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A pair of AFC East contenders square off for the second time in a month this Sunday on the NFL’s schedule – the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. Our Throwback Thursday feature this week highlights a game played between these 2 teams on opening day of the 1973 season. It was played at New England’s old Shaefer Stadium on September 16 of that year. Both clubs had shown promise in the 1972 season that they might be able to find the promised land of fielding winning teams in this new year. The Bills brought back their old coach from the AFL days, Lou Saban, in ’72 to try to salvage the career of young running back O.J. Simpson, who had languished in his first couple of seasons under coach John Rauch. Rauch came up with the foolish idea of using Simpson as a decoy instead of featuring his talent in the offensive scheme, and even toyed with the idea of switching him to wide receiver. Saban changed all that, building the club around Simpson’s talent to feature the running game. The Bills were also set to move out of their old stadium, the decrepit War Memorial Stadium, into their shiny new home, Rich Stadium.

The Patriots also entered the ’73 season with high hopes, as new coach Chuck Fairbanks attempted to improve the club with young quarterback Jim Plunkett being fortified with an influx of new talent that included Sam Cunningham, Darryl Stingley, John Hannah and Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton. That new talent paid immediate dividends as Cunningham scored the game’s first touchdown on a 7 yard run. The Pats missed the extra point, taking a 6-0 lead. It didn’t last long, as a portent of things to come was about to happen. The Bills took the field with a revamped offense designed to feature Simpson’s ability. Three draft picks became immediate starters. A pair of first rounders, Paul Seymour and Joe DeLamielleure, manned the tight end and guard spots, and Joe Ferguson took over for Dennis Shaw at quarterback. Seymour’s role was basically an extra tackle on the line to help Simpson, and when “The Juice” broke off an 80 yard touchdown run to give the Bills a 7-6 lead, Buffalo was off and literally running. Buffalo’s rebuilt line also added center Mike Montler in a trade to go with Reggie McKenzie, Donnie Green and Dave Foley, forming what would be nicknamed the “Electric Company” as they turned on “The Juice”. John Leypoldt added a field goal and Larry Watkins, O.J.’s backfield mate, scored on a 4 yard run to boost the Bills to a 17-6 lead before New England pulled to within 17-13 on a 10 yard Mack Herron run. Then Simpson scored again on a 22 yard scamper. Watkins again joined in the fun, rambling 15 yards to close out the scoring and give Buffalo a resounding 31-13 victory.

When the final gun sounded, Simpson had accumulated 250 yards rushing on 29 carries with his pair of touchdowns, setting a new single-game record for ground yards. Watkins added another 105 yards on 18 carries and his 2 TDs as the Bills racked up an impressive 360 yards on the ground in the game. Simpson’s performance wasn’t a one time deal. He would go on to break Jim Brown’s single season rushing yards record and become the first player in history to break the 2,000 yard barrier as he finished with 2,003 for the year. He is still the only back to achieve the feat in 14 games. Simpson’s personal life has turned tragic and he has frittered away any good will he may have earned in his playing days and broadcasting and acting careers afterwards, but he was a dynamic athlete at one time.

O.J. Simpson shredded the Pats for 250 yards on opening day

We’re headed into the home stretch of the NFL season, and one of this week’s games matches the team with the best record, the Arizona Cardinals, against the club with the worst mark, the Detroit Lions. These 2 teams met in a game played on October 1, 1967 at St.Louis’ Busch Stadium, when the Cardinals were located in the Gateway To The West city. Both of these teams were perennial also-rans in the 1960s, but it didn’t keep them from providing fans with some exciting games during the decade. This game veered from the usual “three yards and a cloud of dust” style of 1960s NFL football. It turned into what qualified as a shootout in that era between Detroit veteran signal caller Milt Plum and the Cardinals’ young second year gunslinger, Jim Hart.

The Lions came out swinging and took an early 7-0 lead with a drive that ended on a one yard scoring plunge by Mel Farr. Detroit then pinned the Cards deep in their own territory, and when Hart tried to throw out of his own end zone Larry Hand picked it off at the 2 yard line and walked into the end zone to up the lead to 14-0. St. Louis finally found their bearings in the second quarter and Hart guided them to a couple of scores, with halfback Johnny Roland finding paydirt from a yard out and Jim Bakken booting a 39 yard field goal to put the game within striking distance at 14-10. Plum took to the air and found his favorite target, Pat Studstill, on a 37 yard touchdown throw to extend the lead to 21-10. When Roland found the end zone again for the Cards, on another 1 yard run, the gap was closed to 21-17 at the half.

The Cardinals came out of the locker room rejuvenated in the second half, and took the lead when Hart hit his tight end, Jackie Smith, with a 57 yard touchdown bomb. Roland scored his third rushing touchdown, from 6 yards out, to end the third quarter scoring, and St. Louis suddenly found themselves up 28-17. The Lions fought back in the final quarter, and Plum and Studstill connected again, on a 23 yard scoring pass. Plum finished with 206 yards passing for the day, a sizable amount for a game in those days, with Studstill amassing 107 of those yards on 5 catches. Hart had a favorite target that day also in split end Billy Gambrell, who also had 5 receptions, for 117 yards. The biggest of the connections for the Cardinal duo resulted in a 48 yard touchdown that completed the scoring. When the final gun sounded, St. Louis had themselves a hard-fought 38-28 victory.

Johnny Roland stopped by the Lions’ defense

Both clubs settled into their usual mediocrity as the season wore on, with the Cardinals finishing third in the league’s Century Division at 6-7-1, and Detroit also winding up third in the Central Division at 5-7-2. There was at least a hint of hope in Detroit in the ’67 season as the Lions boasted both the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of The Year in Farr and Lem Barney.

Cards vs. Lions game program

The oldest rivalry in pro football gets renewed this week on the NFL schedule as the Chicago Bears take on the Green Bay Packers. For this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we’ll travel back to November 4, 1973 for a matchup between these 2 historic franchises. By the ’73 season, the Packers were long past the Vince Lombardi dynasty years, and the Bears’ founder, owner and coach George “Papa Bear” Halas had moved from the sideline into the front office to run the club. The teams were now coached by a couple of forgettable names – Dan Devine with Green Bay and the large, jovial Abe Gibron for the Bears. Both teams were foundering, with the Packers at 2-3-2 and Chicago a lowly 2-5, entering the game.

Bears’ coach Abe Gibron, large and in charge

The Bears’ quarterback at the time was an NFL enigma. A novelty in 1973 but perhaps a player well ahead of his time, he was Bobby Douglass, a 6’4″ 225 lb. corn-fed Kansas boy. Douglass was a couple of things that didn’t mesh with NFL football quarterbacks at the time. He was left-handed, and he was a runner rather than an effective passer. His career passing statistics are cringe-worthy – in 10 seasons, he threw for 36 touchdowns and 64 interceptions and had a career QB rating of 48.5. Nevertheless, he paved the way for southpaw throwers like Ken Stabler and later Steve Young to be accepted despite being lefty and having run game skills. It could be argued that Douglass was the original lab experiment and Young the perfected final product.

Back to the November 1973 game. It was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, an intimidating place for visiting teams in the Lombardi era but not so much now. This was a matchup between Douglass and the heir apparent to Bart Starr, a not-so-legendary signal caller named Scott Hunter. The pair traded first quarter touchdowns as Douglass opened the scoring on a 1 yard run, with Hunter answering on a 5 yard scoring toss to MacArthur Lane. In the second stanza Hunter ran in from a yard out and the clubs traded field goals, putting Green Bay ahead 17-10 at the half. The second half turned out to be the Bobby Douglass show. He accounted for all the scoring with 3 more short TD runs, giving him a total of 4 six-pointers on the day as he amassed an even 100 yards rushing on 18 carries. His passing stats were unspectacular but efficient, as he hit on 10 of 15 throws for 118 yards in his team’s 31-17 victory. In all the Bears rushed for 230 yards while their defense made life miserable for Hunter. He completed only 3 of 15 passes for a meager 17 yards. The only offensive bright spot for the Packers was the 119 yards gained on the ground by Lane and John Brockington, who was a very underrated running back in the post-Lombardi Packer era. Unfortunately for the Bears, this would be the last game they won in the ’73 season as they finished 3-11 for last place in the NFC Central Division. Green Bay managed a bit more success, but not much more as they wound up just ahead of the Bears in the standings at 5-7-2.

Packer defenders spent the day chasing Douglass