Tag Archives: Carnell Lake

When Pittsburgh Was The Center of The NFL’s Defensive Universe

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Over the last two weeks NFL pundits, including yours truly have been upset at the way the Steelers organization is playing games with TJ Watt. How can you play games with a future Hall of Famer like this? Sign him and go into the 2025 season with optimism and your defensive play maker ready to lead the charge! I joked about it on my Facebook page with a few former players when it hit me… wait a minute we’ve been here before.

Now all of us historians harken back to the great Steelers defense of the 1970’s and in particular focus on the ’74 draft where they selected 4 future Hall of Famers. Only Jack Lambert on the defense was drafted that year as FS Donnie Shell was an undrafted free agent. The Steel Curtain front four, Linebackers Ham and Russell had been assembled from 1963-74 when they broke through to win Super Bowl IX. Not one group that grew into menace from a single draft class.

Not only did this group achieve accolades but they shaped the next generation of NFL defensive excellence and the Steelers penchant for pinching pennies derailed that group also.

It was their 1987 draft class…. let’s set this up for you:

First round selection, HOF CB Rod Woodson went to 7 of his 11 Pro Bowls in the Steel City, won the 1993 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and made the All Time 75th team in ’94. Woodson came within a few votes from back-to-back NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards & finished in the top 5 – 3 times in 4 years (1993-’96). He was one of the most physically gifted CB which allowed him to excel once he aged and moved to Safety.

Rod went to the Pro Bowl 4 times at his new position and was All Pro twice for the Baltimore Ravens & Oakland Raiders. He was one of the leaders on one of the greatest defenses in NFL history in 2000 as a mentor to Ray Lewis. A #2 defense that set the record for fewest points in a season (165) and won Super Bowl XXXV going away. Before these stays he started at CB for the ’97 49ers who ranked #3 defensively and made it to the NFC Championship Game. His 2002 Raiders played in Super Bowl XXXVII where at the age of 37, received his 11th Pro Bowl and his 8th All Pro selection after a career high 8 interceptions. In addition to Canton, Woodson was named to The NFL’s All Time 100th Anniversary Team in 2019.

The most intimidating Steeler of them all…. Greg Lloyd

Greg Lloyd came in the 6th round & crashed the pass pocket from his OLB position making 5 straight Pro Bowls (’91-’95). They deployed him in Nickle and Dime situations both off the ball and as an edge rusher. In those 5 seasons he had 37 sacks, 27 forced fumbles and 6 interceptions in what The Chancellor believes was a Hall of Fame career. We’ll cover his total numbers later but we have to introduce everyone. Lloyd matured into the menacing face of the Steelers defense and twice was in the top 3 in NFL Defensive Player of The Year voting. Yes… at the same time as Woodson…in ’94-95.

Not a bad start until you get into the frugal way the Steelers are with homegrown talent. This led to a holdout after 5 years for FS Thomas Everett who was a hard hitter in the secondary who didn’t receive the accolades nationally his teammates had but how valuable was he? The Steelers dealt him to Dallas during his holdout at the start of ’92. #27 was a 4th round selection out of Baylor. The same school that produced HOF Mike Singletary.

Now you’re thinking “wait, this isn’t greatest ever talent”… well…. going into the 1992 season the Cowboys Achilles’ heel was their secondary.  Their draft tells you that picking up SS Darren Woodson, CB Kevin Smith, and CB Clayton Holmes in the first few rounds. In 1991, Dallas had lost to 4 run and shoot teams including a 38-6 drubbing to Detroit in the divisional round of the playoffs. The biggest blowout loss of any NFC team in the 1990’s. They had some coverage issues but Everett solidified the secondary, put players in good spots and made several plays that defined the Super Bowl XXVII rout of my Buffalo Bills.  He helped turn the secondary into a team strength.

Not Charles Haley…it was Thomas Everett that pushed the Cowboys over the top back in the early 1990s.

In the 2nd quarter when Buffalo was threatening to take the lead, Dallas had a goal line stand where Buffalo went for it on 4th down from the 1. Who intercepted the ball in the end zone to totally deflate the Bills? Thomas Everett. After halftime down 28-10 and fired up to get back into the game in the 3rd quarter, who read a short route and jumped it returning an interception to Buffalo’s 10 to end the competitive phase of the game?  That same Thomas Everett!

They were 3-1 against top 10 passing offenses and rose from 17th in total defense to 1st. Their pass defense rose from 23rd to 5th in their ’92 Super Bowl winning season. Yet he made his only Pro Bowl in 1993 and made a huge play intercepting Steve Young in the 2nd quarter of the NFC Championship setting up the TD to go up 14-0 in a raucous Texas Stadium. Two years with the Cowboys and 2 Super Bowl titles before finishing his career in Tampa. So Everett did help shape NFL history with pivotal plays for The Team of the Decade in championship play. Still sleep on Everett? Watch this

Which brings us to ’87 5th round selection Hardy Nickerson… now where the underpaying Steelers for the 2nd straight year lost a defensive stalwart that wanted out. It was ’93 and free agency had come and where Pittsburgh brass didn’t value Nickerson, former Bengal Head Coach Sam Wyche who had faced him twice a year did signing him to play in Tampa. Yes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had just had their NFL record 10th straight season with double digit losses. Nickerson had played well like Everett and didn’t get the recognition nationally his counterparts Lloyd and Woodson had… so what did he do in Tampa?

Well… Nickerson became the centerpiece of Defensive Coordinator Floyd Peters’ 4-3 at Middle Linebacker and a terror was set loose. He became a sideline-to-sideline tracker and hit everything in sight. In ’93 he led the NFL in tackles with a leauge record 214 while making his 1st Pro Bowl and voted 1st team All Pro. It was only the 4th time a Tampa Bay defender was voted to the Pro Bowl in Hawai’i and the 2nd All Pro selection since the team’s inception in 1976.

His play was so dominant he broke the team season tackle record in a week 13 win over Chicago. There were still 3 games to go in 1993! So his 1st season ended with 214 tackles, recorded a sack, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and had an interception.

Or think of it like this… he recorded 96 more tackles than his Hall of Fame teammate Derrick Brooks (118) recorded in ’02 when he was NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Chew on that for a second…

The Chancellor believes this spring boarded Nickerson into what was a Pro Football Hall of Fame career and shared this in a past article Nickerson for Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Nickerson went on to 4 All Pro selections and 5 Pro Bowls in 7 years and once finishing in the Top 10 in Defensive Player of The Year voting. His 4th and final All Pro & Pro Bowl selection came in ’99 when he led the NFL’s 3rd ranked defense to the NFC Championship Game. They were shutting down The Greatest Show on Turf beating them on the road 6-5 (really?) until 4:44 to go when Kurt Warner threw the winning touchdown. This was one of the greatest teams in history & Nickerson’s crew alomst kept them from Super Bowl XXXIV. In that game he had 6 tackles defensed a pass and had a timely interception.

With Kevin Greene after the Induction ceremony.

Why the center of the NFL’s Defensive Universe? The Steelers frugal ways are what kept us from seeing possibly the NFL’s best array of talent on one defense. Keep in mind by 1993 they became Blitzburgh when they signed free agent and Taylor Blitz Pro Football Hall of Fame article alumnus Kevin Greene to the fold. Greene led the NFL in sacks with 14 and went on to be the NFL’s All Time sack leader for a LB with 160. He made the Pro Bowl in 2 of his 3 years in The Blast Furnace and made 1 of his 3 career All Pros there.

Then again the Steelers went cheap and let Greene go to start a younger OLB in Jason Gildon. A damn good player but not the leader that Kevin was coming off that edge across from Lloyd.

For those of you keeping score at home –

Without adding 5 time Pro Bowl/4 time All Pro Strong Safety Carnell Lake & 3-time Pro Bowl and 2 time ILB Levon Kirkland these riches read off like a Madden All Star lineup that doesn’t appear real.

Woodson, Greene, Everett, Nickerson & Lloyd combined for 27 Pro Bowls, 17 All Pro Selections & 7 Top Ten votes for NFL Defensive Player of the Year in various seasons, 2 NFL sack champion totals and 2 enshrined in Canton. Yet the Steelers went cheap and robbed football fans of what would have been one of history’s finest defenses. These players matured into menaces and spread to every corner of the NFL as trained assassins. They were supposed to be the successor to Philadelphia’s Gang Green Defense and would have ruled the 1990s just as the 70’s Steelers dominated their era.

If we add Lake & Kirkland back in these defenders had 24 conference championship appearances 8 Super Bowl appearances winning 3 rings. Anchored by the 1987 Steeler draft class… just think about it:

  • Greene led the ’96 Panthers to the NFC Championship in their 2nd year leading the league in sacks again.
  • Nickerson was the 1st piece and building block for what would become Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl defense.
  • Everett was a defensive leader on The Team of The Decade winning 2 Super Bowls in Dallas.
  • Woodson’s HOF career saw him switch to Free Safety and play on The Chancellor’s 2nd best defense in NFL history. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens

 

TJ coming off in Kevin’s spot.

So Steeler fans hold your breath with the Steelers playing around with TJ Watt’s contract. They’ve been known to let Hall of Fame level talent go. Do you realize none of these great players finished their careers in Pittsburgh?? Uh oh TJ… and they traded hard hitting FS Minkah Fitzpatrick last week. Sigh… and now Steeler fans are losing it since he was a no-show at minicamp. Stay tuned!

 

Please lend your thoughts as well by writing in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the address below. Please be respectful and positively lend your voice:

Caught up to Lloyd in Canton.

Write & nominate Hardy Nickerson /Greg Lloyd / Carnell Lake
Send letters to:
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Attention Hall of Fame Selection Committee
2121 George Halas Dr NW, Canton,
OH 44708

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Dedicated to the memories of Bill Nunn, Chuck Noll, Sam Wyche, Kevin Greene, & Floyd Peters

We have an update on TJ Watt on the 17th of August, a week after this article, he was signed to an extension. About time!

He is a PFHoFer, don’t play around with his contract. A dangerous game.

 

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Missing Rings – 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars

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Elusive Fred Taylor was one of the best running backs in the NFL.

Elusive Fred Taylor was one of the best running backs in the NFL.

There comes a point and time where your greatest effort is rewarded with your greatest prize. At least that is what we are all lead to believe. However that isn’t always the case and it’s what makes the NFL playoffs so compelling. To know that a one and done scenario exists in the playoffs, heightens pulses, nerves, and ultimately leads to the best and worst in players and coach alike. Jimmy Johnson before Super Bowl XXVIII asked his team “How would you feel if you lost the game and you had the best team in the NFL?? How sick would you feel??”

Enter the 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars…

This was a team borne from expansion in 1995 along with the Carolina Panthers. Each team surprisingly made it to their conference championships in their second year. However the Jaguars were able to sustain their success. They honed and developed offensive talent that had been mired on NFL benches with QB Mark Brunell (Packers), WR Jimmy Smith (Cowboys), and Keenan McCardell  (Browns). In 1996 & 1997 both Smith and McCardell had over 1,000 yards receiving. In fact it’s debatable that Smith had become the NFL’s best receiver.

Through the 1999 season, Smith had averaged 90 receptions 1,346 yards and 6 touchdowns over those 4 years. He had been to the Pro Bowl in 3 of those 4 seasons. They had former Charger RB Natrone Means and James Stewart who teamed to run the ball and kept defenses honest. No gamebreaking or big runs but were effective enough.

Brunell had made a name for himself playing like the AFC version of Steve Young. A gritty, mobile quarterback who could make every kind of throw. Yet his spontaneous scrambles unnerved defenses.  He also had been to the Pro Bowl in 3 of those 4 years. Mark came of age in the 1996 AFC Divisional Playoff upset of the Denver Broncos. Mark Brunell

In that game the 9-7 Jaguars made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.  After upsetting the Buffalo Bills on the road, it was expected their Cinderella season would end at the hands of the 13-3 Broncos in Mile High Stadium. Not only were they 8-0 at home but nationwide sentiment favored John Elway making it back to the Super Bowl with the NFL’s strongest team. Denver had rushed out to a 12-1 record wrapping up the AFC West and homefield advantage before resting their players.

After falling behind 12-0, Brunell engineered a comeback where he passed for 245 yards and 2 scores, but came up with timely scrambles that kept drives alive. Along with the running of Natrone Means (140 yds / 1TD), Brunell ran for 44 more as the Jaguars scored on 6 straight possessions in front of a shocked Denver crowd taking a 30-20 lead. The final 30-27 score stunned fans around the nation and everyone hailed the coming of Brunell and the Jaguars.

On the ground the Jags plodding rushing attack with RB James Stewart and Means. Two big backs with very little wiggle and no splash plays of any kind. They needed a spark. In 1998 the Jaguars addressed their running issues by drafting the electric but often injured RB Fred Taylor of Florida. He brought the big play from the backfield whether it was a spectacular run or pass reception. His 1,223 yards and 14 TDs should have landed him in the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

Brunell passed for 20TDs and only 9 interceptions in a season where he missed 3 games. Jimmy Smith exploded for 78 receptions 1,182 yards and 8 TDs and one of his Pro Bowl berths. As an offense they finally had everything and it looked like 1999 would be the year they would put it all together.

As a defense the Jaguars began to bring in blue chip players to replace those received in the expansion draft. In their 1995 they drafted linebacker Kevin Hardy and defensive end Tony Brackens. Over the next two years, these two matured into two of the AFC’s best as the Jaguars added blue chip draft picks S Donovin Darius & CB Aaron Beasley.

Free agency brought former Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Bryce Paup and perennial All Pro Carnell Lake formerly of Pittsburgh. Then they hired former Panther Coach Dom Capers to be the defensive co-ordinator and the team that finished 6th in the NFL in defense looked to improve in 1999.

The ’99 campaign began with a 41-3 devastation of the San Francisco 49ers at home. Hall of Famers Steve Young, Jerry Rice and the 49ers were still intact at the time. They started 3-1 before Young’s career ending concussion, but that one loss?? The Jags chased him all over AllTel Stadium. He was 9 for 26 while throwing for only 96 yards and 2 interceptions before getting benched.

They held Rice to only 2 receptions while Terrell Owens had 5. After giving up an early field goal, Jacksonville scored 41 unanswered points with the last touchdown being a 90 yard interception return by Aaron Beasley. This sent a shock-wave through the NFL.

Through the first 15 weeks of the season, the Jaguars looked like they were on a collision course with the St Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. They were 13-1 going into a game with the Tennessee Titans that could wrap up home-field advantage and the AFC Central Divsion Championship. They had only given up 169 points and were on pace to break the record of the ’86 Bears for fewest points in a season at 187. In fact they had a 6 game stretch where they held their opponents to 10 points or less.

They also beat the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos, who were the teams that knocked them out of the playoffs each of the last two seasons. Jimmy Smith was having a career year with 116 catches for 1,636 yards and 6 touchdowns. They had outscored their opposition 358-169 and were on an 11 game winning streak. What could go wrong??

Well early in September they lost 20-19 to the Tennessee Titans when Neil O’Donnell subbed for an injured Steve McNair at home. They were a 1 point loss from being 14-0 and now traveled to Tennessee to get revenge and ran smack into a buzzsaw. A division rival that had been chasing them all year had their number as Steve McNair, who was now healthy, threw for 5 touchdowns in a convincing 41-14 win. Surprise!

They now had been swept by their division rival who bullied and outhit them in that game. Not only was their confidence shaken, but questions about their Super Bowl legitimacy could be heard around the NFL and by fans. They did finish with a 24-7 win against the Bengals to finish 14-2, but they were going into the ’99 playoffs asking themselves two questions. Were they the team that was 14-0 against the rest of the NFL??Or were they the team that got swept by the Tennessee Titans??

First up came a game with in-state rival Miami in the AFC Divisional round. It would be the first time Jacksonville would have a home playoff game. How would they fare??

After the 62-7 trouncing of Miami, the Jaguars knew they had to go through the Titans again in the AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars had pulled off the most lopsided playoff game in modern (post 1960) NFL history. For one that was labeled a finesse team, they had been physical with their demolition of Miami and they flew into the AFC Championship Game. The question was: Were they physical enough to beat a true phyical team in the Titans??

At least it would be at home where they had gone 8-1 when you include their playoff game. Winner take all for the right to go to Super Bowl XXXIV. The story lines surrounding this championship was the relative health of both Mark Brunell (knees) and Steve McNair (toe) who were nursing injuries. Wouldn’t you know it was the turning point of the game.

Mark Brunell sacked for the safety which turned the momentum in the '99 AFC Championship Game.

Mark Brunell sacked for the safety which turned the momentum in the ’99 AFC Championship Game.

The AFC Championship was a hard fought affair that saw the Jaguars hold onto a 14-10 lead at the half. While driving for what would have been a momentum building score at the end of the half turned out disastrous for Jacksonville when Brunell was intercepted in the end zone by Marcus Robertson. The momentum switched from there…

McNair, whose foot finally responded, escaped Jacksonville’s defense for a 51 yard run down to the 1 yard line on the first drive of the second half. He scored on the next play to give the Titans a 17-14 lead. Brunell on the other hand was immobile wearing two knee braces. During the regular season where he escaped the pocket 47 time for 208 yards and a touchdown, he was uncomfortable all day and left the pocket once for -1 yard.

In fact after the Titans pinned Jacksonville to their own 3, the immobile Brunell was sacked for a safety by DT Josh Evans that helped break open the game at 19-14. The resultant free kick was then returned 80 yards by Derrick Mason and now the Titans were up 26-14. In less than half a quarter, the Titans scored 16 unanswered points and had a 2 touchdown lead. With their ears pinned back, the Titans pass rush forced Brunell into his roughest outing of the season. He went 19 of 38 for 239 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 costly interceptions. They lost 33-14.

Epilogue: For one brief moment in time, the Jacksonville Jaguars soared to new heights. Most people forget that they were the first to flirt with breaking the record for fewest points given up in a season and not the Ravens. It was Baltimore who broke it in 2000. They had the NFL’s best record (14-2) and finished the season scoring 396 while allowing just 217 which was the fewest.

That 179 point differential was 2nd only to The Greatest Show on Turf ’99 Rams that many wanted to see them play in Super Bowl XXXIV. They finished 4th in total defense, 7th on offense, and had 5 Pro Bowl performers in Brunell, Kevin Hardy, Tony Brackens, Carnell Lake, and Jimmy Smith. Yet they had to sit home and watch someone else represent the AFC in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.

The team would never be the same. Injuries and disappointment followed in 2000 as they went 7-9. In fact the Jaguars had 3 successive losing seasons which led to Tom Coughlin’s dismissal after the 2002 season.

Want some irony??

Fisher had some parting verbal shots at Jacksonville on the field after that ’99 championship. Coughlin gets fired a few years later. Fisher goes on to lose Super Bowl XXXIV to the St. Louis Rams. Now Jeff Fisher is the St. Louis Rams head coach after NOT winning a Super Bowl in Tennessee. Guess what Fisher did last February?? He sat his ass on a couch and watched Tom Coughlin win his second Super Bowl with the New York Giants to put his name on the short list of great coaches who have accomplished that.

Always be classy when you win…

The 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the best teams that didn’t win the Super Bowl

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