Tag Archives: bill belichick

Overcoaching: Vol 3. Super Bowl XLIX Edition

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Reissued Aritcle: 9, February 2014

“One of the dumbest calls in Super Bowl history that robbed the Seattle Seahawks from establishing a dynasty. Became the turning point in the way Russell Wilson was seen as a leader. He lost his PFHoF status on the goal line in Pheonix and his descent in stature began at that point. Its impossible to see the Seahawks v Patriots in the Super Bowl and not think back to the game and that stupid call at the goal line. Do you realize the play run was the exact same play concept the Tennessee Titans ran that didn’t work in Super Bowl XXXIV?? They just ran it with Kevin Dyson cutting behind TE Frank Wycheck. Gave you the link. Go look… but after you read this…”

Super Bowl XLIX was a great game but the end left a lot of fans empty as Seattle opted for a pass from the 1 with seconds left to play. Immediately I railed it was the worst play call in Super Bowl history on social media. Many former NFLers agreed. So after a small hiatus my thought hadn’t changed and now it was time to revisit another classic case of overcoaching in the NFL.

First off… if anyone thinks the Seattle  throwing that pass at the one yard line was the right play call, then they think Vince Lombardi called the wrong play on the final play of the Ice Bowl. Its that simple. One of his philosophies played out at the goal line during the final seconds of both the 1966 & 1967 NFL Championship Games.

Lombardi’s philosophy was in a pressure situation, players would make mistakes in Tom Landry’s complicated offense. The Cowboys had the ball at the 2 with less than 2 minutes to go down 34-27. They had momentum and had just scored on the drive previous. True to form T Jim Bokeim had a false start… remember they did a lot of shifting on the line. On the final play, which was a rollout, RG Leon Donohue ran past Packer LB Dave Robinson instead of blocking him. Robinson hurried Don Meredith into a game ending endzone interception.

The rubber match for the Ice  Bowl (1967 championship) saw the reverse as the Packers were down to the 2 yard line with less than 2 minutes to go. After two plays and a final timeout, Green Bay was at the 1 with :16 left down 17-14. Where Tom Landry was heard yelling “watch Starr on the rollout”, Lombardi’s Packers went with a QB sneak to win the game. A simplified play.  Years later in recalling Lombardi’s philosophy, G Jerry Kramer said “When the game or life is on the line, you don’t gamble and you put your faith in the defensive player’s chest.”

A philosophy the Seattle Seahawks had believed in until the 1 minute mark of Super Bowl XLIX. Some new age philosophies have made coaches overthink and overcoach situations lately. Ever since that Monday Night game where Brian Westbrook had that breakaway run at the end of the game against the Dallas Cowboys and slid down to run out the clock, people have been overcoaching end of game scenarios.

03_ball_grand_canyon_1_hi_nat1366However I said it right after…that was the same play call the Titans went with in Super Bowl XXXIV when Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson at the 1 yard line also. That stacked receiver slant is 0-2 in late Super Bowl moments. Truth is they should have run the ball twice with the read option and kept it on the ground. They should have immediately run a play after Lynch made it to the 1.

Fist lets take a look at the early stages of the game when Marshawn Lynch scored to tie the game at 7.

You’ll note the first run Lynch face initial contact at the 9 ans made it to the 6 1/2 yard line. Then on the touchdown he faced initial contact at the two and powered to more than a yard into the endzone. He’s the best contact runner since Corey Dillon and he was constantly falling forward during the game.

Now we get to the fateful last plays of Super Bowl XLIX.

Had Seattle rushed to the line of scrimmage with the 1:06 left (after Lynch made it to the 1) New England may have let them score (another bone head new age move) to ensure Brady would have a chance with the football and more clock. Don’t tell me Belichick doesn’t think that way because he was lauded for his taking a late game safety against Denver 10 years ago so the Patriots would get the ball back with time and field position… Had Seattle got up and rushed to the line, New England also wouldn’t have sent in their goal line 3 corners package where Seattle would have been better suited to block. Wasn’t that why Pete Carroll said they were wasting a play??

By not rushing back to the line the Seahawks overcoached the situation. There comes a time where coaches have to drop those silly play charts and coach on guts. Lynch had gained positive yards after contact on all of his runs. Even his last carry he broke a tackle at the 4 and made it to the 1. Had they hurried and faced the same defense the next play you don’t think he scores from the 1?? That same personnel he powered through for their first touchdown and 3 yards after contact.

Bill Belichick was saving all of his timeouts and let the clock run down to :32 seconds before Seattle snapped the football.

Yet alas Malcolm Butler ended the Seahawks bid for back to back Super Bowl championships. Coaches have to get back to owning each situation and score first and win the game. Don’t sit and speculate when you can or even if you will score on a later play. You just have to trust your defense. If you can think back to Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and the Giants, Ahmad Bradshaw tried not to score when he “accidently” fell in the endzone. Taking a 17-15 lead, the Giant defense held off Tom Brady in that one. You have to rely on your defense.

Another clear case of overcoaching and now Seattle has to let this fester as they ponder an opportunity lost. It could fuel their trip to Super Bowl L in San Francisco’s new stadium. Stay tuned…

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Super Bowl XLVI Preview:Bill Belichick & His Place In History

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The best coach of the last 50 years and possibly in the history of the NFL

Reissue of Article: 31, January 2012

“With the disgraceful indignity of not being a 1st ballot Hall of Famer this week,I thought it a great time to rehash an article discussing his place some 14 Super Bowls ago. If I was telling you he would rank with Vince Lombardi had he triumphed, where does it leave him now he coached in another 4 Super Bowls after this game winning XLIX, LI, and LIII. He even lost another one to the Eagles in LII. Think about that a second…

For the idiots saying it was all Tom Brady. Who do you think taught him all that situational football to be that prepared? Don’t be a dummy. Anyway…”

When you talk of the great coaches in NFL history, even the ardent Patriot hater has to put Bill Belichick on the short list. If his team leaves Lucas Oil Stadium with the Vince Lombardi Trophy, it’s namesake will be the only coach he can be compared to. It would be his fourth championship as a head coach and sixth overall. All of this coming in the modern era with player movement in true free agency?? Yikes!! You’d have to look at it like this… Vince Lombardi was the greatest coach in the first 50 years of NFL history (1920-1969) and Belichick would be the greatest from 1970 to the present.

How can we say that?? First let’s dispel the “Spy Gate” situation. In a game of simulated war with blitzes and bombs and protecting zone areas on a field / map: wouldn’t you expect some sort of espionage?? Dont forget that in 1958 John Steadman of the Baltimore Sun Times reported that Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom had an assistant watch the New York Giants practice before the NFL Championship Game. Rosenbloom assured him that if he were caught, he’d have a job for life with the team. Watch the NFL Films production on the 1958 Championship and you can hear it first hand.

A long time I watched Bill’s work.

Then somewhere in the 60’s to put an end to this, Pete Rozell put in Tuesday film swap day. That way the teams could share intel on each other to put the spy thing to bed. Yet everyone is always trying to steal other team’s signals. Fast forward to Bill Walsh in 1979 who was the first to script his 15 plays and have an elaborate sheet with plays in front of him.  He was the first head coach to be completely under a headset all game long. Whenever he would call plays he would use his play sheet to cover his mouth to protect himself from lip readers. This practice is still in place today. Watch the playcaller on the sideline and where once teams had elaborate hand signals, now hold up a play sheet. Quarterbacks have transmitters in their helmets now.

So quit hawking Belichick about that already. Now back to what we were saying…

If you look at his tenure against other coaches from 1970 on, you can’t come up with a more successful coach. He just made his 5th Super Bowl to tie Tom Landry. If he wins he’ll have tied Chuck Noll with 4 Super Bowl titles. Yet what sets him apart is only Tom Brady remains from his 2001 championship where Noll won with primarily the same players.

Hell, only 1 defensive starter remains from the 2007 defense that went 16-0. That would be Vince Wilfork. Noll never returned to the Super Bowl and only made 1 AFC Championship after the 70’s run. Belichick has won with 3 incarnations of the Patriots since 2001. Tom Landry and Don Shula did that but neither could get past 2 championships with Belichick going for number 4. Which would put him ahead of Bill Walsh who has 3.

So it’s at this point, the New York Giants are the gatekeepers to history. With this win Belichick will ascend to the rank of the greatest coach in the last 50 years of the NFL. Ironically he won his first two as a defensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants. Another irony is he doesn’t seem to be close to retirement. If there are other championships in his future he would even have to best Lombardi and be thought of as the greatest ever coach.

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The Chancellor Of Football’s Take: Hall of Fame Voting

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The Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio

Aritcle Reissue: 29, August 2012

The world has been rocked with the snub of Bill Belichick not being selected for the PFHoF on the first ballot and the selection process has now been scrutinized. Well 12 1/2 years ago during the height of my advocating for players for the Hall I brought this up. This was before even the Terrell Owens snub. For those new here, 13 of the 22 men (links below) I advocated for are now enshrined and I’ll send a letter to the PFHoF asking to  become a voter. I’ve kept it respectful and wrote out what I would argue in the same room with those voters. I touched this up over the years but here is the original article:

When I learned that Jerry Kramer was skipped over as a senior nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I just had utter contempt for the sportswriters who seem to be the gatekeepers of history. It felt like they were going to work against the groundswell of support for Kramer and the passion from fans talking about his exclusion. I think the selection committee needs to have a few more wrinkles thrown into the mix.

Sure there are personal reasons as to why I would think a player deserves to be in the Hall and is the foremost problem with the voting. There is no way to ignore your own thoughts or feelings about a person’s nomination being put before you. There will be partiality. You’ll remember that last year (______) didn’t vote for my guy so I won’t vote for his this year. That is human nature. So you have to do it by a committee there would be no other way.

Chancellor.halloffameWhen I think of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I think of a treasured museum for everyone who ever played the game, at ANY level, could appreciate. The ongoing history to the greatest sport there is and the telling of that story. Don’t tell me that Emmitt Smith is the greatest if you can’t tell me who Jim Brown was, or OJ Simpson, Ernie Nevers, or who Steve Van Buren was. Someone saying he didn’t see Bronko Nagurski or Red Grange isn’t enough. There are books, the Taylor Blitz Times or more important this incredible museum housing all this history. That’s what makes this building significant.

hof_gallery_visit-1With it’s enshrinees and special wings to memorable moments, the 92 year history of the NFL, the 10 years of the AFL, and early football pioneers before the NFL, come to life. This is where fathers get to teach sons moments in history… Like the famous “wristband” of Baltimore Colt running back Tom Matte from the 1960s. When injuries to the Colts quarterbacks pressed Matte into service, Don Shula supplied him with a “wristband” with the play calls on it for him to remember. That is how he got through the game as a fill in quarterback.

Not only does that legacy live on to this day with every NFL quarterback wearing one, but right now as you read this…there is a father or mother teaching their son that story and looking at the actual “wristband”. What dreams and goals will that kid aspire to upon learning that and tossing the ball with his father the next day?? What if that kid grows up to be the next Dan Marino or Johnny Unitas??

chancellor.blackcollegeThis is why it is important the players, coaches, innovators, owners and their stories should be here to be told. Its for us to relive moments and future generations to learn how things came to be. The special men who were the embodiment of  the very spirit of football.

Which brings us back to The Chancellor’s thoughts on the matter. A few things should be changed which would allow for a  smoother selection process. First things first… we couldn’t just turn the vote over to the fans. This would significantly cheapen the situation and dumb it down to just a popularity contest. We would just have Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers enshrined from this point on…so this one gets thrown out yet not entirely…

The first item to be changed is there should be 30 Hall of Fame players involved in the voting. Who would be better at this than those players who played with or against players coming up for nomination?? How has it gone this far without their inclusion?? A Hall of Famer would best know what another Hall of Famer would look like and play like. Here a nominee would need a majority vote. These votes are confidential…

Secondly, scale back the number of non football playing voters to 30, which would include the Chancellor, and these accounts along with enshrined members would be a better panel to debate who is a Hall of Famer than not. Those writers would be able to hear accounts from the inside that they wouldn’t be aware of without hearing from those players peers. Here a nominee would need half of the vote to make it. Not only that…there needs to be new blood in this pool with the advent of successful blog writers and historians in the mix, the terms for limitation to be on this committee should be 7-10 years. These votes aren’t confidential…

ryan.ronLast would be one where the fans would have a vote. A write in candidate with a specific number of write in votes by the fans and former players. That number to be determined and the fans (who are the paying customers) would have a little say. Number to be determined later by a committee.

If this were to be done there would be a better selection process and those voting would be held accountable for their vote. Why have the Hall of Famers votes confidential?? They belong to an exclusive club. Its like the Ray Nitschke luncheon. That is not for us… that is for those players who belong to that club to share in it’s exclusivity about what it means to be there and how they are their brother’s keeper. They don’t have to share who they think should be in and why. They do so with a vote.

My feelings on the selection process has been this way for many years yet I had the chance to see it from the other side. Those of you who have been following this blog know that I have my own nominations for players who should be in the Hall of Fame. One of the first articles I wrote was on Jerry Kramer last year on July 26th. Now I’m not exactly sure as to where it took place but I shared many videos of the 1960’s Green Bay Packers here and on Facebook. I came to know Alicia Kramer who spearheaded a great campaign to help her father get inducted to his rightful place. She asked me to be an administrator to the facebook page Jerry KramerHOF to which I was honored.

Seriously, I read two of his books as a kid including Distant Replay, which is one of the reasons I love and write about Pro Football. The fact that he had read and enjoyed a few of my stories on Facebook were a reciprocal part of the journey and why I share with other fans what is on my mind about football and the history of the game.  I contributed as often as I could with videos and such and wrote a letter to “The Hall” pleading for his nomination. I remember uploading the 1968 Green Bay Packers America’s Game to the page. To be right there from the start of that page and watch her work grow to include Hall of Fame members lending their support and passionate fans as well, it is something incredible to be a part of.

When the senior nomination came back without Jerry Kramer’s name on it, I took it personally…and still am. There were countless letters written by enshrinees such as Lem Barney, Jim Kelly, Bob Lilly, Dave Wilcox just to name a few yet Kramer’s nomination comes down to writers over former players?? No way. All the while from my first article to placing it on my Facebook page several times, at least one person would ask “Jerry Kramer is not in the HOF?” every single time.

I also shared an email exchange with Kevin Greene when he didn’t make the finalist round this year. These players who deserve their legacies to be secured earned this right. Those gatekeepers to history need to be guarded more by the enshrinees themselves than writers. That is what I learned from this last year through Alicia’s work. If it were up to them, Kramer wins by a landslide. Yet its time for forward and positive energy. Onward to 2013 and his certain nomination.

kramer.hof

Dedicated to the memory of Hall Of Fame Member Steve Van Buren who passed away last week. RIP You were a great running back and a true warrior of the game. Thank you!!

Other articles on who The Chancellor thinks should be in the Hall

Kevin Greene

Chuck Foreman

Lester Hayes

Tom Flores

Cris Carter

Everson Walls

Terrell Davis

Randy Moss

Sterling Sharpe

Robert Brazile

Drew Pearson

Cliff Branch 

Ken Stabler

Ken Riley

Corey Dillon

Roger Craig

Andre Reed

Edgerrin James

Hardy Nickerson

Wilber Marshall

Mike Holmgren

Todd Christensen

Eli Manning

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Phillip Rivers As Head Coach of The Buffalo Bills Is Ridiculous

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Yesterday friends started peppering me on social media about Phillip Rivers interviewing to be Buffalo Bills HC. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen since he was just coaching high school. Nothing says how far Buffalo’s front office has fallen then to even grant this interview after that disastrous press conference. Right now there is a petition swriling in upstate New York with 69,000 signatures to reinstate Sean McDermott.

My sentiment is he should go and we need a proven Head Coach who will know how to mine a title from the ore of an aging roster. Too many are enjoying the “Aww shucks” demeanor and channelling this into a he could do the job and was a leader of offenses in the league. Lets take a closer look at Rivers’ effectiveness.

#1 Phillip Rivers in 2010 was the leader on a team that finished #1 on offense and #1 on defense. Do you realize this is the only team in the Super Bowl era that had this distinction and didn’t make the playoffs?? The others?? The 1977 Dallas Cowboys (12-2) who ran away with the Super Bowl XII Lombardi & the 1987 San Francisco 49ers (13-2) who should have won XXII but were upset in the playoffs by the Vikings. I covered this anomaly in my 2011 Chargers preview. How well was his leadership then??

#2 Phillip Rivers led his team to the playoffs 7 times in (now) 18 years to the playoffs and only made 1 AFC Championship Game. That was closed by an electric performance of Shawn Merriman. He had a 5-7 record in the playoffs and all of a sudden he knows what it takes to get Buffalo to the Super Bowl in a win at all costs within 3 years?

Yes he is a good soundbite and deserves credit or coming to try to save the Colts season but lets be real here… he went 0-3 and averaged 5.9 yards per attempt and I showed you how anemic those numbers are. Remember? Oh you don’t…

Yes 5.9 yards per attempt would have been 30th if he had enough pass attempts. He’d be with JJ McCarthy who is getting laughed at in Minnesota.

Now all of a sudden he is going to know what Defensive Coordinator to hire to mesh with the offense he is going to bring in. And what offense is that by the way?? Now he is developing talent and knows what to coach based upon high school kids.

Coaching an all white high school team is not the same as coaching an NFL ball club where the majority of those players are black and why doesn’t this same line of biased thinking not extend to black players?

Cam Newton was more accomplished than Rivers when he played, why not call him?? He was an NFL MVP and made it to Super Bowl 50. I’m sure the GM could help Cam get the right coaches in a committee’d approach to it. Evaluate with scouts to know who to select in the draft and free agency. He’ll hire the DLine Coach, LB Coach, Secondary Coach.

You know… Cam will grow into the positi0n. If my assertion sounds ridiculous to you then you know how ridiculous Phillip Rivers sounds to me.

Don’t even have me go into the qualified black coaches in the NFL like Eric Bienemy or even Duce Staley who haven’t been given a shot after a decade plus coaching in the NFL.

Tired of the privileged ploy and my choice is a proven Coach in Bill Belichick I already told you in the last article.

Truth of the matter is GM Brandon Beane never should have kept his job. His roster was atrocious as was the interview selection of Phillip Rivers as Head Coach. It was bad enough you and Terry Pagula looked like Montgomery Burns and Smithers at that debacle of a press conference. Hire Rivers as Coach and you’ll become a full fledged cartoon.

Thank You Taylor Blitz Time Readers!

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Thank you Taylor Blitz Times readers as we had a record month in December that has drawn in more readers than ever before. 30,424 to be exact. To those new readers  who subscribed there are 725 articles covering all the players, teams, and historical articles. So please go to the search bar or subject categories and look for a particular team, player or subject, you’ll be surprised what you’ll find.

This endeavor was started to highlight defensive football and offer an alternative look at the game through the eyes of a historian. Most football shows have deevolved into staring at stats and only talking through the lense of a Walter Mitty type talking about the quarterback position. All the patterned nuance of hitting and visceral football that you and I both grew up playing gets lost. That essence that made us fall in love with the game.

So why The Chancellor of Fooball? Its simple… the love of the game is to cover every single football team and player throughout history, not just my Buffalo Bills. The American Football League and NFL teams before the merger. Writing and talking about your favorite team is too easy to me. It became a challenge to cover every single team with the same fervor than just who you are a fan of. That was my challenge to myself.

The new goal is to see Taylor Blitz Times hit our 1,000,000th read! So yes share the article, comment, agree with points or disagree with points, just be respectful while doing so. I want someone showing their son, nephew, or daughter a player from the past without stumbling across rancor in the comment section. Its not what I built here and as I curate my work its fun seeing articles showing up in places with youngsters because of such. Now you’ll see an occassional cute model for some eye candy but that’s all. Hey if the networks do it why can’t I? But no mudslinging back and forth you see on Twitter, Threads, or Youtube.

For those that are new here I want to encourage you to look around and there were several projects from the past that will be reissued this month. Some are having additional videos or pics loaded up with them to give them a fresher look. Then there are several projects from years gone by you’ll find interesting

Top Ten Single Season Defenses – An 11 article offering where the top 10 received their own article and my list of those that almost made the cut. Criteria? What were they ranked for the season, record vs ProBowl QBs, how many teams held under 10 points in their season and how they did against Top 10 offenses that year. There are 10 more criteria and too much to cover. This link takes you to the “honorable mention” once there go to the bottom and hit next to cycle through the 10 articles.

Where were you when Dwight Clark made “The Catch” to begin the 49ers dynasty of the 1980s? What about the hit in the 1990 NFC Championship that took out Joe Montana for two years? Well you can hear from Giant Leonard Marshall & Mark Collins and their thougts clicking the link. And Joe Montana , I loved seeing him get absolutely decked but this last link is for appreciating the greatest QB in the history of the game? Wouldn’t it be cool to see videos and NFL Films to show you how they were thought of at the time? Click the link… you’ll be right there.

What about The Pro Football Hall of Fame? Well I can tell you my first two subjects Robert Brazile & the late Kevin Greene were written on the same night. Kevin & his lovely wife Tara had me at his 2016 PFHoF induction and I was in attendance for Mr Brazile in 2018. I had the chance to meet him since I had been invited by Jerry Kramer to the induction ceremony in 2018.

With Kevin Greene after the Induction ceremony.

All of this stems from advocating for players and coaches who I believed belong in The Pro Football Hall of Fame. In all 14 of the 22 I’ve written about and sent letters for have been enshrined. I’m still connected with each family and its not lost on me as we head to Super B0wl LX in San Fran not to remember Kevin & Tara learning he had made it in San Francisco before Super Bowl L.

Who did I hear he had made it into Canton? NFL Network? ESPN? No Alicia Kramer, Jerry’s daughter after the disappointment he didn’t get in again. Which made this picture and the trip to Canton in 2018 so special! Very emotional hug right as Rich Eisen was telling everyone to sit down as The Gold Jacket broadcast was seconds from beginning. She was her father’s presenter on Saturday inside the stadium.

What about retrospecives on Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, OJ Simpson, Dick Butkus, or the legendary Johnny Unitas? I just gave you 14 links to articles out of 726 or 1.92% of all the articles compiled here with video and personal touch commentary. What other players or stories or conjecture pieces are in the other 712?? Thats for you to go and look for whatever you want to look up. Pay attention to the comment section also you never know what former players have stopped by to leave remarks.

Grab your old man and ask him who Jaguar Jon Arnett was and show him this.RIP he was a friend to Taylor Blitz Times and commented often. As did Chris Burford, do you know who that was? The first ever player signed by Lamar Hunt to play for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs. Another friend to Taylor Blitz over the years.

Well enjoy and remember: If you enjoy or learn something like sometthing. Comment on it let me know you were here and what you thought. If you do that go ahead and share then subscribe.

Hey….another one of those cute football ladies again.

I’m off to have a dirty Martini with the Mrs. Thanks and I hope you come back and tell your friends to look up Taylor Blitz Times.

 

 

 

Legendary Days: The 1990 NFC Championship Game – The Death of Camelot 35th Anniversary Today!

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Leonard Marshall clobbers Joe Montana and knocks him out of the 1990 NFC Championship Game. He doesn’t return to action until the final game of the 1992 season against the Detroit Lions.

Reissue of Original Piece 24, July 2018

There is an old axiom when it comes to boxing when you hear someone say “styles make great fights” meaning opposing styles colliding provide great theater. Never was this more evident when it came to the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants of the 1980’s. The identity of the men from Gotham was a blood thirsty defense led by Lawrence Taylor, arguably the greatest defensive player ever. Joe Montana had ascended to legendary status as he led the NFL’s most efficient offense to 4 Super Bowl titles that decade. They would meet in a fitting crescendo that still has ramifications to this day.

If you travel to 1978 the Giants and 49ers met in what was a forgettable season for both. New York won 27-10 out in Candlestick during the season’s 4th week. They only won 3 games the rest of the stanza while San Francisco only won twice. Both began by hiring coaches in 1979 in Bill Walsh and Ray Perkins which set the course as each regime rose to prominence in the decade to come.

The next step was the selection of franchise quarterbacks, first Phil Simms in New York in round one then Joe Montana in the third. Each turned to the draft for the same spark on defense a few years later when the Giants selected LB Lawrence Taylor and Walsh’s selection of FS Ronnie Lott both in the 1st round in 1981. Both would later be enshrined in Canton.

Walsh and company ended an 8 year playoff drought with a 13-3 record and homefield advantage as Montana and company had come of age. New York defeated Dallas 13-10 to earn their first trip to the NFL postseason in 18 years. Then after a 27-21 upset of the defending NFC Champion Eagles in the wildcard round, New York was one step away from the NFC Championship Game and traveled west to face San Fran.

Going into the game the question was could NFL Defensive Player of the year Lawrence Taylor get to Joe Montana?? Could the finesse passing game take down the Giants’ hard rock defense??

Walsh’s team was shattering the NFL paradigm by passing first to set up the run. Contrary to popular belief was the fact it was San Francisco’s defense ranked #2 to the Giants at #3.

Montana was 20 of 31 for 304 yards for 2 TDs in a 38-24 win under the lights in Candlestick. Next came the NFC Championship with Dallas & The Catch, then a Super Bowl XVI victory and all the prestige that came with it. Walsh became the toast of the league and christened with his “genius” label. Joe became one of the faces of the NFL and would be one for the decade of the 1980’s.

The vanquished?? Well New York Defensive Coordinator Bill Parcell’s unit collapsed giving up a season high 38 points. They had only given up 30 once the entire year up to that point. As is the case when teams come up short in the playoffs, they’re knocked off kilter for a couple of years.

Parcells succeeded Perkins after a 4-5 season in ’82 and was nearly fired after a disastrous 3-12-1 rookie year in ’83. Yet all the while Walsh was one of the NFL’s marquee coaches and his 49ers bounced back and came within a couple penalties from winning the NFC Championship a 2nd time in 3 years. They fell to Washington 24-21 yet the media further spread the moniker they anointed Walsh with….”genius.”

Parcells bristled at the attention Walsh and the 49ers “finesse” approach to the game was getting. It only intensified in ’84 as they went 15-1 and threatened to go undefeated. New York rebounded as Phil Simms finally emerged from the shadows and became a 4,000 yard passer and the Giants returned to the playoffs. Another NFC playoff loss to Joe and the Niners 21-10 relegated the Giants to the NFL’s jr varsity as Walsh and Joe went on to hoist another Lombardi trophy.

However over the years Parcells kept building a team of brute force. Although they had been effective he drafted 6-4 250lb OLB Carl Banks who was a blue chip strong side ‘backer. Brought in 288 lbs DE Leonard Marshall to replace a 259lb Gary Jeter. He kept building upon his defense and relying on a straight forward power rushing attack.

Finally in the 1985 playoffs, the Giants #2 ranked defense held Montana and the 49er offense out of the endzone for the first time in a 17-3 Wildcard win at home. For the first time ever Parcells and the Giants beat the Niners in the 80’s and in the locker room he scoffed “What do you think now about that west coast offense?” In a bit of irony he wound up coining the name Walsh’s offense would come to be known forever.

However the Giants were manhandled in Chicago 21-0 to the eventual champion Bears. Both teams were built in the same old school fashion. You win with brute force on the line of scrimmage with a heavy front 7 and a strong offensive line with an offense that relied on the run. Yet the Giants sent alarm bells off all around the NFL when they already had a strong defense yet spent their first 6 picks in the first 3 rounds all on defense.

They fortified their defensive line with 6’4 280 lbs DE Erik Dorsey, NT Eric Howard who stood 6’4 275, 250 lb ILB Pepper Johnson along with crafty CB Mark Collins who was nearly 5-10 200 lbs. Collins turned into one of the Giant defense’s greatest assets as he blanketed Jerry Rice and was the best in history covering him. This gave the Giants a tremendous advantage for years to come.

Jim Burt knocking Joe Montana out with a concussion in their 49-3 rout in the ’86 playoffs.

In the ’86 playoffs the Giants defense had come of age and starting with a 49-3 devastation of San Francisco in the NFC Divisional Round, it became clear the pendulum had completely swung. Jim Burt knocked Joe Montana out with seconds to go in the 1st half as Taylor returned an interception 34 yards to balloon the score to 28-3. In an embarrassing fashion Walsh’s squad was hammered into submission. Physically beat down unlike any game they had seen since they became one of the league’s elite a few years before.

This forced the 49ers to finish what they started in the ’85 draft fortifying their lines with bigger players to deal with the Bears and Giants. It came to fruition as the Niners went on to win Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV after the ’88 and ’89 seasons. Walsh had stepped down after the XXIII championship and former DC George Seifert took over head coaching duties. Offensive Coordinator Mike Holmgren began to be recognized as the 49er offense elevated their play to one of near perfection. Walsh’s legend only grew even in his departure for creating the offensive system which allowed his 49ers to become the team of the decade.

Going into 1990 pundits were debating not only were the 49ers the best ever team but was Joe Montana the best ever quarterback?? The same could be said of Jerry Rice as he had assaulted the record books and also had been a Super Bowl MVP. On their way to back to back championships they had set the NFL record with 18 consecutive road wins. Now they had the chance to win 3 straight Super Bowls where it would leave no doubt. They began the season with a 10-0 record and…

Waiting for them who also began 10-0 was the Giant team that had learned how to win from the 49ers and had taken it up a level. Now the more powerful rebuilt 49ers who had a 2-3 record (0-2 in the playoffs since ’85) staring them down. Were they lucky they hadn’t met the Giants in the playoffs in both ’88 and ’89?? Would they even have won back to back had New York had a shot at them??

The Chancellor definitely doesn’t think they would have.. yet I digress

In week 12 each team was 10-1 when they met in San Francisco on a Monday Night. In the 2nd highest watched MNF in history the 49ers beat the Giants 7-3 in a slugfest where the Giants inability to score a touchdown on offense did them in. In 3 shots inside the redzone they could only score 1 field goal. Yet to a man the Giants relished another shot at San Francisco. Finally they would have their chance in the NFC Championship Game. For the decade the playoff record between the two stood at 2-2 and they would meet in the last chance to halt “Camelot’s” greatest procession into history.

In the collective gasp after the Leonard Marshall hit you knew everything had changed. The silence that befell Candlestick Park as Montana writhed in pain for several minutes was palpable. Unlike most games where the network would take a commercial break, a nationwide audience sat glued to the football version of a tragic event. The greatest quarterback whose nimble feet that deftly dodged trouble in and out of the pocket forever in January’s past had been viciously taken down. The Camelot Bill Walsh so eloquently stated of that era ended in that moment.

The final kick by Matt Bahr for the 15-13 win was just icing on the cake made by a ferocious defense in one of the greatest games in NFL history.

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A more visceral look:

The era closed with the Giants holding a 3-2 edge in postseason games although the Niners were team of the decade. Over the next 27 years coaches from both sides made it to the Super Bowl 15 times with Bill Belichick (9) Tom Coughlin (2) Mike Holmgren (3) and Jon Gruden (1). This doesn’t include Bill Parcells’ 2nd Super Bowl triumph 1 week after this game vs Buffalo in XXV. Much has been made of the Bill Walsh coaching tree but take a look at the one stemming from Parcells’ group. Its second to none and it all started with a championship win over Camelot in 1990.

Looking back each team had elevated the other and by the time the decade concluded they were head and shoulders above other teams. However the two contrasting styles made for great theater and one where most people forget who finished with the upper hand.

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