My Best All Time NFL Defenses

Best All-Time NFL Defenses

 

Because the game is played so differently now than it was in the 1970s, ranking some of the best all-time defenses is extremely difficult.  The defense that sticks out from that era is the Pittsburgh Steelers.  They had so many Hall of Famers on that team; Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Mel Blount, and LC Greenwood led that bunch.  However, if these players played today like they did back then, they would be getting pass interference penalties, fines and suspensions. It was a much tougher NFL in that era, the constant asking the refs for the flag, like some wide receivers do today, would not happen.  Those WR would get their heads knocked off for sure.  Mel Blount was the NFL defensive player of the year in 1975 during that great run of Super Bowl Championships.   1976 Steelers did not win a Super Bowl, but had a legendary year on defense. They only gave up 28 points over the last 9 games played and 11 PPG over the season.  They got hurt during that playoffs on offense and eventually lost to Oakland in the AFC Championship game.

Jack Lambert was one of the meanest players to ever play in the NFL, he was probably as good a tackler that has ever played. Lambert was so dominant a linebacker that he won defensive rookie player of the year in 1974 and defensive player of the year in 1976.  Lambert went to 9 Straight Pro Bowls and was a huge cog of the Steel Curtain of this era.   Fear was huge during this time and Lambert along with Mean Joe Greene were the ring leaders.  Running backs would were not happy when Lambert hit them so hard that their bell rung. Jack Ham never won defensive player of the year, but was an All Pro 6 times and was one of the fastest linebackers in the history of the NFL.  Ham’s specialty was in forcing fumbles, he forced 59 over the years. This is just astounding.  The Steelers defensive unit was mainly responsible for the team winning 4 Super Bowls. The first 2 they were the dominant unit for them. The 3^rd and 4^th had a lot more help from the offense with Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw and Stallworth and Swan being very good.  

When you mention the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s what do you think of? Obviously it would be offense with Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig and Dwight Clark.  However the 49ers defense was also very, very good and, to me, underrated but dominant.  The 1981 unit only gave up an average of 15 PPG and the 1984 unit gave up 14 PPG.  When talking about the defense the first player of that era I think of is Ronnie Lott. Lott came into the league as a cornerback and was pretty good, but he really made his mark as the most dominant safety of the era.  He would strike fear into the hearts of any wide receiver going over the middle at that time.  He would be getting a lot of fines today if he played in the same reckless manner where he would launch himself at a ball carrier. This was legal back then, but now due to safety reasons is not acceptable any longer.  Lott had 63 career interceptions with his highest being 10 in 1986. He was a ballhawk and is in the Pro Football Hall of fame because of his well-rounded career.  Lott, also made the First team Pro 6 times. Other good players on this team were Fred Dean, who had 17.5 sacks in 1983, Hacksaw Reynolds at OLB and Keena Turner at ILB.  The secret of the niners was mainly being consistent and stopping other teams, thus getting the ball back to their fantastic offense.  Besides Ronnie Lott, there were no other real Super Stars that stand out but the numbers stand on their own. They won 4 Super Bowls mainly as a great offensive team but this unit was underrated to me and still is when thinking of great defenses in the 1980s.

Another very dominant defense of this era was the Chicago Bears from 1984-1987. The Bears, even though they only won only 1 Super Bowl, had probably the most dominant season of all time defensively in 1985.  The team only gave up 198 points for an average of about 12.3 PPG.  The Bears used a 46 defense that stressed getting pressure on the QB which led to a lot of sacks and turnovers.  The leading sacker was Richard Dent who had 17.5. Otis Wilson also had 10.5 from his linebacker position. Interior defensive linemen in Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael also had 8 and 6.5 sacks. Mike Singletary was the defensive captain and had well over 100 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Singletary had those eyes that could cut right through you and he made the First team All-Pro 7 times. It was scary. He was such a smart player. The secondary was excellent with Leslie Frasier getting 6 interceptions and Mike Richardson with 4.  Safeties Dave Deuerson and Gary Fencik would punish when they hit you and both had 5 interceptions each.  This defense only give up 10 points in 3 playoff games, both of their home playoff games saw them shutout their opponents.  The only team to score was the NE Patriots and they only got 10 in a 46-10 loss in the Super Bowl to Chicago.  The irony is the 1986 Bears actually only gave up 187 pts for and average of about 11.68 points but they lost to the Redskins in the playoffs.  

Fast forward to the early 1990s and a team that is thought of once again for their offense, the Dallas Cowboys, had an excellent defense during their Super Bowl. Run.  The 1992 team gave up 15.2 PPG and had a defense that had different players putting pressure on the QB and the sack leader was Jim Jeffcoat with 10.5. Tony Tolbert had 8 sacks as well.  The defensive backs were solid with Kevin Smith, James Washington and Thomas Everett. The 1993 Cowboys defense was even better only giving up 14.3 PPG. Jim Jeffcoat with 7 and Tony Tolbert with 6 sacks helped the defensive secondary get many picks on this season.  Kevin Smith had 6 int and Thomas Everett had 2. This shows that you do not have to have mind popping numbers as a defense to stop the other team. The Cowboys knew how to stop the run during that era.

Another great defense that is mainly based on one huge season is the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. This team only gave up 10.5 PPG. The Ravens defense was so good that year that they had back to back shutouts against Cleveland and Cincinnati.  This team had everything on D. Rod Woodson, playing safety in the later part of his career, intercepted 4 passes, Duane Starks had 6 interceptions and Chris McAlister 4. Ray Lewis was the heart and soul of this defense and he made the First team All-Pro 7 times. Lewis had 2 interceptions and had 137 tackles and was the main reason that this defense only gave up 60.5 yards per game rushing and 187 yards passing. Their pass rush did not get a lot of sacks and were led by Rob Burnett with 10.5 and Peter Bouleware with 7. This team was fantastic in the playoffs only giving up 23 points in 4 games, so basically 6 PPG. The Ravens were still good on defense in 2001 giving up 16.6 PPG and Bouleware had a very good year with 15 sacks, but they were not as dominant.

 

There are some good defenses in today’s NFL including the KC Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, but in 2013 the league is so geared to the offense that if you give up 20 PPG you are one of the better ones in the league. Times have changed as the NFL wants to have more scoring. I understand their predicament but I wish they allowed the defense a little bit of leeway so that the scores can occasionally be 20-16 and not always 28-24 or 31-28 etc.  Balance is what makes the NFL fun to me. I like to see a good running game as well as a good passing game.  Thank you all for reading my blog.  I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

 

The NFL Running Back in 2013 An Endangered Species

                                                        

I began watching football in 1979 and the mindset back then was in order to win a Super Bowl, or at least contend for one was to run the football and to stop the other team from doing it. Fast forward to 2013, and nothing could be farther from that ideal.  There are still some top running backs in todays game. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, who, to me, is clearly on his way to Canton, has run for 786 yards and 9 TD, along with 24 catches.  This season has been slow for him as he usually would have had at least one game of 150-200 yards but, in fact. his high so far is 140 vs both Dallas and Pitt.  It also does not help that the Vikings are 2-7 and are playing from behind most games, so it is hard to run when that happens.  Another good running back is Jamal Charles of the Chiefs who has run for 725 yards, 6 TD, but his high game rushing is only 100 yards. He is huge as a receiver, catching 47 passes and 2 TD through 9 games.  The last dominant back that I will mention is Lashawn McCoy who has rushed for 932 yards and has a high rushing game of 184 yards, which he did in week 1 vs the Redskins.  Honorable mentions are Marshawn Lynch (871 yards with 7 TD) and Alfred Morris (825 yards and 5 TD).

 Now, back to my youth.  The late Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears was dominant in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He had 4 seasons with over 1500 yards rushing and at least 10 rushing TD in 5 seasons. In 1984 the dominant running back was Eric Dickerson who rushed for an all-time single season record of 2105 yards with 14 TDs for the LA Rams.  He had 2 games of over 200 yards that season.  Barry Sanders, to me is the best pure running back that I saw play (I was not born when Jim Brown and Gayle Sayers were in the prime). Barry ran for 2053 yards in 1997 which is now the 3^rd best season of all time behind Dickerson and Adrian Pederson (2097 yards last year). Sanders could dominate a game.

The last running back I will mention is my favorite one, Terrell Davis. Davis had a short career unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in a game vs the NY Jets where he made a tackle on a Brian Griese interception. It’s sad because he should be a Hall of Famer, in my opinion, as he dominated both the 1997 and 1998 post seasons for the Denver Broncos and gave John Elway the running back that was lacking throughout his career. The Broncos never would have won the Championships without him.  Davis ran for 1538, 1750 and 2008 yards from 1996-1998. In 1998, when Terrell won the NFL MVP, he had 21 TDs rushing and 2 receiving.   Davis ran for a postseason record 7 straight 100 yard games. In today’s game this is very unlikely to ever happen again.

 Now, it is not like running is not important, but it is not the end all be all in today’s NFL.  The league is now geared towards passing , you can barely touch the wide receivers without getting flagged for pass interference penalties. Most of the top passing seasons in the history of the NFL have happened in the last 5 years. There have been 6 times that QBs have thrown for 5000 yards and 5 of them have happened since 2008, the only one prior to that was Dan Marino throwing for 5084 yards in 1984. Drew Brees owns the all-time record with 5476 yards in 2011 and has reached 5000 2 other times. Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford are the only others.  Now, if I told you that John Elway, one of the all-time best QBs in NFL history, only threw for 4000 yards once and Stafford has thrown for 5000, would it surprise you? On the surface yes, but in reality no.  The league wants the “star wars” numbers as Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts, has recently said.  I feel that the league is unfair to the defenses and not letting them have a bit more leeway on covering the wide receivers. It is almost impossible to cover the best of the best with only a 5 yard bump area. Calvin Johnson, AJ Green and Dez Bryant have dominated because of this. Imagine what the all- time best receiver, Jerry Rice, would do in today’s NFL. It would be mind boggling. Back in the 1970s the wide receivers would get mugged all over the field and even up to 2003, the defensive players could get away with a lot more liberties when covering the best wide receivers or tight ends going down the field.

 
In 2013, Lashawn McCoy has the high game in week 1, rushing 184 yards. Historically, by week 10, there would have been at least one or two games where a running back would go over 200 yards and sometimes even 250 yards. When looking at the single game rushing leaders thus far, there have been some weeks the most yards rushing was barely over 100 yards. This is unbelievable, how much the philosophy has changed since the 1970s-1980s.  It’s a different game now, but it is still a great game to watch and enjoy no matter what team that you root for.

As time goes on, I believe we’ll see more of the running back by committee, where teams split the carries between 2 or 3 running backs, we will be seeing less and less of the 1500 yard rushing seasons. The QBs however, will still put up 4500 to over 5000 yards passing for the best in the business.  This is not to say that if there is a dominant running back, like Adrian Peterson, that he won’t still be great, he still will be, but there will be less and less of those running backs. For example, Willis McGahee, he was good in his career, but if there was a  backup running back that is just as good and can split the carries with him and whomever can catch the ball better out of the backfield or more importantly can protect his QB against blitz pickup, then that running back will get the bulk of the load.

The other part as to why teams like to throw the ball more is because, for teams to play defense in this league, it is easier to stop the run then it is to stop the pass. With the rules as they are, it is almost not fair how easy it is to pass. Running over the years is basically the same now as it was 35 years ago, you try to dominate the other teams defensive line and linebackers to create daylight for your running back to exploit and gain yardage.  With passing, you only have to have the offensive linemen that have the correct technique for blocking, and not have to dominate, to gain the advantage over the other team.  

 

 These are just my opinions and may be way off base in some people’s eyes.  I just hope my writing gets you to think and formulate your own opinions as this is fun for me to do. I enjoyed writing this very much, hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much. Thank you for taking the time.

My First Half NFL Impressions

My first half NFL impressions

 

So far the NFL 2013 season has brought some surprises, both good and bad.  The biggest surprise to me is that the Kansas City Chiefs are 9-0 so far. They have one of the best defenses, having only given up an average of 12.33 PPG and the offense is averaging about 23.8 PPG. Andy Reid, who had a remarkable run of success in Philadelphia, took over a team that was just dreadful last year at 2-14 and has made them a force to be reckoned with. The Chiefs are led by the dynamic running back, Jamal Charles, who has run for 725 yards and also caught 47 passes for a combined 8 TD.  Alex Smith, who was acquired in a trade in the offseason with the SF 49ers, has thrown 9 TD and 4 Int. He has not been spectacular, but does not turn the ball over a lot and can run the offense.  He generally wins too, as he led SF to the NFC Champ Game and was in first place last year before getting hurt and losing his job to Colin Kaepernick.

 

Another team that had surprised, but in a bad way has been the NY Giants. Tom Coughlin, who is a good coach, is not happy with the effort I am sure. The Giants have a current record of 2-6, after starting 0-6, and have been a turnover machine.  Eli Manning has had an awful season, throwing only 10 TDs with 15 Interceptions and has lost 2 fumbles.  The defense has given up a total of 27.5 PPG.  The Giants have also struggled to run the football, stop the run, and be consistent in any facet of the game.  It feels like a lost season for them but in the long run I believe they will bounce back because of Coughlin and his leadership.

 

As many of you know, I have been a Denver Broncos fan for many years. My impression of the Broncos is generally good this year but I have some caution with their defense. It is hard not to be impressed with a team that averages 43 PPG. Peyton Manning is having an all-world season with 29 TD and only 5 Interceptions through 8 games.  The offence is led by Wide Receivers Wes Welker, 50 catches and 9 TD, Demaryius Thomas, 48 catches and 6 TD and Eric Decker 46 catches and 3 TD.  Knowshon Moreno has run for 459 yards with 8 TD and caught another 29 passes, and has done a good job being the lead back.  The Broncos face a tough stretch in November where they play KC, at NE and at KC. We will see how good this team really is.  I think they will do well, but will the defense hold up when giving up 27.5 PPG?

A team, to me, that has been exactly who I thought they would be is the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle is 7-1 and play the best defense in the NFL, in my opinion. They only give up 16.5 PPG and score 25.8 PPG. They are especially tough at home as they have won 12 straight games there. Russell Wilson leads the offense with 15 TD and only 6 Int. He can also rush when he wants to, putting up 375 yards rushing thus far. Marshawn Lynch leads the team on the ground with 726 rushing yards and 6 TD. The Wideouts are balanced with Goden Tate having 35 catches and Doug Baldwin with 29.  The defense has, to me, the best cornerback in football with Richard Sherman who has 4 interceptions, bringing one back for a touchdown. The stingy defense is tough against the run and is almost impossible to beat at Seattle.         

 

Another team that I expected to be a better team and that has really struggled is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pitt is now 2-6 and sinking fast.  Their defense is the worst it has been in a long long time. They give up 26 PPG and are only scoring 19.5. Ben Roethlisberger is having an average season with 12 TD and 9 Int. He has also lost 5 fumbles. Pittsburgh’s hallmark over the years has been a good tough defense and causing turnovers. This defense hasn’t put enough pressure on the opposing QB, having only 14 sacks in 8 games, which is less than 2 a game.  Pittsburgh has had good management over the years so, I believe that they will bounce back either next season or the following year to be a playoff contender once again.

The most schizophrenic team that I can think of is the Dallas Cowboys. They can look so good, they gave the Denver Broncos one of their biggest scares of the season, losing to them 51-48 in one of the most exciting games I have ever seen. They can also struggle as they did in a 14-13 loss at Kansas City where, if they played like they did vs. Denver, they would have won easily. Tony Romo, who has thrown 20 TD with 6 interceptions, is having one of the best statistical seasons of his career. The offense is very explosive averaging 32.25 PPG, but their defense is giving up 26.12 PPG. The rest of their offense has Dez Bryant with 51 catches, 8 TD, Jason Witten 46 catches, 4 TD and super rookie Terrance Williams with 28 catches and 4 TD.  Dallas is capable of beating any team in the league, but, at times, can lose to almost anyone as well.

 

Another team that surprises me with their record is the New England Patriots. The Patriots had about as bad of an offseason that one can have.  First, they did not come to terms with Wes Welker and I believe, like many others, this was a huge mistake. Aaron Hernandez is in jail right now being involved in a murder and basically throwing his life down the drain. Rob Gronkowski missed the first 6 games of the season.  But, as what seems to usually happen because of good leadership of Tom Brady and Bill Bellicheck, they are 7-2.  The Patriots are averaging 26 PPG and only give 19.4 PPG. Brady has not had his best year, but does have 13 TD with 6 Int.  Julian Edelman leads the WR with 49 catches and 2 TDs,  Aaron Dobson has improved as the year goes on and has 31 catches and 4 TD. Gronkowski has 19 catches in 3 games with 1 TD that he scored last week. Stevan Ridley has 514 yards rushing with 6 TD.  The defense has improved big time with Aqib Talib who has 4 interceptions and, when healthy, has been one of the best cornerbacks in football.

 

Only time will tell as to who finishes strong and ends up in the Super Bowl. The injuries will be a huge part of this. I really hope that no more high profile players go down. Aaron Rodgers getting hurt in Green Bay is a huge loss, and these type of injuries to the great players will affect who gets to the Super Bowl.

Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ron Francis The Most Underrated Player in NHL History

Ron Francis Most Underrated NHL Player in History

 

So when thinking of the NHL all-time leading scorers do you think of Ron Francis?  Most people do not. Francis was not a flashy player during his consistent NHL career but what he did was produce at a level that most players would dream of over his 23 NHL seasons.  Francis was drafted 4^th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1981 draft.  Francis made his debut during the 81-82 season and in only 59 games had 25 G 43 A 68 Pts.  Francis got to play with Dave Keon as a rookie. Keon the classy long time Toronto Maple Leafs Hall of Fame player helped shape Francis to what he would become.  Even though the Whalers were a horrible team at the time, they started to build a core that at least got them competitive and had some mild success in the mid to late 1980s. Francis scored 31 goals and had 90 points in 82-83 season as a 19 year old.  Francis showed in his first seasons that he would be great playmaker and this would be the hallmark of his career.   Francis alongside Kevin Dineen, Pat Verbeek, Ray Ferraro and others finally made the playoffs in the 85-86 season. The Whalers were 12 points behind the Buffalo Sabres in early March in the old Adams division when they caught fire. These players long with Mike Liut did their job and made the playoffs on the last game of that season. Francis broke his leg in Janurary of 86 and missed some time, however when he come back he had a fantastic finish ending up with 24 goals and 77 points in only 53 games. Francis did not have a strong playoff but the team felt his presence as they upset the Quebec Nordiques 3-0.  Francis had 3 pts in 10 games.  Kevin Dineen the fireplug was awesome then.  The Whalers took the powerful Montreal Canadiens to game 7 in the 2^nd round and lost in overtime when Claude Lemieux shot a high backhander over Liut to win in. Dineen was great by scoring in Overtime in game 4 to tie the series on a great rush which was one of the most exiciting plays in their history as most of the success their franchise has had is in Carolina. Dineen also scored the only goal in Game 6 to force that ultimate game 7. 

After a few more consistent seasons even giving the Bruins a huge scare in 1990 taking them to 7 games, Francis would keep plugging along usually scoring about 25 goals and 85 points with Harford Career high of 32 goals and 101 points in 1990.  In 1991 Francis had some things happen to him that to me helped get the Whalers moved to Carolina eventually.  In 67 games,  Francis had 21 goals and 76 points but the horrible GM Eddie Johnson decided to first strip Francis of the captaincy and then trade the best player that ever played in Hartford to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 4, 1991.  Francis along with Ulf Samuelsson (the dirty player I Have NO respect for) and Grant Jennings for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski.  Cullen did okay in Harford but never was as good as he was in Pittsburgh. Francis flourished and provided Mario Lemieux with the 2^nd line center and all-around player that was needed to propel the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup in 1991.  Francis had 11 points in 14 games but had also 17 points in the playoffs with 7 goals.  I wonder how he felt to go from a mediocre team to the best team in the NHL. It killed me but for the only time in my life, I rooted for Pittsburgh during this time because of my admiration for Francis.  The Whalers would get worse each year, miss the playoffs for 5 years and then move to North Carolina.  More on that in a bit.

In 91-92 Francis had an average regular season by his standards with 21 goals and 54 points but when the playoff started, he showed what a leader he was.  In the first round against the NY Rangers the Penguins were down 2-1 and Adam Graves slashed Mario Lemieux with a viscious chop that to me was very dirty that put Lemieux on the Shelf for a few weeks. So what happened was Ron Francis stepped his game up to his level he had when he was younger in Hartford. He dominated the Rangers series and scored an OT game winner which topped off a hat trick to tie the series at 2.   Francis showed his leadership at his best in this series because he knew that with no Lemieux in the rest of the game, he would have to fill the void.  The Penguins would sweep both the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks to win their 2^nd consecutive Stanley Cup. Francis for good measure scored the Cup Winning goal in one of my favorite stadiums Chicago Stadium.  Mario Lemieux won the Conn Smythe as he came back and was unstoppable but Francis had an excellent playoff with 8 goals and 27 points in 21 games.  

For the rest of his time in Pittsburgh, Francis would top 100 points 2 times with a career high of 119 in 95-96.  Francis had 92 assists that season which was one of the 9^th most in NHL history.  Francis also won the Selke Award in 1995 for the best defensive forward the league and the Lady Byng in 1995 as well as the most gentlemanly player in the league. 

After the 97-98 season Francis went home sort of. He went back to his original franchise that is now the Carolina Hurricanes. Francis became captain again like he should have been always (Thanks Eddie Johnson for being a fool) and helped get the Hurricanes on the map.  Francis led the Canes to their first ever playoff birth there and helped them become consistent, something they never were in Harford. He would get his 20 goals and about 65 to 70 points per season topping out at 77 in 2001-2002. The 2002 playoff were a dream for an upstart franchise. They went on to beat the Devils, Canadiens and Maple Leafs for the first playoff series wins in Franchise history.  Led by Francis, Rod Brind’Amour, Erik Cole and Jeff O’Neil, the Canes had some great moments.  The Series vs. the Canadiens had some really memorable games. In game 4 with Montreal up 2-1 and leading 3-0 the Canes came back with goals from Sean Hill, Bates Battaglia and Eric Cole in the last minute before winning in overtime with a goal from Nic Wallin of all people. The Leafs series was also memorable. 2 more ot wins, one from Nic Wallin and then on a great pass from Ron Francis, Jeff O’Neil scored in ot after he was hit in the face with a puck earlier in the game. It was so gutsy from what I remember.

In the finals the Canes were overmatched by the Detroit Red Wings but did put up somewhat of a fight. Francis scored the game winner at Joe Louis arena in game 0 on a nice tip in front over Dominik Hasek.  The series was tied at 1 going back to Carolina when an epic game happened. The Canes were up 2-1 late when Brett Hull scored to tie it at 2.  In overtime the goalies were great for both teams Arturs Irbe and D Hasek stopped everything. Finally in the 3^rd OT, Igor Larinov scored a goal top shelf on a backhanders to break Caniacnation (including my own at 3 am approx.) heart. The Wings won 4-1.  This however was successful on what was accomplished by a team that so little was expected of and Francis led them. Francis had a couple of more seasons and then slowed down at age 40.  At the end of his last year, he was traded to the Maple Leafs and had 10 points in 12 games. In the playoffs he struggled and had only 4 pts in 12 games.  After this he decided to retire and had nothing to be ashamed about.

Francis has accomplished a lot with scoring 549 Goals, 1249 Assists for 1798 points in 1731 games.  Francis is the 4^th leading scorer of all-time and the 2^nd leading player with assists.  He scored 20 goals or more 20 times in his career and had more than 70 points 16 times yet he played in only 4 all-star games (83, 85, 90 and 96) in 23 years. Are you kidding me 4? Talk about being overlooked in your career.  Ron Francis is a class act on and off the ice.  Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

 

 

Ron Francis NHL Statistics

Denver Broncos 51 Dallas Cowboys 48 and Epic Game

Denver 51 Dallas 48 A Game for the Ages

 

I have followed the NFL since 1979 when I was a kid and there have been some really wild games that I have enjoyed. Sunday when the Denver Broncos outlasted the Cowboys 51-48 was one of them.  This game had everything except very little defense.  Tony Romo had the most passing yards in Dallas Cowboys history.  He was 25-36 for 506 yards and 5 TD and 1 Int Peyton Manning was fantastic as well 33-42 for 414 yards 4 TD, 1 Int and a rushing TD for the first time since 2008. 920 total passing yards is like playing a video game.  This game only featured 1 punt by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2^nd quarter. It is unheard of even in the post 2003 era of the NFL when the pass interference and illegal contact rules become more strictly enforced. You can’t basically even sneeze on the WR without a pass interference being called. I love the NFL but hate this part of it. It cheapens the game in my opinion.  As a good friend of mine would say, it’s the arena league at times.

The Cowboys came out flying taking the opening kickoff and scoring on a nice 11 play 79 yard drive.  Romo came out firing the ball all over the place and looked very comfortable doing so. He used Jason Whitten and Terrance Williams to have set the Cowboys up in scoring position. Dez Bryant finished off the drive with a nice catch in the back of the end zone to give them the lead 7-0,

After a fumble by Eric Decker on a nice strip by E Sims the Cowboys pounced again.  Using the run and the passes to Jason Witten Romo set up Demarco Murray with a 4 yard TD to give Dallas a 14-0 lead. The Dallas offense would be basically unstoppable all day long for the most part.

Down 14-0 Peyton Manning did not panic as he lead the Broncos on a 3 play 80 yard drive to get the Broncos back to 14-7.  Even though Decker fumbled earlier, Manning still had confidence in him and he hit Decker on a big play of 57 yards to the Dallas 4 yard line. On the scoring play, Manning hit Julius Thomas with a little shuffle pass that seemed to surprise the Cowboys defense. Thomas would go on to catch 9 passes for 122 yards and was a force to be reckoned with the whole game. Thomas in his 3^rd season and before this year was mainly hurt. Manning has made good use of him and he is playing the Dallas Clark role that was so deadly in Indianapolis in the mid-2000s.

Dallas came right back with another good drive to get a FG to make it 17-7.  Romo mixed his passes up by hitting Witten with more passes of the middle and some nice runs including a 9 yard run by Murray.  After reaching the Denver 8 yard line, the first big play of the game for the Broncos defense was a sack by Shaun Phillips that Romo lost 17 yards on and forcing the FG.

The Broncos would take advantage of the good fortune of Dallas only getting a FG. Manning used some nice runs and receptions by Knowshon Moreno. Ever since Moreno came back last year when Willis McGahee got hurt, he has been a different player. He runs with a mean streak. He might not be the fastest in the world but he knows how to be fundamentally sound, not dance around like when he was younger and seems to always get positive yardage. Moreno plays the Joseph Addai/Edegerrin James part quite well in the Manning offense.  Moreno finished the day with 19 carries for 93 yards and a TD. He also caught 5 passes for 57 yards.  Him along with Ronnie Hillman who caught 4 passes for 42 yards always keep the defense honest. You can’t just focus on Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker.  The RBs are a nice weapon and Julius Thomas just rounds out all the options that Manning has.  Julius Thomas caught passes of 16 and 5 yards and then caught a 9 yard slant to finish the drive off.  This made the score 17-14

On the next possession Romo hit Dez Bryant for a 12 yard gain that turned out to be a big play in the game because as Bryant was going upfield, D Ihenacho forced a fumble that the Broncos recovered.  Giving Manning fantastic field position at the Dallas 41 yard line is a recipe for disaster for a Defense, especially in 2013.  The key player on this drive was Julius Thomas once again.  Thomas caught 3 passes for 30 yards and a nice 9 yard TD to make it 21-17 Denver. They scored two touchdowns in less than 4 minutes of play. The quick strike offense is very difficult for any defense to handle. The amazing part at this point of the game is the Broncos basically only had used Eric Decker for the WR. Wes Welker and D Thomas were mainly decoys.  This would change later on in the game but the WR here have proven to be unselfish as Manning is going to throw the ball to the open player and not force to keep a WR happy.

In the next possession the rarest thing happened. The Broncos stopped Dallas and they actually had to punt.  Malik Jackson sacked Romo as this is the big play of the drive.  This turned out to be the only punt during this wild and crazy game. Denver took over at their own 36 yard line and with a nice run by Knowshawn Moreno for 15 yards and 10 yards the Broncos were on the Dallas one yard line. The next play was the most surprising play of the game. Manning faked to Moreno and then did a naked bootleg wide around left end for a TD. This even faked out the CBS cameras as they did not catch it right away. As I wanted this, I was shocked that Manning could pull of a play that he has not done in years.  This takes to the smarts of Manning.  He is prepared for just about anything a defense can throw at him.  This TD put Denver ahead 28-17.

The Cowboys would not go away easily as Romo made some fantastic plays to get the Cowboys to 28-20 at halftime.  The big play was a 30 yard pass to Terrance Williams to get to the Denver 30 yard line with about 2 seconds left in the half. Dan Bailey hit the 48 yard FG as time expired in the half.

Denver took the 2^nd half kickoff and left off right where they were in the first half.  By mixing runs by Moreno and the first big pass play to Demaryius Thomas of 27 yards, the Broncos were in business at the Dallas 36 yard line.  Another short pass over the middle to D Thomas led Denver inside the 20 yard line. A couple of runs and short passes to Moreno and Hillman led Denver to the 2 yard line. Manning then hit Wes Welker with a TD pass to get the lead to 35-20. Welker who had been very productive with the NE Patriots, usually did not catch more than 6-9 TD passes per season. Well this season in 5 games he has 7 TD catches and seemingly will set a career high of TD receptions.

The next drive proved why the Cowboys and Tony Romo were going to fight this game to the very end.  I had been so impressed with Dallas at this point on how Romo had used Witten, Bryant and Williams.  After a short run by D Murray, Romo went deep to Terrance Williams for about a pass that was 40 yards in the air.  The Broncos defensive back then missed the tackle which led to Williams eventually scoring on an 82 yard TD reception.  The lead was cut to 35-27.

On the following possession by the Broncos, Manning led them again with his precision passing. The big play was a 29 yard throw to J Thomas to get the Broncos in Dallas Territory. Another short pass to R Hillman that went for 19 yards that eventually led to a Matt Prater 48 yard FG that stretched the lead to 38-27 from what we learned earlier in this game, do not count the Cowboys out on this date.  The big plays in the drive were throws to Dez Bryant for 27 yards and pass to C Beasley of 23 yards.  Romo through his 4^th TD of the day to Bryant to make it 38-33. Dallas went for a 2 point conversion and did not get it.

Once Manning got the ball you thought it may be a nice long drive to extend the lead. This was not the case. Manning underthrew a pass to Decker on the left sideline on a deep route and M Claiborne picked him off to set up in great field position at the Dallas 49 yard line.  At the start of the 4^th quarter the Cowboys were primed to take the lead back.  A couple of nice throws to Witten for 15 and 16 yards set up Dallas in prime position. Witten would have a fantastic game catching 7 passes for 121 yards and a TD. Witten has been so consistent over the years and Romo always looks for him in any tough situation when he needs a 3^rd down conversion.  Terrence Williams caught a 10 yard TD and a 2 pt. conversion to give the Cowboys a 41-38 lead.

After the Cowboys took the lead, Manning went back to work. He used some short passes to Knowshawn Moreno and then finally used Welker with a nice 13 yard completion.  After a short pass to Decker to get the ball to the Dallas 37 yard line, the drive stalled. Matt Prater hit a 50 yard FG to tie the game at 41. When I was watching this, I would not remember the last time I saw an NFL game that had it tied at 41.  This was unbelievable at how good both quarterbacks played. It was pure artistry in my opinion.

Romo took over and just as the game seemed like it was going he led them down the field to take the lead 48-41. After a couple of short passes it seemed like Dallas was stalling and with a 3^rd and 6 at their 17, Romo hit Bryant with a laser for 79 yards to go all the way to the Bronco 4 yard line.  Bryant was dominant with 6 catches for 121 yards and 2 TD. The next play Romo hit C Beasley with a 4 yard TD.

Manning got the ball back with 7:19 left to try to tie the game.  Manning was still very patient using his running backs both Moreno and Hillman with some short passes to move the ball to midfield.  Wes Welker who did not have a big game came up with a nice catch of 14 yards to move to the Dallas 36 yard line.  Welker did catch 5 passes for 49 yards and a TD.  Next were passes to Damaryius Thomas for 26 yards and then a pass to Welker to move it to the 1 yard line.  Knowshawn Moreno then scored a 1 yard TD to tie the game at 48.  This was so unbelievable on how each defense had no answers for the other team’s offense.

Dallas took the ball with 2:39 left in the game. The first play Romo got sacked by S Phillips which was a huge play.  The next play Romo was under huge pressure and LB D Trevathan made a diving interception at Dallas 24 yard line.  I hate when people call Romo a choker. He is not a choker. This was a nice defensive play to set up Denver in prime position to win.

Manning took over and then hit D Thomas for 13 yards to the Dallas 11 yard line.  Then hit him again for 8 yards to the 2 yard line. Denver then had 3^rd and 1 with 1:35 left. Moreno got the 1 yard and Dallas used their last time out.  I had a discussion with a good friend of mine and he said that they should let Denver score a TD with that amount of time left to give Romo a chance. As it turned out Manning kneeled down 3 times before Matt Prater hit a 28 yard FG to win the game 51-48. 

As a long time Bronco fan I was on the edge of my seat in this exciting game.  I gained such a large amount of respect for the Cowboys and Romo after this game. The hung with the best offense in the NFL and no one else has even come close this season.  The Cowboys are clearly the best team in the NFC East and should run away with it as the Giants and Redskins have struggled and Philly has been okay and it tied with Dallas.

I wonder if we will see a game as wild and exciting this year. This was truly and epic game and reminded me a lot of the 1982 playoff game between the Dolphins and Chargers which SD won 41-38 in OT.  Thank you all for taking the time for reading the blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

 

Ray Bourque an All Time Great On and Off the Ice

Ray Bourque one of the All Time Greats

 

I have to say through the years the Boston Bruins have been a very consistent bunch. I have followed them and enjoyed their play since 1979 when my favorite Bruin of all time started his illustrious career. The classy Ray Bourque was drafted in the 1^st round 8^th overall in the 1979 draft.  A little known fact was that Harry Sinden stole him. He traded backup goaltender Ron Grahame to the LA Kings in 1977 for the LA Kings first round pick. Think LA would have loved to have Bourque play with Marcel Dionne and then eventually Wayne Gretzky? Although it is unfair for the fans to expect him to be the next Bobby Orr, Bourque came on the scene and scored 17 goals with 48 assists for 65 points. This was at the time was a rookie for defenseman, that Larry Murphy eventually broke in 80-81 with 76 points.  Bourque had excellent speed as an 18 year old but what was most amazing was his ability to be good in his own end.  Bourque with that blistering shot helped the PP as soon as he got there. Each year Bourque got better, Scoring usually about 20 goals and 70 points. In 1982-1983 the Bruins had a very good team winning 50 games with 110 points. Pete Peeters was tremendous winning 40 games 2.36 GAA and the Vezina Trophy.  The Bruins were led by a tremendous group of forwards that had both grit and skill.  The famous Barry Peterson (46 goals 107 points), Rick Middleton 49 goals 96 points and Mike Krushelnyski (23 goals and 65 points) line led the team. The Bruins had 8 guys have 20 plus goals. Keith Crowder had a career year with 35 goals and 74 points as well.  Once the playoffs came around many though this team could get to the Stanley Cup Finals. They fell a bit short of that but it was no fault of Bourques.  Bourque had 8 goals and 23 points in only 17 games. He really was maturing as a player.  The NY Islanders beat Boston in 6 and won their 4^th Stanley Cup in a row that season beating the Edmonton Oilers.  The next season was an excellent one for Bourque.  Bourque set career highs with 31 goals and 96 points. This is tremendous for any player, but especially a defenseman.  The Bruins however had playoff disappointments and seemed to always lose to Montreal in those years. 

 

Two things changed all of that. First was another fleecing trade by Harry Sinden in 1986. The Bruins traded Barry Pederson to Vancouver for Cam Neely and the Canucks first round pick in 1987, which turned out to be Glen Wesley.  Pederson after 3 tremendous seasons in Boston had an injury. He had some decent seasons for the Canucks but was not like he was in Boston. Cam Neely however came to Boston and was a fantastic Bruin from the get go.  He scored 36 goals in his first season with Boston and then 42 in his 2^nd.  1987-1988 was one of the best overall seasons for Bourque both on and off the ice.  Remember when Bourque came into the league Harry Sinden gave him #7. Bourque never felt comfortable with 7 but wore it well. Phil Esposito a Hall of Famer in his own right, wore #7 for the Bruins from 1967-1975.  On December 3, 1987 the Bruins were finally going to retire Esposito’s number. Espo was expecting to see #7 up in the Garden rafters but Bourque would continue to wear it. Bourque being probably the most classy respectful player in all of sports, decided to give Esposito his sweater #7 and surprisingly changed to #77.  This was probably the most speechless Espo ever was.  It ranks to me one of the warmest moments ever I have seen in sports.  Bourque wore 77 the rest of his career.  Now 1987-1988 was good for many other reasons too. The Bruins went on a nice run in the playoffs and after 18 times in a row, Finally Finally beat the Canadiens 4 games to 1. Cam Neely and Ray Bourque along with Reggie Lemelin were key to his.  My fondest memory is game 5 when the Bruins already up 3-1 in the Series and 3-1 in the game, Cam Neely broke in from the right wing all alone and shot it upstairs over Patrick Roy.  God rest his soul, I can hear Fred Cuisick, saying “Neely in, HE SCORES and Boston leads 4-1” Let me tell you, this was so much fun to see.  I hated the Canadiens back then, I was so sick of them winning but it was nice to slay the dragon.

Boston went on to beat an upstart Devils team but in the Finals they were overmatched by the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 when Wayne Gretzky won his Final Cup as a player there.  That was okay. This was a huge success for a team that always lost to MTL and beat them to get to a Final.  Bourque was excellent that playoff getting 3 goals and 21 points and was a true leader on the ice and off as well.  87-88 was the 2^nd of Bourque’s 5 Norris Trophies with the last one being 93-94.  

1988-89 was a disappointing year for the Bruins in the playoffs but 89-90 may have been Bourques best all-around season in his career. He had 19 goals 84 points and led Boston to a fantastic season of 46 wins and 101 points.  Neely was a force scoring 55 goals for his career high and other balanced scoring had Craig Janney with 24 goals and 62 points in only 55 games, Bob Carpenter with 25 goals and Bob Sweeny with 22 goals.  The playoffs started and the Bruins played a scrappy Hartford Whalers team that was not as bad as everyone thought. They had Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Pat Verbeek and good team speed. The Whalers were up in the series 2-1 and in game 4 up 5-2 in the 3^rd period, when coach Mike Milbury made a goaltending switch from Reggie Lemelin to Andy Moog. Whatever he did he sparked one of the best comebacks in the Bruins playoff history. First Dave Poulin scored to make it 5-3, then Bob Beers on a breakaway off of the inside of the post to make it 5-4 and then Dave Christian on a one timer blast to make it 5-5.  I thought this game was going to OT but then Dave Poulin struck again on a scramble in front to make it 6-5. Good teams find a way to win. This was the case.  The next round the Bruins wiped out Montreal 4-1 and in the Conference Final the Capitals 4-1.

Next came the finals and another classic game that I saw. Game 1 vs the Edmonton Oilers seemed to be one of the best and lasted a long time. The Oilers took an early 2-0 lead in the game but Ray Bourque scored 2 late goals to tie it up and send it to overtime.  The Bruins had tons of chances in the overtime to win this game as they outshot the Oilers 52-31 for the game. Bill Ranford robbed Cam Neely on a shot that trickled behind him.  Glen Wesley had a chance with an empty net but was on his backhander and shot it high. Wesley gets criticized for this over the years but to me, he was a defenseman and to score from that far out on a backhander is very hard.  Bourque, Neely or for the other side Glen Anderson or Mark Messier would score but most would not.

This game even had a partial power outage as well in the overtime and I distinctly remember Andy Moog sitting on the corner of the net. Once play resumed in the 3^rd overtime little used Peter Klima shot a weak shot that beat Andy Moog between the pads and just like that the Oiler won.  This game deflated Boston and they were not the same after that. The did win game 4 in Edmonton but ultimately the team with a lot of Stanley Cup veterans won another one for the oilers.  This is the closest Bourque ever got to winning a Cup in Boston.

Bourque would still be a great player for the Bruins in the 90s but the team kind of got stuck in mediocrity after a while. Another big highlight though was in the 1996 All Star game at the FleetCenter (now TD Garden) Bourque scored on a Backhander under the crossbar to have the East beat the West 5-4.  It was nice to see the hometown hero win the game.  Bourque would usually get about 20 goals and 80 points until the mid-1990s. His last really big productive season was 95-96 when he scored 20 goals and 82 points.  In 1999-2000 Bourque asked Harry Sinden to trade him to a team that would have a chance to in a Cup. As a good GM would do, after 21 years of loyalty to his player he showed Bourque the respect and did trade him to the Colorado Avalanche for Brian Rolston and 2 other non- descript prospects.  Rolston was pretty good in Boston but Bourque would finally get his wish and have a legit chance to win a Cup for the first time since 1990.

It did take the first year disappointment losing in the Conference Finals to the Dallas Stars. Bourque decided to come back for a 22^nd season with the Colorado Avalanche. Although he was not the Norris Trophy candidate anymore, he still had a very good season with 7 goals and 59 points.  The playoffs started and the Avalanche rolled vs the Canucks in the first round 4-0. In Round 2 the LA Kings gave them all they could handle taking it to a game 7 but the Avs outlasted them and coasted in Game 7 with a 5-1 win. The Avs beat the Blues 4-1 with game 5 being an overtime winner by Joe Sakic I believe.  The Finals were going to be very difficult as the NJ Devils who had won the season before were a very good team and would be ready.  The Finals were a see-saw battle. Bourque scored the game winner in Game 3 to put the Avs up 2-1 but the Devils would not go away. The Devils were up 3-2 in the series when the leaders stepped up for them. Patrick Roy when he knew that he could not lose again or the Cup was the Devils, was locked in and shutout the Devils in NJ 4-0.  Adam Foote of all people a stay at home defenseman had 1 goal and 2 assists.  In Game 7, Joe Sakic and Alex Tanguay both had huge games. Sakic scored a big goal to take the pressure off and then Tanguay helped finish off the Devils. Roy shut the door and the Avs won the elusive Stanley Cup for Bourque.  Joe Sakic showed class himself by taking the Cup from Gary Bettman and then handing it to Bourque to skate around with it first.  Patick Roy had a nice quote that said the Stanley Cup had one name missing from it but now it is back to normal. Roy won his 4^th Cup in 2001.

Bourque would retire after the Finals with a complete career. He scored 410 goals 1169 assists for 1579 points in 1612 games played.  In the playoffs he had 41 goals and 139 assists for 180 points in 214 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004.  To sum it up, Ray Bourque is a true professional both on and off the ice and no other player embodied class and dignity than him.

To all that read this, Thank you very much. I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I hope it brings back some memories for you as it did for me.

 http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/bourqra01.html

Eric Lindros, Is he a Hall of Famer?

In 1991, Eric Lindros was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques. He knew that he was going to get a big first contract as he was the consensus number 1 pick.  He did not want to play for the Nordiques because at the time the Canadian Exchange rate was not beneficial to him.  So he basically forced one of the biggest trades in NHL History.  On June 30, 1992 he was traded from the Nordiques to the Flyers for Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchene, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall and Philadelphia’s #1 pick in 1993.  Lindros went on to a great injury plagued career but the Nordiques and then eventually the Colorado Avalanche made out with this trade as the cornerstone and future Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg was part of it.  They also got good NHL players in Mike Ricci and Steve Duchene and that number 1 pick in 93.

Lindros had a fantastic rookie season scoring 41 goals and 34 assists on a very mediocre Flyers team in only 61 games played. This was a sign of things to come as Lindros as talented as he was, always had trouble staying healthy.  In 93-94 Lindros improved to 44 goals 53 assists for 97 points in only 65 games played. Lindros was dominant in these early years and every bit the equal as some of his contemporaries in Cam Neely and Rick Tocchet.  In 1995 the season of the lockout that was only 48 games, Lindros was truly outstanding scoring 29 goals 41 assists

for 70 points in 46 games played.  He won the Hart Trophy for MVP of the NHL this season.  The Flyers improved by finally making the playoffs and getting to 2^nd round.  Lindros chipped in with 15 points in 12 playoff games.  95-96 was Lindros best season for point totals. With the Help of John LeClair and Mikael Renberg the famous Legion of Doom line was formed.  Lindros had 47 goals and 115 points, LeClair had 51 goals and 97 points and Renberg had 23 goals and 43 points in limited action.

The core of this Flyers team also had some excellent all-around players as well. Rod Brind’Amour who throughout his whole career was always an excellent faceoff man and defensive player, added 26 goals and 81 points.  The Flyers kept improving and 96-97 felt like they were ready to take the next step. The Flyers did get to the Stanley Cup Finals this season and Lindros had 32 goals and 79 points in only 52 games. As we can see Lindros basically never played more than 80 games except for one season.  John LeClair had another 50 goal season and Rod Brin’Amour and his gritty performance with 27 goals to add to his stellar all-around game.  Lindros played at his best in the postseason scoring 12 goals and 26 points in 19 games in eventually losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. He was not afraid to hit anyone and this always contributed to his injuries and eventually shortened his career.  In 97-98 Lindros added 30 goals and 71 points in 63 games.  This season was the beginning of the Flyers not making any deep playoff runs, but Lindros was his ever consistent self.  98-98 was another excellent showing with 40 goals and 93 points in 71 games played.  The next season what basically to me what changed Lindros that affected the rest of his career.  He still had 27 goals and 59 points in 55 games.  The playoffs is what defined Lindros this season. In the 2^nd game of the playoffs, Lindros was skating over the middle and did not see Scott Stevens who lined him up for basically a knockout pitch.  Lindros did suffer one of his many concussions in this game.  After this monster hit and a contract dispute, Lindros missed the whole season of 2000-2001. The Stevens hit in the playoffs was the last play Lindros had in a Flyer uniform, which in my opinion is sad.

After healing from the concussion, Lindros was signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers for the 2001-2001 season.  He performed quite admirably by scoring 37 goals and 73 points.  He also still had 138 penalty minutes, so even though he came off of a potentially career ending injury, Lindros was still not afraid to hit and play physical. He should be commended for that.  Unfortunately the Rangers missed the playoffs that season and in his 2 others with the Rangers. In 02-03 Lindros slowed down to 19 goals and 53 points in a career high 81 games.  This was his last full season.  He would play a few more uneventful seasons with scoring an average of about 10 goals and 30 points with the Maple Leafs in 05-06 and Dallas Stars in 06-07. 

Now in my humble opinion Lindros by scoring 372 goals and 493 assists for 865 points in only 760 games, should make him a Hall of Famer.  He basically scored a goal ever other game and which would be close to 40 goals per season.  Now Cam Neely who is a contemporary of Lindros is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Neely had 395 goals 299 assists and 694 points in 726 games. Neely did score more than 50 goals in a season 3 times which more than Lindros, but Lindros was a much better play maker.  I do not think Neely should not be in the HOF, but Lindros should be there too.  Another comparable to me is Steve Shutt who played with a ton of great payers with the Montreal Canadiens had 424 goals 393 assists for 817 points.  Yes Shutt was an excellent scorer but he played with 3 of the best defenseman of all time in Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, and Guy Lapointe.  He also had the pleasure of playing with the flower, Guy LaFleur.  He won Stanley Cups because of this and both Neely and Lindros did not have the great fortune to do so. They should not be penalized for this.

Thank you all for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Feel free to make any comments or suggestions for future blogs. I am open to anything that is football, hockey or baseball, which are my favorite sports.