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The Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens clash on this week’s NFL schedule, and for our Throwback Thursday feature this week we will travel back the short distance to September 5, 2024 for a game between these 2 AFC title contenders. It was the opening week of the season, with the Chiefs celebrating the previous year’s Super Bowl win. The game was a rematch of the 2023 AFC Championship game in which K.C. prevailed 17-10.

Baltimore drew first blood by putting together a drive that culminated in a 7 yard scoring run by bruising back Derrick Henry, but the Chiefs matched that with a bit of trickery, finishing their scoring drive with a 21 yard end around touchdown run by rookie receiver Xavier Worthy. The second quarter was a field goal fest, as the defenses of both clubs stiffened. Harrison Butker kicked a pair of three pointers for the Chiefs, while Justin Tucker ended the half with a 25 yarder for Baltimore. Kansas City upped their lead to 20-10 with the only score of the third quarter, a 1 yard touchdown plunge by Isaiah Pacheco.

The offenses loosened up a bit in the final stanza. Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson, the league’s Most Valuable Player in ’23, cut the Chiefs’ lead to 3 points with a 49 yard TD strike to tight end Isaiah Likely. Kansas City didn’t flinch. Their QB, Patrick Mahomes, led another scoring drive, ending it by using Worthy again, this time with a 35 yard touchdown pass, restoring the team’s 10 point advantage. Tucker booted another field goal to bring the Ravens to a one score deficit at 27-20, and the Baltimore defense regained possession to allow a possible tying touchdown drive. Jackson delivered most of the way and when the Ravens got into the red zone he fired what appeared to be the tying score, to Likely at the back of the end zone. Of course, all scoring plays are automatically reviewed, and in this case the review determined that Likely’s toe was touching the white out of bounds line, nullifying the score and sending the Chiefs to the first of what was to be many close/lucky victories for the season on their way to another Super Bowl appearance.

Isaiah Likely’s toe on the line, negating the tying touchdown

On this week’s slate of NFL games the Las Vegas Raiders meet the Washington Commanders, and for the second week in a row our Throwback Thursday feature will highlight a past Super Bowl matchup, this time between these 2 franchises. It was played on January 22, 1984 at Tampa Stadium, with the Redskins (Washington’s long time team name) a slight favorite. That Redskin team boasted a powerhouse offensive unit and was also defending NFL champions. The Raiders were no slouch, having won a title a few years earlier under coach Tom Flores.

The Raiders’ special teams made the first big play of the game when their bomb squad captain, Derrick Jensen, blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown, the only score of the first quarter. In the second quarter Los Angeles (Raiders’ home at the time), after running a mostly conservative offense, decided to stretch the field. Quarterback Jim Plunkett  sailed a 50 yard bomb to Cliff Branch, then hit Branch again in the end zone on a 12 yard scoring pass to up the lead to 14-0. Washington managed a Mark Mosely field goal to cut the lead to 14-3, but with just 12 seconds to go in the half the Raiders made the play that was the turning point. Joe Theismann, with his team backed up deep in their own end, inexplicably attempted a short screen pass that linebacker Jack Squirek promptly intercepted and returned the short 12 yards to the end zone and suddenly it was 21-3.

The Redskins tried to regain some momentum after that crushing blow and succeeded in that somewhat by cobbling together a touchdown drive that ended with a 1 yard John Riggins dive into the end zone, but a blocked extra point tampered that momentum. After that the game became the Marcus Allen show. The Raider running back earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award by running roughshod through Washington’s defense, first scoring on a 5 yard run and then adding a second TD with a highlight reel 74 yard scamper that has been considered the greatest run in Super Bowl history. In all Allen set a then-Super Bowl record of 191 yards rushing on 20 carries. Matt Bahr finished the scoring with a field goal that set the final score at 38-9. The Raiders had now earned the third title in team history and second in a 4 year span, while the loss was a dismal end to what was otherwise a good season for the ‘Skins. That was to be the last Raider championship even to this day, however, while Washington coach Joe Gibbs went on to win 2 more for a total of 3 (won with 3 different quarterbacks). He also has been a very successful NASCAR team owner.

Marcus Allen scampers to the end zone (SI.com photo)

It’s week 2 of the NFL season, and the Los Angeles Rams take on the Tennessee Titans on the league slate. For our Throwback Thursday feature, we will highlight the first of 2 straight Super Bowl games of the past, played on January 30, 2000 between the Rams and Titans. The Rams, based in St. Louis at the time, had completed an unimaginable season in which they traded quarterback Tony Banks in the offseason, then lost their other QB, Trent Green, to a season-ending injury. That vaulted an unknown former Arena League player whose last job was bagging groceries – Kurt Warner – into the starting role. Warner was basically training camp fodder, an extra arm to take reps and save wear and tear on the regular signal callers. However, he instead turned in a storybook performance in which he led the Rams to the Super Bowl, while being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.

After finishing second to Jacksonville in their division, the Titans entered the playoffs as a wild card, and used an astonishing victory over Buffalo highlighted by the “Music City Miracle” kickoff return touchdown to advance all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV. Played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the game lacked offense in the first half, which was especially surprising considering the Rams’ impressive offensive  performance in the regular season. Tennessee’s tough defense kept the game close, but coach Dick Vermeil’s club did manage 3 Jeff Wilkins field goals to lead at halftime 9-0. Warner finally broke the ice with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Tory Holt in the third quarter to up the lead to 16-0, and it looked like the favored Rams were finally going to distance themselves from their gritty opponent and take command of the game. The Titans had other ideas. Quarterback Steve McNair engineered a touchdown drive that culminated in a 1 yard scoring plunge by their bruising back, Eddie George. A failed 2 point conversion left the score at the end of 3 quarters at 16-6.

Tennessee continued to fight back in the final quarter. Their defense throttled Warner and the “Greatest Show On Turf” while adding another George TD on a 2 yard run, and an Al Del Greco field goal that tied the game at 16-16. The Rams were desperate at that point to regain momentum, and Warner provided the needed spark by connecting with Isaac Bruce on a long 73 yard scoring pass at the 2 minute warning. That left the Titans with one last drive to try and tie the game. McNair was brilliant on that drive, leaving everything he had on the field with timely throws and scrambles, and with time for one more play , he connected with Kevin Dyson on a short route. Dyson appeared to have a clear path to the end zone for the tying score, but Ram linebacker Mike Jones rallied to the ball and stopped him a yard short of scoring, ending one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time.

Rams’ LB Mike Jones’ game saving tackle

The new NFL season begins tonight, and that signals the return of our weekly Throwback Thursday feature, in which we visit a game from the past played between 2 teams who meet on the league schedule that week. Our first feature of 2025 is a November 1, 1970 contest played between 2 AFC opponents who play in week 1 this year – the Miami Dolphins and the then Baltimore Colts. The significance of this game? It was the first time Miami head coach Don Shula faced his old team – the Colts. He had been the head man in Baltimore since 1963 and was very successful. However, a devastating and shocking loss to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, followed by a mediocre 8-5-1 campaign in 1969 in which the team missed the playoffs, caused Shula to part ways with the Colts, and he took over the young Dolphin squad in 1970.

It not only was the first test of Shula against the Colts, it was also a return to Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The contest played out rather strangely. Shula’s Miami squad thoroughly outgained the Colts, racking up 201 rushing yards and amassing 383 total yards to Baltimore’s 239. But on the scoreboard, it was a totally different result, as Colt coach Don McCafferty’s team ran up a 35-0 score in winning for the sixth time in 7 games. The difference was the Baltimore defense and special teams. Despite giving up a lot of yardage, the defense forced the young Dolphins into 4 turnovers, led by a pair of interceptions by linebacker Mike Curtis. McCafferty’s special teams recorded a pair of kick return touchdowns. Ron Gardin opened the scoring with an 80 yard punt return for a score, and Jim Duncan returned the second half kickoff 99 yards to paydirt to up Baltimore’s lead to 21-0 at that point. A 1 yard TD plunge by Norm Bulaich in the second quarter was the second score of the game.

The lead went to 28-0 in the third stanza when an old Shula favorite, quarterback John Unitas, found Eddie Hinton open for a 32 yard touchdown pass. Earl Morrall, who in later years would join Shula in Miami, came off the bench to finish the rout with a 15 yard TD connection to tight end Tom Mitchell. The 35-0 debacle surely stung Shula’s pride but it obviously did not hinder his continued development of the young Dolphin team, only in it’s fifth year of existence. Just 3 weeks later in a rematch in Miami’s Orange Bowl, the Dolphins returned the favor by defeating the Colts 34-17. The Colts apparently weren’t bothered at all by that defeat either. they went on win Super Bowl V that season.

A smiling Shula introduced as the new Miami coach

It’s the last week of the NFL’s 18 game regular season schedule, and the final Throwback Thursday post for the 2024 season. With the Buffalo Bills facing the New England Patriots on the docket, we’ve chosen a “playoff” game from 1963 between these 2 clubs as our feature for the week. At the time in the AFL there weren’t any playoff games other than the league championship, but this contest was necessitated by the fact that the 2 teams tied for the Eastern Division lead with 7-6-1 records. Played on a snowy field at Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium on a cold wintry December 28, 1963, it wasn’t much of a contest as the visiting Patriots earned a 26-8 victory. Also, the story of this game for me is that I didn’t get to see it, since I was in a school Christmas play that day at the Catholic elementary school I attended back then.

I was 10 years old at the time, and what I remember is that each class would put on a short performance, either singing Christmas songs or doing short skits. The nun in charge of our class decided to have us act out nursery rhymes, and I got the dubious role of playing Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. I don’t remember if I had lines or if another classmate read the rhyme as I acted it out but my part involved pulling a wagon decorated to look like a pumpkin holding my wife’s hand, and then giving her a quick smooch before depositing her into the pumpkin. Of course this was a source of great laughter for the other boys in my class. The girl who played my wife was a shy classmate who we boys made fun of because of her long jet black hair. We had cruelly nicknamed her “Tarpit”. I guess we were typical insecure brats back then who did things like that, but this is just another example of why I say that if time travel is ever made possible in my lifetime I would surely go back in time and beat the crap out of little me. The shy little girl got her revenge eventually. Although she is now deceased, she grew up to be an absolutely gorgeous woman. Rest in peace, Mary Jane, I’m sure you were a beautiful person inside and out.

Ok, back to the actual game. After my part in the play was complete, I was allowed to go sit with the audience and watch the rest of the performances. What I found out when I sat down was that there were a number of small transistor radios among the parents tuned into the game. It wasn’t a very happy audience, as the Patriots dominated the first half. Gino Cappelletti booted 3 field goals and the star of the game, Boston halfback Larry Garron, grabbed a Babe Parilli pass and raced 59 yards for a touchdown, giving his team a 16-0 lead at the break. We didn’t have much in the way of music classes back then, but one of my classmates, Norm Skiba, was a talented drummer, and he did a drum solo performance which was excellent, but the ovation he got when he finished was more than he probably would’ve gotten if it wasn’t perfectly timed with a Daryle Lamonica to Elbert Dubenion Buffalo touchdown pass of 93 yards which, coupled with a successful 2 point conversion, cut the Bills’ deficit to 16-8. Unfortunately that was all the Bills could manage. Parilli and Garron connected again on a 17 yard scoring throw, and Cappelletti added another three pointer to account for the final 26-8 score. The win gave the Patriots the Eastern Division crown, and the right to get slaughtered in the AFL title game the following week by the clearly superior San Diego Chargers 51-10.

Pats’ Larry Garron high-steps Bills’ defender (UPI Photo)

The Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants battle on this week’s schedule of NFL games, and we’ll highlight a matchup of these 2 old franchises for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature. It was the 1959 NFL Championship. A rematch of the ’58 title game, won by the Colts in the first sudden death contest in league history that has been labeled “The Greatest Game Ever Played”. Would this contest provide the same dramatics?

It was played on December 27, 1959 at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, and to say it was decided in the final quarter would be an understatement. The Colts were defending champions, of course, but the Giants were also a proud franchise, having won the title as recently as the 1956 season and reaching the championship for the second year in a row. The biggest fireworks of the early part of this contest came in the first quarter on a 60 yard touchdown hookup from the Colts’ John Unitas to Lenny Moore. The rest of the first 3 quarters were a defensive battle, with New York managing a Pat Summerall field goal in each quarter to fashion a slight 9-7 lead going into the fourth. Finally, Unitas, who had basically invented the “2 minute drill” in the previous year’s title game, began to solve the Giants’ defense and engineered a pair of scoring drives to break open the close game. He finished one by scrambling 4 yards to paydirt on his own, then threw a 12 yard touchdown pass to split end and future Carolina Panthers’ owner Jerry Richardson for the second one as Baltimore gained a 28-9 lead. Kicker Steve Myhra added a field goal to total, while New York finally found the end zone late in the game as QB Charlie Conerly tossed 32 yards to Bob Schnelker to provide the final score of 31-16, giving Unitas and the Colts their second straight championship.

It was Deja Vu for the Big Blue, and part of a frustrating stretch of years for the Giants. After winning the ’56 title and faltering in 1957, they reached the league’s final game 4 more times in the next 5 years, only to lose all 4 games. After coach Weeb Ewbank’s Colts and Unitas defeated them twice, they ran into Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in 1961 and ’62 and absorbed 2 more losses.

Colts’ Unitas scans the field

Week 16 of the 2024 NFL schedule finds 2 old league rivals, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, meeting with the clubs going in opposite directions. The Lions are quite possibly the best team in the league, while the Bears are struggling with a rookie quarterback and have already fired their head coach. Circumstances were different, but not completely, when this week’s featured Throwback Thursday game was played between the 2 teams. It was on November 11, 1951 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, and the Bears, a powerhouse at the time, had won 5 of their first 6 games. Detroit was a good team looking for respect, sporting a 3-2-1 mark. However, the Bears ruled the series between the clubs, having beaten the Lions 11 consecutive times.

This record didn’t sit well with one Lion player in particular – their extremely competitive quarterback Bobby Layne. Layne’s 26 yard touchdown pass to Dorne Dibble gave the Lions a 7-0 first quarter lead. The Bears squared the score with a 54 yard Steve Romanik to John Hoffman pass to open the second stanza, but Layne caught fire for the rest of the half. He led a trio of scoring drives, first managing a short Doak Walker field goal, then finding Leon Hart, along with Dibble his favorite target of the day, on scoring throws of 17 and 9 yards. Detroit’s second quarter surge left them with a 24-7 halftime advantage.

Chicago switched to Johnny Lujack at quarterback in the second half, and he delivered the first score of the half when he tossed a 10 yard touchdown pass to Gene Shroeder. The Lions kept the heat on, however, upping their lead to 31-14 when Pat Harder rushed 3 yards to paydirt to close out the third period. Determined to continue their dominance over their Western Division rivals, the Bears scored next with a Lujack 7 yard pass to Jim Keane, but the Lions, just as determined to break the losing streak to George Halas’ forces, kept up the fight. Layne and Harder supplied the needed push. A Layne to Harder 15 yard touchdown pass and a Harder field goal completed Detroit’s scoring, giving them a comfortable 41-21 lead. Chicago’s George Gulyanics scored from 4 yards out to make the final margin 41-28, but Layne and the Lions finally earned a victory over the Bears after 11 unsuccessful tries. Detroit managed to surpass the Bears in the final standings for the ’51 season with a 7-4-1 record to Chicago’s 7-5. Unfortunately they still fell short of the Western Division crown to the Los Angeles Rams, who finished 8-4.

Detroit’s feisty QB Bobby Layne

The Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts clash on this week’s NFL slate of games, and for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we will revisit a game played between these 2 AFC rivals on January 11, 2015. It was a divisional round playoff contest, and Denver’s Mile High Stadium was it’s location. The story line of this game was the clash of quarterbacks. Peyton Manning meeting his former team, now led by brash young gunslinger Andrew Luck.

Manning got the party started by leading a first quarter drive that ended with a 1 yard touchdown toss to Demaryius Thomas. The Colts fought back to take the lead 14-7 in the second quarter with touchdowns from Dan Herron on a 6 yard run and Dwayne Allen on a 3 yard pass from Luck. Denver’s Connor Barth cut that lead to 14-10 with a 45 yard field goal in the waning seconds of the half. The Indy defense clamped down on Manning in the second half, and upped their lead to 21-10 with the only score of the third quarter, a 15 yard Luck to Hakeem Nicks touchdown pass. Manning’s frustrations continued throughout the remainder of the game, and the only scoring the Broncos could muster was another Barth field goal. Adam Vinatieri matched that for the Colts, and that was all the scoring they needed to secure a 24-13 win and a trip to the AFC Championship game the following week, where the mighty New England Patriots awaited them.

The loss by Manning robbed  America of another classic battle between him and the Patriots’ Tom Brady. Instead it was Luck who got the privilege. Typically, Luck ran out of luck as he and the Colts were schooled by Brady and Bill Belichick in a 45-7 rout in the title game.

Dejected Peyton Manning after playoff loss to Colts

The NFL season is moving along quickly, entering week 14 already. This week, we honed in on a matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, who meet on this week’s schedule, to find a game to highlight for Throwback Thursday. It was the NFC Championship game for the 1998 season, played on January 7, 1999. It was a fairy tale regular season for coach Dennis Green’s Vikings, who were near perfect in finishing 15-1. Atlanta wasn’t far behind at 14-2, so that made for an evenly-matched contest in the title game. The first quarter was a wash as both teams scored, the Falcons on a short 5 yard pass from Chris Chandler to back Jamal Anderson, and the Vikings on a 31 yard Randall Cunningham to Randy Moss throw.

Minnesota, behind their raucous home crowd at the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome, took over the game in the second stanza. Gary Anderson sandwiched field goals around a 1 yard Cunningham QB sneak to pull ahead 20-7. Atlanta salvaged the period by cobbling together a drive that ended with Chandler finding Terance Mathis for a 14 yard score with 59 seconds left, shortening the deficit to 20-14. Morten Andersen, Atlanta’s kicker, provided the only third quarter scoring with a field goal, but in the final quarter Cunningham widened his team’s lead to 27-17 with a touchdown pass of 5 yards to Matthew Hatchette. Morten Andersen kicked another field goal to keep the game close, but with just a few minutes remaining, the Vikings had a chance to salt the game away when Gary Anderson entered to attempt a 38 yard field goal. Anderson had been perfect on every one of his three point tries in ’98, so this seemed to be a lock.

Of course Anderson missed the kick. This fueled the Falcons to drive to a tying touchdown with 57 seconds left on another Chandler to Mathis pass of 16 yards, almost mirroring the TD they scored with less than a minute left in the first half. The touchdown sent the game into overtime, where, after failed possessions by both teams, Morten Andersen booted a 38 yard field goal to send Atlanta on to the Super Bowl. A huge disappointing end and a lost opportunity for Minnesota, a franchise that bears the burden of also losing the Super Bowl 4 different times.

Gary Anderson watches his missed field goal

The Dallas Cowboys versus the New York Giants. A classic NFC East matchup that will be renewed this weekend on the NFL schedule. This week for our Throwback Thursday feature, we’ll go back almost exactly 10 years, to a prime time Sunday night battle played on November 23, 2014, between these 2 clubs. They entered the contest at opposite ends of the spectrum, the Cowboys at 7-3 for the year and the Giants at 3-7. It turned out to be a tale of 2 halves, as the Giants took control of the game early while Dallas rallied in the second half to assume command. Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning, a Hall of Fame candidate for 2025, got his team on the board with a drive that ended in a short 3 yard touchdown pass to his rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was on his way to being named the Offensive Rookie Of The Year. The Cowboys countered with a Dan Bailey field goal that would turn out to be the difference in the game. It was Manning to OBJ again to start the second quarter, on a 43 yard TD throw, and the Giants now led 14-3. The half continued with the teams trading scores, Dallas cutting the lead to 14-10 when Tony Romo hit his tight end Jason Witten with a 4 yard touchdown toss and New York getting a 3 yard TD run from Andre Williams.

Romo came out with guns blazing in the second half and quickly engineered his club into the lead at 24-21 with a pair of scoring throws, 45 yards to reliable target Cole Beasley and 31 yards to Dez Bryant. Manning’s short touchdown pass to Adrien Robinson got the Giants the lead back in the fourth quarter, but Romo finished off the scoring by hitting Bryant for a 13 yard score, giving Dallas a 31-28 victory. Running back DeMarco Murray was an unsung hero for the Cowboys as he contributed a solid running game with 121 yards on 24 carries to complement Romo’s 4 touchdown passes. Despite the loss, New York gained the national spotlight with the play of the game, an amazing one-handed touchdown catch by Beckham Jr. that some pundits called the greatest catch of all time. Indeed it was what old time sportswriters would’ve called a “circus” catch. Today’s receivers, somewhat aided by modern gloves, seem to make these types of grabs routinely, but OBJ was definitely the pioneer at it. He has maintained a career in the league, with it’s share of ups and downs, and is still active today with the Miami Dolphins.

Odell Beckham Jr.’s “circus” catch