rushing yards). Bart Starr completed eight of 13 with no interceptions, while Len Dawson was 11 of 15 with no interceptions. Green Bay led 14–10 at halftime. Green Bay had the ball five times, although only for a minute or so on the last possession; they punted on their first possession, scored a touchdown on their second, punted on their third, scored a touchdown on their fourth, and had the ball when the half ended on their fifth. Kansas City had the ball four times – punting on their first possession, driving to a missed field goal on their second possession, scoring a touchdown on their third, and kicking a field goal on their fourth.
This means, in the second half, Green Bay led 12 to six in first downs, 197 to 58 in total yards, 115 to 25 in passing yards, and 82 to 33 in rushing yards (the Packers won the second half, 21–0). Starr and his late-game replacement, Zeke Bratkowski, were eight for 11 with one interception; Dawson and his late-game replacement, Pete Beathard, were just six for 17, also with one interception. Each team had the ball seven times in the second half, although Green Bay's first possession was just one play and their seventh possession was abbreviated because the game ended. Green Bay scored a touchdown on their first (one play) possession, punted on their second, scored a touchdown on their third, was intercepted at KC's 15-yard line on their fourth (just Starr's fourth interception of the year), scored a touchdown on their fifth, punted on their sixth, and had the ball when the game ended on their seventh possession. Kansas City was intercepted on their first possession – Wood's return to the five set up Pitts' touchdown which made the score 21–10 – and then punted on each of their next six possessions.
Third quarter
On their first drive of the second half, the Chiefs advanced to their own 49-yard line. But on a third-down pass play, a heavy blitz by linebackers Dave Robinson and Lee Roy Caffey collapsed the Chiefs pocket. Robinson, tackle Henry Jordan, and Packer right end Lionel Aldridge converged on Dawson who threw weakly toward tight end Fred Arbanas. The wobbly pass was intercepted by Willie Wood. Wood raced 50 yards to Kansas City's five-yard line where Mike Garrett dragged him down from behind. This was "the biggest play of the game," wrote Starr later. On their first play after the turnover, running back Elijah Pitts scored on a five-yard touchdown run off left tackle to give the Packers a 21–10 lead. Stram agreed that it was the critical point of the game. The Packers defense then dominated the Chiefs offense for the rest of the game, allowing them to cross midfield only once, and for just one play. The Chiefs were forced to deviate from their game plan, and that hurt them. The Kansas City offense totaled only 12 yards in the third quarter, and Dawson was held to five of 12 second-half pass completions for 59 yards.
Meanwhile, Green Bay forced Kansas City to punt from their own two-yard line after sacking Dawson twice and got the ball back with good field position on their own 44-yard line (despite a clipping penalty on the punt return). McGee subsequently caught three passes for 40 yards on a 56-yard drive. Taylor ran for one first down, Starr hit McGee for 16 yards on third-and-11, and a third down sweep with Taylor carrying gained eight yards and a first down at the Kansas City 13. The drive ended with Starr's 13-yard touchdown toss to McGee on a post pattern.
Fourth quarter
Midway through the fourth quarter, Starr completed a 25-yard pass to Carroll Dale and a 37-yard strike to McGee, moving the ball to the Chiefs 18-yard line. Four plays later, Pitts scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run to close out the scoring, giving the Packers the 35–10 win. Also in the fourth quarter, Fred Williamson, who had boasted about his "hammer" prior to the game, was knocked out when his head collided with running back Donny Anderson's knee, and then suffered a broken arm when Chiefs linebacker Sherrill Headrick fell on him. Williamson had three tackles for the game.
Hornung was the only Packer to not see any action. Lombardi had asked him in the fourth quarter if he wanted to go in, but Hornung declined, not wanting to aggravate a pinched nerve in his neck. McGee, who caught only four passes for 91 yards and one touchdown during the season, finished Super Bowl I with seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. After the game was over, a reporter asked Vince Lombardi about if he thought Kansas City was a good team. Lombardi responded that though the Chiefs were an excellent, well-coached club, he thought several NFL teams such as Dallas were better
#1. and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It remains the only Super Bowl to have been simulcast in the United States by two networks. NBC had the rights to nationally televise AFL games, while CBS held the rights to broadcast NFL games; both were allowed to televise the game
2) The players' shares were $15K each for the winning team and $7,500 each for the losing team.[16] This was in addition to the league championship money earned two weeks earlier: the Packers shares were $8,600 each[17] and the Chiefs were $5,308 each
3) Many people considered it fitting that the Chiefs and the Packers would be the teams to play in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had founded the AFL, while Green Bay was widely considered one of the better teams in NFL history (even if they could not claim to be founding members of their own league, as the Packers joined the NFL in 1921, a year after the league's formation). Lombardi was under intense pressure from the entire NFL to make sure the Packers not only won the game, but preferably won big to demonstrate the superiority of the NFL
4) The Chiefs saw this game as an opportunity to show they were good enough to play against any NFL team. One player who was really looking forward to competing in this game was Len Dawson, who had spent three years as a backup in the NFL before joining the Chiefs. However, the Chiefs were also nervous. Linebacker E. J. Holub said, "the Chiefs were scared to death. Guys in the tunnel were throwing up
5) The two teams played with their respective footballs from each league; the Chiefs used the AFL ball, the slightly narrower and longer J5V by Spalding, and the Packers played with the NFL ball, "The Duke" by Wilson.
6) Justin Peters of Slate watched all the Super Bowls over a two-month period in 2015 before Super Bowl 50. He mentioned the first Super Bowl's having "two dudes in rocket packs who flew around the stadium. I can forgive a lot of bad football as long as the game features two dudes in honest-to-God rocket packs.
7) Super Bowl I was the only Super Bowl that was not a sellout, despite the TV blackout in Los Angeles (at the time, local blackout was required even at a neutral site and even if the stadium did sell out). Of the 94,000-seat capacity in the Coliseum, 33,000 went unsold. Days before the game, local newspapers printed editorials about what they viewed as a then-exorbitant $12 ($92.18 in 2019 money) price for tickets, and wrote stories about how viewers could pull in the game from stations in surrounding markets such as Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
All known broadcast tapes of the game in its entirety were subsequently wiped by both NBC and CBS to save costs, a common practice in the TV industry at the time as videotapes were very expensive (one half-hour tape cost around $300 at the time, equivalent to $2260 in 2019 dollars), plus it was not foreseen how big the game was going to become. This has prevented studies comparing each network's respective telecast.For many years, only two small samples of the telecasts were known to have survived, showing Max McGee's opening touchdown and Jim Taylor's first touchdown run. Both were shown in 1991 on HBO's Play by Play: A History of Sports Television and on the Super Bowl XXV pregame show.
In January 2011, a partial recording of the CBS telecast was reported to have been found in a Pennsylvania attic and restored by the Paley Center for Media in New York.The two-inch color videotape is the most complete version of the broadcast yet discovered, missing only the halftime show and most of the third quarter. The NFL owns the broadcast copyright and has blocked its sale or distribution. After remaining anonymous and communicating with the media only through his lawyer since the recording's discovery, the owner of the recording, Troy Haupt, came forward to The New York Times in 2016 to tell his side of the story.
NFL Films had a camera crew present, and retains a substantial amount of film footage in its archives, some of which has been released in its film productions. One such presentation was the NFL's Greatest Games episode about this Super Bowl, entitled The Spectacle of a Sport (also the title of the Super Bowl I highlight film).
On January 11, 2016, the NFL announced that, "in an exhaustive process that took months to complete, NFL Films searched its enormous archives of footage and were able to locate all 145 plays from Super Bowl I from more than a couple dozen disparate sources. Once all the plays were located, NFL Films was able to put the plays in order and stitch them together while fully restoring, re-mastering, and color-correcting the footage. Finally, audio from the NBC Sports radio broadcast featuring announcers Jim Simpson and George Ratterman was layered on top of the footage to complete the broadcast. The final result represents the only known video footage of the entire action from Super Bowl I." It then announced that NFL Network would broadcast the newly pieced together footage in its entirety on January 15, 2016–the 49th anniversary of the contest. This footage was nearly all on film with the exception of several player introductions and a post game locker room chat between Pat Summerall and Pete Rozelle.
My Comments: I had just turned seven when this game was played. This was randomly the second-to-last game I researched, and I wondered up until that point if I actually watched the game or not. Wasn't until the research that I found it was blacked out, so that would be a no, Bob. But, I likely would have watched it and I will watch the youtube link I posted soon. The game itself was pretty solid the first half as the Chiefs played right with them. Then the Packers stepped it up and the Chiefs folded in the second half and destroyed them. I guess that and SB II set up Willie Joe's SB III well. I wonder where I would have ranked it? I vividly remember watching it. This game had twice the winning margin of any other game on the list.....
jwb
Footballguy
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 3
Super Bowl XIV (14)
Date: Jan 20, 1980
Location: Pasadena
Final Score: PITT 31, RAMS 19
Line: PITT -10.5
Halftime Show: Up with People presents "A Salute to the Big Band Era"
Cost of 30 second ad: $222,000
QB Stats: Ferragamo 15-25-1 212yd, Bradshaw 14-21-3, 309yds 2td
Other Notable Stats: J.Stallworth 3-121 1td, Swann 5-79 1td, Waddy 3-75. W.Tyler led all rushing with 60yds. Franco 20-46 2td.
Big Plays: Stallworth 73 yd TD Catch, Swann 47 yd TD Catch
Game Summary:
Full Game
First Quarter
The Rams took the opening kickoff but the Steel Curtain, however, managed to force a three-and-out. Then on the Steelers' 7th play of their first possession, quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to running back Franco Harris to reach the Los Angeles 26-yard line. But a third down pass fell incomplete, forcing Pittsburgh to settle for a 41-yard field goal from rookie kicker Matt Bahr.
Bahr's ensuing kickoff was very short, giving the Rams great field position at their 41-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Los Angeles running back Wendell Tyler caught a 6-yard pass from Vince Ferragamo. Then on the next play, Tyler took a handoff, ran left, broke some tackles, and ran 39 yards to the Steelers 14-yard line before he was finally dragged down by Pittsburgh defensive back Donnie Shell, the longest run against the Steelers all season. Shell saved the touchdown by making the tackle after previously being knocked to the turf five yards past the line of scrimmage. 6 plays later, fullback Cullen Bryant scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 7–3 lead. The score was the Steelers' first rushing touchdown allowed in Super Bowl competition in franchise history.
But the lead did not last long. Pittsburgh defensive back Larry Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to his own 47-yard line, and then the Steelers marched 53 yards in 9 plays using every offensive weapon in their arsenal. First, Harris ran for 12 yards, fullback Rocky Bleier ran for 1, then tight end Bennie Cunningham caught a pass for 8. Bleier ran again for 2, followed by Bradshaw's 12-yard completion to receiver Lynn Swann on the last play of the first quarter.
Second Quarter
The second period opened with Bradshaw's 13-yard completion to Cunningham to reach the Los Angeles 5-yard line, and then Harris ran through the middle to the 4. Wide receiver John Stallworth was then stopped at the 1-yard line, but then Harris ran to the right untouched and scored a touchdown on the next play, giving the Steelers a 10–7 lead.
However, like the Rams' previous lead, the Steelers' lead also turned out to be short-lived. Aided by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Shell, Los Angeles advanced 67 yards in 10 plays to score on 31-yard field goal from kicker Frank Corral to tie the game. Anderson gave the Steelers great field position after returning the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Pittsburgh 46-yard line, but the Steelers could not move the ball and had to punt. The Rams were also forced to punt on their next possession after only gaining 6 yards. But on the first play of the Steelers' next drive, Los Angeles defensive back Dave Elmendorf intercepted a pass from Bradshaw and returned it 10 yards to Pittsburgh's 39-yard line.
On the first two plays after the turnover, Ferragamo was sacked for a 10-yard loss and threw an incomplete pass. But he managed to overcome the situation with a 12-yard completion to Bryant on third down and a 10-yard completion to receiver Billy Waddy on 4th down and 8. Ferragamo's next pass was complete to tight end Terry Nelson for a first down at the 13-yard line, but after throwing two incompletions, Pittsburgh lineman John Banaszak sacked Ferragamo on third down. However, Corral kicked a 45-yard field goal to give the Rams a 13–10 halftime lead.
Third Quarter
The heavily favored Steelers trailed at the end of the half. "How can you mess up this way?" Steelers assistant coach Woody Widenhofer asked his team at halftime. "Didn't we go over these things a dozen times? You guys are standing out there like statues."
Anderson once again gave the Steelers great starting field position, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 37 yards to the Pittsburgh 39-yard line. The Steelers lulled the Rams defense by running the ball on three consecutive plays of the drive, and then Bradshaw burned them with a 47-yard touchdown completion to Swann, who made a leaping catch at the Los Angeles 2-yard line and tumbled into the end zone to give Pittsburgh a 17–13 lead.
But they didn't hold it. After two plays of the ensuing drive, Ferragamo completed a 50-yard pass to Waddy. Then on the next play, Ferragamo handed the ball off to running back Lawrence McCutcheon, who started to run to the right. The Steelers' defense came up to tackle him behind the line of scrimmage, only to watch him throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ron Smith. Corral missed the extra point attempt, but the Rams had retaken the lead, 19–17.
The Steelers had some success advancing into Rams territory on their next two possessions, only to see the Rams intercept the ball both times. First, Rams free safety Eddie Brown stopped the ensuing Steelers drive with an interception, lateraling to Pat Thomas to gain an additional two yards. Then after a punt, Pittsburgh drove all the way to the Rams 16-yard line, but Los Angeles defensive back Rod Perry intercepted a pass intended for Stallworth. Thus, the third quarter ended with the Rams still in the lead, 19–17, seemingly in control of the game. Worse yet, Pittsburgh lost Swann to injury, when he was knocked out of the game by Pat Thomas.
Fourth Quarter
With 12:59 left in the game, Rams punter Ken Clark's 59-yard punt planted Pittsburgh back on their own 25-yard line. Then faced with 3rd down and 8, Bradshaw took the snap, dropped back, and then threw a pass to Stallworth, who was running a streak pattern down the middle of the field. Stallworth caught the ball barely beyond the outstretched hand of Perry and took it all the way to the end zone for a 73-yard go-ahead touchdown to make the score 24–19 for the Steelers. The NFL Films highlight film notes that safety Eddie Brown was supposed to help Perry in covering Stallworth, but for some reason, Brown ignored the Steeler receiver. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams tried a reverse, which resulted in poor field position.
After an exchange of punts, the Rams mounted one final, spirited drive to regain the lead. Ferragamo smartly moved the Rams down the field, completing 3 out of 4 passes around runs by Tyler. His 15-yard completion to Waddy on 3rd and 13 moved the Rams to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line with just under 6 minutes remaining. However, on the following play, Ferragamo made his first and only mistake of the game. Despite the fact that Waddy had broken free down the right side of the field, Ferragamo had zeroed in on Ron Smith down the middle of the field, but he didn't notice Pittsburgh linebacker Jack Lambert playing behind Smith. As Ferragamo released the ball, Lambert jumped in front of Smith and intercepted the pass with 5:24 remaining.
When faced with a 3rd down and 7 on their ensuing drive, Bradshaw once again made a crucial long pass completion to Stallworth, this time a 45-yard reception to the Rams 22-yard line, barely beyond the outstretched hand of Perry. Two plays later, a pass interference penalty on Los Angeles cornerback Pat Thomas in the end zone gave the Steelers a first down at the 1-yard line. The Rams managed to keep Bleier and Harris out of the end zone for two plays, but Harris then scored on a third-down, 1-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 31–19 lead and put the game away. The Rams responded by driving to Pittsburgh's 37-yard line, but ended up turning over the ball on downs with 39 seconds left in the game, and the Steelers ran out the clock for the win.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) This also became the first Super Bowl where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants,
2) The Rams became the first team to reach the Super Bowl after posting nine wins or fewer during the regular season since the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978.
3) Super Bowl XIV holds the record for attendance with 103,985 spectators.
4) The famous Coca-Cola commercial (titled "Hey Kid, Catch!") in which "Mean" Joe Greene gives a boy his game jersey aired during CBS' telecast of the game. However, it is technically not viewed as a Super Bowl ad since it actually debuted on October 1, 1979, not during the day of the game
My Comments:
This was a great game, but just not as great as all the rest. Steelers took lead with 12:04 remaining and that was basically it. There was no way Ferragamo and Waddy were going to beat Bradshaw with Swann and Stallworth. The game lacked that 4th close, exciting game that the rest all had. This game only appeared on 2 of the 5 Internet Lists I used. All the other games went 5-5 finishing in the Top 16 on their lists.
Super Bowl XIV (14)
Date: Jan 20, 1980
Location: Pasadena
Final Score: PITT 31, RAMS 19
Line: PITT -10.5
Halftime Show: Up with People presents "A Salute to the Big Band Era"
Cost of 30 second ad: $222,000
QB Stats: Ferragamo 15-25-1 212yd, Bradshaw 14-21-3, 309yds 2td
Other Notable Stats: J.Stallworth 3-121 1td, Swann 5-79 1td, Waddy 3-75. W.Tyler led all rushing with 60yds. Franco 20-46 2td.
Big Plays: Stallworth 73 yd TD Catch, Swann 47 yd TD Catch
Game Summary:
Full Game
First Quarter
The Rams took the opening kickoff but the Steel Curtain, however, managed to force a three-and-out. Then on the Steelers' 7th play of their first possession, quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to running back Franco Harris to reach the Los Angeles 26-yard line. But a third down pass fell incomplete, forcing Pittsburgh to settle for a 41-yard field goal from rookie kicker Matt Bahr.
Bahr's ensuing kickoff was very short, giving the Rams great field position at their 41-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Los Angeles running back Wendell Tyler caught a 6-yard pass from Vince Ferragamo. Then on the next play, Tyler took a handoff, ran left, broke some tackles, and ran 39 yards to the Steelers 14-yard line before he was finally dragged down by Pittsburgh defensive back Donnie Shell, the longest run against the Steelers all season. Shell saved the touchdown by making the tackle after previously being knocked to the turf five yards past the line of scrimmage. 6 plays later, fullback Cullen Bryant scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 7–3 lead. The score was the Steelers' first rushing touchdown allowed in Super Bowl competition in franchise history.
But the lead did not last long. Pittsburgh defensive back Larry Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to his own 47-yard line, and then the Steelers marched 53 yards in 9 plays using every offensive weapon in their arsenal. First, Harris ran for 12 yards, fullback Rocky Bleier ran for 1, then tight end Bennie Cunningham caught a pass for 8. Bleier ran again for 2, followed by Bradshaw's 12-yard completion to receiver Lynn Swann on the last play of the first quarter.
Second Quarter
The second period opened with Bradshaw's 13-yard completion to Cunningham to reach the Los Angeles 5-yard line, and then Harris ran through the middle to the 4. Wide receiver John Stallworth was then stopped at the 1-yard line, but then Harris ran to the right untouched and scored a touchdown on the next play, giving the Steelers a 10–7 lead.
However, like the Rams' previous lead, the Steelers' lead also turned out to be short-lived. Aided by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Shell, Los Angeles advanced 67 yards in 10 plays to score on 31-yard field goal from kicker Frank Corral to tie the game. Anderson gave the Steelers great field position after returning the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Pittsburgh 46-yard line, but the Steelers could not move the ball and had to punt. The Rams were also forced to punt on their next possession after only gaining 6 yards. But on the first play of the Steelers' next drive, Los Angeles defensive back Dave Elmendorf intercepted a pass from Bradshaw and returned it 10 yards to Pittsburgh's 39-yard line.
On the first two plays after the turnover, Ferragamo was sacked for a 10-yard loss and threw an incomplete pass. But he managed to overcome the situation with a 12-yard completion to Bryant on third down and a 10-yard completion to receiver Billy Waddy on 4th down and 8. Ferragamo's next pass was complete to tight end Terry Nelson for a first down at the 13-yard line, but after throwing two incompletions, Pittsburgh lineman John Banaszak sacked Ferragamo on third down. However, Corral kicked a 45-yard field goal to give the Rams a 13–10 halftime lead.
Third Quarter
The heavily favored Steelers trailed at the end of the half. "How can you mess up this way?" Steelers assistant coach Woody Widenhofer asked his team at halftime. "Didn't we go over these things a dozen times? You guys are standing out there like statues."
Anderson once again gave the Steelers great starting field position, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 37 yards to the Pittsburgh 39-yard line. The Steelers lulled the Rams defense by running the ball on three consecutive plays of the drive, and then Bradshaw burned them with a 47-yard touchdown completion to Swann, who made a leaping catch at the Los Angeles 2-yard line and tumbled into the end zone to give Pittsburgh a 17–13 lead.
But they didn't hold it. After two plays of the ensuing drive, Ferragamo completed a 50-yard pass to Waddy. Then on the next play, Ferragamo handed the ball off to running back Lawrence McCutcheon, who started to run to the right. The Steelers' defense came up to tackle him behind the line of scrimmage, only to watch him throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ron Smith. Corral missed the extra point attempt, but the Rams had retaken the lead, 19–17.
The Steelers had some success advancing into Rams territory on their next two possessions, only to see the Rams intercept the ball both times. First, Rams free safety Eddie Brown stopped the ensuing Steelers drive with an interception, lateraling to Pat Thomas to gain an additional two yards. Then after a punt, Pittsburgh drove all the way to the Rams 16-yard line, but Los Angeles defensive back Rod Perry intercepted a pass intended for Stallworth. Thus, the third quarter ended with the Rams still in the lead, 19–17, seemingly in control of the game. Worse yet, Pittsburgh lost Swann to injury, when he was knocked out of the game by Pat Thomas.
Fourth Quarter
With 12:59 left in the game, Rams punter Ken Clark's 59-yard punt planted Pittsburgh back on their own 25-yard line. Then faced with 3rd down and 8, Bradshaw took the snap, dropped back, and then threw a pass to Stallworth, who was running a streak pattern down the middle of the field. Stallworth caught the ball barely beyond the outstretched hand of Perry and took it all the way to the end zone for a 73-yard go-ahead touchdown to make the score 24–19 for the Steelers. The NFL Films highlight film notes that safety Eddie Brown was supposed to help Perry in covering Stallworth, but for some reason, Brown ignored the Steeler receiver. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams tried a reverse, which resulted in poor field position.
After an exchange of punts, the Rams mounted one final, spirited drive to regain the lead. Ferragamo smartly moved the Rams down the field, completing 3 out of 4 passes around runs by Tyler. His 15-yard completion to Waddy on 3rd and 13 moved the Rams to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line with just under 6 minutes remaining. However, on the following play, Ferragamo made his first and only mistake of the game. Despite the fact that Waddy had broken free down the right side of the field, Ferragamo had zeroed in on Ron Smith down the middle of the field, but he didn't notice Pittsburgh linebacker Jack Lambert playing behind Smith. As Ferragamo released the ball, Lambert jumped in front of Smith and intercepted the pass with 5:24 remaining.
When faced with a 3rd down and 7 on their ensuing drive, Bradshaw once again made a crucial long pass completion to Stallworth, this time a 45-yard reception to the Rams 22-yard line, barely beyond the outstretched hand of Perry. Two plays later, a pass interference penalty on Los Angeles cornerback Pat Thomas in the end zone gave the Steelers a first down at the 1-yard line. The Rams managed to keep Bleier and Harris out of the end zone for two plays, but Harris then scored on a third-down, 1-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 31–19 lead and put the game away. The Rams responded by driving to Pittsburgh's 37-yard line, but ended up turning over the ball on downs with 39 seconds left in the game, and the Steelers ran out the clock for the win.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) This also became the first Super Bowl where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants,
2) The Rams became the first team to reach the Super Bowl after posting nine wins or fewer during the regular season since the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978.
3) Super Bowl XIV holds the record for attendance with 103,985 spectators.
4) The famous Coca-Cola commercial (titled "Hey Kid, Catch!") in which "Mean" Joe Greene gives a boy his game jersey aired during CBS' telecast of the game. However, it is technically not viewed as a Super Bowl ad since it actually debuted on October 1, 1979, not during the day of the game
My Comments:
This was a great game, but just not as great as all the rest. Steelers took lead with 12:04 remaining and that was basically it. There was no way Ferragamo and Waddy were going to beat Bradshaw with Swann and Stallworth. The game lacked that 4th close, exciting game that the rest all had. This game only appeared on 2 of the 5 Internet Lists I used. All the other games went 5-5 finishing in the Top 16 on their lists.
Last edited by a moderator:
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 4
Super Bowl X (10)
Date: Jan 18, 1976
Location: Miami
Final Score: PITT 21, DALL 17
Line: PITT -7
Halftime Show: Up with People presents "200 Years and Just a Baby: Tribute to America's Bicentennial". (NFL musta loved these guys or something)
Cost of 30 second ad: $110,000
QB Stats: Staubach 14-24-3 204 2td Bradshaw 9-19-0 209 2td
Other Notable Stats: F.Harris 27-82, L Swann 4-161 1td. D Pearson 2-59, 1td, led the Cowboys RB/WR in yards. Only two plays over 16 yards for Dallas.
Big Plays: Lynn Swann 64yd TD. One of the greatest SB catches ever
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
On the opening kickoff, the Cowboys ran a reverse where rookie linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson took a handoff from Preston Pearson and returned the ball a Super Bowl-record 48 yards before kicker Roy Gerela forced him out of bounds at the Steelers' 44-yard line. Gerela suffered badly bruised ribs that appeared to affect his kicking performance all afternoon. On the first play of the game, Steelers defensive lineman L. C. Greenwood sacked Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, forcing him to fumble. Although Dallas recovered the fumble, they eventually were forced to punt. The sack was a foreshadow of things to come for Staubach, who was sacked seven times on the day. The Steelers managed to get one first down and advanced to their own 40-yard line, but then they too were forced to punt. Steelers punter Bobby Walden fumbled the snap. Walden managed to recover his own fumble, but Dallas took over on the Steelers' 29-yard line. On the very next play, Staubach threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson, taking a 7–0 lead. The score was the first touchdown permitted in the first quarter by the Steelers' defense in 1975.
Instead of trying to immediately tie the game on a long passing play, the Steelers ran the ball on the first four plays of their ensuing possession, and then quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Lynn Swann to reach the Cowboys' 16-yard line. Swann soared over the outstretched reach of defensive back Mark Washington before tight-roping the sideline to make the reception. Two running plays further advanced the ball to the 7-yard line. Then on third down and one, the Steelers managed to fool the Cowboys. Pittsburgh brought in two tight ends, which usually signals a running play. After the snap, tight end Randy Grossman faked a block to the inside as if it were a running play, but then ran a pass route into the end zone, and Bradshaw threw the ball to him for a touchdown, tying the game, 7–7. This marked the first Super Bowl that both teams scored in the first quarter.
Second quarter
Dallas responded on their next drive, advancing the ball 51 yards, all rushing, (30 of them on five carries from fullback Robert Newhouse) before incurring a third down false start penalty, and scoring on kicker Toni Fritsch's 36-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead early in the second quarter. The 51 rushing yards the Cowboys amassed on the drive tripled what the Minnesota Vikings gained against Pittsburgh for all of Super Bowl IX. The Steelers subsequently advanced to the Cowboys' 36-yard line on their next possession, but on fourth down and two, Bradshaw's pass was broken up by Dallas safety Cliff Harris.
Later in the period, Dallas drove to the Steelers' 20-yard line. But in three plays, the Cowboys lost 25 yards. On first down, Newhouse was tackled for a 3-yard loss by linebacker Andy Russell. Then Greenwood sacked Staubach for a 12-yard loss. And on third down, Staubach was sacked again, this time for a 10-yard loss, by defensive end Dwight White. The sacks pushed Dallas out of field goal range and they were forced to punt. The Steelers' offense got the ball back their own 6-yard line with 3:47 left in the half. On the drive, Bradshaw completed a 53-yard pass to Swann to advance the ball to the Cowboys' 37-yard line; Swann's catch has become one of the most memorable acrobatic catches in Super Bowl history. On the very next play, Bradshaw just missed connections with Swann at the Dallas 6. Pittsburgh drove to the 19-yard line after the two-minute warning, but the drive stalled there and ended with no points after Gerela missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds remaining in the period.
Third quarter
Early in the third quarter, Pittsburgh got a great scoring opportunity when defensive back J. T. Thomas intercepted a pass from Staubach and returned it 35 yards to the Cowboys' 25-yard line. However, once again the Steelers failed to score as the Dallas defense kept Pittsburgh out of the end zone and Gerela missed his second field goal, a 33-yard attempt. After the miss, Harris mockingly patted Gerela on his helmet and thanked him for "helping Dallas out," but was immediately thrown to the ground by Steeler linebacker Jack Lambert. Lambert could have been ejected from the game for defending his teammate, but the officials decided to allow him to remain.
Fourth quarter
The third quarter was completely scoreless and the Cowboys maintained their 10–7 lead going into the final period. However, early in the fourth quarter, Dallas punter Mitch Hoopes was forced to punt from inside his own goal line. As Hoopes stepped up to make the kick, Steelers running back Reggie Harrison broke through the line and blocked the punt. The ball went through the end zone for a safety, cutting the Dallas lead to 10–9. It was the second safety recorded in Super Bowl history, the first occurring a year earlier when White downed Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton on a fumble recovery in the end zone. Then Steelers running back Mike Collier returned the free kick 25 yards to the Cowboys' 45-yard line. Dallas halted the ensuing drive at the 20-yard line, but this time Gerela successfully kicked a 36-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the game, 12–10. Then on the first play of the Cowboys' next drive, Steelers defensive back Mike Wagner intercepted a pass from Staubach and returned it 19 yards to the Dallas 7-yard line. Wagner's interception came off the same play Dallas used to score their opening touchdown. Instead of surveying the middle of the field, Wagner watched Pearson and recognized the pattern. Staubach later said: "It was our bread and butter play all season long. It was the first time it didn't work." The Cowboys defense again managed to prevent a touchdown, but Gerela kicked an 18-yard field goal to increase the Steelers lead to 15–10.
The Steelers forced a punt and regained possession of the ball on their own 30-yard line with 4:25 left in the final period, giving them a chance to either increase their lead or run out the clock to win the game. But after two plays, the Steelers found themselves facing 3rd-and-4 on their own 36-yard line. Assuming that the Cowboys would be expecting a short pass or a run, Bradshaw decided to try a long pass and told Swann in the huddle to run a deep post pattern. As Bradshaw dropped back to pass, Harris and linebacker D.D. Lewis both blitzed in an attempt to sack him. But Bradshaw managed to dodge Lewis and throw the ball just before being leveled by Harris and lineman Larry Cole, who landed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bradshaw. Swann then caught the ball at the 5-yard line and ran into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown completion. Bradshaw never did see Swann's catch or the touchdown since Cole's hit to Bradshaw's helmet knocked him out of the game with a head injury. It was only after he was assisted to the locker room that he was told what happened.
After play resumed, Gerela missed the extra point attempt, but the Steelers now had a 21–10 lead with 3:02 left in the game, and the Cowboys needed two touchdowns to come back.
Staubach then led his team 80 yards in 5 plays on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Howard and cutting their deficit to 21–17 (Howard's touchdown reception was the only catch of his NFL career; he was not mentioned by name by John Facenda in the highlight package produced by NFL Films). After Gerry Mullins recovered Dallas' onside kick attempt, the Steelers then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but the Cowboys defense stopped them on fourth down at their 39-yard line, giving Dallas one more chance to win. Some questioned why Noll would elect to go for it on fourth down but, as later explained by NFL Films, his entire kicking game had been suspect all game long with Gerela missing an extra point and two field goals while Walden fumbled a snap on a punt, and nearly had two punts blocked. (Gerela's problems may have begun on the opening kickoff when he was forced to make a touchdown saving tackle on Hollywood Henderson.)
With 1:22 left in the game, Staubach started out the drive with an 11-yard scramble to midfield, and then followed it up with a 12-yard completion to Preston Pearson at the Steelers' 38-yard line. Pearson inexplicably ran towards the middle rather than running out of bounds to stop the clock. On the next play, Staubach couldn't handle a low snap but managed to recover the ball and throw it downfield for an incompletion. On second down with 12 seconds left, he threw a pass intended for Howard in the end zone, but the ball bounced off Howard's helmet and a Hail Mary replay was not to be. Had Howard positioned himself inches back from his position in the end zone as the ball came down he would have had a better opportunity to catch the ball and write himself into Cowboy folklore. Then on third down, Staubach once again tried to complete a pass to Howard in the end zone, but the ball was tipped by Wagner into the arms of safety Glen Edwards for an interception as time expired, sealing Pittsburgh's victory.
Bradshaw finished the game with 9 out of 19 pass completions for 209 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He also added another 16 yards rushing the ball. Staubach completed 15 out of 24 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. He also rushed for 22 yards on five carries, but was sacked seven times. Steelers running back Franco Harris was the leading rusher of the game with 82 rushing yards, and also caught a pass for 26 yards. Newhouse was the Cowboys top rusher with 56 yards, and caught two passes for 12 yards. Greenwood recorded a Super Bowl record four sacks but it has gone unrecognized since the NFL didn't officially record sacks until 1982.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It was also the first Super Bowl in which both participating teams had previously won a Super Bowl,
2) Coming into Super Bowl X, most sports writers and fans expected that Swann would not play. He had suffered a severe concussion in the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders that forced him to spend two days in a hospital. If he did play, many assumed he would just be used as a decoy to draw coverage away from the other receivers.
3) The performance event group Up with People performed during both the pregame festivities and the halftime show titled "200 Years and Just a Baby: A Tribute to America's Bicentennial"
4) This was the first Super Bowl where the play clock was visible to teams and spectators. Visible play clocks were mandated by NFL rules beginning with the 1976 season.
5) Scenes for the 1977 suspense film Black Sunday, about a fictional terrorist attack on the Super Bowl via the Goodyear Blimp, were filmed during the game.
6) This was the last Super Bowl to kick off as early as 2:00 p.m. (EST), thereby allowing a finish time before the commencement of many of the nation's evening church services.
My Comments:
With only three points scored combined in the second and third quarters, this game was not very exciting until the fourth quarter. My top ranked games were exciting from start to finish. Swann's amazing catch (and game) were the things I remembered most about this one. The Steelers scored 14 fourth quarter points the hard way. 2 FG, 1 Safety and a TD with a missed XP. PITT also ran the ball 46 times and passed only 19 times. Oh, and I misread my spreadsheet from the last post. This game also appeared only twice out of five lists in a Top 16 and was the last game to not be on all five lists.
Super Bowl X (10)
Date: Jan 18, 1976
Location: Miami
Final Score: PITT 21, DALL 17
Line: PITT -7
Halftime Show: Up with People presents "200 Years and Just a Baby: Tribute to America's Bicentennial". (NFL musta loved these guys or something)
Cost of 30 second ad: $110,000
QB Stats: Staubach 14-24-3 204 2td Bradshaw 9-19-0 209 2td
Other Notable Stats: F.Harris 27-82, L Swann 4-161 1td. D Pearson 2-59, 1td, led the Cowboys RB/WR in yards. Only two plays over 16 yards for Dallas.
Big Plays: Lynn Swann 64yd TD. One of the greatest SB catches ever
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
On the opening kickoff, the Cowboys ran a reverse where rookie linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson took a handoff from Preston Pearson and returned the ball a Super Bowl-record 48 yards before kicker Roy Gerela forced him out of bounds at the Steelers' 44-yard line. Gerela suffered badly bruised ribs that appeared to affect his kicking performance all afternoon. On the first play of the game, Steelers defensive lineman L. C. Greenwood sacked Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, forcing him to fumble. Although Dallas recovered the fumble, they eventually were forced to punt. The sack was a foreshadow of things to come for Staubach, who was sacked seven times on the day. The Steelers managed to get one first down and advanced to their own 40-yard line, but then they too were forced to punt. Steelers punter Bobby Walden fumbled the snap. Walden managed to recover his own fumble, but Dallas took over on the Steelers' 29-yard line. On the very next play, Staubach threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson, taking a 7–0 lead. The score was the first touchdown permitted in the first quarter by the Steelers' defense in 1975.
Instead of trying to immediately tie the game on a long passing play, the Steelers ran the ball on the first four plays of their ensuing possession, and then quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Lynn Swann to reach the Cowboys' 16-yard line. Swann soared over the outstretched reach of defensive back Mark Washington before tight-roping the sideline to make the reception. Two running plays further advanced the ball to the 7-yard line. Then on third down and one, the Steelers managed to fool the Cowboys. Pittsburgh brought in two tight ends, which usually signals a running play. After the snap, tight end Randy Grossman faked a block to the inside as if it were a running play, but then ran a pass route into the end zone, and Bradshaw threw the ball to him for a touchdown, tying the game, 7–7. This marked the first Super Bowl that both teams scored in the first quarter.
Second quarter
Dallas responded on their next drive, advancing the ball 51 yards, all rushing, (30 of them on five carries from fullback Robert Newhouse) before incurring a third down false start penalty, and scoring on kicker Toni Fritsch's 36-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead early in the second quarter. The 51 rushing yards the Cowboys amassed on the drive tripled what the Minnesota Vikings gained against Pittsburgh for all of Super Bowl IX. The Steelers subsequently advanced to the Cowboys' 36-yard line on their next possession, but on fourth down and two, Bradshaw's pass was broken up by Dallas safety Cliff Harris.
Later in the period, Dallas drove to the Steelers' 20-yard line. But in three plays, the Cowboys lost 25 yards. On first down, Newhouse was tackled for a 3-yard loss by linebacker Andy Russell. Then Greenwood sacked Staubach for a 12-yard loss. And on third down, Staubach was sacked again, this time for a 10-yard loss, by defensive end Dwight White. The sacks pushed Dallas out of field goal range and they were forced to punt. The Steelers' offense got the ball back their own 6-yard line with 3:47 left in the half. On the drive, Bradshaw completed a 53-yard pass to Swann to advance the ball to the Cowboys' 37-yard line; Swann's catch has become one of the most memorable acrobatic catches in Super Bowl history. On the very next play, Bradshaw just missed connections with Swann at the Dallas 6. Pittsburgh drove to the 19-yard line after the two-minute warning, but the drive stalled there and ended with no points after Gerela missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds remaining in the period.
Third quarter
Early in the third quarter, Pittsburgh got a great scoring opportunity when defensive back J. T. Thomas intercepted a pass from Staubach and returned it 35 yards to the Cowboys' 25-yard line. However, once again the Steelers failed to score as the Dallas defense kept Pittsburgh out of the end zone and Gerela missed his second field goal, a 33-yard attempt. After the miss, Harris mockingly patted Gerela on his helmet and thanked him for "helping Dallas out," but was immediately thrown to the ground by Steeler linebacker Jack Lambert. Lambert could have been ejected from the game for defending his teammate, but the officials decided to allow him to remain.
Fourth quarter
The third quarter was completely scoreless and the Cowboys maintained their 10–7 lead going into the final period. However, early in the fourth quarter, Dallas punter Mitch Hoopes was forced to punt from inside his own goal line. As Hoopes stepped up to make the kick, Steelers running back Reggie Harrison broke through the line and blocked the punt. The ball went through the end zone for a safety, cutting the Dallas lead to 10–9. It was the second safety recorded in Super Bowl history, the first occurring a year earlier when White downed Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton on a fumble recovery in the end zone. Then Steelers running back Mike Collier returned the free kick 25 yards to the Cowboys' 45-yard line. Dallas halted the ensuing drive at the 20-yard line, but this time Gerela successfully kicked a 36-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the game, 12–10. Then on the first play of the Cowboys' next drive, Steelers defensive back Mike Wagner intercepted a pass from Staubach and returned it 19 yards to the Dallas 7-yard line. Wagner's interception came off the same play Dallas used to score their opening touchdown. Instead of surveying the middle of the field, Wagner watched Pearson and recognized the pattern. Staubach later said: "It was our bread and butter play all season long. It was the first time it didn't work." The Cowboys defense again managed to prevent a touchdown, but Gerela kicked an 18-yard field goal to increase the Steelers lead to 15–10.
The Steelers forced a punt and regained possession of the ball on their own 30-yard line with 4:25 left in the final period, giving them a chance to either increase their lead or run out the clock to win the game. But after two plays, the Steelers found themselves facing 3rd-and-4 on their own 36-yard line. Assuming that the Cowboys would be expecting a short pass or a run, Bradshaw decided to try a long pass and told Swann in the huddle to run a deep post pattern. As Bradshaw dropped back to pass, Harris and linebacker D.D. Lewis both blitzed in an attempt to sack him. But Bradshaw managed to dodge Lewis and throw the ball just before being leveled by Harris and lineman Larry Cole, who landed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bradshaw. Swann then caught the ball at the 5-yard line and ran into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown completion. Bradshaw never did see Swann's catch or the touchdown since Cole's hit to Bradshaw's helmet knocked him out of the game with a head injury. It was only after he was assisted to the locker room that he was told what happened.
After play resumed, Gerela missed the extra point attempt, but the Steelers now had a 21–10 lead with 3:02 left in the game, and the Cowboys needed two touchdowns to come back.
Staubach then led his team 80 yards in 5 plays on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Howard and cutting their deficit to 21–17 (Howard's touchdown reception was the only catch of his NFL career; he was not mentioned by name by John Facenda in the highlight package produced by NFL Films). After Gerry Mullins recovered Dallas' onside kick attempt, the Steelers then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but the Cowboys defense stopped them on fourth down at their 39-yard line, giving Dallas one more chance to win. Some questioned why Noll would elect to go for it on fourth down but, as later explained by NFL Films, his entire kicking game had been suspect all game long with Gerela missing an extra point and two field goals while Walden fumbled a snap on a punt, and nearly had two punts blocked. (Gerela's problems may have begun on the opening kickoff when he was forced to make a touchdown saving tackle on Hollywood Henderson.)
With 1:22 left in the game, Staubach started out the drive with an 11-yard scramble to midfield, and then followed it up with a 12-yard completion to Preston Pearson at the Steelers' 38-yard line. Pearson inexplicably ran towards the middle rather than running out of bounds to stop the clock. On the next play, Staubach couldn't handle a low snap but managed to recover the ball and throw it downfield for an incompletion. On second down with 12 seconds left, he threw a pass intended for Howard in the end zone, but the ball bounced off Howard's helmet and a Hail Mary replay was not to be. Had Howard positioned himself inches back from his position in the end zone as the ball came down he would have had a better opportunity to catch the ball and write himself into Cowboy folklore. Then on third down, Staubach once again tried to complete a pass to Howard in the end zone, but the ball was tipped by Wagner into the arms of safety Glen Edwards for an interception as time expired, sealing Pittsburgh's victory.
Bradshaw finished the game with 9 out of 19 pass completions for 209 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He also added another 16 yards rushing the ball. Staubach completed 15 out of 24 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. He also rushed for 22 yards on five carries, but was sacked seven times. Steelers running back Franco Harris was the leading rusher of the game with 82 rushing yards, and also caught a pass for 26 yards. Newhouse was the Cowboys top rusher with 56 yards, and caught two passes for 12 yards. Greenwood recorded a Super Bowl record four sacks but it has gone unrecognized since the NFL didn't officially record sacks until 1982.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It was also the first Super Bowl in which both participating teams had previously won a Super Bowl,
2) Coming into Super Bowl X, most sports writers and fans expected that Swann would not play. He had suffered a severe concussion in the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders that forced him to spend two days in a hospital. If he did play, many assumed he would just be used as a decoy to draw coverage away from the other receivers.
3) The performance event group Up with People performed during both the pregame festivities and the halftime show titled "200 Years and Just a Baby: A Tribute to America's Bicentennial"
4) This was the first Super Bowl where the play clock was visible to teams and spectators. Visible play clocks were mandated by NFL rules beginning with the 1976 season.
5) Scenes for the 1977 suspense film Black Sunday, about a fictional terrorist attack on the Super Bowl via the Goodyear Blimp, were filmed during the game.
6) This was the last Super Bowl to kick off as early as 2:00 p.m. (EST), thereby allowing a finish time before the commencement of many of the nation's evening church services.
My Comments:
With only three points scored combined in the second and third quarters, this game was not very exciting until the fourth quarter. My top ranked games were exciting from start to finish. Swann's amazing catch (and game) were the things I remembered most about this one. The Steelers scored 14 fourth quarter points the hard way. 2 FG, 1 Safety and a TD with a missed XP. PITT also ran the ball 46 times and passed only 19 times. Oh, and I misread my spreadsheet from the last post. This game also appeared only twice out of five lists in a Top 16 and was the last game to not be on all five lists.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
I want to hear John Facenda say the words "Encyclopedia Getzlafia".
i was at this one - SB X. my only Super Bowl
i was at this one - SB X. my only Super Bowl
Zegras11
Footballguy
ummm, not the first time I've been called that.
And probably the last thing left on my bucket list is to attend a SB. I've been to two WS Game #7's (2001/02), Stanley Cup Game 7 (2003 and all of 2007), and countless Laker playoff games.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
What would be the logic in having Carew ahead of Chipper?
Chipper - Higher WAR, HR (+376), Runs (+195), RBIs (+608), OPS (+.102)
Carew does have +327 hits and twice as many SBs.
Both have a MVP. I'm on the other side of this from Gally being a huge Chipper fan but to me those numbers aren't close - Chipper gets the nod.
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Like I said, I didn't really dive into it. I said Carew mostly on the strength of his 7 batting titles, but they're pretty close and I could see them ranked either way without blinking. Plus Carew was on the Twins, which helps, not to mention being in both a Beastie Boys and Adam Sandler song.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
holy crap, i never knew that alias. :mindblown:
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 5. (this is the point where I think every single one the rest of the way should be ranked higher than it is)
Super Bowl XXXVIII (38)
Date: Feb 1, 2004
Location: Houston
Final Score: NE 32, CAR 29
Line: NE -7
Halftime Show: Jessica Simpson, Ocean of Soul, Spirit of Houston, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Kid Rock, and Nelly
Janet Jackson Malfunction
Cost of 30 second ad: $2.2 mil
QB Stats: Delhomme 16-33-0 323 3td, Brady 32-48-1 354yds, 3td
Other Notable Stats: M.Muhammad 4-140 1td, S.Smith 4-80 1td, D.Branch 10-143 1td
Big Plays: M.Muhammed 85 yd TD catch, D.Branch 52 yd catch, D.Foster 33 yd TD run, Adam Vinatieri's Game Winning Field Goal
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
Most of the first half was a defensive struggle, with neither team able to score until late in the second quarter (major factor in how it wound up here), despite several early scoring opportunities for New England. After Carolina was forced to punt on their opening drive, Patriots receiver Troy Brown gave his team great field position with a 28-yard return to the Panthers 47-yard line. The Patriots subsequently marched to the 9-yard line, but Carolina kept them out of the end zone and Adam Vinatieri missed a 31-yard field goal attempt. The Patriots forced Carolina to punt after 3 plays and again got the ball with great field position, receiving Todd Sauerbrun's 40-yard punt at the Panthers 49-yard line. New England then drove to the 31-yard line, but on third down, linebacker Will Witherspoon tackled Brown for a 10-yard loss on an end-around play, pushing the Patriots out of field goal range.
Second quarter (Game was 0-0 after almost 27 minutes of play)
Later on, New England drove 57 yards to the Panthers 18-yard line with 6 minutes left in the second quarter, but once again they failed to score as Carolina kept them out of the end zone and Vinatieri's 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Panthers defender Shane Burton.
Meanwhile, the Carolina offense was stymied by the New England defense, with quarterback Jake Delhomme completing just one out of his first nine passes, sacked three times, and fumbling once. That fumble occurred 3 plays after Vinatieri's second missed field goal; Delhomme lost the ball while being sacked by linebacker Mike Vrabel, and Patriots defensive tackle Richard Seymour recovered the ball at the Panthers 20-yard line; by this point of the game the Panthers had suffered a net loss of nine yards on twenty offensive snaps.
Two plays later, New England faced a third down and 7, but quarterback Tom Brady scrambled 12 yards to the 5-yard line for a first down. Then wide receiver Deion Branch caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brady on the next play. The play was a play-action fake to Antowain Smith. Carolina's Dan Morgan bit on the route, causing the touchdown.
Branch's touchdown came after 26:55 had elapsed in the game, setting the record for the longest amount of time a Super Bowl remained scoreless. The play also suddenly set off a scoring explosion from both teams for the remainder of the first half.
The Panthers stormed down the field on their ensuing possession, driving 95 yards in 8 plays, and tying the game on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to wide receiver Steve Smith with just 1:07 left in the half.
The Patriots immediately countered with a 6-play, 78-yard scoring drive of their own. Starting from their own 22-yard line, Brady completed a 12-yard pass to wide receiver David Givens. Then after throwing an incompletion, Brady completed a long pass to Branch, who caught it at the Panthers 24-yard line in stride before being tackled at the 14-yard line for a 52-yard gain. Three plays later, Givens caught a 5-yard touchdown from Brady to give New England a 14–7 lead with only 18 seconds left in the half. The Patriots decided to squib kick the ensuing kickoff to prevent a long return, but their plan backfired as Carolina tight end Kris Mangum picked up the ball at his own 35-yard line and returned it 12 yards to the 47. The Patriots expected a pass play from the Panthers, but instead running back Stephen Davis ran for 21 yards on the next play to set up kicker John Kasay's 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half, cutting Carolina's deficit to 14–10.
Third quarter
The third quarter was scoreless as each team exchanged punts twice. However, with 3:57 left in the period, the Patriots put together a 71-yard, 8-play scoring drive, featuring tight end Daniel Graham's 33-yard reception to advance to the Carolina 9-yard line.
Fourth quarter
Running back Antowain Smith then capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run on the second play on the fourth quarter to increase their lead, 21–10. This was the start of another scoring explosion, one that became one of the biggest explosions in Super Bowl history, with both teams scoring a combined 37 points in the last 15 minutes, the most ever in a single quarter of a Super Bowl.
Delhomme started out Carolina's ensuing drive with a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad. After committing a false start penalty on the next play, Delhomme completed a pair of passes to Smith for gains of 18 and 22 yards. Running back DeShaun Foster then scored on a 33-yard touchdown run, cutting the Panthers' deficit to 21–16 after Delhomme's 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete. The Patriots responded on their ensuing possession by driving all the way to Carolina's 9-yard line, but the drive ended when Panthers defensive back Reggie Howard intercepted a third down pass from Brady in the end zone. Then on 3rd down from his own 15-yard line, Delhomme threw for the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, an 85-yard touchdown completion to Muhammad. Carolina's 2-point conversion attempt failed again, but they took their first lead of the game, 22–21, with 6:53 remaining. It was the first time in Super Bowl history a team down 10+ points during the 4th quarter had come back to take the lead. Three other times teams have come back to tie the game; the Tennessee Titans against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, the Rams against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, and the Patriots against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
However, New England retook the lead on their next drive, advancing 68 yards with the aid of a pair of completions from Brady to Givens for gains of 18 and 25 yards. Once again the Patriots were faced with third down and goal, but this time they scored with Brady's 1-yard pass to Vrabel, who had lined up in an eligible tight end position. Then on a two-point conversion attempt, running back Kevin Faulk took a direct snap and ran into the end zone to make the score 29–22. Despite amassing over 1,000 combined yards, Faulk's two-point conversion constituted the only points he scored all season.
The Panthers countered on their next possession. Foster started the drive with a 9-yard run and a 7-yard reception. After that, Delhomme completed a 19-yard pass to Muhammad, followed by a 31-yard completion to receiver Ricky Proehl. Then Proehl, who caught the fourth quarter game-tying touchdown pass against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI two years earlier for the St. Louis Rams, finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown reception. Kasay's ensuing extra point tied the game, 29–29, with 1:08 to play in regulation and it appeared that the game would be the first Super Bowl ever to go into overtime.
However, Kasay kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, giving New England the ball on their own 40-yard line. Brady led the Patriots offense down the field with a 13-yard pass to Brown on second down. An offensive pass interference penalty on Brown pushed New England back to their own 43-yard line, but another 13-yard reception to Brown and a 4-yard pass to Graham brought up a critical 3rd down and 3 from the Carolina 40-yard line. The Panthers defense could not prevent the Patriots from gaining the first down, as Brady completed a 17-yard pass to Branch. On the next play, Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal to give New England the lead, 32–29, with four seconds left in the game. Carolina failed on their last chance, as Rod Smart went nowhere on the ensuing kickoff, and the Patriots had won their second Super Bowl in three years. This was the fourth Super Bowl to be decided on a field goal in the final seconds (Super Bowl V was won on a last second kick by the Baltimore Colts' Jim O'Brien to defeat the Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl XXV had the Buffalo Bills' Scott Norwood miss his field goal chance against the New York Giants, and in Super Bowl XXXVI Vinatieri made his to defeat the St. Louis Rams).
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: Bud Light. Two dog trainers outdo one another, until one dog bites the other trainer in the groin. This came in the midst of the aftermath of the controversial halftime show that year.
Top 5
Interesting Story Lines:
1) The Panthers made their first trip to the Super Bowl after posting a one-win regular season just two years earlier.
2) Just before the start of the second half, a British streaker, Mark Roberts, ran onto the field disguised as a referee, undressed, and performed a dance wearing only a thong. He was tackled to the ground by Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham and arrested. It is customary for American television to avoid broadcasting such events, but it was later shown on Late Show with David Letterman. He received a $1,000 fine for trespassing.
3) The game set a number of marks for offensive production. The two teams combined for 868 yards of total offense, the second-highest total in Super Bowl history. Both starting quarterbacks threw for at least 300 yards for only the second time in Super Bowl history, with Dan Marino and Joe Montana each passing for at least 300 yards in Super Bowl XIX. This was also only the second Super Bowl to feature one 100-yard receiving performance on each team, with Deion Branch and Muhsin Muhammad each reaching 100 yards. Andre Reed and Michael Irvin first accomplished the feat in Super Bowl XXVII.
My Comments: The major gaps of no scoring for first 27 minutes and all of the third quarter make this game hard to rate any higher when compared to the rest of the games. All the scoring action was crammed into just 16 minutes of the game. Maybe that's the reason the game never stood out to me in a significant way.
Super Bowl XXXVIII (38)
Date: Feb 1, 2004
Location: Houston
Final Score: NE 32, CAR 29
Line: NE -7
Halftime Show: Jessica Simpson, Ocean of Soul, Spirit of Houston, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Kid Rock, and Nelly
Janet Jackson Malfunction
Cost of 30 second ad: $2.2 mil
QB Stats: Delhomme 16-33-0 323 3td, Brady 32-48-1 354yds, 3td
Other Notable Stats: M.Muhammad 4-140 1td, S.Smith 4-80 1td, D.Branch 10-143 1td
Big Plays: M.Muhammed 85 yd TD catch, D.Branch 52 yd catch, D.Foster 33 yd TD run, Adam Vinatieri's Game Winning Field Goal
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
Most of the first half was a defensive struggle, with neither team able to score until late in the second quarter (major factor in how it wound up here), despite several early scoring opportunities for New England. After Carolina was forced to punt on their opening drive, Patriots receiver Troy Brown gave his team great field position with a 28-yard return to the Panthers 47-yard line. The Patriots subsequently marched to the 9-yard line, but Carolina kept them out of the end zone and Adam Vinatieri missed a 31-yard field goal attempt. The Patriots forced Carolina to punt after 3 plays and again got the ball with great field position, receiving Todd Sauerbrun's 40-yard punt at the Panthers 49-yard line. New England then drove to the 31-yard line, but on third down, linebacker Will Witherspoon tackled Brown for a 10-yard loss on an end-around play, pushing the Patriots out of field goal range.
Second quarter (Game was 0-0 after almost 27 minutes of play)
Later on, New England drove 57 yards to the Panthers 18-yard line with 6 minutes left in the second quarter, but once again they failed to score as Carolina kept them out of the end zone and Vinatieri's 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Panthers defender Shane Burton.
Meanwhile, the Carolina offense was stymied by the New England defense, with quarterback Jake Delhomme completing just one out of his first nine passes, sacked three times, and fumbling once. That fumble occurred 3 plays after Vinatieri's second missed field goal; Delhomme lost the ball while being sacked by linebacker Mike Vrabel, and Patriots defensive tackle Richard Seymour recovered the ball at the Panthers 20-yard line; by this point of the game the Panthers had suffered a net loss of nine yards on twenty offensive snaps.
Two plays later, New England faced a third down and 7, but quarterback Tom Brady scrambled 12 yards to the 5-yard line for a first down. Then wide receiver Deion Branch caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brady on the next play. The play was a play-action fake to Antowain Smith. Carolina's Dan Morgan bit on the route, causing the touchdown.
Branch's touchdown came after 26:55 had elapsed in the game, setting the record for the longest amount of time a Super Bowl remained scoreless. The play also suddenly set off a scoring explosion from both teams for the remainder of the first half.
The Panthers stormed down the field on their ensuing possession, driving 95 yards in 8 plays, and tying the game on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to wide receiver Steve Smith with just 1:07 left in the half.
The Patriots immediately countered with a 6-play, 78-yard scoring drive of their own. Starting from their own 22-yard line, Brady completed a 12-yard pass to wide receiver David Givens. Then after throwing an incompletion, Brady completed a long pass to Branch, who caught it at the Panthers 24-yard line in stride before being tackled at the 14-yard line for a 52-yard gain. Three plays later, Givens caught a 5-yard touchdown from Brady to give New England a 14–7 lead with only 18 seconds left in the half. The Patriots decided to squib kick the ensuing kickoff to prevent a long return, but their plan backfired as Carolina tight end Kris Mangum picked up the ball at his own 35-yard line and returned it 12 yards to the 47. The Patriots expected a pass play from the Panthers, but instead running back Stephen Davis ran for 21 yards on the next play to set up kicker John Kasay's 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half, cutting Carolina's deficit to 14–10.
Third quarter
The third quarter was scoreless as each team exchanged punts twice. However, with 3:57 left in the period, the Patriots put together a 71-yard, 8-play scoring drive, featuring tight end Daniel Graham's 33-yard reception to advance to the Carolina 9-yard line.
Fourth quarter
Running back Antowain Smith then capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run on the second play on the fourth quarter to increase their lead, 21–10. This was the start of another scoring explosion, one that became one of the biggest explosions in Super Bowl history, with both teams scoring a combined 37 points in the last 15 minutes, the most ever in a single quarter of a Super Bowl.
Delhomme started out Carolina's ensuing drive with a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad. After committing a false start penalty on the next play, Delhomme completed a pair of passes to Smith for gains of 18 and 22 yards. Running back DeShaun Foster then scored on a 33-yard touchdown run, cutting the Panthers' deficit to 21–16 after Delhomme's 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete. The Patriots responded on their ensuing possession by driving all the way to Carolina's 9-yard line, but the drive ended when Panthers defensive back Reggie Howard intercepted a third down pass from Brady in the end zone. Then on 3rd down from his own 15-yard line, Delhomme threw for the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, an 85-yard touchdown completion to Muhammad. Carolina's 2-point conversion attempt failed again, but they took their first lead of the game, 22–21, with 6:53 remaining. It was the first time in Super Bowl history a team down 10+ points during the 4th quarter had come back to take the lead. Three other times teams have come back to tie the game; the Tennessee Titans against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, the Rams against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, and the Patriots against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
However, New England retook the lead on their next drive, advancing 68 yards with the aid of a pair of completions from Brady to Givens for gains of 18 and 25 yards. Once again the Patriots were faced with third down and goal, but this time they scored with Brady's 1-yard pass to Vrabel, who had lined up in an eligible tight end position. Then on a two-point conversion attempt, running back Kevin Faulk took a direct snap and ran into the end zone to make the score 29–22. Despite amassing over 1,000 combined yards, Faulk's two-point conversion constituted the only points he scored all season.
The Panthers countered on their next possession. Foster started the drive with a 9-yard run and a 7-yard reception. After that, Delhomme completed a 19-yard pass to Muhammad, followed by a 31-yard completion to receiver Ricky Proehl. Then Proehl, who caught the fourth quarter game-tying touchdown pass against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI two years earlier for the St. Louis Rams, finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown reception. Kasay's ensuing extra point tied the game, 29–29, with 1:08 to play in regulation and it appeared that the game would be the first Super Bowl ever to go into overtime.
However, Kasay kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, giving New England the ball on their own 40-yard line. Brady led the Patriots offense down the field with a 13-yard pass to Brown on second down. An offensive pass interference penalty on Brown pushed New England back to their own 43-yard line, but another 13-yard reception to Brown and a 4-yard pass to Graham brought up a critical 3rd down and 3 from the Carolina 40-yard line. The Panthers defense could not prevent the Patriots from gaining the first down, as Brady completed a 17-yard pass to Branch. On the next play, Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal to give New England the lead, 32–29, with four seconds left in the game. Carolina failed on their last chance, as Rod Smart went nowhere on the ensuing kickoff, and the Patriots had won their second Super Bowl in three years. This was the fourth Super Bowl to be decided on a field goal in the final seconds (Super Bowl V was won on a last second kick by the Baltimore Colts' Jim O'Brien to defeat the Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl XXV had the Buffalo Bills' Scott Norwood miss his field goal chance against the New York Giants, and in Super Bowl XXXVI Vinatieri made his to defeat the St. Louis Rams).
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: Bud Light. Two dog trainers outdo one another, until one dog bites the other trainer in the groin. This came in the midst of the aftermath of the controversial halftime show that year.
Top 5
Interesting Story Lines:
1) The Panthers made their first trip to the Super Bowl after posting a one-win regular season just two years earlier.
2) Just before the start of the second half, a British streaker, Mark Roberts, ran onto the field disguised as a referee, undressed, and performed a dance wearing only a thong. He was tackled to the ground by Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham and arrested. It is customary for American television to avoid broadcasting such events, but it was later shown on Late Show with David Letterman. He received a $1,000 fine for trespassing.
3) The game set a number of marks for offensive production. The two teams combined for 868 yards of total offense, the second-highest total in Super Bowl history. Both starting quarterbacks threw for at least 300 yards for only the second time in Super Bowl history, with Dan Marino and Joe Montana each passing for at least 300 yards in Super Bowl XIX. This was also only the second Super Bowl to feature one 100-yard receiving performance on each team, with Deion Branch and Muhsin Muhammad each reaching 100 yards. Andre Reed and Michael Irvin first accomplished the feat in Super Bowl XXVII.
My Comments: The major gaps of no scoring for first 27 minutes and all of the third quarter make this game hard to rate any higher when compared to the rest of the games. All the scoring action was crammed into just 16 minutes of the game. Maybe that's the reason the game never stood out to me in a significant way.
Zow
Footballguy
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Yes. I said something not so nice about our dear leader and got dinged for a month.
Zow
Footballguy
AAABatteries
Footballguy
AAABatteries
Footballguy
AAABatteries
Footballguy
If I had known that was you I would have just ignored it and figured you were drunk.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 6
Super Bowl XXXVI (36)
Date: Feb 3, 2002
Location: New Orleans
Final Score: NE 20, RAMS 17
Line: RAMS -14
Halftime Show: U2 Half-time Show
Cost of 30 second ad: $1.9mil
QB Stats: Warner 28-44-2 365yd 1td, Brady 16-27-0 145 1td
Other Notable Stats: A.Hakim 5-90, M.Faulk 17-75 and 4-54, A.Smith 18-92, T.Brown 6-89
Big Plays: Ty Law 47yd INT for td. No offensive play over 30 yards.
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
The Rams scored first midway through the first quarter, with quarterback Kurt Warner completing 6-of-7 passes for 43 yards on a 48-yard, 10-play drive to set up a 50-yard field goal by kicker Jeff Wilkins. At the time, the field goal was the third longest in Super Bowl history. While the rest of the quarter was scoreless, the Patriots were stifling the typically high powered Rams offense by playing physical man coverage with the Rams receivers, forcing them into long drives that would end in punts or field goal attempts.
Second quarter
Early in the second quarter, the Rams drove to New England's 34-yard line, but Warner threw an incompletion on third down, and Wilkins' subsequent 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
With 8:49 left in the second quarter, a blitz by linebacker Mike Vrabel led Warner to be intercepted by Patriots defensive back Ty Law on a pass that was intended for wide receiver Isaac Bruce, Law then scored on a 47-yard return to give the Patriots a 7–3 lead. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Warner completed a pass to receiver Ricky Proehl at the Rams 40-yard line, but New England defensive back Antwan Harris tackled him, and forced a fumble which was recovered by Patriots defensive back Terrell Buckley. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady started off the Patriots drive with a 16-yard completion to Troy Brown and finished it with an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver David Patten with 31 seconds left in the half. By halftime, New England owned a surprising 14–3 lead. It was the first time in the entire 2001 season that the Rams fell behind by more than eight points in a game.
Third quarter
The Patriots received the opening kickoff of the second half, but could only reach the St. Louis 43-yard line before being forced to punt. Aided by a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim, a 22-yard reception by Bruce, and a defensive pass interference penalty on Patriots defensive back Otis Smith, the Rams advanced to the New England 41-yard line. However, on the next play, Vrabel and defensive lineman Richard Seymour sacked Warner for a 9-yard loss. Warner then threw two consecutive incomplete passes, which resulted in the Rams punting.
Later in the third quarter, Smith intercepted a pass intended for Rams wide receiver Torry Holt after Holt slipped while coming off the line of scrimmage, and returned the ball 30 yards to the Rams 33-yard line. Though St. Louis' defense did not give up a touchdown to the Patriots, kicker Adam Vinatieri made a 37-yard field goal to increase New England's lead to 17–3.
Fourth quarter
The Rams responded by driving to the Patriots' 3-yard line on their ensuing drive. On fourth-and-goal, the Rams attempted to score a touchdown. Warner went back to pass and finding no one open scrambled to his right trying to run the ball in for a touchdown. Warner fumbled the ball while being tackled by linebacker Roman Phifer, which was recovered by defensive back Tebucky Jones who returned it 97 yards for a touchdown that would have increased the Patriots lead to 23–3. However, the play was nullified by a holding penalty on linebacker Willie McGinest, who illegally hugged Rams running back Marshall Faulk and prevented him from becoming an eligible receiver. This gave the Rams a first down on the 1-yard line. On second down, Warner scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to cut the Patriots' lead to 17–10. (9:34 left in game)
After Warner's touchdown, the Rams defense forced the Patriots to a three-and-out. St. Louis then drove from own 7-yard line to the New England 36-yard line, aided by a 30-yard reception by Proehl. However, McGinest sacked Warner for a 16-yard loss on second down, pushing the Rams back to their 46-yard line. St. Louis punted after Warner's third down pass was incomplete.
The Rams forced New England to another three-and-out, and got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 1:51 left in the game. Warner threw three consecutive completions: an 18-yard pass to Hakim, an 11-yard one to wide receiver Yo Murphy, and finally a 26-yard touchdown completion to Proehl that tied the game 17–17 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots had no timeouts left for their ensuing drive, which led Fox color commentator John Madden to initially suggest that the Patriots should run out the clock and attempt to win in overtime. Instead, New England attempted to get the winning score in regulation on the final drive. Bill Belichick conferred with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and they agreed to go for it. Belichick later stated, "With a quarterback like Brady, going for the win is not that dangerous, because he's not going to make a mistake." Brady opened the drive with three dump-off completions to running back J. R. Redmond, who got out of bounds on the last one and moved the ball to their 41-yard line with 33 seconds left. At this point, Madden admitted on the air that he now liked what the Patriots were doing. After an incomplete pass, Brady completed a 23-yard pass underneath the Rams' zone defense to wide receiver Troy Brown—who also got out of bounds—and followed it up with a 6-yard completion to tight end Jermaine Wiggins to advance to the Rams' 30-yard line. Brady then spiked the ball with seven seconds left, which set up Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal attempt. Vinatieri, who had never missed a field goal indoors, made the kick as time ran out, marking the first time in Super Bowl history that a game was won by a score on the final play. Adam Vinatieri kicks 48-yard field goal to give the Patriots their first ring
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: Bud Light. A girlfriend entices her beau into bed with Bud Light, but he slides on the satin sheets and flies out the apartment window.
Top 5
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It was New England's first Super Bowl championship, and the franchise's first league championship of any kind. (After all this has happened since, this and the first ever GW FG at end put this game here)
2) Following the September 11, 2001 attacks earlier in the season, the NFL postponed a week of regular-season games and moved the league's playoff schedule back. As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI was rescheduled from the original date of January 27 to February 3, becoming the first Super Bowl played in February.
3) Although the Rams out-gained the Patriots 427–267 in total yards, New England built a 17–3 third-quarter lead off three Rams turnovers.
4) One of the most significant logistical challenges was accommodating the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention, which was originally slated to occupy the Superdome on February 3. On October 3, 2001, the NFL announced its intentions to hold the game on February 3, even though no agreement had been reached with NADA. Several weeks later, the three parties came to an accord in which the NADA agreed to move its convention date to the original Super Bowl week in exchange for financial and other considerations, including promotional spots shown during selected regular season NFL games. This agreement permitted the NFL to move the game back to February 3, and allowed for a full standard playoff tournament.
5) Janet Jackson was originally scheduled to perform during the Halftime Show, but allowed U2 to perform to tribute the events of September 11
6) The Rams entered as 14-point favorites. This was partly because Rams quarterback Kurt Warner statistically had his best year of his career, with a quarterback rating of 101.4, a 68.7 percent completion rate, and threw for 4,830 yards. Many had believed that the Patriots' Cinderella story was simply a fluke, especially after beating the veteran Oakland Raiders in a controversial playoff game in which a recovered fumble by the Raiders was reversed by the tuck rule.
7) As was customary at the time, the Rams' individual offensive starters were introduced first, as the Rams were considered the visitors. However, when it came time to introduce the Patriots' starters, Pat Summerall, making the public address announcement, revealed that the Patriots chose "to be introduced as a team." According to David Halberstam's book, The Education of a Coach, Belichick was given a choice by the NFL to introduce either the offense or defense. Belichick chose neither, asking that the team be introduced all at once in the spirit of unity. Although this was initially rejected by the NFL, Belichick held his ground and the NFL honored his request. The full team introduction demonstrated solidarity, and struck a chord with the audience in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
My Comments: The Rams had that high powered offense and were heavy favorites to win the game. So the 4th quarter comeback was no surprise. I remember thinking and be very excited that this would go to OT, but the Pats pulled it out for the first of many SB wins.
Super Bowl XXXVI (36)
Date: Feb 3, 2002
Location: New Orleans
Final Score: NE 20, RAMS 17
Line: RAMS -14
Halftime Show: U2 Half-time Show
Cost of 30 second ad: $1.9mil
QB Stats: Warner 28-44-2 365yd 1td, Brady 16-27-0 145 1td
Other Notable Stats: A.Hakim 5-90, M.Faulk 17-75 and 4-54, A.Smith 18-92, T.Brown 6-89
Big Plays: Ty Law 47yd INT for td. No offensive play over 30 yards.
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First quarter
The Rams scored first midway through the first quarter, with quarterback Kurt Warner completing 6-of-7 passes for 43 yards on a 48-yard, 10-play drive to set up a 50-yard field goal by kicker Jeff Wilkins. At the time, the field goal was the third longest in Super Bowl history. While the rest of the quarter was scoreless, the Patriots were stifling the typically high powered Rams offense by playing physical man coverage with the Rams receivers, forcing them into long drives that would end in punts or field goal attempts.
Second quarter
Early in the second quarter, the Rams drove to New England's 34-yard line, but Warner threw an incompletion on third down, and Wilkins' subsequent 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
With 8:49 left in the second quarter, a blitz by linebacker Mike Vrabel led Warner to be intercepted by Patriots defensive back Ty Law on a pass that was intended for wide receiver Isaac Bruce, Law then scored on a 47-yard return to give the Patriots a 7–3 lead. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Warner completed a pass to receiver Ricky Proehl at the Rams 40-yard line, but New England defensive back Antwan Harris tackled him, and forced a fumble which was recovered by Patriots defensive back Terrell Buckley. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady started off the Patriots drive with a 16-yard completion to Troy Brown and finished it with an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver David Patten with 31 seconds left in the half. By halftime, New England owned a surprising 14–3 lead. It was the first time in the entire 2001 season that the Rams fell behind by more than eight points in a game.
Third quarter
The Patriots received the opening kickoff of the second half, but could only reach the St. Louis 43-yard line before being forced to punt. Aided by a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim, a 22-yard reception by Bruce, and a defensive pass interference penalty on Patriots defensive back Otis Smith, the Rams advanced to the New England 41-yard line. However, on the next play, Vrabel and defensive lineman Richard Seymour sacked Warner for a 9-yard loss. Warner then threw two consecutive incomplete passes, which resulted in the Rams punting.
Later in the third quarter, Smith intercepted a pass intended for Rams wide receiver Torry Holt after Holt slipped while coming off the line of scrimmage, and returned the ball 30 yards to the Rams 33-yard line. Though St. Louis' defense did not give up a touchdown to the Patriots, kicker Adam Vinatieri made a 37-yard field goal to increase New England's lead to 17–3.
Fourth quarter
The Rams responded by driving to the Patriots' 3-yard line on their ensuing drive. On fourth-and-goal, the Rams attempted to score a touchdown. Warner went back to pass and finding no one open scrambled to his right trying to run the ball in for a touchdown. Warner fumbled the ball while being tackled by linebacker Roman Phifer, which was recovered by defensive back Tebucky Jones who returned it 97 yards for a touchdown that would have increased the Patriots lead to 23–3. However, the play was nullified by a holding penalty on linebacker Willie McGinest, who illegally hugged Rams running back Marshall Faulk and prevented him from becoming an eligible receiver. This gave the Rams a first down on the 1-yard line. On second down, Warner scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to cut the Patriots' lead to 17–10. (9:34 left in game)
After Warner's touchdown, the Rams defense forced the Patriots to a three-and-out. St. Louis then drove from own 7-yard line to the New England 36-yard line, aided by a 30-yard reception by Proehl. However, McGinest sacked Warner for a 16-yard loss on second down, pushing the Rams back to their 46-yard line. St. Louis punted after Warner's third down pass was incomplete.
The Rams forced New England to another three-and-out, and got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 1:51 left in the game. Warner threw three consecutive completions: an 18-yard pass to Hakim, an 11-yard one to wide receiver Yo Murphy, and finally a 26-yard touchdown completion to Proehl that tied the game 17–17 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots had no timeouts left for their ensuing drive, which led Fox color commentator John Madden to initially suggest that the Patriots should run out the clock and attempt to win in overtime. Instead, New England attempted to get the winning score in regulation on the final drive. Bill Belichick conferred with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and they agreed to go for it. Belichick later stated, "With a quarterback like Brady, going for the win is not that dangerous, because he's not going to make a mistake." Brady opened the drive with three dump-off completions to running back J. R. Redmond, who got out of bounds on the last one and moved the ball to their 41-yard line with 33 seconds left. At this point, Madden admitted on the air that he now liked what the Patriots were doing. After an incomplete pass, Brady completed a 23-yard pass underneath the Rams' zone defense to wide receiver Troy Brown—who also got out of bounds—and followed it up with a 6-yard completion to tight end Jermaine Wiggins to advance to the Rams' 30-yard line. Brady then spiked the ball with seven seconds left, which set up Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal attempt. Vinatieri, who had never missed a field goal indoors, made the kick as time ran out, marking the first time in Super Bowl history that a game was won by a score on the final play. Adam Vinatieri kicks 48-yard field goal to give the Patriots their first ring
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: Bud Light. A girlfriend entices her beau into bed with Bud Light, but he slides on the satin sheets and flies out the apartment window.
Top 5
Interesting Story Lines:
1) It was New England's first Super Bowl championship, and the franchise's first league championship of any kind. (After all this has happened since, this and the first ever GW FG at end put this game here)
2) Following the September 11, 2001 attacks earlier in the season, the NFL postponed a week of regular-season games and moved the league's playoff schedule back. As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI was rescheduled from the original date of January 27 to February 3, becoming the first Super Bowl played in February.
3) Although the Rams out-gained the Patriots 427–267 in total yards, New England built a 17–3 third-quarter lead off three Rams turnovers.
4) One of the most significant logistical challenges was accommodating the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention, which was originally slated to occupy the Superdome on February 3. On October 3, 2001, the NFL announced its intentions to hold the game on February 3, even though no agreement had been reached with NADA. Several weeks later, the three parties came to an accord in which the NADA agreed to move its convention date to the original Super Bowl week in exchange for financial and other considerations, including promotional spots shown during selected regular season NFL games. This agreement permitted the NFL to move the game back to February 3, and allowed for a full standard playoff tournament.
5) Janet Jackson was originally scheduled to perform during the Halftime Show, but allowed U2 to perform to tribute the events of September 11
6) The Rams entered as 14-point favorites. This was partly because Rams quarterback Kurt Warner statistically had his best year of his career, with a quarterback rating of 101.4, a 68.7 percent completion rate, and threw for 4,830 yards. Many had believed that the Patriots' Cinderella story was simply a fluke, especially after beating the veteran Oakland Raiders in a controversial playoff game in which a recovered fumble by the Raiders was reversed by the tuck rule.
7) As was customary at the time, the Rams' individual offensive starters were introduced first, as the Rams were considered the visitors. However, when it came time to introduce the Patriots' starters, Pat Summerall, making the public address announcement, revealed that the Patriots chose "to be introduced as a team." According to David Halberstam's book, The Education of a Coach, Belichick was given a choice by the NFL to introduce either the offense or defense. Belichick chose neither, asking that the team be introduced all at once in the spirit of unity. Although this was initially rejected by the NFL, Belichick held his ground and the NFL honored his request. The full team introduction demonstrated solidarity, and struck a chord with the audience in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
My Comments: The Rams had that high powered offense and were heavy favorites to win the game. So the 4th quarter comeback was no surprise. I remember thinking and be very excited that this would go to OT, but the Pats pulled it out for the first of many SB wins.
zazale
Footballguy
Hello everyone, I am judging in reponse to @Getzlaf15 and this is the MEN'S SPORTS - Greatest Soccer Goalie category. Hopefully the distance between final points give an indication of relative greatness.
See page 110 part 1 for scoring.
5) OLIVER KAHN (12 points) INTL CAPS 4.3 + INTL COMPS 7.7 + DOMESTIC 15.86 + CONT CUPS 2.7 + AWARDS 20.1 = 50.66
Honestly any of the 3 Germans could have placed 5, 6 or 7 on this list, and this is just how the statistics came out. Coincidentally the only of the 3 Germans on this list to not win a World Cup, he was runner up once and third place once. Unfortunately, he did make this mistake which may have cost Germany a World Cup, although he did become the only goalkeeper in history to win the Golden Ball in a World cup as the best player in the tournament. He only conceded 3 goals in that World Cup, 2 in the final with torn ligaments in his right hand and he kept 5 clean sheets in the tournament. He won 8 titles with Bayern Munich along with 6 German cups, a Champions League title and a UEFA Cup. He is the only goalkeeper to receive multiple top 3 Ballon d'Or votes getting 3rd place in 2001 and 2002, and was the IFFHS WBG 3 times between 1998 and 2002, and is the Bundesliga's all time clean sheet leader with 197.
4) DINO ZOFF (13 points) INTL CAPS 4.48 + INTL COMPS 12.7 + DOMESTIC 12.32 + CONT CUPS 0.9 + AWARDS 26.3 = 56.7
I think this was one of the best picks of the category. He checks all the boxes; World Cup winner at age 40, World Cup runner up, a 4th place World Cup finish where he kept 3 clean sheets, a European Championship, 565 games in top 10 leagues (330 of which came consecutively for Juventus, still a club record today), 112 caps for Italy, 6 Italian League titles with Juventus, a UEFA Cup, a 2nd place Ballon d'Or finish in 1973 and IFFHS' 3rd best goalkeeper of the 20th century. Zoff was known for his ability to read the game and for his athleticism and longevity which allowed him to perform at top level into his 40s.
3) LEV YASHIN (14 points) INTL CAPS 3.51 + INTL COMPS 5.7 + DOMESTIC 9.52 + CONT CUPS 0 + AWARDS 38.5 = 57.23
Unequivocally the most difficult of the goalkeepers to judge, and he benefits greatly from his Ballon d'Or win and his top of the list of the IFFHS Goalkeeper of the 20th century. There is not a person on the FBG message board that can tell me how he played, or who even watched him play and remembered what they saw. It doesn't help me judge that he played in a USSR league that didn't even get included into UEFA competitions until 1967, of which his team was never in continental competitions, only Dinamo Kiev, Torpedo Moscow and Spartak Moscow from the Soviet Union's league. The three sources I use can't even agree on how many games he played for Dynamo Moscow, or how many times he featured for the Soviet Union.
I really wish I could have watched him play. He seemed to be one of, if not the first to revolutionize playing outside of his box. He uhh, played for the Dynamo Moscow ice hockey team until 1953 where he won the USSR ice hockey cup as a goalkeeper. He placed 5th and 4th in the 1960 and 1961 Ballon d'or voting and won the 1963 Ballon d'Or.
From Wikipedia: "When asked what his secret was, he would reply that the trick was "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles." This is definitely advice I will use when I play keeper next.
2) IKER CASILLAS (15 points) INTL CAPS 7.52 + INTL COMPS 13.2 + DOMESTIC 13.08 + CONT CUPS 5.4 + AWARDS 20 = 59.2
"San Iker", or Saint Iker as the locals like to call him, he led every category of judging except his domestic performance and and the awards section. 167 (!) caps for Spain, 10th all time among international men's soccer players. He won 3 international titles in a row with Spain, the 2008 Euros, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros, and he holds Spain's national team clean sheets record. He never finished top 3 in Ballon d'Or voting, but did place 4th in 2008. Known best for his agility, reflexes and shot stopping abilities, Casillas won the IFFHS WBG 5 times and finished runner up 3 times and he is a national hero for bringing unity to a dressing room of a team consisting of players from fierce archrivals Barcelona and Real Madrid.
He had a heart attack in training for Portuguese champions Porto which ended his professional career a few months later as Spain's second highest capped player and one of the best goalkeepers of the world of all time.
1) GIANLUIGI BUFFON (16 points) INTL CAPS 7.04 + INTL COMPS 9 + DOMESTIC 17.6 + CONT CUPS 0.9 + AWARDS 31.9 = 66.44
Well the Coppa Italia he could have won yesterday would have made him even more first place on this list. This man is 42 years old. The last 2 goalkeepers he played against (AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma and Napoli's Alex Meret) combined for an age of 44. He played his first game for Italy's national team BEFORE CURRENT NATIONAL TEAM #1 DONNARUMMA WAS BORN. You guys remember Zidane? The headbutt guy? Yep Buffon was the Italian goalkeeper here, in the game they won on penalties that Zidane should have taken in the shootout. Buffon was selected to a record 5 World Cup squads (though he only played in 4, which is still a goalkeeping record).
Not only did Buffon come second in 2006 Ballon d'Or voting behind compatriot Fabio Cannavaro, he won the IFFHS WBG a record 5 times along with Casillas, but the kicker here is he was runner up 6 times. 11 times between 2003 and 2017 he was voted a top 2 goalkeeper of the year, losing out to only Casillas, Neuer, Cech once, Dida 2nd place once and Julio Cesar 2nd place once (yes that Julio Cesar that got 7-1d by Germany [he would have been 16th over Tim Howard on this list]). He is considered the prototype for the modern goalkeeper; calm under pressure, influential and leader-like in his dressing room, agile and a strong shot-stopper. Buffon is the most capped player in Italy's history with 176, the 4th most among men all time and the most capped international European player ever.
Fun fact: Buffon admitted in 2006 to placing bets on sporting matches, although he denied doing so on Italian soccer matches. The Italian Football Federation cleared him of all charges in 2007, but Juventus as a whole were involved in the Calciopoli scandal of match fixing in Italy's Serie A, where they were stripped of 2 league titles and relegated to the lower division Serie B, so I only have one question to ask you: WHY IS PETE ROSE LAST IN THE GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYER CATEGORY?
See page 110 part 1 for scoring.
5) OLIVER KAHN (12 points) INTL CAPS 4.3 + INTL COMPS 7.7 + DOMESTIC 15.86 + CONT CUPS 2.7 + AWARDS 20.1 = 50.66
Honestly any of the 3 Germans could have placed 5, 6 or 7 on this list, and this is just how the statistics came out. Coincidentally the only of the 3 Germans on this list to not win a World Cup, he was runner up once and third place once. Unfortunately, he did make this mistake which may have cost Germany a World Cup, although he did become the only goalkeeper in history to win the Golden Ball in a World cup as the best player in the tournament. He only conceded 3 goals in that World Cup, 2 in the final with torn ligaments in his right hand and he kept 5 clean sheets in the tournament. He won 8 titles with Bayern Munich along with 6 German cups, a Champions League title and a UEFA Cup. He is the only goalkeeper to receive multiple top 3 Ballon d'Or votes getting 3rd place in 2001 and 2002, and was the IFFHS WBG 3 times between 1998 and 2002, and is the Bundesliga's all time clean sheet leader with 197.
4) DINO ZOFF (13 points) INTL CAPS 4.48 + INTL COMPS 12.7 + DOMESTIC 12.32 + CONT CUPS 0.9 + AWARDS 26.3 = 56.7
I think this was one of the best picks of the category. He checks all the boxes; World Cup winner at age 40, World Cup runner up, a 4th place World Cup finish where he kept 3 clean sheets, a European Championship, 565 games in top 10 leagues (330 of which came consecutively for Juventus, still a club record today), 112 caps for Italy, 6 Italian League titles with Juventus, a UEFA Cup, a 2nd place Ballon d'Or finish in 1973 and IFFHS' 3rd best goalkeeper of the 20th century. Zoff was known for his ability to read the game and for his athleticism and longevity which allowed him to perform at top level into his 40s.
3) LEV YASHIN (14 points) INTL CAPS 3.51 + INTL COMPS 5.7 + DOMESTIC 9.52 + CONT CUPS 0 + AWARDS 38.5 = 57.23
Unequivocally the most difficult of the goalkeepers to judge, and he benefits greatly from his Ballon d'Or win and his top of the list of the IFFHS Goalkeeper of the 20th century. There is not a person on the FBG message board that can tell me how he played, or who even watched him play and remembered what they saw. It doesn't help me judge that he played in a USSR league that didn't even get included into UEFA competitions until 1967, of which his team was never in continental competitions, only Dinamo Kiev, Torpedo Moscow and Spartak Moscow from the Soviet Union's league. The three sources I use can't even agree on how many games he played for Dynamo Moscow, or how many times he featured for the Soviet Union.
I really wish I could have watched him play. He seemed to be one of, if not the first to revolutionize playing outside of his box. He uhh, played for the Dynamo Moscow ice hockey team until 1953 where he won the USSR ice hockey cup as a goalkeeper. He placed 5th and 4th in the 1960 and 1961 Ballon d'or voting and won the 1963 Ballon d'Or.
From Wikipedia: "When asked what his secret was, he would reply that the trick was "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles." This is definitely advice I will use when I play keeper next.
2) IKER CASILLAS (15 points) INTL CAPS 7.52 + INTL COMPS 13.2 + DOMESTIC 13.08 + CONT CUPS 5.4 + AWARDS 20 = 59.2
"San Iker", or Saint Iker as the locals like to call him, he led every category of judging except his domestic performance and and the awards section. 167 (!) caps for Spain, 10th all time among international men's soccer players. He won 3 international titles in a row with Spain, the 2008 Euros, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros, and he holds Spain's national team clean sheets record. He never finished top 3 in Ballon d'Or voting, but did place 4th in 2008. Known best for his agility, reflexes and shot stopping abilities, Casillas won the IFFHS WBG 5 times and finished runner up 3 times and he is a national hero for bringing unity to a dressing room of a team consisting of players from fierce archrivals Barcelona and Real Madrid.
He had a heart attack in training for Portuguese champions Porto which ended his professional career a few months later as Spain's second highest capped player and one of the best goalkeepers of the world of all time.
1) GIANLUIGI BUFFON (16 points) INTL CAPS 7.04 + INTL COMPS 9 + DOMESTIC 17.6 + CONT CUPS 0.9 + AWARDS 31.9 = 66.44
Well the Coppa Italia he could have won yesterday would have made him even more first place on this list. This man is 42 years old. The last 2 goalkeepers he played against (AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma and Napoli's Alex Meret) combined for an age of 44. He played his first game for Italy's national team BEFORE CURRENT NATIONAL TEAM #1 DONNARUMMA WAS BORN. You guys remember Zidane? The headbutt guy? Yep Buffon was the Italian goalkeeper here, in the game they won on penalties that Zidane should have taken in the shootout. Buffon was selected to a record 5 World Cup squads (though he only played in 4, which is still a goalkeeping record).
Not only did Buffon come second in 2006 Ballon d'Or voting behind compatriot Fabio Cannavaro, he won the IFFHS WBG a record 5 times along with Casillas, but the kicker here is he was runner up 6 times. 11 times between 2003 and 2017 he was voted a top 2 goalkeeper of the year, losing out to only Casillas, Neuer, Cech once, Dida 2nd place once and Julio Cesar 2nd place once (yes that Julio Cesar that got 7-1d by Germany [he would have been 16th over Tim Howard on this list]). He is considered the prototype for the modern goalkeeper; calm under pressure, influential and leader-like in his dressing room, agile and a strong shot-stopper. Buffon is the most capped player in Italy's history with 176, the 4th most among men all time and the most capped international European player ever.
Fun fact: Buffon admitted in 2006 to placing bets on sporting matches, although he denied doing so on Italian soccer matches. The Italian Football Federation cleared him of all charges in 2007, but Juventus as a whole were involved in the Calciopoli scandal of match fixing in Italy's Serie A, where they were stripped of 2 league titles and relegated to the lower division Serie B, so I only have one question to ask you: WHY IS PETE ROSE LAST IN THE GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYER CATEGORY?
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Zegras11
Footballguy
Standings After ZaZale ranked Soccer Goalies -
--STANDINGS--GOLD--SILVER--BRONZE--TOTAL
1 --Ilov80s--416--3--4--1=8
2 --Gally--403--3--1--3=7
3 --DougB--400--6--2--2=10 (gold)
4 --tuffnutt--399--4--1--6=11
5 --AAABatteries--397--3--3--4=10
6 --Zow--396--3--3--5=11
7 --joffer--380--5--3--1=9
8 --Getzlaf15--369--1--5--3=9
9 --otb_lifer--367--0--2--3=5
10 -Long Ball Larry--365--2--2--4=8 (bronze)
11 -Jagov--341--2--7--0=9 (silver)
12 -timschochet--339--2--2--3=7
13 -jwb--333--2--4--2=8
14 -wikkidpissah--331--2--1--4=7
15 -higgins--323--1--1--2=4
16 -Kal El--289--4--2--0=6
--STANDINGS--GOLD--SILVER--BRONZE--TOTAL
1 --Ilov80s--416--3--4--1=8
2 --Gally--403--3--1--3=7
3 --DougB--400--6--2--2=10 (gold)
4 --tuffnutt--399--4--1--6=11
5 --AAABatteries--397--3--3--4=10
6 --Zow--396--3--3--5=11
7 --joffer--380--5--3--1=9
8 --Getzlaf15--369--1--5--3=9
9 --otb_lifer--367--0--2--3=5
10 -Long Ball Larry--365--2--2--4=8 (bronze)
11 -Jagov--341--2--7--0=9 (silver)
12 -timschochet--339--2--2--3=7
13 -jwb--333--2--4--2=8
14 -wikkidpissah--331--2--1--4=7
15 -higgins--323--1--1--2=4
16 -Kal El--289--4--2--0=6
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 7
Super Bowl XXIII (23)
Date: Jan 22, 1989
Location: Miami
Final Score: SF 20, CIN 16
Line: SF - 7
Halftime Show: "Be Bop Bamboozled" – South Florida-area dancers and performers including Elvis Presto, and 3-D effects. WTF?
At the onset of the halftime show, primary sponsor Diet Coke aired the first commercial in 3-D. Coca-Cola had originally planned to use the 3-D Diet Coke commercial as part of the Moonlighting season finale, which was also aired in 3-D, but withdrew plans due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike.
Cost of 30 second ad: $675,000
QB Stats: Esiason 11-25-1 144 yds 0td, Montana 23-36-0 357 yds 2TD
Other Notable Stats: I.Woods 20-79. No CIn WR over 40 yds. Rice 11-215 1td, R.Craig 17-71 and 8-101. John Taylor's on reception was the game winner.
Big Plays: Stanford Jenning (CIN) 93 yd kickoff TD in 3rd.
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First Quarter
Super Bowl XXIII started out with devastating injuries on both sides. On the third play of the game, 49ers tackle Steve Wallace was taken off the field with a broken ankle. Later on, Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle nearly 180 degrees, shattering two bones in his left leg.
After the two teams traded punts on their first drives of the game, the 49ers, aided by a roughing the passer penalty and a 17-yard screen pass to fullback Tom Rathman on 3rd-and-10, marched 73 yards from their own 3-yard line to the Bengals 24. But dropped passes, including one by receiver Mike Wilson on the 2-yard line (the first time in a Super Bowl that instant replay was used to reverse a call), forced them to settle for a 41-yard field goal from kicker Mike Cofer.
On the 49ers' next drive, Montana threw a pass to wide receiver Jerry Rice, who first tipped it to himself and then made a one-handed catch before stepping out of bounds at the San Francisco 45-yard line.
Second Quarter
Then after reaching the Cincinnati 42-yard line, Montana spotted defensive back Lewis Billups trying to cover Rice one-on-one and made him pay for it by completing a pass to the receiver at the 10. But two plays later on a third-down play, Bengals safety David Fulcher made a touchdown saving tackle at the 2 to keep Rathman from scoring. Cofer then attempted a 19-yard field goal, but a poor snap from center Randy Cross (though NBC's **** Enberg initially blamed backup guard Chuck Thomas; who lined up next to Cross and split long-snapping duties; primarily on punts) threw off the kicker's timing and his kick sailed wide left. Cofer succeeded Rich Karlis, who missed a 21-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXI, as the kicker with the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history, a record that still holds.
The 49ers then forced the Bengals to punt on their next drive. On the play, San Francisco Pro Bowl punt returner John Taylor misplayed punter Lee Johnson's kick, and it sailed over his head, bouncing all the way to the 49ers 9 to make it a then-Super Bowl record 63-yard punt. But Taylor made up for his mistake by chasing the ball down and returning it for a then-Super Bowl record 45 yards to the Bengals 46. Thanks to Taylor, a seemingly routine punt had turned into a double record setter. Taylor's Super Bowl record for longest punt return stood for 27 seasons until Super Bowl 50, when Denver Broncos' return specialist Jordan Norwood had a 61-yard return. Johnson's Super Bowl record for longest punt stood for 30 seasons until Super Bowl 53, when Los Angeles Rams' punter Johnny Hekker had a 65-yard punt.
However, the 49ers were unable to take advantage of their excellent starting field position. On first down, running back Harry Sydney fumbled a pitch from Montana and was downed for a 10-yard loss after he dove on the ball. On the next play, Montana was sacked by defensive lineman David Grant (who replaced Krumrie at nose tackle). Then on third down, Fulcher forced a fumble from 49ers running back Roger Craig, and Bengals defensive end Jim Skow recovered the ball on his own 41. Cincinnati then drove to the San Francisco 42, but after two incomplete passes and defensive end Danny Stubbs's eight-yard sack on Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, they were forced to punt. However, Johnson pinned the 49ers back at their own 11. Then the Cincinnati defense limited the 49ers to just one yard on their ensuing drive, and ended up with great field position after defensive back Ray Horton returned San Francisco punter Barry Helton's 37-yard punt five yards to the 49ers 44.
On their ensuing drive, the Bengals managed to get into scoring range by driving 28 yards to the San Francisco 16, assisted by an 18-yard completion from Esiason to receiver Tim McGee. But after Esiason's third down pass intended for wide receiver Eddie Brown was overthrown, they were forced to settle for kicker Jim Breech's 34-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the half.
The two teams went into their locker rooms tied 3–3, the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history, and the lowest halftime score since the Pittsburgh Steelers took a 2–0 halftime lead over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX.
Third Quarter
On their opening possession in the second half, the Bengals managed to get a sustained drive going, moving the ball 61 yards in 12 plays and taking 9:15 off the clock. Esiason, who completed only 4 of 12 passes for 48 yards in the first half, completed 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards on the drive, including a 20-yard completion to James Brooks and 23-yard and 11-yard completions to Cris Collinsworth, setting up a 43-yard field goal from Breech to give the Bengals their first lead of the game, 6–3. Cincinnati then forced San Francisco to punt, but on the first play of their next drive, 49ers rookie linebacker Bill Romanowski intercepted a pass from Esiason at the Bengals 23. However, after a dropped pass by Rice, the 49ers' offense could not get a first down, and they had to settle for Cofer's 32-yard field goal to tie the game, 6-6.
With less than a minute left in the third quarter, it appeared that this would become the first Super Bowl ever to go three quarters without either team scoring a touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Stanford Jennings received the ball at the 7, ran straight up the middle behind a wedge of blockers, and burst out of the pack into the open field. 49ers receiver Terry Greer managed to chase him down and trip him up at the 1, but he still fell into the end zone for a 93-yard touchdown return, giving the Bengals a 13–6 lead. Jennings joined Fulton Walker as the only other player at that time to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. In the next three Super Bowls played in what is now Hard Rock Stadium, players duplicated Jennings' feat: Andre Coleman returned a kickoff against the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX for the San Diego Chargers, Tim Dwight did so for the Atlanta Falcons against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII, and Devin Hester did so for the Chicago Bears against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI.
But the 49ers immediately responded with a touchdown of their own on an 85-yard, 4-play drive. First, Montana threw a short pass to Rice, who turned it into a 31-yard gain.
Fourth Quarter
Then the San Francisco quarterback completed a 40-yard pass to Craig on the first play of the fourth quarter, moving the ball to the Bengals 14. Montana's next pass was dropped by Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups in the end zone. On the next play, Montana threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rice to tied the game at 13. (14:03 left in 4th)
Cofer's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Bengals the ball at their own 35. But they could only reach their 43 before being forced to punt. Taylor nearly turned the ball over by fumbling Johnson's punt, but teammate Darryl Pollard recovered the ball at the San Francisco 18. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Montana completed a 44-yard pass to Rice, and then Craig ran for seven yards, moving the ball to the Bengals 31. But after Craig was tackled for a one-yard loss on the next play, Fulcher broke up a third-down pass intended for Taylor, and then Cofer's 49-yard field attempt sailed wide right.
The Bengals took over from their own 32 and regained the lead with a 10-play, 46-yard drive, featuring a 17-yard reception by backup receiver Ira Hillary on third and 13, along with 21 yards on three carries from Ickey Woods and a 12-yard play-action sideline pass to James Brooks. At the end of the drive, Breech kicked a 40-yard field goal, giving the Bengals a 16–13 lead with 3:20 left in the game. The 49ers returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 15 with 3:10 on the clock, but an illegal block penalty on the play pushed the ball back half the distance to the goal line to the 8.
Montana then led an 11-play, 92-yard drive to score the winning touchdown. In order to calm his teammates in the huddle just before the final game-winning drive, Montana pointed into the stadium crowd and said "Hey, isn't that John Candy?" The tactic worked, and the 49ers were able to drive down the field for the win. It became the defining moment of Montana's "Joe Cool" reputation. Assuming that the Bengals would expect him to throw the ball near the sidelines (to enable the receivers to step out of bounds to immediately stop the clock), Montana first threw a pair of completions in the middle of the field, one to Craig and one to tight end John Frank. His next pass went to the right sideline, 7 yards to Rice, which was then followed up by a pair of runs by Craig to reach their own 35-yard line. Montana then completed a 17-yard pass to Rice to advance to the Bengals 48-yard line, and followed it up with a 13-yard completion to Craig to move them to the 35-yard line.
But on the next play, Montana threw his first incomplete pass of the drive, overthrowing Rice. After that, Cross committed an illegal man downfield penalty, which at the time was a 10-yard foul, moving the ball back to the 45 and bringing up second down and 20 with just 1:15 left in the game. But on the next play, Montana hit Rice with a 27-yard completion giving the 49ers the ball at the Cincinnati 18. An eight-yard pass to Craig then advanced San Francisco to the 10. Then with 39 seconds left, Montana finished the drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Taylor, giving the 49ers the lead for good. The LAST DRIVE
Although Jerry Rice was named MVP, Montana had an MVP-worthy performance, completing 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards, throwing for two touchdowns, and gaining 14 rushing yards. Craig finished with 71 yards rushing, and eight receptions for 101 receiving yards. He was the first running back in Super Bowl history to gain 100 receiving yards. Taylor finished the game with a Super Bowl record 56 punt return yards. His 18.7 yards per return was also the highest average in Super Bowl history. Linebacker Charles Haley had six tackles and two sacks. For Cincinnati, Jennings rushed one time for three yards, and gained 117 yards and a touchdown on two kickoff returns. Woods had a game-high 79 rushing yards. The sore-armed Esiason was limited to completing 11 out of 25 passes for 144 yards and an interception. Collinsworth (who retired after the game) was the Bengals' top receiver of the game, but with just three catches for 40 yards.
The 49ers became the sixth team to win the Super Bowl over a team with a better regular season record. The 49ers also became the first team since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 to win the Super Bowl after winning only 10 games during the regular season. Their six regular season losses were tied for the most ever by a Super Bowl champion, until the 9–7 New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. Additionally, the 49ers' 13 combined regular season and postseason wins are tied for the lowest ever for a league champion, also tied with the 2011 New York Giants.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: (1st year they voted on this) American ExpressActors Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey (both starring at the time on Saturday Night Live) go to the big game with credit cards - Lovitz with Visa, Carvey with American Express.
Top 5 NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) Despite the Bengals' superior regular season record and Esiason's MVP award, the 49ers were heavily favored to win the Super Bowl, mainly because of Montana. Montana had already led the 49ers to two previous Super Bowls and both times left with a championship ring and Super Bowl MVP honors. Esiason was also suffering from a sore left (throwing) shoulder, although the Bengals tried to keep it under wraps and made up for a lack of big-play passing attack with a run-heavy offense led by Woods and Brooks against their first two playoff opponents, Seattle and Buffalo.
2) While in Miami, Cincinnati suffered a major blow even before the game began. On the night before the Super Bowl, Stanley Wilson, the Bengals' best fullback and their third-leading rusher during the season with 398 yards, was caught using cocaine in his hotel room. The Bengals had no choice but to leave him off the roster. It was Wilson's third violation of the league's drug policy, and as a result he was banned from the league for life.
3) On January 16, a Hispanic Miami police officer shot and killed a speeding black motorcyclist in the Overtown section of Miami.[8] A large crowd gathered and turned violent, leading to rioting and looting which lasted into January 18. A television van and several automobiles and buildings were set on fire, and police used tear gas against the rioters.[9] A teenager was shot and killed in the melee and more than $1 million worth of damage was done.
Rumors began that the Super Bowl might be moved to Tampa, and the incident later prompted the NFL to look at the league's hiring of minorities and its lack of black coaches at the time (the following season, Art Shell, became the first African-American NFL head coach of the modern era with the Los Angeles Raiders).
4) This game also marked the debut of the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.
5) This was the last outdoor Super Bowl to start earlier than 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, as it started just after 5 p.m.
6) This was the final NFL game coached by the 49ers' Bill Walsh, as he retired from NFL coaching.
7) This was also the final Super Bowl that Pete Rozelle presided over as NFL Commissioner. Paul Tagliabue was selected by league owners as Rozelle's successor in 1989, taking over the post midway through the 1989 season.
My Comments: First half wasn't much, but the second half was a classic as Montana got the ball back and marched 11 plays, 92 yards, to win the game with 34 seconds to go. Bengals took the lead three times during the game to only see the 49'ers come right back to tie it twice and then win it.
Super Bowl XXIII (23)
Date: Jan 22, 1989
Location: Miami
Final Score: SF 20, CIN 16
Line: SF - 7
Halftime Show: "Be Bop Bamboozled" – South Florida-area dancers and performers including Elvis Presto, and 3-D effects. WTF?
At the onset of the halftime show, primary sponsor Diet Coke aired the first commercial in 3-D. Coca-Cola had originally planned to use the 3-D Diet Coke commercial as part of the Moonlighting season finale, which was also aired in 3-D, but withdrew plans due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike.
Cost of 30 second ad: $675,000
QB Stats: Esiason 11-25-1 144 yds 0td, Montana 23-36-0 357 yds 2TD
Other Notable Stats: I.Woods 20-79. No CIn WR over 40 yds. Rice 11-215 1td, R.Craig 17-71 and 8-101. John Taylor's on reception was the game winner.
Big Plays: Stanford Jenning (CIN) 93 yd kickoff TD in 3rd.
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First Quarter
Super Bowl XXIII started out with devastating injuries on both sides. On the third play of the game, 49ers tackle Steve Wallace was taken off the field with a broken ankle. Later on, Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle nearly 180 degrees, shattering two bones in his left leg.
After the two teams traded punts on their first drives of the game, the 49ers, aided by a roughing the passer penalty and a 17-yard screen pass to fullback Tom Rathman on 3rd-and-10, marched 73 yards from their own 3-yard line to the Bengals 24. But dropped passes, including one by receiver Mike Wilson on the 2-yard line (the first time in a Super Bowl that instant replay was used to reverse a call), forced them to settle for a 41-yard field goal from kicker Mike Cofer.
On the 49ers' next drive, Montana threw a pass to wide receiver Jerry Rice, who first tipped it to himself and then made a one-handed catch before stepping out of bounds at the San Francisco 45-yard line.
Second Quarter
Then after reaching the Cincinnati 42-yard line, Montana spotted defensive back Lewis Billups trying to cover Rice one-on-one and made him pay for it by completing a pass to the receiver at the 10. But two plays later on a third-down play, Bengals safety David Fulcher made a touchdown saving tackle at the 2 to keep Rathman from scoring. Cofer then attempted a 19-yard field goal, but a poor snap from center Randy Cross (though NBC's **** Enberg initially blamed backup guard Chuck Thomas; who lined up next to Cross and split long-snapping duties; primarily on punts) threw off the kicker's timing and his kick sailed wide left. Cofer succeeded Rich Karlis, who missed a 21-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXI, as the kicker with the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history, a record that still holds.
The 49ers then forced the Bengals to punt on their next drive. On the play, San Francisco Pro Bowl punt returner John Taylor misplayed punter Lee Johnson's kick, and it sailed over his head, bouncing all the way to the 49ers 9 to make it a then-Super Bowl record 63-yard punt. But Taylor made up for his mistake by chasing the ball down and returning it for a then-Super Bowl record 45 yards to the Bengals 46. Thanks to Taylor, a seemingly routine punt had turned into a double record setter. Taylor's Super Bowl record for longest punt return stood for 27 seasons until Super Bowl 50, when Denver Broncos' return specialist Jordan Norwood had a 61-yard return. Johnson's Super Bowl record for longest punt stood for 30 seasons until Super Bowl 53, when Los Angeles Rams' punter Johnny Hekker had a 65-yard punt.
However, the 49ers were unable to take advantage of their excellent starting field position. On first down, running back Harry Sydney fumbled a pitch from Montana and was downed for a 10-yard loss after he dove on the ball. On the next play, Montana was sacked by defensive lineman David Grant (who replaced Krumrie at nose tackle). Then on third down, Fulcher forced a fumble from 49ers running back Roger Craig, and Bengals defensive end Jim Skow recovered the ball on his own 41. Cincinnati then drove to the San Francisco 42, but after two incomplete passes and defensive end Danny Stubbs's eight-yard sack on Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, they were forced to punt. However, Johnson pinned the 49ers back at their own 11. Then the Cincinnati defense limited the 49ers to just one yard on their ensuing drive, and ended up with great field position after defensive back Ray Horton returned San Francisco punter Barry Helton's 37-yard punt five yards to the 49ers 44.
On their ensuing drive, the Bengals managed to get into scoring range by driving 28 yards to the San Francisco 16, assisted by an 18-yard completion from Esiason to receiver Tim McGee. But after Esiason's third down pass intended for wide receiver Eddie Brown was overthrown, they were forced to settle for kicker Jim Breech's 34-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the half.
The two teams went into their locker rooms tied 3–3, the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history, and the lowest halftime score since the Pittsburgh Steelers took a 2–0 halftime lead over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX.
Third Quarter
On their opening possession in the second half, the Bengals managed to get a sustained drive going, moving the ball 61 yards in 12 plays and taking 9:15 off the clock. Esiason, who completed only 4 of 12 passes for 48 yards in the first half, completed 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards on the drive, including a 20-yard completion to James Brooks and 23-yard and 11-yard completions to Cris Collinsworth, setting up a 43-yard field goal from Breech to give the Bengals their first lead of the game, 6–3. Cincinnati then forced San Francisco to punt, but on the first play of their next drive, 49ers rookie linebacker Bill Romanowski intercepted a pass from Esiason at the Bengals 23. However, after a dropped pass by Rice, the 49ers' offense could not get a first down, and they had to settle for Cofer's 32-yard field goal to tie the game, 6-6.
With less than a minute left in the third quarter, it appeared that this would become the first Super Bowl ever to go three quarters without either team scoring a touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Stanford Jennings received the ball at the 7, ran straight up the middle behind a wedge of blockers, and burst out of the pack into the open field. 49ers receiver Terry Greer managed to chase him down and trip him up at the 1, but he still fell into the end zone for a 93-yard touchdown return, giving the Bengals a 13–6 lead. Jennings joined Fulton Walker as the only other player at that time to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. In the next three Super Bowls played in what is now Hard Rock Stadium, players duplicated Jennings' feat: Andre Coleman returned a kickoff against the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX for the San Diego Chargers, Tim Dwight did so for the Atlanta Falcons against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII, and Devin Hester did so for the Chicago Bears against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI.
But the 49ers immediately responded with a touchdown of their own on an 85-yard, 4-play drive. First, Montana threw a short pass to Rice, who turned it into a 31-yard gain.
Fourth Quarter
Then the San Francisco quarterback completed a 40-yard pass to Craig on the first play of the fourth quarter, moving the ball to the Bengals 14. Montana's next pass was dropped by Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups in the end zone. On the next play, Montana threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rice to tied the game at 13. (14:03 left in 4th)
Cofer's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Bengals the ball at their own 35. But they could only reach their 43 before being forced to punt. Taylor nearly turned the ball over by fumbling Johnson's punt, but teammate Darryl Pollard recovered the ball at the San Francisco 18. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Montana completed a 44-yard pass to Rice, and then Craig ran for seven yards, moving the ball to the Bengals 31. But after Craig was tackled for a one-yard loss on the next play, Fulcher broke up a third-down pass intended for Taylor, and then Cofer's 49-yard field attempt sailed wide right.
The Bengals took over from their own 32 and regained the lead with a 10-play, 46-yard drive, featuring a 17-yard reception by backup receiver Ira Hillary on third and 13, along with 21 yards on three carries from Ickey Woods and a 12-yard play-action sideline pass to James Brooks. At the end of the drive, Breech kicked a 40-yard field goal, giving the Bengals a 16–13 lead with 3:20 left in the game. The 49ers returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 15 with 3:10 on the clock, but an illegal block penalty on the play pushed the ball back half the distance to the goal line to the 8.
Montana then led an 11-play, 92-yard drive to score the winning touchdown. In order to calm his teammates in the huddle just before the final game-winning drive, Montana pointed into the stadium crowd and said "Hey, isn't that John Candy?" The tactic worked, and the 49ers were able to drive down the field for the win. It became the defining moment of Montana's "Joe Cool" reputation. Assuming that the Bengals would expect him to throw the ball near the sidelines (to enable the receivers to step out of bounds to immediately stop the clock), Montana first threw a pair of completions in the middle of the field, one to Craig and one to tight end John Frank. His next pass went to the right sideline, 7 yards to Rice, which was then followed up by a pair of runs by Craig to reach their own 35-yard line. Montana then completed a 17-yard pass to Rice to advance to the Bengals 48-yard line, and followed it up with a 13-yard completion to Craig to move them to the 35-yard line.
But on the next play, Montana threw his first incomplete pass of the drive, overthrowing Rice. After that, Cross committed an illegal man downfield penalty, which at the time was a 10-yard foul, moving the ball back to the 45 and bringing up second down and 20 with just 1:15 left in the game. But on the next play, Montana hit Rice with a 27-yard completion giving the 49ers the ball at the Cincinnati 18. An eight-yard pass to Craig then advanced San Francisco to the 10. Then with 39 seconds left, Montana finished the drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Taylor, giving the 49ers the lead for good. The LAST DRIVE
Although Jerry Rice was named MVP, Montana had an MVP-worthy performance, completing 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards, throwing for two touchdowns, and gaining 14 rushing yards. Craig finished with 71 yards rushing, and eight receptions for 101 receiving yards. He was the first running back in Super Bowl history to gain 100 receiving yards. Taylor finished the game with a Super Bowl record 56 punt return yards. His 18.7 yards per return was also the highest average in Super Bowl history. Linebacker Charles Haley had six tackles and two sacks. For Cincinnati, Jennings rushed one time for three yards, and gained 117 yards and a touchdown on two kickoff returns. Woods had a game-high 79 rushing yards. The sore-armed Esiason was limited to completing 11 out of 25 passes for 144 yards and an interception. Collinsworth (who retired after the game) was the Bengals' top receiver of the game, but with just three catches for 40 yards.
The 49ers became the sixth team to win the Super Bowl over a team with a better regular season record. The 49ers also became the first team since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 to win the Super Bowl after winning only 10 games during the regular season. Their six regular season losses were tied for the most ever by a Super Bowl champion, until the 9–7 New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. Additionally, the 49ers' 13 combined regular season and postseason wins are tied for the lowest ever for a league champion, also tied with the 2011 New York Giants.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: (1st year they voted on this) American ExpressActors Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey (both starring at the time on Saturday Night Live) go to the big game with credit cards - Lovitz with Visa, Carvey with American Express.
Top 5 NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) Despite the Bengals' superior regular season record and Esiason's MVP award, the 49ers were heavily favored to win the Super Bowl, mainly because of Montana. Montana had already led the 49ers to two previous Super Bowls and both times left with a championship ring and Super Bowl MVP honors. Esiason was also suffering from a sore left (throwing) shoulder, although the Bengals tried to keep it under wraps and made up for a lack of big-play passing attack with a run-heavy offense led by Woods and Brooks against their first two playoff opponents, Seattle and Buffalo.
2) While in Miami, Cincinnati suffered a major blow even before the game began. On the night before the Super Bowl, Stanley Wilson, the Bengals' best fullback and their third-leading rusher during the season with 398 yards, was caught using cocaine in his hotel room. The Bengals had no choice but to leave him off the roster. It was Wilson's third violation of the league's drug policy, and as a result he was banned from the league for life.
3) On January 16, a Hispanic Miami police officer shot and killed a speeding black motorcyclist in the Overtown section of Miami.[8] A large crowd gathered and turned violent, leading to rioting and looting which lasted into January 18. A television van and several automobiles and buildings were set on fire, and police used tear gas against the rioters.[9] A teenager was shot and killed in the melee and more than $1 million worth of damage was done.
Rumors began that the Super Bowl might be moved to Tampa, and the incident later prompted the NFL to look at the league's hiring of minorities and its lack of black coaches at the time (the following season, Art Shell, became the first African-American NFL head coach of the modern era with the Los Angeles Raiders).
4) This game also marked the debut of the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.
5) This was the last outdoor Super Bowl to start earlier than 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, as it started just after 5 p.m.
6) This was the final NFL game coached by the 49ers' Bill Walsh, as he retired from NFL coaching.
7) This was also the final Super Bowl that Pete Rozelle presided over as NFL Commissioner. Paul Tagliabue was selected by league owners as Rozelle's successor in 1989, taking over the post midway through the 1989 season.
My Comments: First half wasn't much, but the second half was a classic as Montana got the ball back and marched 11 plays, 92 yards, to win the game with 34 seconds to go. Bengals took the lead three times during the game to only see the 49'ers come right back to tie it twice and then win it.
Last edited by a moderator:
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
Because the judge relied upon advanced stats more than standard compiled numbers
He came out last among the players drafted in most categories. Rose and Carew split rWAR and fWAR, beat Joe Jackson in rWAR, fWAR & JAWS e.g. HoF worthiness (as he should - those 3 are cumulative. Per season basis he’s 16th in all 3.)
14th and 15th in the two career WAR stats, 14th out of 14 for position players in the 3 other advanced stats which are not cumulative.
I did a little bit of research before posting the rankings. It wasn’t a hasty decision to rank him 16th. Below are some notes I made but never posted.
_________________
I also spent a not insignificant amount of time comparing the players as fielders and base runners. Rose was a + or neutral OF for 8 years and a liability IF for 16 years by advanced fielding stats. Another clue - from 1975 on when he played the corners, he would be replaced defensively in the 9th inning 20-60 times a season. As a baserunner, looking at stolen bases, caught stealing, as well as all base running events, he was near the bottom of the 14 position players drafted.
If I only ranked offensive batting stats, Ted Williams would have been 2nd instead of 4th. No doubt Rose would have been bumped up several spots if the Category were Batting / oWAR only.
What Pete was best at is being durable. Well, also hitting singles or doubles. He consistently led his teams in plate appearances (18 of his first 20 seasons) and often in innings played (13 consecutive seasons 1970-1982.) In durability & volume of opportunity - almost always batted 1st/2nd - he was elite year after year after year. He led the league in PA 7 times and was second another 7 more.
Pete Rose was rarely the best player on his own team (& there is zero evidence he was ever the best player in the NL.) The only time that was true was 1965-67 & 1969, all years when the Red Legs were non contenders.
Mediocre Reds
1963 - 4th* best player on his own team
1964 - 8th (136 G - fewest 1963-1983)
1965 - 1st**
1966 - 1st*
1967 - 1st
1968 - 2nd*
1969 - 1st*
Big Red Machine
1970 - 4th* best player on his own team
1971 - 2nd*
1972 - 3rd***
1973 - 2nd** (won the MVP over Morgan)
1974 - 3rd***
1975 - 4th*
1976 - 2nd**
1977 - 5th**
1978 - 4th**
To be fair, Rose consistently performed better than Bench-Perez-Morgan in the postseason, especially in the NLCS. Well deserved MVP of the 1975 Fall Classic. Heart & soul of one of the best dynasties of the 1970s.
Phillies
1979 - 5th* best player on his own team
1980 - 38th* (of 39)
1981 - 6th*
1982 - 36th* (of 37)
1983 - 44th (of 44)
Expos
1984 - 11th (part-time UT player)
Reds (Manager Pete Rose era)
1984 - 10th
1985 - 11th
1986 - 34th (of 34)
*led team in PA
**led National League in PA
***led National League in PA & innings
That’s using WAR, which is an attempt to quantify how much each player contributes to his teams wins. He was one of the worst players in the league 4 of his last 7 years (crucial years to moving up the counting stats ranks.)
__________________
Let’s look at two other aspects of his game: fielding and base running compared to the rest of the lineup. I used rField and dWAR to judge his defense, and rBaser for the latter (all baserunning events - SB, CS, PB, WP, Defensive Indifference.)
Fielding/Baserunning (rank amongst 8 starters)
(2B 1963-66, RF 1968-71, LF 1967, 1972-74, 3B 1975-78, 1B 1979-86)
1963 - 6th/5th
1964 - 4th/7th
1965 - 5th/2nd
1966 - 6th/4th
1967 - 4th/2nd (moved to LF)
1968 - 6th/4th (moved to RF)
1969 - 8th/2nd (Gold Glove though even his standard stats show he was no better than average; by advanced stats he was around 6th-8th best defensive RF.)
Big Red Machine
1970 - 4th/5th (2nd Gold Glove - though low on assists he was excellent with glove - only 1 error - and led the league holding runners to 1 base on a single.)
1971 - 7th/5th
1972 - 6th/3rd (moved to LF)
1973 - 3rd/4th
1974 - 2nd/3rd
1975 - 8th/7th (moved to 3B)
1976 - 5th/2nd
1977 - 8th/6th
1978 - 7th/3rd
Phillies
1979 - 7th/6th (moved to 1B)
1980 - 7th/7th
1981 - 6th/8th
1982 - 8th/7th
1983 - 7th/3rd
Expos
1984 - 4th/3rd
Reds (Manager Pete Rose era)
1984 - 10th/9th
1985 - 8th/5th
1986 - 7th/5th
Defensively, in the larger scheme he was always willing to change positions in order for his manager to put together the best lineup. But he was often a negative contributor with his glove with terrible range factor. At best he was an average base runner which is really not expected for a guy known as Charlie Hustle.
I’m open to alternative ways of evaluating Pete Rose if anyone wants to continue the discussion. I’m not infallible, maybe I am thinking about this incorrectly. It’s not like I said “Geez I don’t like Pete Rose as a person so let’s denigrate his greatness.” He truly was a great player and I was a huge fan of his game when I played 40+ years ago. I was genuinely surprised by my research.
_________________
I also spent a not insignificant amount of time comparing the players as fielders and base runners. Rose was a + or neutral OF for 8 years and a liability IF for 16 years by advanced fielding stats. Another clue - from 1975 on when he played the corners, he would be replaced defensively in the 9th inning 20-60 times a season. As a baserunner, looking at stolen bases, caught stealing, as well as all base running events, he was near the bottom of the 14 position players drafted.
If I only ranked offensive batting stats, Ted Williams would have been 2nd instead of 4th. No doubt Rose would have been bumped up several spots if the Category were Batting / oWAR only.
What Pete was best at is being durable. Well, also hitting singles or doubles. He consistently led his teams in plate appearances (18 of his first 20 seasons) and often in innings played (13 consecutive seasons 1970-1982.) In durability & volume of opportunity - almost always batted 1st/2nd - he was elite year after year after year. He led the league in PA 7 times and was second another 7 more.
Pete Rose was rarely the best player on his own team (& there is zero evidence he was ever the best player in the NL.) The only time that was true was 1965-67 & 1969, all years when the Red Legs were non contenders.
Mediocre Reds
1963 - 4th* best player on his own team
1964 - 8th (136 G - fewest 1963-1983)
1965 - 1st**
1966 - 1st*
1967 - 1st
1968 - 2nd*
1969 - 1st*
Big Red Machine
1970 - 4th* best player on his own team
1971 - 2nd*
1972 - 3rd***
1973 - 2nd** (won the MVP over Morgan)
1974 - 3rd***
1975 - 4th*
1976 - 2nd**
1977 - 5th**
1978 - 4th**
To be fair, Rose consistently performed better than Bench-Perez-Morgan in the postseason, especially in the NLCS. Well deserved MVP of the 1975 Fall Classic. Heart & soul of one of the best dynasties of the 1970s.
Phillies
1979 - 5th* best player on his own team
1980 - 38th* (of 39)
1981 - 6th*
1982 - 36th* (of 37)
1983 - 44th (of 44)
Expos
1984 - 11th (part-time UT player)
Reds (Manager Pete Rose era)
1984 - 10th
1985 - 11th
1986 - 34th (of 34)
*led team in PA
**led National League in PA
***led National League in PA & innings
That’s using WAR, which is an attempt to quantify how much each player contributes to his teams wins. He was one of the worst players in the league 4 of his last 7 years (crucial years to moving up the counting stats ranks.)
__________________
Let’s look at two other aspects of his game: fielding and base running compared to the rest of the lineup. I used rField and dWAR to judge his defense, and rBaser for the latter (all baserunning events - SB, CS, PB, WP, Defensive Indifference.)
Fielding/Baserunning (rank amongst 8 starters)
(2B 1963-66, RF 1968-71, LF 1967, 1972-74, 3B 1975-78, 1B 1979-86)
1963 - 6th/5th
1964 - 4th/7th
1965 - 5th/2nd
1966 - 6th/4th
1967 - 4th/2nd (moved to LF)
1968 - 6th/4th (moved to RF)
1969 - 8th/2nd (Gold Glove though even his standard stats show he was no better than average; by advanced stats he was around 6th-8th best defensive RF.)
Big Red Machine
1970 - 4th/5th (2nd Gold Glove - though low on assists he was excellent with glove - only 1 error - and led the league holding runners to 1 base on a single.)
1971 - 7th/5th
1972 - 6th/3rd (moved to LF)
1973 - 3rd/4th
1974 - 2nd/3rd
1975 - 8th/7th (moved to 3B)
1976 - 5th/2nd
1977 - 8th/6th
1978 - 7th/3rd
Phillies
1979 - 7th/6th (moved to 1B)
1980 - 7th/7th
1981 - 6th/8th
1982 - 8th/7th
1983 - 7th/3rd
Expos
1984 - 4th/3rd
Reds (Manager Pete Rose era)
1984 - 10th/9th
1985 - 8th/5th
1986 - 7th/5th
Defensively, in the larger scheme he was always willing to change positions in order for his manager to put together the best lineup. But he was often a negative contributor with his glove with terrible range factor. At best he was an average base runner which is really not expected for a guy known as Charlie Hustle.
I’m open to alternative ways of evaluating Pete Rose if anyone wants to continue the discussion. I’m not infallible, maybe I am thinking about this incorrectly. It’s not like I said “Geez I don’t like Pete Rose as a person so let’s denigrate his greatness.” He truly was a great player and I was a huge fan of his game when I played 40+ years ago. I was genuinely surprised by my research.
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jwb
Footballguy
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hagmania
Footballguy
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Today is the 48th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court upholding MLB's antitrust exception in the case brought by Curt Flood.
Although the Court ruled in baseball's favor 5-3, it admitted the original grounds for the antitrust exemption were tenuous at best, that baseball was indeed interstate commerce for purposes of the act and the exemption was an "anomaly" it had explicitly refused to extend to other professional sports or entertainment. That admission set in motion events which ultimately led to an arbitrator's ruling nullifying the reserve clause and opening the door for free agency in baseball and other sports.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Also interesting:
1927: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jack Scott is the last person to pitch complete games on both ends of a doubleheader, winning the first game and losing the second.
1927: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jack Scott is the last person to pitch complete games on both ends of a doubleheader, winning the first game and losing the second.
Slow day on the Greatest Thread. I really think @Getzlaf15has scared away all the other judges with his analysis
Zegras11
Footballguy
zazale
Footballguy
Please tell me if there is anything I should change with judging criteria for Greatest Soccer Team:
It is really difficult to normalize between eras and between club/national teams, but here are the categories I think are most relevant. (I may add a few more categories and the points for each category will be determined later.) I will judge based on the players of the starting lineup of the game I think was most crucial to that team's season. For example, I judge the starting 11 only of the hypothetically chosen 2018 France in their World Cup final against Croatia, and I would judge the starting 11 only of Leicester City's 2015-16 gameweek 36 draw against Manchester United where they would have clinched the Premier League title had they won. Each player gets a certain amount of points for each category FOR HIS WHOLE CAREER that contributes to the team ranking as a whole. The categories are as follows:
Ballon d'Or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and Top 10 voting finish, Champions League/European Cup total wins, Europa League/UEFA Cup total wins, World Soccer Magazine's Top 100 of the 20th Century and Top XI of the 20th Century votes, World Cup wins, World Cup runner ups, Copa America/European Championship wins, and goalkeepers get IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper and IFFHS WBG of the 20th Century points.
The whole team gets points for winning the following competitions in that specific year: World Cup, Champions League/European Cup, Europa League/UEFA Cup, domestic league titles, domestic cup titles.
It is really difficult to normalize between eras and between club/national teams, but here are the categories I think are most relevant. (I may add a few more categories and the points for each category will be determined later.) I will judge based on the players of the starting lineup of the game I think was most crucial to that team's season. For example, I judge the starting 11 only of the hypothetically chosen 2018 France in their World Cup final against Croatia, and I would judge the starting 11 only of Leicester City's 2015-16 gameweek 36 draw against Manchester United where they would have clinched the Premier League title had they won. Each player gets a certain amount of points for each category FOR HIS WHOLE CAREER that contributes to the team ranking as a whole. The categories are as follows:
Ballon d'Or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and Top 10 voting finish, Champions League/European Cup total wins, Europa League/UEFA Cup total wins, World Soccer Magazine's Top 100 of the 20th Century and Top XI of the 20th Century votes, World Cup wins, World Cup runner ups, Copa America/European Championship wins, and goalkeepers get IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper and IFFHS WBG of the 20th Century points.
The whole team gets points for winning the following competitions in that specific year: World Cup, Champions League/European Cup, Europa League/UEFA Cup, domestic league titles, domestic cup titles.
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Zegras11
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
AAABatteries is on time out. He asked me to reply to you:
Honestly, I think it’s so difficult to rank just club teams across eras that it’s impossible to mix club and national teams. I’m fine with maybe coming up with a point system but this needs to be mostly “eye test”. I don’t want to spotlight but here’s how I would go about it.
1. Come up with separate club vs. national team formulas (assuming you want to do a formula)
2. Rank them separately
3. Merge the two based on eye test, your personal ranking and any online rankings you can find that combine the two.
Tim is free to PM my email to Getz & son and I can provide feedback or my own list if you want.”
Thanks
Zegras11
Footballguy
PTS: 8
Super Bowl XIII (13)
Date: Jan 21, 1979
Location: Miami
Final Score: PITT 35, DALL 31
Line: PITT - 3.5
Halftime Show: Bob Jani presents "Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean"
Cost of 30 second ad: $185,000
QB Stats: Bradshaw 17-30-1 318 4td, Staubach 17-30-1 228 3td
Other Notable Stats: Swann 7-124 1td, 3-115 2td, F.Harris 20-68 1td, Dorsett 16-96 and 5-44
Big Plays: Stallworth 75 yd TD Catch
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First Quarter
On their opening drive, the Cowboys advanced to the Pittsburgh 38-yard line, with running back Tony Dorsett gaining 38 yards off 3 running plays. But they lost the ball on a fumbled handoff while attempting to fool the Steelers defense with a reverse-pass play. Receiver Drew Pearson later explained, "We practiced that play for three weeks. It is designed for me to hit Billy Joe 15 to 17 yards downfield. We practiced the play so much it was unbelievable we could fumble it. I expected the handoff a bit lower, but I should have had it. Billy Joe was in the process of breaking into the clear when the fumble occurred." The play was similar to the near-turnover by Butch Johnson in the previous Super Bowl.
After defensive lineman John Banaszak recovered the loose ball on the Pittsburgh 47-yard line, the Steelers attempted 2 running plays with running back Franco Harris carrying the ball, but only gained 1 yard. Then on third down, wide receiver John Stallworth caught a 12-yard pass to the Cowboys' 40-yard line. Then after Terry Bradshaw converted another third down, this time with a 10-yard pass to Randy Grossman on 3rd and 8, he threw 28-yard touchdown completion to Stallworth to take a 7–0 lead.
On their next drive, the Cowboys responded by advancing to the Steelers 39-yard line, but were pushed back to their own 39-yard line after quarterback Roger Staubach was sacked twice, and they were forced to punt. On the Steelers' ensuing drive, Bradshaw threw a 22-yard pass to Harris and followed it up with a 13-yard pass to receiver Lynn Swann to move the ball to the Dallas 30-yard line. But on the next play, Dallas linebacker D. D. Lewis ended the drive by intercepting a pass intended for Stallworth. It was the first interception thrown by Bradshaw in Super Bowl play. However, the Cowboys could do nothing with the turnover and punted after three plays.
With a little more than a minute to go in the period, Bradshaw fumbled the ball while being sacked by Cowboys lineman Harvey Martin, and defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones recovered it on the Pittsburgh 41-yard line. Staubach then capitalized on Bradshaw's mistake three plays later with a 39-yard scoring strike to receiver Tony Hill, tying the game at 7 as the first quarter expired. Pittsburgh sent eight men on an all-out blitz, but Staubach got the pass away just before he was hit by Steelers' safety Mike Wagner. Hill beat Donnie Shell in single-coverage and scored the only first-quarter touchdown surrendered by Pittsburgh all season (In Super Bowl X, the Cowboys also scored a first-quarter touchdown against a Steeler team that hadn't permitted one all year). Drew Pearson ensured the play's success by distracting Steelers cornerback Mel Blount, who was oblivious of Hill as he raced past Blount and Pearson en route to the end zone.
Second Quarter
The Steelers took possession at the start of the second quarter and advanced to their own 48-yard line. On the next play, Dallas linebackers Mike Hegman and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson went after Bradshaw on a blitz. After taking the snap, Bradshaw collided with Franco Harris and the ball popped loose. Bradshaw scooped it up and rolled to his right, looking to pass, but Henderson wrapped him up before he could throw, while Hegman ripped the ball out of his hands and returned the fumble 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 14–7 lead.
The Steelers had now turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, but the Cowboys' lead didn’t last long. On the third play of Pittsburgh's ensuing possession, Stallworth caught a pass from Bradshaw at the Steelers 35-yard line. He then broke a tackle from defensive back Aaron Kyle, waited for Swann and blockers to cross in front of him, turned toward the inside and outraced every other defender to the end zone, turning a simple 10-yard pass into a 75-yard touchdown completion to tie the score, 14–14. Bradshaw later explained that Stallworth was not even the primary receiver on the play: "I was going to Lynn Swann on the post", he said, "but the Cowboys covered Swann and left Stallworth open. I laid the ball out there and it should have gone for about 15 yards, but Stallworth broke the tackle and went all the way."
Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense then dominated the Dallas offense on their ensuing drive. First, Banaszak tackled fullback Robert Newhouse for 4-yard loss. Next, linebacker Jack Ham tackled Dorsett for a 3-yard loss on an attempted sweep. On third down, defensive tackle Joe Greene sacked Staubach, forcing a fumble that bounced through the hands of Steelers' defensive lineman Steve Furness. Cowboys lineman Tom Rafferty eventually recovered at the Dallas 13-yard line. Theo Bell then returned Danny White's ensuing 38-yard punt 3 yards to the Dallas 48-yard line.
The Steelers began their ensuing drive with Bradshaw's 26-yard completion to Swann. Jones tackled Harris for an 8-yard loss on the next play, but a subsequent holding penalty on Henderson gave Pittsburgh a first down at the Dallas 25-yard line. However, after an incomplete pass and a 2-yard run by Harris, Hegman sacked Bradshaw for an 11-yard loss on third down, pushing the ball back to the 34-yard line. The Steelers then came up empty after kicker Roy Gerela's 51-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar.
With less than two minutes remaining in the half, Dallas advanced to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line, after starting from their own 34-yard line. But Blount exacted revenge from the first quarter by intercepting a pass from Staubach and returning it 13 yards to the 29, with a personal foul on Dallas tight end Billy Joe DuPree adding another 15 yards and giving the Steelers the ball at their own 44-yard line (note: the interception happened on exactly the same play that Drew Pearson scored on in the first quarter of Super Bowl X; Mike Wagner intercepted Staubach on exactly the same play call in the 4th quarter of the same game). Following a penalty, Bradshaw completed 2 passes to Swann for gains of 29 and 21 yards, moving the ball to the 16-yard line with 40 seconds left in the half. Next, after dropping a pass intended for him, Harris ran the ball to the 7-yard line. Then with just 26 seconds left, Bradshaw completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to fullback Rocky Bleier, giving the Steelers a 21–14 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
The torrid scoring pace slowed during much of the third quarter, as both teams began to assert themselves on the defensive side of the ball. But late in the quarter, a 12-yard punt return by Cowboys receiver Butch Johnson gave Dallas good field position on their 42-yard line. The Cowboys subsequently drove down to the Steelers 10-yard line, mostly with Dorsett's rushing. Then on third down with less than three minutes remaining in the period, Staubach spotted 38-year-old reserve tight end Jackie Smith wide open in the end zone and threw him the ball. Head coach Tom Landry said Staubach tried to throw the ball soft when he saw how wide open Smith was and that it came in low, and that when Smith tried to stop, his feet seemed to come out from under him. Jackie Smith states that it was still a catchable ball and that he should have made the play. Instead, Smith dropped the pass and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal from kicker Rafael Septién, cutting their deficit to 21–17. Though Smith played 16 years in the league and is now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is perhaps best known for this dropped touchdown, particularly in a championship game that was ultimately decided by four points.
Fourth Quarter
Two controversial penalties early in the fourth quarter paved the way for the Steelers to score 14 unanswered points.
The Steelers advanced to their own 44-yard line after a crucial 3rd down pass from Bradshaw to tight end Randy Grossman, a 13-yard pass to Swann, and a 5-yard run by Harris. Bradshaw then attempted a pass to Swann, but the receiver collided with Cowboys defensive back Benny Barnes and fell to the ground as the ball rolled incomplete. However, official Fred Swearingen (the referee of the Immaculate Reception game of 1972) called Barnes for pass interference. Replays showed that it could have been incidental contact, as Swann seemed to run into Barnes. The penalty gave Pittsburgh a first down at Dallas' 23-yard line.
Two plays later, the Steelers faced 3rd down and 4 from the Dallas 17. Henderson sacked Bradshaw for a 12-yard loss, but the play was nullified by a delay of game penalty on Pittsburgh, bringing up 3rd down and 9 instead of a fourth down. Replays clearly showed the whistle blew before the play's onset, plus most of the players pulled up and stopped playing after a whistle sounded, but Henderson claimed, "I didn't hear a whistle until after I had knocked Bradshaw down. The same guy (Swearingen) made that call too. Who is that guy?" " Franco Harris confronted Henderson for taunting Bradshaw after the whistle, and on the next play, Bradshaw handed the ball off to Harris, who raced untouched, with help from the Umpire Art Demmas impeding Cowboys safety Charlie Waters' attempt to tackle him, up the middle for a 22-yard touchdown run. The next day Waters was quoted as saying, "I don't know what I could do – maybe knock him [Umpire Demmas] flat and maybe he'd knock Franco flat? Our safeties play a vital role in the run. That official gets in the way a lot. He screened me off." This score increased Pittsburgh's lead to 28–17. The run would be the Steelers' longest touchdown run in Super Bowl competition until Willie Parker scampered 75 yards for a score against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
On the ensuing kickoff, video shows that Gerela slipped when trying to plant his foot, causing him to squib the ball, which bounced to Cowboys lineman Randy White at the 24-yard line. White, who was playing the game with a cast on his broken left hand, fumbled the ball before being hit by Tony Dungy, and Pittsburgh linebacker Dennis Winston recovered the ball at the Dallas 18-yard line. Remarkably, Winston wasn't even in the middle of the scrum when the fumble first occurred; he was standing by several teammates and decided to join the battle for the ball before referees intervened. On the next play, Bradshaw threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Swann, increasing the Steelers' lead to 35–17 with less than 7 minutes left in the game. The touchdown was Bradshaw's last pass of the game.
Some of the Steelers were already celebrating victory on the sidelines, but the Cowboys refused to give up. On their next drive, Dallas drove 89 yards in 8 plays, including an 18-yard scramble by Staubach on 3rd and 11 and a 29-yard run by Dorsett, to score on Staubach's 7-yard touchdown pass to DuPree. Then after Dallas' Dennis Thurman recovered an onside kick at 2:19, Drew Pearson caught 2 passes for gains of 22 and 25 yards (the second catch on 4th down and 18) as the Cowboys drove 52 yards in 9 plays to score on Staubach's 4-yard touchdown pass to Butch Johnson. With the ensuing extra point, the Steelers' lead was cut to 35–31 with just 0:22 left in the game.
But the Cowboys' second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful. Bleier recovered the ball, and the Steelers were able to run out the clock to win the game.
Swann was the leading receiver in the game with 7 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown. Stallworth recorded 115 yards and two touchdowns off just 3 receptions. Stallworth and Swann became the first pair of teammates to each have 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl and first time two receivers did it in the same game. Dorsett was the top rusher of the game with 96 rushing yards, and also caught 5 passes for 44 yards. Harris was Pittsburgh's leading rusher with 68 yards, and he caught a pass for 22 yards. Staubach finished the game with exactly as many passing attempts (30) and completions (17) as Bradshaw, good for 228 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Butch Johnson caught 2 passes for 30 yards and a touchdown, returned 3 kickoffs for 63 yards, and gained 33 yards on 2 punt returns, giving him 126 total yards. Drew Pearson hauled in 4 passes for 73 yards, all in the fourth quarter.
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Interesting Story Lines:
1) Super Bowl XIII can arguably be called the greatest collection of NFL talent for a game. In addition to coaches Noll and Landry, 16 players would end up being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of the 16 Hall of Fame players to play in this game
2) For the 1978–79 season, the NFL extended its schedule from 14 regular season games to 16
3) Although the Super Bowl had grown into America's biggest one-day sporting event by this point, many believe the 13th edition began the game's evolution to unofficial national holiday. It was the first Super Bowl with a true heavyweight title-fight feel, given the Steelers' and Cowboys' unquestioned status as the two best teams in the NFL, and the honor of the first three-time Super Bowl champion (and likely team of the 1970s designation) that would go to the winner.
4) This was the first Super Bowl played on grass to match two teams which played their home games on artificial turf.
5) The point spread for the game opened at Pittsburgh -3.5 points. As the Steelers backers placed bets on them the sportsbooks adjusted the line. It eventually hit Pittsburgh -4.5 and then the Dallas money poured in on the Cowboys. It eventually settled at Pittsburgh at -4. The Steelers' four-point eventual margin of victory meant the Las Vegas sportsbooks lost the vast majority of wagers on the game. The game thus came to be known as "Black Sunday" in Las Vegas
6) After the game, Terry Bradshaw mocked Dallas linebacker Thomas Henderson's previous insult about him not being able to spell the word "cat", stating "Ask if he can spell M.V.P"
My Comments: This game had a ton of action from start to finish. I remember this game well for the Jackie Smith dropped TD pass. The game also had a lot of turnover and controversy. This one sticks in my mind well as described above, being the first Heavy Weight SB Bout.
Super Bowl XIII (13)
Date: Jan 21, 1979
Location: Miami
Final Score: PITT 35, DALL 31
Line: PITT - 3.5
Halftime Show: Bob Jani presents "Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean"
Cost of 30 second ad: $185,000
QB Stats: Bradshaw 17-30-1 318 4td, Staubach 17-30-1 228 3td
Other Notable Stats: Swann 7-124 1td, 3-115 2td, F.Harris 20-68 1td, Dorsett 16-96 and 5-44
Big Plays: Stallworth 75 yd TD Catch
Game Summary:
FULL GAME
First Quarter
On their opening drive, the Cowboys advanced to the Pittsburgh 38-yard line, with running back Tony Dorsett gaining 38 yards off 3 running plays. But they lost the ball on a fumbled handoff while attempting to fool the Steelers defense with a reverse-pass play. Receiver Drew Pearson later explained, "We practiced that play for three weeks. It is designed for me to hit Billy Joe 15 to 17 yards downfield. We practiced the play so much it was unbelievable we could fumble it. I expected the handoff a bit lower, but I should have had it. Billy Joe was in the process of breaking into the clear when the fumble occurred." The play was similar to the near-turnover by Butch Johnson in the previous Super Bowl.
After defensive lineman John Banaszak recovered the loose ball on the Pittsburgh 47-yard line, the Steelers attempted 2 running plays with running back Franco Harris carrying the ball, but only gained 1 yard. Then on third down, wide receiver John Stallworth caught a 12-yard pass to the Cowboys' 40-yard line. Then after Terry Bradshaw converted another third down, this time with a 10-yard pass to Randy Grossman on 3rd and 8, he threw 28-yard touchdown completion to Stallworth to take a 7–0 lead.
On their next drive, the Cowboys responded by advancing to the Steelers 39-yard line, but were pushed back to their own 39-yard line after quarterback Roger Staubach was sacked twice, and they were forced to punt. On the Steelers' ensuing drive, Bradshaw threw a 22-yard pass to Harris and followed it up with a 13-yard pass to receiver Lynn Swann to move the ball to the Dallas 30-yard line. But on the next play, Dallas linebacker D. D. Lewis ended the drive by intercepting a pass intended for Stallworth. It was the first interception thrown by Bradshaw in Super Bowl play. However, the Cowboys could do nothing with the turnover and punted after three plays.
With a little more than a minute to go in the period, Bradshaw fumbled the ball while being sacked by Cowboys lineman Harvey Martin, and defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones recovered it on the Pittsburgh 41-yard line. Staubach then capitalized on Bradshaw's mistake three plays later with a 39-yard scoring strike to receiver Tony Hill, tying the game at 7 as the first quarter expired. Pittsburgh sent eight men on an all-out blitz, but Staubach got the pass away just before he was hit by Steelers' safety Mike Wagner. Hill beat Donnie Shell in single-coverage and scored the only first-quarter touchdown surrendered by Pittsburgh all season (In Super Bowl X, the Cowboys also scored a first-quarter touchdown against a Steeler team that hadn't permitted one all year). Drew Pearson ensured the play's success by distracting Steelers cornerback Mel Blount, who was oblivious of Hill as he raced past Blount and Pearson en route to the end zone.
Second Quarter
The Steelers took possession at the start of the second quarter and advanced to their own 48-yard line. On the next play, Dallas linebackers Mike Hegman and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson went after Bradshaw on a blitz. After taking the snap, Bradshaw collided with Franco Harris and the ball popped loose. Bradshaw scooped it up and rolled to his right, looking to pass, but Henderson wrapped him up before he could throw, while Hegman ripped the ball out of his hands and returned the fumble 37 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 14–7 lead.
The Steelers had now turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, but the Cowboys' lead didn’t last long. On the third play of Pittsburgh's ensuing possession, Stallworth caught a pass from Bradshaw at the Steelers 35-yard line. He then broke a tackle from defensive back Aaron Kyle, waited for Swann and blockers to cross in front of him, turned toward the inside and outraced every other defender to the end zone, turning a simple 10-yard pass into a 75-yard touchdown completion to tie the score, 14–14. Bradshaw later explained that Stallworth was not even the primary receiver on the play: "I was going to Lynn Swann on the post", he said, "but the Cowboys covered Swann and left Stallworth open. I laid the ball out there and it should have gone for about 15 yards, but Stallworth broke the tackle and went all the way."
Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense then dominated the Dallas offense on their ensuing drive. First, Banaszak tackled fullback Robert Newhouse for 4-yard loss. Next, linebacker Jack Ham tackled Dorsett for a 3-yard loss on an attempted sweep. On third down, defensive tackle Joe Greene sacked Staubach, forcing a fumble that bounced through the hands of Steelers' defensive lineman Steve Furness. Cowboys lineman Tom Rafferty eventually recovered at the Dallas 13-yard line. Theo Bell then returned Danny White's ensuing 38-yard punt 3 yards to the Dallas 48-yard line.
The Steelers began their ensuing drive with Bradshaw's 26-yard completion to Swann. Jones tackled Harris for an 8-yard loss on the next play, but a subsequent holding penalty on Henderson gave Pittsburgh a first down at the Dallas 25-yard line. However, after an incomplete pass and a 2-yard run by Harris, Hegman sacked Bradshaw for an 11-yard loss on third down, pushing the ball back to the 34-yard line. The Steelers then came up empty after kicker Roy Gerela's 51-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar.
With less than two minutes remaining in the half, Dallas advanced to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line, after starting from their own 34-yard line. But Blount exacted revenge from the first quarter by intercepting a pass from Staubach and returning it 13 yards to the 29, with a personal foul on Dallas tight end Billy Joe DuPree adding another 15 yards and giving the Steelers the ball at their own 44-yard line (note: the interception happened on exactly the same play that Drew Pearson scored on in the first quarter of Super Bowl X; Mike Wagner intercepted Staubach on exactly the same play call in the 4th quarter of the same game). Following a penalty, Bradshaw completed 2 passes to Swann for gains of 29 and 21 yards, moving the ball to the 16-yard line with 40 seconds left in the half. Next, after dropping a pass intended for him, Harris ran the ball to the 7-yard line. Then with just 26 seconds left, Bradshaw completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to fullback Rocky Bleier, giving the Steelers a 21–14 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
The torrid scoring pace slowed during much of the third quarter, as both teams began to assert themselves on the defensive side of the ball. But late in the quarter, a 12-yard punt return by Cowboys receiver Butch Johnson gave Dallas good field position on their 42-yard line. The Cowboys subsequently drove down to the Steelers 10-yard line, mostly with Dorsett's rushing. Then on third down with less than three minutes remaining in the period, Staubach spotted 38-year-old reserve tight end Jackie Smith wide open in the end zone and threw him the ball. Head coach Tom Landry said Staubach tried to throw the ball soft when he saw how wide open Smith was and that it came in low, and that when Smith tried to stop, his feet seemed to come out from under him. Jackie Smith states that it was still a catchable ball and that he should have made the play. Instead, Smith dropped the pass and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal from kicker Rafael Septién, cutting their deficit to 21–17. Though Smith played 16 years in the league and is now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is perhaps best known for this dropped touchdown, particularly in a championship game that was ultimately decided by four points.
Fourth Quarter
Two controversial penalties early in the fourth quarter paved the way for the Steelers to score 14 unanswered points.
The Steelers advanced to their own 44-yard line after a crucial 3rd down pass from Bradshaw to tight end Randy Grossman, a 13-yard pass to Swann, and a 5-yard run by Harris. Bradshaw then attempted a pass to Swann, but the receiver collided with Cowboys defensive back Benny Barnes and fell to the ground as the ball rolled incomplete. However, official Fred Swearingen (the referee of the Immaculate Reception game of 1972) called Barnes for pass interference. Replays showed that it could have been incidental contact, as Swann seemed to run into Barnes. The penalty gave Pittsburgh a first down at Dallas' 23-yard line.
Two plays later, the Steelers faced 3rd down and 4 from the Dallas 17. Henderson sacked Bradshaw for a 12-yard loss, but the play was nullified by a delay of game penalty on Pittsburgh, bringing up 3rd down and 9 instead of a fourth down. Replays clearly showed the whistle blew before the play's onset, plus most of the players pulled up and stopped playing after a whistle sounded, but Henderson claimed, "I didn't hear a whistle until after I had knocked Bradshaw down. The same guy (Swearingen) made that call too. Who is that guy?" " Franco Harris confronted Henderson for taunting Bradshaw after the whistle, and on the next play, Bradshaw handed the ball off to Harris, who raced untouched, with help from the Umpire Art Demmas impeding Cowboys safety Charlie Waters' attempt to tackle him, up the middle for a 22-yard touchdown run. The next day Waters was quoted as saying, "I don't know what I could do – maybe knock him [Umpire Demmas] flat and maybe he'd knock Franco flat? Our safeties play a vital role in the run. That official gets in the way a lot. He screened me off." This score increased Pittsburgh's lead to 28–17. The run would be the Steelers' longest touchdown run in Super Bowl competition until Willie Parker scampered 75 yards for a score against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
On the ensuing kickoff, video shows that Gerela slipped when trying to plant his foot, causing him to squib the ball, which bounced to Cowboys lineman Randy White at the 24-yard line. White, who was playing the game with a cast on his broken left hand, fumbled the ball before being hit by Tony Dungy, and Pittsburgh linebacker Dennis Winston recovered the ball at the Dallas 18-yard line. Remarkably, Winston wasn't even in the middle of the scrum when the fumble first occurred; he was standing by several teammates and decided to join the battle for the ball before referees intervened. On the next play, Bradshaw threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Swann, increasing the Steelers' lead to 35–17 with less than 7 minutes left in the game. The touchdown was Bradshaw's last pass of the game.
Some of the Steelers were already celebrating victory on the sidelines, but the Cowboys refused to give up. On their next drive, Dallas drove 89 yards in 8 plays, including an 18-yard scramble by Staubach on 3rd and 11 and a 29-yard run by Dorsett, to score on Staubach's 7-yard touchdown pass to DuPree. Then after Dallas' Dennis Thurman recovered an onside kick at 2:19, Drew Pearson caught 2 passes for gains of 22 and 25 yards (the second catch on 4th down and 18) as the Cowboys drove 52 yards in 9 plays to score on Staubach's 4-yard touchdown pass to Butch Johnson. With the ensuing extra point, the Steelers' lead was cut to 35–31 with just 0:22 left in the game.
But the Cowboys' second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful. Bleier recovered the ball, and the Steelers were able to run out the clock to win the game.
Swann was the leading receiver in the game with 7 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown. Stallworth recorded 115 yards and two touchdowns off just 3 receptions. Stallworth and Swann became the first pair of teammates to each have 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl and first time two receivers did it in the same game. Dorsett was the top rusher of the game with 96 rushing yards, and also caught 5 passes for 44 yards. Harris was Pittsburgh's leading rusher with 68 yards, and he caught a pass for 22 yards. Staubach finished the game with exactly as many passing attempts (30) and completions (17) as Bradshaw, good for 228 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Butch Johnson caught 2 passes for 30 yards and a touchdown, returned 3 kickoffs for 63 yards, and gained 33 yards on 2 punt returns, giving him 126 total yards. Drew Pearson hauled in 4 passes for 73 yards, all in the fourth quarter.
#1 and Top 5 Commercials link: NA
Interesting Story Lines:
1) Super Bowl XIII can arguably be called the greatest collection of NFL talent for a game. In addition to coaches Noll and Landry, 16 players would end up being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of the 16 Hall of Fame players to play in this game
2) For the 1978–79 season, the NFL extended its schedule from 14 regular season games to 16
3) Although the Super Bowl had grown into America's biggest one-day sporting event by this point, many believe the 13th edition began the game's evolution to unofficial national holiday. It was the first Super Bowl with a true heavyweight title-fight feel, given the Steelers' and Cowboys' unquestioned status as the two best teams in the NFL, and the honor of the first three-time Super Bowl champion (and likely team of the 1970s designation) that would go to the winner.
4) This was the first Super Bowl played on grass to match two teams which played their home games on artificial turf.
5) The point spread for the game opened at Pittsburgh -3.5 points. As the Steelers backers placed bets on them the sportsbooks adjusted the line. It eventually hit Pittsburgh -4.5 and then the Dallas money poured in on the Cowboys. It eventually settled at Pittsburgh at -4. The Steelers' four-point eventual margin of victory meant the Las Vegas sportsbooks lost the vast majority of wagers on the game. The game thus came to be known as "Black Sunday" in Las Vegas
6) After the game, Terry Bradshaw mocked Dallas linebacker Thomas Henderson's previous insult about him not being able to spell the word "cat", stating "Ask if he can spell M.V.P"
My Comments: This game had a ton of action from start to finish. I remember this game well for the Jackie Smith dropped TD pass. The game also had a lot of turnover and controversy. This one sticks in my mind well as described above, being the first Heavy Weight SB Bout.
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BobbyLayne
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
117 years ago today, the “Luckiest man on the face of the Earth” was born.
Happy Birthday, Lou Gehrig.
Happy Birthday, Lou Gehrig.
Mister CIA
Footballguy
Is this what got @AAABatteries put on timeout? Such a rood dood.If I had known that was you I would have just ignored it and figured you were drunk.