Author Archives: The Chancellor of Football

Seattle Should Not Let Kenneth Walker III Leave For Free Agency

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The Seattle Seahawks defense of their Super Bowl crown will undoubtedly be undermined if Kenneth Walker leaves via free agency. A spirited debate has been going on my Facebook page where fans are passionate about believing in GM Schneider’s approach.

My thoughts were to transitional franchise him so the Seahawks would be allowed 1st right of refusal to any contract he signs. The Chancellor’s thoughts are they should have signed him to keep continuity for a championship team to see they will be rewarded once they perform from a team psyche standpoint. This harms this but lets take a quick look at things.

The fact of the matter is we know he was splitting time with Zach Charbonnet. Lets take a hard look:

Walker: 221 carries 1,027 yds 5 TDs /31 rec. 282 yds 0 TDs

Charbonnet: 184 carries 730 yds 12 TDs / 20 rec. 144 yds 0 TDs

A lazy look at this and you’d think Charbonnet had been Marshall Faulk when in fact he came in and ran for short yardage touchdown after the heavy lifting had been done. His touchdowns were from 1, 1, 5, 1, 2, 6, 5, 5, 4, 2, 1, & 27 yds on a run in the finale. Lets not forget Chabonnet tore his ACL in the playoff win over San Francisco and didnt have surgery to repair it until February 20th. Five weeks later after the Super Bowl.  Yet interestingly we had ACL injuries to Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons prompting this comment from Robert Griffin III passing out advice:

I’m sure RGIII has serious advice on looking back on the ACL injury he had in the 2012 NFC Divisional loss ironically to the Seattle Seahawks. But lets act like he doesn’t have history on knowing what a player should do as this injury sabotaged a promising career for him.

As for others? What about the 2000 Baltimore Ravens that bullied their way to the Super Bowl XXXV championship behind one of history’s best defenses and a superior running game. Remember? Rookie Jamal Lewis who ran for 1,351 yards and the final TD in the title game. He tore his ACL in training camp and the Ravens struggled to muster a running game in 2001 before being clobbered in the AFC Divisional Round in a 21-10 loss to the Steelers.

Their best rushers in his absence? They signed journeyman Terry Allen (658 yds) and rookie Jason Brookins (who? 551 yds) and they came up woefully short in defending their title.

Eventually Lewis came back after knee reconstruction and ran for 2,053 yards in 2003 which was 2 years after his injury not 9 months. Charbonnet is not the physical menace that Lewis was. So he’d be back to handle 30% of the load and run for maybe 800 yards 2 seasons from now. No he isn’t prime Adrian Peterson who came back and ran for 2,097 yards after his either and all were chronicled here in 2012 on Taylor Blitz Times.

How about the 1999 Denver Broncos coming off back to back Super Bowls winning XXXII & XXXIII? Terrell Davis had just run for 2,008 yards but in ’99 he tore his ACL and was never the same. As for the Broncos, they finished 6-10 with Olandis Gary as the leading rusher with only 1,159 yards. The 855 yd fewer runs translated to the 6-10 record where they missed the playoffs entirely… we could go further into it but you get the point.

Folks think this is an isolated incident when we have seen Super Bowl teams fail miserably after losing their best running back. Remember Super Bowl XXIX when the 49ers lost Rickey Watters after a record 3 TD performance in the big game? He was an often injured starter who came on during the ’94 playoffs. Without him they were anemic all year and their unproven runners Derek Loville & Adam Walker (1 lost fumble) doomed them in their ’95 27-17 NFC playoff loss that ended their season.

Yet tell me the blind loyalty to GM John Schneider as though he has won the last 7 Super Bowls or something. To think the defending champion Seahawks are $60 million under the cap, one side of the football cheering public think Walker III shouldn’t receive a raise based on the idiotic notion not to pay the bellcow runner. As though Saquon Barkley didn’t just run for 2,005 yards on the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles. As though the Baltimore Ravens didn’t have Derek Henry bludgeoning opponents for 1,921 yards and 16 rushing TDs and should have faced the Eagles in LIX but they were undone by a bad 2 point conversion.

Seattle could begin the season with 2 different running backs now that Charbonnet could be out until late in the ’26 season or even miss football until ’27. If he is back is he going to be the bellcow for the team after an ACL tear??

Hopefully GM Schneider is just playing hard ball to bring Walker III in later. Even with a discount he allows the Seahawks a legitimate chance at defending their Super Bowl LX title. Without it they stand no chance.

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Atlanta Falcons Set to Release Kirk Cousins

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Never has a quarterback been paid so much to deliver so little. Two measly playoff appearances in 14 years for a quarterback to be paid $331 million? You’d have thought I was talking Joe Montana type performance when you see scratch like that. His last playoff appearance was facing off against then Giant QB Daniel Jones and lost at home 31-24 in the ’22 NFC Wildcard. Seriously??

That Giant team has imploded with Head Coach Daboll disgraced & fired by New York. He jettisoned QB Daniel Jones and drafted another QB while Saquon Barkley went on to a 2,000 yard season and a Super Bowl LIX championship in Philadelphia. Cousins hasn’t even returned to the playoffs or even played at a Pro Bowl level. Yet he secured a guaranteed $100 million from the Atlanta Falcons & gave 2 8-9 seasons and Coach Raheem Morris fired.

Everyone wants to talk about the disastrous contract of DeShaun Watson and rightfully so but Kirk Cousins never showed promise to reach a Super Bowl as Watson did early on. See 2019 playoffs..

No one has stolen this much money since Sam Bradford. Sam is the poster boy for the capped rookie deals we see now for 1st round QBs. Owners scoffed at having to spend $50 million (in 2010} for a rookie who didn’t deliver, injury or otherwise.

In the next bargaining agreement between the NFL & players Kirk Cousins will stand as the poster boy for what they will want to avoid as contracts have escalated out of control for “C” level journeymen quarterbacks.

Greatest Single Season Defenses: 2013 Seahawks “Legion of Boom” v 2015 Broncos “No Fly Zone”

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A decade or so back I had completed a journey to find the greatest single season defense in NFL history and had a childhood friend Gerald “Honeybun”Johnson claim “Hey you have to redo that study and include the 2015 Broncos.” To which I said they were a great defense but they weren’t good enough. Now everyone has their criteria but I know my method had been pretty fool proof. Take every Super Bowl champion, every #1 defense, every record setting defense, every trend setting defense. Now lets see how they fared against Pro Bowl QBs and Top Ten offenses and held opponents to 10 points or less in their season of dominance to knock out all biases.

In recent years you’ve had people inventing their own unofficial stats to make a team seem better than they were. Official defensive rankings have always gone by yardage per game, not points allowed. Now looking at points allowed after yardage, then add in yardage rankings passing, rushing, sacks, and interceptions, then you have methodology to begin a study. My study had over 200 defenses and included all 48 and now 60 Super Bowl champion defenses. So no one can flippantly say “They won the Super Bowl” when every one of them are here.

My online arguments with “Honeybun” (childhoood nickname sincehe always ate ’em lol) had long since ended and then former Bronco Aqib Talib revived it on The Arena Gridiron’s Podcast. Both argued the ’15 Broncos were better than the Legion of Boom from 2013:

Time for The chancellor of Football to break this down and the Seahawks wound up #3 all time on my list

2013 Seahawks – Super Bowl XLVIII champions /2015 Broncos – Super Bowl 50 champions

  • ’13 Seahawks -#1 overall/273.6yds allowed /231 pts given up/44 sacks/ 28 ints.
  • ’15 Broncos -#1 overall/283.1 ypg allowed / 296 pts given up/52 sacks/ 14 ints.

Keep in mind in ’15 it was the 2nd ranked Seahawks (291.5 ypg) who actually led the league in fewest points allowed with 277 in the Broncos dominant season. The Broncos were ranked #1 by giving up 138 yds less for the season than #2 ranked Seattle (4,668 to 4,530) but in Seattle’s 2013 season?? *sucks teeth* A much wider chasm between #1 Seattle and #2 Carolina Panthers (4,378 yds to 4,820 yds)

This group was #1 overall (273.6 ypg. v #2 301.25 ypg) while finishing #1 against the pass allowing 172 yards per game. Those stats were 28 and 22 ypg. better than the Panthers ranked 2nd.

Now that the games are big for everyone, Seattle can apply pressure to opponents.

The Legion of Boom held 7 regular season opponents to 10 points or fewer where The No Fly Zone had 3. The Broncos were 3-1 v top ten offenses which includes the Panthers in the Super Bowl where Seattle only beat 2.

The ’13 Seahawks were 4-1 v Pro Bowl QBs where DC Wade Phillip’s Broncos were 3-2. In those 2 losses they allowed Andrew Luck’s Colts 27 points and Big Ben’s Steelers 34 points and these weren’t top ten offenses in 2015. Yet the Broncos were stronger against the run in ’15 ranking 3rd where Seattle was only 8th in their season. Sooooo Seattle wins this but…

What makes the Broncos so memerable is their front 7 had more flash and substance with Super Bowl 50 MVP LB Von Miller (11 sacks) and PFHof DeMarcus Ware (7.5 sacks) crashing the pocket. We see his sacks on Cam Newton all the time but folks forget his 3 sacks and an interception of Tom Bardy in the AFC Championship to get them there:

Miller, Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr, TJ Ward and DeMarcus Ware all made the Pro Bowl back when it meant something. Teh No Fly Zone was #1 against the pass and # 3 against the run with DEs Malik Jackson (45 tack/5.5 sacks) Derek Wolfe (49 tack/ 5.5 sacks) & NT Sylvester Williams bearing the brunt up front. Then think about this…. Shaq Barrett who would be Taylor Blitz Times Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 (in Tampa Bay) was a backup linebacker on this squad where he had 5.5 sacks in relief of Ware. Yes the same Barrett that chased Patrick Mahomes out of the stadium in Super Bowl LV. he tied Miller in ’15 for the team lead with 4 forced fumbles.

Danny Trevathan (109 tackles/ 6 pbu / 2 ints 1TD) & Brandon Marshall (102 tackles/4 pbu/ 2ff) were rangier than most Inside Linebackers and cleaned up everything between the hashmarks under 15 yards.

The strength of The No Fly Zone was blanket coverage where as a unit they had 83 pass break ups over the season. Talib led the unit with 3 Ints returning 2 for touchdowns and Harris and Stewart finished with 1 each. Against other statistical defenses the lack of interceptions (14) hurt in comparison. Even against The Legion of Boom with 28 in their 2013 year. Yet they were in man to man knocking down passes rather than being in a zone and breaking on throws.

Like many in this group the Broncos incredible defensive run in ’15 came while dragging an anemic offense to a title. Did you know the Broncos had the lowest ranked offense in the Super Bowl era to win it all?? They were ranked 19th beating out the 2000 Ravens where Trent Dilfer led the 16th best offense. Yet you had the feeling had they played Super Bowl 50 another 10 quarters the Panthers weren’t going to score.

Seriously in this day and age Peyton Manning (9TDs/ 17 ints) & Brock Osweiler (10TDs/6 ints) threw for less than 4,000 yards and completed just 60.7% of their passes. This ranks as low as the ’71 Colts with 2 aging QBs and the ’91 Eagles who had 5 QBs on the season. Their 6.55 yards per attempt might be the worst of any champion as well.

Are they a best ever defense?? They’re the 2nd best of the decade and 3rd best defense dating back to 2000. The short answer for The Chancellor of Football is yes, they were phenomenal. They would definitely be in the honorable mention category of this list. Remember every Super Bowl champion and every #1 ranked defense for over 60 years is included. See for yourself. Don’t just look at the names…the total arguments are in each article. Ohhh… and by the way “It was a different era” is an agument that doesn’t fly here. I love Talib’s takes on The Arena and I wouldnt watch it without him on there but here is where I brought conjecture and complete historical data to support.

  1. 1985 Chicago Bears
  2. 2000 Baltimore Ravens
  3. 2013 Seattle Seahawks
  4. 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers
  5. 1991 Philadelphia Eagles
  6. 1971 Baltimore Colts
  7. 1977 Dallas Cowboys
  8. 1975 Minnesota Vikings
  9. 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers
  10. 1986 Chicago Bears
  11. Honorable Mention Units

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The Soul Of The Game: Pat Fischer

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Article Reissue

In the long history of the NFL there have been players who defined their positions because of their physicality. Men like Dick Butkus, Dick “Night Train” Lane, and Lawrence Taylor were freaks at their position. They were bigger than what other teams were geared to deal with normally. Yet there are those that stand out as hitters first although their size would suggest something different. Enter Pat Fischer.

Standing only 5’9, and 170 lbs (that can’t be right) Smith played in an era where the NFL was a running league. Unlike today’s game where he could play out in space chasing an X, Z, or slot receiver, Fischer had to come up and tackle in an era where everyone was emulating Green Bay’s power sweep. He had to take on pulling guards,  some fullbacks along with his coverage responsibilities. Yet he only missed 10 games in his first 16 years.

His physical play belied his diminutive size as he played as a pint sized intimidator. Lionel “Train” James loves to say “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Never was this more true than of Pat Fisher. Even in the Super Bowl VII highlight, NFL Films had John Facenda narrate how much a nemesis he was against the run and the pass. Let’s face it, a cornerback his size now is primarily a special team guy who is platooned only against multiple receiver sets. They rarely tackle players other than small slot receivers. Take a look at how Fisher played…

In the NFL of the 1960’s there was a concentration of talent that stayed with the same teams and systems for many years. Fischer was caught in this vice where Hall of Fame cornerbacks Dick “Night Train” Lane, Herb Adderley, Jimmy Johnson, and Lem Barney were playing. He was an overlooked player for awhile and some of it could have been other players not leaving behind on-field animosity when voting for fellow players.

There has to be some truth to it or Fischer wouldn’t have had one of his 3 Pro Bowl seasons in 1969 when he had just 2 interceptions. Now his first, in 1964, where he picked off 10 returning them for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns couldn’t be ignored. That was 1 TD short of the all time record. Yet other years he was overshadowed by these other players.

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Pat Fischer played well into the 70’s and here he is going against Mel Gray in the mid ’70s.

One could also make the argument Fischer’s 1969 Pro Bowl and All Pro season came because of the higher visibility Vince Lombardi brought to the team in his only year coaching there.

Whatever the reason, Fischer played from 1961-1977 and retired having played in more games at cornerback in NFL history. If you think about that time frame, he came in 9 years before the AFL / NFL merger and played through the 12th Super Bowl. This is before the modern athlete could have arthroscopic surgery between seasons to prolong their careers.

The question is does he belong in the Hall of Fame with former Cardinal teammate Larry Wilson??

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Legends of The Fall: Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson

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Article Reissue

When I came up with  The Legends of The Fall, my thoughts were to remember Hall of Fame players of yesteryear, and those whose “what if” legacies due to injuries or circumstances that kept them from becoming all time greats. Yet we still talk about them because they were supernovas that burned bright in our collective mind when we think of their transcendent play. One of those players was Thomas Henderson.

Now everyone remembers Henderson as one of the most flamboyant players of the 1970’s and he was. However lost in why he was so acclaimed were the distinctions he brought to pro football many observers obscure. Not this historian…and we’re going to take you through a few today.

One of those was his becoming one of the social icons of his times as a man of the 1970’s. A black cultural icon of transcendent play, outspoken black identity, and a reach that went beyond the football field.

In 1974 the NFL instituted several rule changes, the most visible had been the goal post moved to the back of the endzone. A more subtle change was the narrowing of the hashmarks which eliminated the short side of the field as you still see in college football. This called for Outside Linebackers with greater lateral speed and range play after play to either side.

Artwork by Clarence Pointer signed by Hollywood Henderson available.

Another subtle NFL rule change in 1974 made it illegal for all but the outside players on the punt team to leave before the ball was kicked. Enter Thomas Henderson. The Cowboys second #1 draft pick in 1975 who had been discovered out of Langston by Red Hickey. It was his speed and athleticism that led to his being used to help revolutionize the game from a tactical standpoint. This gave birth to the modern gunner where Henderson was also used. His size allowed him to bull through the two DBs as he came off the ball in pursuit of the punt returner

He was a special teams standout on a veteran laden ball club that had to get him on the field. He flashed downfield to make tackles and was used on reverses. A Linebacker on reverses?? Do you remember his reverse on the opening kickoff of Super Bowl X??

It was one of the first glimpses into what he was doing down in Texas. By 1977 Henderson had become the starting OLB where his speed was on display to match with some of the NFL’s best athletes covering backs out of the backfield and covering TEs out in space. The NFL was speeding up as a sport on astroturf and Henderson was among the new breed of athletes being moved to defense.

What most pundits don’t realize is how 1 penalty altered the perception of Hollywood Henderson.

Over the next four years Henderson’s Cowboys were the best team in the NFC as they became Super Bowl champions in 1977 and repeated as NFC Champions in 1978. In those two seasons the Flex defense was ranked #1 and #2 in the NFL and going into Super Bowl XIII were ranked higher than the #3 ranked Steel Curtain. If they win they become a dynasty as back to back champions and Henderson, who had made his 1st Pro Bowl, would have been lionized instead of the team being scrutinized because of the loss.

We all remember Super Bowl media day when Henderson claimed Terry Bradshaw was so dumb he couldn’t spell cat if you spotted him the “c” and the “a”. Well think back to the game. Henderson made a huge play when he sacked Bradshaw and Mike Hegman stole the ball to give the Cowboys a 14-7 lead. Their only lead of the game.

In what became known as a seesaw game it really was one the Cowboys defense had taken over. They dominated the 2nd half as Pittsburgh couldn’t move the ball. It was the bogus pass interference penalty on Benny Barnes that changed the field position and put the Steelers in scoring position at the 22 late in the 4th quarter. Then a fumbled kickoff, two quick scores and they were up 35-17 en route to a 35-31 win.

That pass interference, which is now called incidental contact and no penalty, caused Henderson and the Cowboys to be scrutinized because of the loss. He had played a tremendous game but now pundits pointed to the press conference and even an on field altercation with Franco before his 4th quarter touchdown as turning points. Great story telling but very…very inaccurate accounting of the facts.

The history books don’t tell you Dallas had set a record holding the winning team to just 75 second half yards. Nor the fact Henderson is the only person in the 51 year history of the Super Bowl to be involved in scoring plays in both the conference championship and subsequent Super Bowl on defense. In the video above when he scored against the Rams, it was the finishing touch on a 28-0 win out in Los Angeles.

That Benny Barnes pass interference penalty made the Steelers the Team of the Decade and sent 10 Steelers to the Hall of Fame and only 4 of the Cowboys from that era.

Henderson smashes into Denver QB Norris Weese in Super Bowl XII.

We know of the pressures and build up to his release in Dallas but where would he have been had they become back to back champion?? Greatest defense in history?? No one has been #1 on offense and #1 on defense and champion since his ’77 Cowboys. How much did the fallout from Super Bowl XIII lead to his dismissal in Dallas??

Keep in mind Tom Landry in his A Football Life episode said on stage had he handled the situation with Henderson differently we could have won 6 or 7 Super Bowls. Dallas went on to lose the ’80, ’81, & ’82 NFC Championships without him. When you look back at those losses Dallas didn’t have a defensive playmaker on the field. Not like they had in 1977 and 1978. In fact he would have been in his prime going into his 6th, 7th, and 8th seasons. Lawrence Taylor & Bruce Smith recorded defensive player of the year honors in that 6th season.

Would Joe Montana have all that time to scramble to the sideline and find Dwight Clark with The Catch in the 81 NFC Championship had Hollywood been chasing him??

henderson.crush

I’m still mad at him for this…he ruined 2nd grade for a kid in Denver.

Henderson was still in the NFL…just not in Dallas where they would have featured him. What could have been?

Epilogue: Last Saturday on February 10, 2018, Thomas Henderson was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame. An incredible honor. If you think I was waxing hyperbole when I opined he would have made the Pro Football Hall of Fame had his career stayed on the same arc…guess where the BCFHOF is moving to?? Try Canton, Ohio inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

hollywood.hall

Congratulations on your induction Thomas Henderson!! A supernova! A Hall of Famer!

 

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Top Ten Single Season Defenses in NFL History : #1 1985 Chicago Bears

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Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan was also carried off after Super Bowl XX.

Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan was also carried off after Super Bowl XX.

Reissued Article

“In this study every season’s #1 defense, record setting defenses, trend setting defenses, and every Super Bowl & NFL championship defenses dating back to 1960. The nod would lend to those post the AFL/NFL merger of 1970. That wasn’t enough as now lets take each defense and cover what they did vs Pro Bowl QBs that season, 1,000 yard rushers, and playoff teams and talk about their effectiveness along with their statistics. Here turnovers forced is a big marker. Nothing watered down so a favorite team can be given favor. So The Chancellor of Football took over 200 defenses and boiled it down to this 11 article series and this valedictorian is the culmination of that study…

This is The Chancellor of Football’s choice for the NFL’s greatest single season defense and there is a serious gap between #1 and the #2 Baltimore Ravens. We’ll cover why at the end of this article. However welcome to the perfect storm of dynamic personnel, innovative defensive tactics and an intensely focused unit. One interesting aspect of the 1985 Chicago Bears performance is they did so without ’84 All Pro Safety Todd Bell who held out that season.

This was the era of the 46 Defense of Buddy Ryan. A Nickle defense where DBs were substituted for more athletic linebackers which allowed Ryan to use it as an every down formation. He could spring it on a team at any time without substitution.

Contrary to misinformed sportswriters he had been using the defense since 1981. Considering he named the formation for the number Safety Doug Plank wore which moved him into a Linebackers position. Plank’s last full season was 1981 and was replaced by Bell in 1982.

The 46 covered the Guard, Center, Guard which kept the MLB from being blocked. Furthermore if either the Center or Guard pulled, a DLineman would be in the backfield to disrupt any running play.

The 46 covered the Guard, Center, Guard which kept the MLB from being blocked. Furthermore if either the Center or Guard pulled, a DLineman would be in the backfield to disrupt any running play.

Although this formation gave the Bears an edge over their competition they only used it 30-40% of the time. It was the element of surprise that caught the NFL off guard. What is overlooked is how great the personnel fit every scheme Ryan used. In 1984, this group set the NFL record for sacks with 72. After he departed they set the record for fewest points allowed in 1986 yielding 187 points. It’s the season in between, 1985, that was their crowning achievement.

Take a look at a few stats:

  • #1 overall ranking
  • #1 against the run #3 against the pass
  • #1 in turnovers w/ 54 forced
  • #1 in interceptions w/ 34
  • #1 in passer rating allowed w/ 51.4
  • #1 in points allowed: 198 for the season
  • #1 in 1st downs allowed per game: 14.8
  • #1 in opp. completion percentage allowed 47.7%
  • #1 in touchdowns allowed w/ 23
  • #1 in rushing touchdowns allowed w/ 6

Now add to the fact they were #3 in sacks with 64, #3 against the pass giving up yardage in garbage time with blowout leads. It was the venomous way they attacked strong competition that makes this defense the valedictorian of NFL units.

Look at the competition they faced and look what they did to them. In 1985 the NFC East champion Cowboys (10-6) were trounced 44-0, the wildcard Giants (10-6) 21-0 in the playoffs, and the 10-6 Redskins slaughtered 45-10. Outscoring them 110-10 when they were the “best division in football” yikes!! Then you have the NFC West Champion LA Rams (11-5) killed 24-0 in the NFC Championship, and the last wildcard team? The defending champion San Francisco 49ers (10-5-1), who were pounded 26-10 in Candlestick.  Funny thing was the 49er touchdown was a Carlton Williamson interception, so the 49er offense scored 3 at home.

* So the Bears gave up 20 points combined to the 5 best teams in their conference and avg. more than 4TDs margin of victory (31-4 avg. score)…damn! All were 10 win teams.

Then of course each division faces another division in the other conference which in the 85 Bears case was the AFC East.  Thank God they didn’t play my Bills… The AFC East champion Dolphins won 38-24, but both wildcards in the AFC went to the Jets and Patriots.  What happened to those teams you ask?  The Jets (11-5) were clobbered in the Meadowlands 20-6 and the Patriots (11-5) twice. The Bears beat the Patriots 20-7 in week 2, then the 46-10 smashing in Super Bowl XX.

*So the only loss was to defending AFC Champion Miami & where did the Dolphins season conclude?  They lost the AFC Championship at home to the Patriots where had they won there would have been a rematch with the Bears in the Super Bowl. So you could say that they were a pretty strong team…fair to say? The Bears beat EVERY playoff team in 1985 from the NFC, and faced three from the AFC…all teams had 10 wins or more and the Bears basically laughed at ’em.  This is what a heavyweight champion should look like!!

They were 4-1 against top 10 offenses and in those 4 wins held each team to less than 10 points. In fact, the ’85 Bears held 11 of their 16 opponents to less than 10 points and recorded back to back shutouts over the Falcons and Cowboys. In the playoffs they set another record not allowing a point in back to back playoff shutouts to make it to Super Bowl XX. Once there they set records for holding the Patriots to -19 yards at the half, 7 yds rushing for the game, record 7 sacks, and allowed the fewest yards in Super Bowl history with 127.

This second look shows a few plays from the 46 front look but the final play with Steve McMichael’s sack was one of the secrets of the ’85 Bears. They lined up in a 3-4 and had DE Richard Dent the rushing weakside ‘backer a la Lawrence Taylor. Ironically the 46 defense didn’t die it evolved into teams running it from 3-4 alignments and not 4-3 alignments as Buddy Ryan originated this from. If you’ve watched the Steelers over the last 15 years they have used DEs that were built like DTs and would squeeze them down to cover the Guard,Center, Guard and position an Inside Linebacker right next to the Strong side Linebacker. They just made it interchangeable in elements to surprise their opponents from time to time.

They had NFL Defensive Player of the year and Hall of Famer Mike Singeltary, All Pro Gary Fencik, Hall of Fame DEs Richard Dent and Dan Hampton. Pro Bowl Linebacker Otis Wilson and OLB Wilber Marshall who should be in the Hall of Fame.

In 2000 when the Ravens gave up 165 points and the question was raised- “Were they better than the ’85 Bears defense?”  HELL NO!!! The Ravens didn’t face 1984 MVP Dan Marino, 3-time Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana, Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms, 1983 MVP Joe Theismann, and Danny White was a pro bowl quarterback as was Ken O’Brien of the Jets. ALL WERE IN THEIR PRIME!  Had the 2000 Ravens seen these quarterbacks they give up another 150 points easy and wouldn’t make the mythical Super Bowl if they played the 85 Bears schedule!!

Spurgeon Wynn. Who?? Spurgeon Wynn, Tim Couch, Anthony Wright, Kent Graham, Gus Frerotte, Brian Griese, Ryan Leaf, Scott Mitchell, and Akili Smith were some of the QBs those Ravens faced so….no way do they get this nod. I loved those Ravens don’t get me wrong, but what would the ’85 Bears have given up against the 2000 Ravens schedule? That’s frightening to think about.

me and singeltary

Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary and The Chancellor of Football on the Ravens sideline in 2003.

The best ever defense from the historian view of The Chancellor of Football’s view was the 1985 Chicago Bears hands down. How badly they trounced sound competition has resonated for decades. In compiling this list every #1 defense from 1960 to the present was used, every championship defense, and every record setting defense with the nod going to those that played since the merger in 1970. Hundreds of defenses boiled down to the 1985 Bears sitting atop as the best.

Dedicated to the memory of James David “Buddy” Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016)

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