Author Archives: The Chancellor of Football

On This Date 1971: The Longest Game Ever Played – Kansas City Chiefs v Miami Dolphins

by

0

The Miami Dolphins outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in the longest game in NFL history. Christmas Day 1971 they played well into 6 quarters or more than 82 minutes of playing time.

Here at Taylor Blitz Times, we for one don’t like the fact the NFL buckled and gave in to juvenile thinking when it came to the NFL’s overtime rule. Everyone must touch the ball once?? What is this, second grade girl’s soccer??

Our CEO loved the thought of sudden death overtime. You had four full quarters to win a football game. The two point conversion was introduced in 1994 so that a team can win it in regulation yet NFL coaches are too soft and won’t roll the dice and win it in one play. If you don’t, you’re involved in a winner take all overtime where the game can be won on offense, defense, or special teams. Play was heightened with players realizing one mistake, a blown coverage, fumble, interception, or penalty could cost your team its season. It made for great theater.

One such game happened shortly after the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. The upstart Miami Dolphins were facing a perennial heavyweight in the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC Divisional playoff.

Why do we mention the AFL??

For one, both teams were rooted in the rival league. Second, it was the Baltimore Colts with Head Coach Don Shula that lost Super Bowl III that legitimized the merger. In the aftermath of the Baltimore Colts’ embarrassment losing that game, Don Shula amid tense corporate pressure, decided to move on and take the head coaching job in Miami.  He quickly whipped the Dolphins into shape and they made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons there. In 1970 they were bested by a veteran Raider team in an AFC Divisional Playoff in Oakland and many felt the same way about them traveling to Kansas City for the ’71 playoff.

Another reason we mention the AFL was this was the last game ever to be played in Municipal Stadium. One of the AFL’s great stadiums through the 1960’s as the Kansas City Chiefs had been perennial winners there. It would be left behind as the Chiefs moved on to Arrowhead Stadium as the NFL moved on to future years of prosperity with new antiseptic ballparks.

The newer stadiums lacked individual culture as the 70’s dawned and it was as though teams were leaving a piece of their soul when they left old places behind. This was where Lamar Hunt had moved his team in 1963, to keep the fight along with league brothers against the NFL and won. Sure they were going to live on in the American Football Conference of the NFL, but it wasn’t going to be the same.

The Kansas City Chiefs were an older team and 1972 would be their last hurrah. They had finished as the AFL’s winningest team going 87-48-3, appearing in the first Super Bowl, then winning the fourth edition over Minnesota down in New Orleans. The team had just parted ways with All-time All AFL DE Jerry Mays and team leader C/LB E.J. Holub to retirement  in 1970. Even RB Mike Garrett was gone to the San Diego Chargers by this time, replaced by Ed Podolak.

These men along with holdovers QB Len Dawson, WR Otis Taylor, LBs Bobby Bell, and Willie Lanier had led the Chiefs for much of the 1960s as they worked to get owner and AFL Founder Lamar Hunt that elusive Super Bowl trophy. They were an older team lead by Dawson 36 yrs of age, Taylor turning 30 within a year, Bobby Bell was 31 and FS Johnny Robinson was 33. Various retirements were coming but they had finished 1971 with a 10-3-1 record and if they could get through this postseason, win it all, then they could go their separate ways. All they had to do was get through Miami and…

Fleming scores the tying TD that forced the game to overtime.

After this game the Dolphins went on to defeat the Baltimore Colts 21-0 in the AFC Championship Game which put them in Super Bowl VI. It was further satisfying for Shula for he defeated Carroll Rosenbloom and the Colts for whom he once coached. In the same stadium as Super Bowl III no less. Within a year, Rosenbloom was so disenchanted with owning the Colts who would have to rebuild, he swapped franchises with Robert Irsay who owned the Los Angeles Rams. Within 6 years he would marry Georgia, drown and that is how Georgia Rosenbloom-Frontiere became owner of the Rams. All aftermath of Super Bowl III.

Don Shula’s Dolphins would lose Super Bowl VI but would return and win VII & VIII becoming one of the great teams in NFL history. He went on to coach Miami through the 1995 season where he went on to win more games than any other coach with 347 wins. This was his first postseason win with the Dolphins that launched them as an NFL elite member for many years to come.

The AFL Logo of the Kansas City Chiefs

The AFL Logo of the Kansas City Chiefs

As for the Chiefs, the mystique of who they were as an AFL power was gone as they would not return to the playoffs for 15 years. Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, and Head Coach Hank Stram went on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However Johnny Robinson and Jerry Mays have been glaring omissions.

Each of which played most of their careers over in the “other league” and have been treated like such by the writers who make up the voting panel for the Hall of Fame. The late Jerry Mays should have had that honor bestowed upon him before his death in 1994. Although he didn’t play in this game, the legacy /era of the old AFL Kansas City Chiefs closed Christmas of 1971.

The Miami Dolphins outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in the longest game in NFL history. Christmas Day 1971 they played well into 6 quarters or more than 82 minutes of playing time.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

2025 NFL Week 16 Packers at Bears Preview

by

1

At the beginning of the season The Chancellor had the Packers winning the NFC North and meeting Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. The Bears were to finish a few games back and win a wild card berth. Well here we are with those 2 teams primed with the divisions best records in a mondo game in Soldier Field on a Saturday Night.

Byard has been an All Pro level force with 74 tackles and 6 picks in ’25.

The Bears are 7-1 in their last 8 games which includes a 28-21 loss to Green Bay 2 weeks ago. In 3 of those games they held their opponents to 20 points or less. They’re ranked 23rd defensively however they have only allowed 291.5 yards per game in their last 5. That is the same rate as Green Bay’s 5th ranked defense with 294.5 yards per game for the season with one caveat…. the Packers just lost All Pro Micah Parsons who took 12.5 sacks and 25 quarterback hits with him.

The loss of Parsons impacts this game tremendously and he won’t be there to harrass QB Caleb Williams who has a chance to completely come of age in this game. This is the biggest game of his career and a stepping stone to fulfilling his overal #1 status. In last week’s game on the road they allowed Bo Nix a career best 4TD passes.

Caleb (266 of 459 for 3,150 yds 21TDs with 6 ints) has been coming on and showing promise. Even in the game 2 weeks ago he brought his team back from a 14-3 deficit to a 21-21 tie late in Lambeau Field. He is growing as a QB where Jordan Love has left us frustrated. Just when he seems ready to take that leap he plays lackluster in an inexplicable loss (13-10 to Eagles) and a16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

This team should be wrapping up homefield througout the NFC playoffs and find themselves embroiled in a fight with a Bears team all accounts thought of as less of a ball club when the season began.

Love’s stats are similar to Caleb’s (283 of 426 3,304 yds 23TDs and 6 picks) but he was where Williams was as 2023 was concluding. He hasn’t taken that killer leap we have been waiting for since and just showed flashes. Williams flashes are a sign he is “getting it” and just became the NFL’s best ever QB when it comes to turnovers within their 1st 1,000 passes thrown. Ironically the last pass he threw when these two teams were playing was his underthrown interception to kill the Bears chances 28-21.

Well we know Williams has been haunted with that last pass he had intercepted at Lambeau but today he will lean on the running attack averaging 160 on the ground in their last 5 games. Their high water mark was a 281 yard performance in their 24-15 upset of the World Champion Eagles on the road just 2 weeks ago. Now they’re at home…. *sucks teeth*

Head Coach Ben Johnson has his Windy City version of Gibbs & Montgomery in D’Andre Switf (935 yds / 7TDs) & Kyle Monangai (681 yds /5TDs) and the only way the Packers win this is Josh Jacobs (890 yds /13TDs) coming out first and dominating Chicago early forcing the game into Williams hands solely.

That just seems unlikely and in this game with Micah Parsons at home watching, the Bears will win this 30-24. The team that dominates the clock will win and Chicago’s 2 headed monster will be able to go with the hot hand if one back shows more spark. The Chicago franchise is looking to establish a new era that Jordan Love and the Packers should have established last year but played around and didn’t.

Caleb will reverse the curse that has sat over this franchise since losing the 2010 NFC Championship Game to Green Bay.

Thanks for reading and hit that prescribe button for once.

Dak Prescott 2023 Preview- Next Year’s Champion *Reissue*

by

0

Now that the dust has settled on the draft and free agent moves, there are a few things to address as we hurtle toward the 2023 NFL season. During my hiatus, a lot was brought to bear on the future of Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. Mainly how former Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore was scapegoated for all shortcomings his former quarterback had. To many observers Cowboy fans never want to admit the flameouts we have chronicled here at Taylor Blitz for years now.
All of a sudden, Head Coach McCarthy will take over play calling duties when he hasn’t performed that duty in 5 years. This was back when he was let go in Green Bay for running too predictable an offense. Remember?? But before we go there…
  • Last year the Cowboys were chastised for not replacing Amari Cooper after being dealt to Cleveland. Giving Dak a built in excuse.
  • Kellen Moore, who has a bright football mind and led the Cowboys to #1 offensive rankings, became the reason they didnt succeed in postseason.
  • In 2020, Dallas had the worst defense in football. It wasn’t Dak’s fault. The team couldnt stop anyone.
  • Before that it was Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan’s fault. Then Head Coach Jason Garrett’s fault.

Now after losing two offensive coordinators and a head coach, Cowboys brass and coverage would have you believe this is “Next Year’s Champion” and Dak Prescott will show us once and for all. Seriously? We chronicled this in 2021 and in subsequent articles on “The Beta Quarterback” where we outlined Prescott’s damaged ‘fight or flight’ mechanism that causes him to short circuit in crucial minutes of important ball games.

One is to dissect the decisions made by #4 that caused Moore’s dismissal. Prescott was outplayed by a 3rd round “Mr Irrelevant” quarterback in Brock Purdy in the NFC Divisional out in San Francisco. The loss in The Chancellor of Football’s estimation fell square on the fight or flight psychosis of a jittery quarterback that isn’t it.

This crucial mistake late in the 3rd quarter illustrates the “real” problem for the Dallas quarterback:
OK Cowboy fans… The Kellen Moore v Dak Prescott problem… If an offensive coordinator draws a play up and it wins and you misread your keys, its Dak’s fault. Take a look at this play in the 3rd qtr of their playoff loss
I placed the blue dot on MLB Fred Warner as the 49ers bluffed a blitz and running a Tampa 2. (1st pic) He has to cover the deep middle and has to cover the 3 side receiver most inside threat.
In the 2nd pic Warner turns and runs with the inside receiver on the 3 receiver side. Moore drew up and called this play anticipating this defense at this spot on the field. Warner still has the blue dot.
The 3rd pic is when Dak should be releasing the ball. Warner (blue dot) is in the hip of the inside receiver on the 3 receiver side. TY Hilton (green bar) is streaking WIDE THE F OPEN on the opposing 30 and the 2 safeties with blue dots cant get there from their 2 deep landmarks. Warner isnt even facing TY Hilton to help if he wanted to.
Dak could hit him with a line drive pass and Dallas would have had a 1st down inside the 15 possibly 10. If Dak throws it and leads him Dallas has a TD and a late 3rd quarter lead and complete momentum.
Kellen Moore had the play call, play design, spot on the field, anticpated defense and Dak misread the most BASIC pass defense in football “Cover 2”. He throws it to the receiver with Warner all over him and the play is broken up and you punt… never to threaten again.
Yet blame Moore who was 4 for 4 on this play and Dak threw it to the 3 receiver side when the Tampa 2 principle is to have the Middle Linebacker crowd the inside receiver threatening the deep middle. Stop it… Dak sympathizers have more excuses than defending an accidental pregnancy.
This is 7 years in!! Losing to a 3rd string rookie QB where if everyone was healthy he’d be watching in street clothes? Teams can only dress 2 QBs.
Film study? Practice? Did they talk about this play? Keys to the play’s success?
You know they did…
At what point will Dak Prescott be held accountable for these issues as the Cowboys come up short against elite teams?? Especially when it keeps happening in the playoffs at the end of games the Cowboys should have won. Yet here we are again where Cowboys brass and day to day coverage has this team anointed “Next Year’s Champion’s” and will be led by their supposedly great quarterback who struggles to get the job done in money situations.
Now McCarthy who was fired at the end of his tenure in Green Bay for predictable offense is going to get it done. Well?? OK… at Taylor Blitz it’s always follow the psyche of the player in the arena. Its the greatest predictor to future events. The jury is in on Dak Prescott with The Chancellor of Football but you’re free to believe what you want to believe. Only this time…come back in January and let me know I was right.
Thanks for reading and please share the article.

Shedeur Sanders Survived A Railroading

by

0

Taylor Blitz Times is sharing this to remind you what happened and dodge ignorant rhetoric being thrown around.

Sheduer Sanders was the Big XII OPoY & Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the best collegiate quarterback. He should never have fallen to the 5th round or be forced into the make it or break it fiasco he faced sitting behind mediocre Dillon Gabriel.

Gabriel is 34th (dead last) in yds per attempt in the NFL with 5.1… Sanders is 10th at 7.46 and didnt practice with the 1st team offense for the 20 weeks Gabriel was able to. Sanders survived a railroading.

Go show them what you’re made of these next 4 weeks.

Thanks for reading… like & subscribe and fire Coach Kevin Stefanski

No Analytics For Lost Momentum

by

5

We saw it again tonight where the Falcons were down 28-14 and closed in to score in the 4th quarter to narrow it to 28-20. Supposedly analytics says to go for 2 instead of kicking the extra point to be down 7 points. Atlanta failed on their attempt and were now down by 8 points which forced them to go for 2 after another touchdown.

Now they’re scrambling to come from behind 28-26 when they could have been tied at 28 and have overtime in their back pocket. Had they not kicked the final field goal to win 29-28 the obstacle they created for themselves going for 2 and chasing ghosts could have cost them the game.

No one ever talks about how going for 2 and failing dissipates a teams momentum. We saw this happen the week before with the Cleveland Browns and going with analytics cost them the game with Tennessee and prompted this commentary from The Arena with Aquib Talib, Richie Incognito and Skip Bayless

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1527107651861249

In my last article we challenged the uselessness of QBR as its the first phoney accounting way to rate quarterbacks and analytics is undermining NFL Coaches. These decisions are critical and you’re putting the fortunes of your team in some geek mathematical equation that doesn’t take in effect the momentum of your team, emotional high or letdown of your players at a critical point of the game, when common coaching sense over the last 106 years haven’t provided axioms.

Far too often these coaches are leaning on the new analytics and when it fails those that came up with these mathematical equations won’t be with you at the podium postgame. The math geeks won’t be accountable nor will they come back and express how they’re equation was off.

Stop listening to these clowns and call a football game based on your team and what keeps your team in the game emotionally as important as you need to from a tactics standpoint.

Analytics has always been garbage and coaches should be done listening to math geek wannabe coaches. Take back your game coaches and stay in tune with your players.

Thanks for reading .. make sure to like, subscribe and share. Keep in mind there are over 750 articles so search topics, great players, or championship teams. There is a lot of content within…

 

Ole Man River… Sigh Phillip Rivers That Is

by

5

Phillip Rivers coming back at 44 out of retirement to play for the Indianpolis Colts is a crazy prospect. So many would like to romanticize this signing where the ole’ gunslinger shows he can still do it when reality often shows us something drastically different.
Remember Kurt Warner being knocked out by Bobby McCray in his final game in the 09 playoffs? Kurt didn’t know it was his final game until his wife intervened and said that’s it. You can’t have your family go through this anymore. If you can recall, Warner was on the ground for several minutes after he tried to track Will Smith after an interception.
Remember Joe Montana laying knocked out in Rich Stadium in the 93 AFC Championship Game? Joe was caught in a vice after being hit by Bruce Smith, Jeff Wright, and Phil Hansen. Yes all 3 Bills defensive linemen on the field converged and hit him simultaneously and his helmet hit the turf and the lights went out. He never returned to the game.

What about when Roger Staubach got knocked out at 3Rivers Stadium in 1979 after taking a solid shot from the late LC Greenwood?
Staubach had one of the 5 concussions he suffered in the NFL and retired a few months later. One interesting aspect was how he looked in the famous come from behind 35-34 win over the Redskins in the finale but seemed out of sorts when they lost to the LA Rams…yet I digress but remember these men were 38, 38, and 37 at the time.
Why aren’t the Colts going after younger players who just retired in Nick Foles, Derrick Carr, Taylor Heinecke, or Sam Howell? These men are much younger and knowing Coach Steichen’s playbook isn’t the high point of competence. Surviving to finish multiple NFL games and make a playoff run seems more important.
It all sounds fantastic and romantic until a 24 year old edge rusher with 4% body fat clears the Left Tackle’s outside arm getting to full speed on an NFL football field. The closer we get to the playoffs where each game means more, the speed, intensity, and hitting ratchet up on a football field.
Yes QBs are supposed to get hit! Yes you should be able to land on them!
This isnt tennis and a 44 year old QB on a football field isnt going to end well.
I hope in Phillip Rivers sake he isn’t seriously injured and here where Coach Steichen needs to take his lumps not developing 1st round pick Anthony Richardson to be the insurance to be cashed in at this point. Well  I know he is on IR for another week or so but they signed Rivers to take them through the playoffs, not the next regular season game.
Phillip Rivers… your mission and you chose to accept it is…. Sigh
Thanks for reading go ahead like & subscribe!