The Buffalo Bills put together a workmanlike effort to earn their third win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Cleveland Browns 13-6 in a game played in a steady rain. Coach Chan Gailey’s offense featured a heavy dose of the running game, with Fred Jackson gaining 112 yards, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick picking up key first downs on scrambles and C.J. Spiller getting a chance to make a significant contribution also. The Bills’ defense allowed Cleveland’s power runner, Peyton Hillis, to run wild on the game’s opening drive, but to their credit held the Browns to a field goal on that drive and held Hillis in check for most of the rest of the game. Buffalo had a 12 minute advantage in time of possession, and were able to control the ball with the run game and run out the clock at the end. There was some bad news for the Bills as wide receiver Lee Evans left the game with an ankle injury, and there is speculation that he might be done for the season. Then again, at this point with a 3-10 record, it would allow team management to get good looks at Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt as they look ahead to next season. The Bills have division rivals Miami, New England and the New York Jets left on the schedule and can play spoilers in the AFC playoff race by pulling an upset or two. One thing is for sure – the team has shown that it will compete to the bitter end, so those final 3 games should be interesting.
Archive for the ‘Football’ Category
NFL – Week Fourteen Predictions
After consecutive weeks of successful predicting of NFL games, the tally slipped a bit last week to 10 correct and 6 wrong. This takes the season record to 116 right and 75 incorrect. Here are the week 13 picks:
Indianapolis at Tennessee – the Colts are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in years, having lost 3 straight games. Injuries have been the biggest factor in Indy’s struggles. In this week’s Thursday Night encounter, I’ll go with the Colts to rebound and defeat a reeling Titan team that appears to be packing it in.
Cleveland at Buffalo – the Browns’ Peyton Hillis is in line to be this week’s recipient of the weekly 100+ yard rushing day that the Bills’ defense gives up. Buffalo played it’s worst game of the year last week in Minnesota, but I’ll pick them to win at home.
Atlanta at Carolina – the Falcons are making believers out of a lot of people as the season goes on, and I can’t see them slipping up here as they continue on toward a huge division matchup with the Saints later in the year. Atlanta wins handily.
Green Bay at Detroit – the Lions, like Buffalo, have been playing most of their opponents tough. This is the time of the year, however, when the real playoff contenders have to step it up, and I believe the Packers are for real. They’ll squeeze out a close win on the road.
Oakland at Jacksonville – at the beginning of the season, nobody expected this to be a matchup of teams contending for playoff spots. I’ll go with the Jaguars to win, since they’ve been more consistent overall and are at home.
New York Giants at Minnesota – Vikings are back playing at last year’s level, but I’ll pick the Giants to win at home, regardless of who Minnesota’s QB is.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh – Steelers put themselves in the driver’s seat in the AFC North by beating the Ravens last week, and I can’t see them slipping up here against a team that will quit if they get behind early. Pittsburgh will win big at home.
Tampa Bay at Washington – I don’t believe either of these teams will qualify for the playoffs when all is said and done, but Tampa Bay is a much better team and will get a road win here behind a big day from Josh Freeman.
St.Louis at New Orleans – the young Rams have a realistic shot at the playoffs, but this is too big a stage for them at this point of their maturation. The Saints will stay on the heels of Atlanta in their division by coming up with a big win at home.
Seattle at San Francisco – the Seahawks can take a big step in the NFC West race by winning this game, but I don’t believe they will. San Francisco’s playoff chances are basically dead, but they’ll win this game to stay mathematically alive.
Denver at Arizona – this is basically the Outhouse To The Penthouse Bowl, with Denver, having started last year 6-0 before folding, visiting Arizona, 2 years removed from playing in the Super Bowl and now struggling. The Broncos are getting better play at the QB position and will win one for interim coach Eric Studesville.
New England at Chicago – the Bears’ defense may be the toughest that New England faces this year. Chicago can win this game if they don’t turn the ball over, and my pick is that they will.
Miami at New York Jets – the Jets will be chomping at the bit to avenge their Monday Night Massacre at the hands of the Patriots, but Miami won’t go down easy. I’ll pick the Jets in a close, low scoring game.
Kansas City at San Diego – this is a chance for the Chiefs to make a statement. They beat the Chargers handily earlier this year, and can put some distance between themselves and the Bolts by winning. My pick is that they won’t, as San Diego wins a shootout.
Philadelphia at Dallas – the Cowboys have regained their bearings, and should be flying high after a big win over the Colts last week. Unfortunately, Michael Vick will succeed where Peyton Manning failed and the Eagles will win.
Baltimore at Houston – the Ravens’ defense will be the difference in this one. I see this game staying close and low scoring early, with Joe Flacco breaking loose in the second half to lead Baltimore to an important win.
NFL – Remembering Don Meredith
It’s a shame that a lot of younger football fans don’t even remember Don Meredith, who passed away on Monday of a stroke, as an original member of the Monday Night Football broadcast team, yet alone his playing career as a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Meredith backed up Eddie LeBaron at QB in Dallas in the franchise’s first 2 years of existence in 1960 and ’61, split time with LeBaron in ’62, then became the full-time starter for coach Tom Landry’s team in 1963. He then proceeded to guide the ‘Boys into their first winning era, on their way to becoming “America’s Team”. It’s unfortunate that Meredith never won a championship in his career. He played 9 seasons and was retired by the time Dallas won their first Super Bowl in 1971. During Meredith’s era, the Cowboys gained a reputation as being one of those teams that “can’t win the big one”, and in Meredith’s two title game encounters with Green Bay, in 1966 and ’67, he didn’t play particularly well. In ’66, the game was played in Dallas’ home stadium, the Cotton Bowl, and Green Bay jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. Meredith led a comeback and made a game of it, even driving the Cowboys to Green Bay’s 2 yard line with a chance to tie the game late in what was a shootout style of game. Meredith threw an interception that sealed the win, 34-27, for the Packers. The next year, the same 2 teams played for the NFL title again, this time in Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in what would turn out to be one of the most memorable games in league history, the “Ice Bowl”. Played in horrid, frigid conditions, neither team mounted much offense in the game. However, Packer signal-caller Bart Starr is remembered for scoring the winning TD on a quarterback sneak, while Meredith totaled 59 yards passing for the afternoon.
What I remember about Meredith is that he was a gamer. He took vicious hits and kept bouncing back. He was a real leader of his football team, and the Cowboys’ reputation of not being able to win the big one had nothing to do with Meredith’s desire to win. His teammates always respected him and his inner drive to win. Following his retirement, he became an analyst on NFL telecasts, eventually joining the ground-breaking MNF crew. Teaming with Howard Cosell as analysts, he carved out his “Dandy Don” personna by playing off Cosell’s arrogance with his witty, country charm, as Keith Jackson, and then Frank Gifford as play-by-play announcers, played the straight man. It was really the first time a football announcing team brought entertainment to the booth, and became part of the story as much as the game was. Those early Monday Night Football telecasts, and the humor and entertainment Meredith and Cosell provided, were huge in helping to grow the NFL into the monster it is today – the real national pastime. So now, to quote “Dandy Don” himself, “turn out the lights, the party’s over”, for Meredith on this earth. His legacy as both a player and analyst deserves to be mentioned, because it was a big part of the game. Rest in peace, Dandy Don.
NFL – Bills Game Review
The Buffalo Bills’ streak of playing competitive football against their opponents came to a resounding halt in Minnesota on Sunday. The Vikings came within a Brett Favre interception of reaching the Super Bowl last season, and their expectations were high coming into this year. Along with the Dallas Cowboys, they have been one of the biggest disappointments instead, to the point where it resulted in the firing of the head coach, Brad Childress. Obviously, under interim coach Leslie Frazier, the team is rejuvenated, and back playing at the Super Bowl contender level of last season. The Bills ended Favre’s day three plays into the game when rookie Arthur Moats leveled him from behind, injuring his shoulder, but backup Tarvaris Jackson came in and, after a pick-six interception by Drayton Florence, settled down to lead the Vikes to 38 unanswered points and a 38-14 win. The Bills were their own worst enemy in this game with 5 turnovers and numerous penalties. They were physically overwhelmed on both sides of the ball for the most part, and the game announcers talked about how Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson, nursing an ankle injury, begged the trainers and coaches to let him play. Small wonder, since a game against the Bills’ defense this year is all but a guarantee of a 100 yard game by the opponents’ running back. Peterson not only rushed for over 100, he also ran for 3 touchdowns. For the most part this season, the Bills’ offensive line has stayed intact, with a few exceptions. In this game, however, it looked like a scene out of the 2009 season. Starting guard Eric Wood was inactive with an injury, and center Geoff Hangartner was injured during the game, forcing Wood’s replacement, Kraig Urbik, to move to center. Then Urbik got hurt and Andy Levitre had to move to center. Ed Wang, a rookie tackle, saw his first action of the year, taking Levitre’s place at guard. The line, even before the injuries started mounting up, was getting beaten badly by the Vikings. Ryan Fitzpatrick was under intense pressure all day long and had probably his worst game since becoming the starter. It was one of those games that they just needed to get through and try to survive physically, then forget about as they try to regroup for next week’s game. One of the most disappointing parts of this game was the play of the defense. Leodis McKelvin had an awful day, getting beaten numerous times, getting called for an interference penalty, and losing a fumble on a kickoff return. McKelvin was a high first round draft choice, and the expectation should be that by now he be a major team leader on the defense and a playmaker. If Darrelle Revis traps opposing receivers on “Revis Island” and shuts them down, then by comparison McKelvin Island is a vacation retreat for opposing receivers. Also, when the Bills look to upgrade the defense next year, they need to look at adding some team speed. Players like Marcus Stroud, Chris Kelsay and pretty much all of their linebackers look old and slow in pursuit of opposing quarterbacks and runners. There’s no question that every player on the team is playing hard and giving all he has, but the current talent on the roster isn’t good enough to take this team into a winning era.
NFL – Week Thirteen Predictions
Week 12 turned out to be the most successful week so far this season as I managed to pick 13 winners out of 16 games, pushing the overall mark for the season so far to 106 games picked correctly and 69 wrong. Here are the week 13 choices:
Houston at Philadelphia – this week’s Thursday night matchup. The Texans rebounded to knock off Tennessee last week but just aren’t good enough to beat an Eagles’ team that will be looking to get back on track after losing to the Bears. Philly wins at home.
Buffalo at Minnesota – the Bills lost an unprecedented third game in overtime last week, all of them 3-point losses. Minnesota’s energy level is much higher with new coach Leslie Frazier, but I think the Bills will pull a mild upset this week and win on the road.
New Orleans at Cincinnati – the Saints are clicking on all cylinders again, while the Bengals are a sham. New Orleans wins big behind a monster game from Drew Brees.
Chicago at Detroit – Chicago continues to rise in the NFC, but the Lions always play them tough. This should be a very close game, but in my opinion the Bears have matured to the point where they’ll win a game they need to against a weaker opponent. The Bears to win in a low-scoring game.
San Francisco at Green Bay – the 49ers kept their division title hopes alive with a win on Monday night, but those hopes will get dashed this week in Lambeau Field. The Packer defense will make QB Troy Smith’s life miserable and Green Bay will win.
Denver at Kansas City – the Broncos have fallen a long way since winning the first 6 games of the Josh McDaniels era last season. Kansas City wins big at home to stay ahead of the red hot Chargers in their division race.
Cleveland at Miami – the young Browns have played some great football at times this year, but Miami’s defense will shut them down and the Dolphins will win at home.
Washington at New York Giants – the Giants helped their cause immensely last week by coming from behind to defeat Jacksonville while the Eagles were losing. They can’t afford to slip up here and won’t. New York to win big at home.
Jacksonville at Tennessee – the Jaguars were written off as having no chance to do anything in their division at the start of the season, but they just won’t go away. With the Titans having QB issues, I believe Jacksonville gets a big division win on the road.
Oakland at San Diego – the Raiders are usually a tough out in division games but San Diego is hitting their stride and needs to win to keep pace in the AFC West race. The Chargers win with another impressive showing by both their offense and defense.
St. Louis at Arizona – are the young Rams good enough yet to steal an NFC West crown? I’m not sure of that yet but they’re certainly good enough to knock off a fading Cardinal team. St. Louis wins on the road.
Dallas at Indianapolis – the Cowboys should have won on Thanksgiving and are a completely different team under interim coach Jason Garrett. This could be an upset considering the battered physical condition of the Colts, but I’ll go with Indy at home to win.
Carolina at Seattle – as terribly inconsistent as the Seahawks have been all year, they really still look like the only team with the chops to win the weak NFC West. This should be an easy win for them at home against the NFL’s worst team.
Atlanta at Tampa Bay – the young Buccaneers have not beaten anybody with a winning record this year, despite a surprising season. I’m going to pick them to finally do it this week against a division opponent at home.
Pittsburgh at Baltimore – the Steelers escaped the noose last week in Buffalo to keep pace with Baltimore in their division. Then again, the Bills should have beaten the Ravens too. The Ravens won the first meeting between these teams, when Ben Roethlisberger was still under suspension. I think they’ll win again at home to take control of the race.
New York Jets at New England – I honestly believe on paper the Jets are the better overall team in this matchup, especially on defense. But Tom Brady just doesn’t fail in these types of games at home. The Patriots win a close game to move ahead in the AFC East.
Remembering Bill Walsh
On this day in 1931, legendary NFL head coach Bill Walsh was born in Los Angeles, California. I recently read a short biography of Walsh and it reminded me of a fact that seems lost in today’s NFL – that the greatest coaches of all time are the ones that are the best teachers, not the ones who rant and rave and put on a big macho act. Paul Brown was an innovator in that he was the first to introduce classroom training and film study to the NFL. Vince Lombardi has a reputation as a taskmaster but in reality he was one of the best “teaching” head coaches of all time. He was a teacher before he decided to go into coaching. Tom Landry was as stoic a figure on the sidelines as there’s ever been. His method was all about teaching and preparation throughout the week in practice, not yelling and screaming on the sideline on Sundays. Chuck Noll, who played for Brown in Cleveland, always had a reputation for being low-key in Pittsburgh. Noll was a no-nonsense coach, but like the others was all about having his team prepared. Joe Gibbs always had a Mr.Peepers persona, peering out through his eyeglasses, but he too was a great “teacher”.
Walsh was the ultimate in football coaches who you’d never guess were coaches if you met them on the street. He was professorial to the point where he came across as arrogant. Old school football people always scoffed at Walsh’s “West Coast” offense, which substituted a short “dink and dunk” passing game for the running game. His offense took the opposite approach of the norm, which was that you had to run the ball effectively to set up the passing game. Walsh would pass the ball to set up the running game. It wasn’t a particularly physical style of football, which is what drove football purists crazy, but it was definitely an extension of Walsh’s personality – a scholarly approach to the game rather than the usual “three yards and a cloud of dust” approach. Walsh had the knack for bringing in players who fit his system and were mature to the point where they didn’t need constant babysitting and policing (see this year’s Dallas Cowboys or Minnesota Vikings for examples of that). Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig and Matt Millen were not only the team’s best players but also the hardest working. In his early formative years, Walsh was not a great athlete, or a top student either. Obviously he was a genius when it came to football though. When he worked at San Jose State as a graduate assistant coach, the head coach wrote this note in his personnel file: “I predict Bill Walsh will become the outstanding football coach in the United States.” There was a great quote in that biography on Walsh that sums up his scholarly approach to the game. ESPN analyst Beano Cook said this about him: “If Bill Walsh was a general, he would be able to overrun Europe with an army from Sweden.” Walsh was definitely one of the NFL’s greatest coaches of all time, and deserves the “genius” label that he used to seem to relish wearing. When he passed away in 2007 the league lost a great resource, and if there’s one thing current NFL owners can learn from him, it’s that every once in awhile when your team is struggling and your knee-jerk reaction is to blame the coach for “losing control of the locker room” and fire him, maybe a closer look at what kind of players are in that locker room should be in order.
NFL – Bills’ Game Review
Sunday’s Buffalo Bills’ game was similar in a lot of ways to last week’s game in Cincinnati. In the first half the Bills were totally dominated by the Steelers, who methodically marched up and down the field and controlled the clock. The Bills offense was shut out but really had little opportunity to get anything done since they rarely had the ball. The defense wasn’t terrible but couldn’t stop anything on third down. To their credit, despite being dominated the defense only surrendered one touchdown, minimizing the damage to a 13-0 halftime deficit. The Bills missed a chance to get back in the game when they took the second half kickoff and drove down the field, only to turn the ball over in the red zone on a fumble by Lee Evans. The play of the defense, just like in last week’s game, improved immensely in the second half. They managed to get pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, taking advanatage of Pittsburgh’s patchwork offensive line to record 5 sacks and draw numerous holding penalties. Jairus Byrd came up with a turnover, and Kyle Williams continued his push toward a Pro Bowl bid with a monster game, totaling 10 tackles and 2 sacks. Ryan Fitzpatrick did another admirable job directing the offense, spreading the ball around to all his receivers. Fred Jackson started the Bills on the road to another comeback by taking a screen pass 65 yards for a touchdown. It looked as though the Bills were left for dead when Troy Polamalu made a spectacular diving interception at his own 1 yard line to kill a Bills’ drive toward at least tying the game, but coach Chan Gailey used his timeouts well, and the defense held to give Fitzpatrick one more chance to deliver. Fitzpatrick, who continues to lock up the team’s starting QB job, did just that, driving the team to give Rian Lindell a chance to kick a game-tying field goal with 2 seconds left and force overtime.
There is no denying that the play of the game was the dropped pass by the Bills’ Steve Johnson in the overtime that would have given his team the upset win. It was another example of what the Bills have been doing all season – finding new and creative ways to lose. It’s really a shame that Johnson wound up being the goat, since he has been a huge bright spot in a losing season this year for the Bills. It was encouraging to see Johnson man up and face the media after the game, and to take individual responsibilty for the loss, calling the drop inexcusable. It’s important to point out, however, that Lee Evans fumbled away a scoring opportunity early in the game, and also dropped a pass in the OT. Jackson and Leodis McKelvin both fumbled but were bailed out by teammates who recovered them (Evans redeemed himself somewhat by recovering Jackson’s fumble). Paul Posluszny and Chris Kelsay missed opportunities for sacks with poor tackling, and Arthur Moats tripped up McKelvin on the overtime kickoff when it appeared he had a chance to go the distance. Games are never really won or lost on one play, and Buffalo certainly blew a lot of other chances to make plays at various times that could have made the difference. Unfortunately, Johnson’s drop was the most glaring, and he’ll surely be crucified for it all week in the media.
NFL – Week Twelve Predictions
Week 11 was a successful one in picking winners as I rebounded to choose 12 winners out of 16 games, pushing the season overall record to 93 correct, and 66 wrong. Here are the week 12 predictions:
New England at Detroit – the Lions usually play inspired football on Thanksgiving, but lately, they rarely win. The Patriots have too much at stake in their division race to slip up here, so I’ll pick them to pull out a win.
New Orleans at Dallas – the Cowboys surprisingly throttled the Saints last season, and are certainly playing better under Jason Garrett, but I’ll go with Drew Brees and the Saints to win a close, high scoring game.
Cincinnati at New York Jets – the Bengals are a lot like the Cowboys and Vikings – talented teams underachieving and getting their coaches ushered out the door. The Jets keep winning close games, but that won’t be the case this week. They’ll win handily over a Cincinnati team that quit last week.
Pittsburgh at Buffalo – the Bills are finally being rewarded for a season’s worth of hard work and effort with some wins, but the Steelers are too tough of an opponent. Rashard Mendenhall should have a big day against a Bills’ defense that has struggled to stop the run all year, and the Steelers will grind out a victory.
Green Bay at Atlanta – this game is a possible playoff preview. Atlanta hasn’t gotten a lot of respect all year, but they keep on winning to stay ahead of New Orleans in their division. The Packers keep winning despite a slew of injuries, but the Falcons will win this game with a large dose of their running game doing most of the damage.
Carolina at Cleveland – it looks like the Browns picked a winner when they drafted Colt McCoy, while the Panthers continue to play QB musical chairs. Although it appears that Jake Delhomme will start against his old team this week with McCoy nursing an ankle injury, Carolina is the worst team in the NFL at this point, and Cleveland will beat them easily at home.
Tennessee at Houston – both of these teams have been disappointing this season. It will be interesting to see how the Titans react after Vince Young’s antics last week, and how the Texans rebound from a crushing loss to the Jets. The feeling here is that Jeff Fisher will right his ship, while Gary Kubiak is on his way out as Texans’ coach. Tennessee wins on the road with a strong effort from their defense.
Jacksonville at New York Giants – the Jaguars just won’t go away. Despite all the hype for the Titans and Texans, they have emerged as the team challenging the Colts in their division. They are in trouble this week, however, having to face a Giants’ team eager to rebound from the loss to Philly last week. New York’s defense will harrass David Garrard and the Giants will win.
Minnesota at Washington – those “unnamed” Viking players get their chance to express their “hatred” for fired coach Brad Childress, and I believe they will. Minnesota wins on the road against a Redskins team that is a mediocrity.
Miami at Oakland – the quarterback play will likely be awful for both teams, so the game will be won by the team that plays better defense and runs the ball. I’ll go with Miami, since they’ve played well on the road all season.
Kansas City at Seattle – I just can’t pick the unpredictable Seahawks to win, even though they’re usually better at home. I think the young Chiefs are better and will stay in the AFC West hunt by winning here.
Tampa Bay at Baltimore – like the Falcons, the young Buccaneers are having a good season and not getting much respect either. They’ve surprised everybody, but haven’t won any games against big-time opponents yet, so I’m going to take the Ravens at home to win.
Philadelphia at Chicago – suddenly this is a matchup of two of the top teams in the NFC, after both looked like also-rans earlier in the year. The Eagles, with Michael Vick on fire, are much better offensively than the Bears, but Chicago’s defense is coming on strong and may be the best in the league right now. I’m going to pick the Bears at home, based on a hunch that Chicago will find a way to at least contain Vick.
St. Louis at Denver – the Rams are progressing nicely this year, and I feel they are a little further along than the Broncos in their development, but at home Denver shuts down Sam Bradford and wins.
San Diego at Indianapolis – both of these teams use the same formula for winning – the quarterback against the world. San Diego is in the middle of it’s annual playoff push, but they get derailed a bit this week as the Colts outscore them at home in a high scoring game.
San Francisco at Arizona – amazingly both of these teams still have a chance to win the weak NFC West division, so there’s a lot at stake in this game as the loser would be pretty much out of it. Despite disappointing games week after week, I still think the 49ers are better and will win this prime time game.
NFL – Classic Thanksgiving Games – Part II
Inaugural Dallas Thanksgiving Game vs. Browns in 1966.
Detroit has had the honor of hosting the NFL’s annual Thanksgiving Day game since 1934, but in 1966, the league added a second Turkey Day game, awarding the honor to the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys played the Cleveland Browns in their inaugural game that year, and the game was pivotal in the young franchise’s development. The Cowboys entered the game with a 7-2-1 record while the Browns, who were 7-3, had played in the 2 previous NFL Championship games and were a powerhouse at the time. Tom Landry’s club won the game, 26-14, and would go on to have an astounding 20 straight winning seasons. The NFL’s move to put an annual game in Dallas was a good decision by commissioner Pete Rozelle, as the team, since that first game in ’66, has been a marquee franchise ever since. My daughter, who is now in her 30s, has fond childhood memories of family get togethers – she recalls them being Sunday afternoons – where the family was gathered around the televison and the Cowboys were always playing a late afternoon game. She distinctly remembers Landry, with his trademark fedora hat and stoic look, standing on the sidelines, with the large silver stars lining the walls of the old Texas Stadium behind him. I think she may actually be remembering Thanksgiving Day celebrations rather than Sundays, since the Cowboys have been Turkey Day fixtures her whole life.
The most memorable Dallas Thanksgiving game has to be the “Clint Longley” game, played on November 28, 1974. It was a matchup of the Cowboys and their most bitter division rivals, coach George Allen’s Washington Redskins. These 2 teams regularly battled it out for NFC supremacy in the 1970s, and this year was no exception. Allen’s “Over The Hill Gang”, a collection of veterans and old misfits that the coach fielded due to his disdain for playing rookies, were challenging Landry’s always strong team for first place in the NFC East. The ‘Skins were dominating this game, and when veteran linebacker Dave Robinson hammered the Cowboys’ star QB, Roger Staubach, with a tackle so vicious that it knocked Staubach out of the game, it looked hopeless for the home town team. Staubach’s replacement was 22-year old unproven rookie Clint Longley, who had not played in a game up to that point. Longley had earned the nickname “The Mad Bomber” from his teammates for his habit of throwing errant passes and hitting Landry’s coaching tower in practice. He came into the game with his team trailing, 16-3, and wound up throwing 2 touchdown passes, including the game-winner to Drew Pearson, to lead the Cowboys to an improbable 24-23 win. Longley had no expectation of ever playing in the game and entered it totally unprepared, and afterward lineman Blaine Nye, his teammate, sarcastically called the win “a triumph of the uncluttered mind.” The game turned out to be Longley’s 15 minutes of fame, as less than 2 years later, he sucker punched Staubach from behind in the locker room during training camp, leaving Staubach requiring several stitches to repair his face. The team immediately traded Longley to San Diego, where his career faded. It was reported recently on the NFL Network that Longley wound up selling carpeting out of his car back in Texas.
Clint Longley in 1974.
NFL – Classic Thanksgiving Games – Part I
Green Bay’s Bart Starr is swallowed up by a swarming Lions’ defense.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1962, the NFL staged its’ annual traditional game between the host Detroit Lions and the visiting Green Bay Packers, and the game was one of the most memorable ever played on the holiday. A year later, this particular date would forever become etched in history by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but in 1962 the Lions played one of the most inspired games in franchise history on the date – a game that lives on today in Lions’ team history as the “Turkey Day Massacre”. The Packers were the powerhouse team in the league at that time, having won the championship under coach Vince Lombardi in 1961. They entered the annual holiday game with a perfect 10-0 record, and had beaten the Lions 9-7 in Green Bay earlier in the season on a last-second field goal. That game had stuck in the Lions’ collective craw leading up to the Thanksgiving rematch, and the team was not the mediocrity they are in today’s NFL – they were 8-2 and second to the Packers in the Western Division at the time. Detroit’s defense, led by Roger Brown, Alex Karras and Joe Schmidt, played its’ best game of the season that day, harrassing and swarming Packer QB Bart Starr all game long, and sacking him 11 times for over 100 yards in losses. Brown, a 300 lb. defensive lineman, had 5 of the sacks himself, including one where he tackled Starr in the end zone for a safety. The Lions won 26-14, and although they won the battle that day, Green Bay won the war, as this turned out to be their only loss of the season. The Packers finished 13-1 and won their second consecutive NFL title, on their way to 5 championships in a 7 year period, a feat that earned the small Wisconsin town the nickname of “Titletown, USA”.
Lombardi didn’t easily forget this game, however. At the time, the annual holiday game was not only hosted by Detroit, but the annual opponent, from 1951 until 1963, was always the rival Packers. Lombardi lobbied the league complaining about having to travel to a road game on a short week every year, and how much of a disadvantage it was to his club, and eventually commissioner Pete Rozelle relented and the league began rotating the opponent for the Lions each year. In 1966, the league added a second traditional Thanksgiving game in Dallas. Tomorrow, we’ll highlight a memorable game from the annual Dallas Thanksgiving series.