Tag Archives: Cincinnati Bengals

The AFL: A True American Success Story

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AFL Founder / Chiefs Owner Lamar Hunt with Hank Stram and the the 1966 AFL Trophy.

Article Reissue: 3, June 2011

As we just cleared the last hurdle on our way to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, its time to take a look back to the Super Bowl’s origins. The 1960’s when the upstart National Football League met its match with the American Fooball League horning into their territory. Keep in mind all of this started with a series of championship ring stories on social media a millenia ago. Without further adieu…

Unlike other leagues that popped up and died, the American Football League lives on in the American Football Conference of the modern NFL.  With a burgeoning economy after World War II, Americans turned their attention to a life of leisure during the 1950s. Sports became the outlet for most of America.

There was a clamor by many who felt slighted when it came to big league sports.  The furthest point west on the map where major professional sports was played, was Wisconsin & St Louis Missouri. Then something happened to change the landscape.  The AAFC football league folded and the San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL in 1950, along with the champion Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.

This event helped propel the Cleveland Rams west to Los Angeles, where they joined San Francisco to be the first pro teams in California. Now other western cities wanted in on the action and all the other sports started to broaden their minds toward relocation.  Soon moves were made by an L.A. Councilwoman who massaged the beginnings of what came to be the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California in 1957.  Expansion was on soon with the Lakers in 1960 moving from Minneapolis.  Now Texans wanted an NFL team and had the money to gain an NFL franchise or so Lamar Hunt thought.

AFL and Kansas City Chief founder Lamar Hunt holding a platter of AFL footballs.

AFL and Kansas City Chief founder Lamar Hunt holding a platter of AFL footballs.

Then the NFL had the landmark 1958 NFL Championship overtime game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts that transformed the spark of interest into a flame. Hunt and principles moved quickly to form the American Football League since the NFL had thwarted their attempts to bring football to Texas. Now you have to understand who we’re talking about here for a second.  Lamar Hunt was son of H.L. Hunt of Hunt Brothers Oil! We’re talking seriously deep pockets here. The NFL in its arrogance thought they would outlast a fledgling league like the AAFC just a decade before….damn were they wrong.

Once the idea of the AFL gained momentum, the NFL turned to espionage and tricky double dealing to sink the new league.  The eight cities that Hunt and the other AFL owners decided on were Dallas, Houston, Denver, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Buffalo. However the NFL bent the ear of the Minnesota ownership group, and told them they would give them an NFL franchise if they would decieve their brethren, by defecting to the NFL at the last minute. It almost worked but the AFL scrambled to move the eighth team to its new home in Oakland. Meanwhile the NFL put a team in Dallas to compete with Hunt’s Dallas Texans, they were called the Cowboys.

The AFL had some seriously rich men that wanted to see it succeed in Bud Adams, Ralph Wilson, Lamar Hunt, and Barron Hilton yet there were other ownership groups that struggled to make ends meet as the league got off the ground in 1960. Many teams were losing money at record rates, some to the tune of a million dollars or more.

It was former Boston Patriot owner Billy Sullivan who coined the phrase “The Foolish Club” when listening to his colleagues joke about revenues lost.  However John Madden recalled a reporter asking Lamar’s father H.L. Hunt “What did he think of his son losing $1 million  a year??” Hunt’s answer was cryptic to the NFL and the sporting establishment’s ears when he replied “Well, he’ll be ok. At that rate he’ll only be able to go on for another 150 years.” Damn!!  On 1960’s dollars??  Yikes!!

Although the NFL had been around forever, for the first time they were up against wealthy men who gained their fortunes as titans of industry outside of football. NFL owners George Halas, Carroll Rosenbloom, Tim and Wellington Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Art Modell were primarily football men and knew their asses were in trouble.  If it came down to the AFL’s pockets they would be in for a battle they couldn’t win.

The first few years had the established sporting press scoffing at the league’s style of play, uniforms, retread players and coaches, you name it. This is an era where if you went against the establishment, you had more than an uphill battle just for acceptance….I mean the radical 60’s were not yet underway. Yet here they were continuing the plan on expanding professional football to more points within the United States.

al-davis-bustOne of the first items the AFL did was secure a television contract to assist the teams that had financial problems like the Titans and Raiders.  The Raiders had also come to a point of folding when they contacted their fellow teams and said they couldn’t sustain operation financially.  Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson stepped in and lent the Raiders $450,000 to stay afloat because the league couldn’t operate with only 7 teams. As for the Titans and Harry Wismer, the Jets needed an ownership group that had the pockets and vision to rival that of the New York Giants. Enter Sonny Werblin.

Werblin spearheaded a group that purchased the bankrupt New York Titans, renamed them the Jets and helped negotiate the most lucrative television contract to date with NBC.  Over $1.8 million dollars went to each team in 1965 and with all of their teams solvent for future operation, new stadiums went up in San Diego (Los Angeles), Oakland, & Denver. Now the next move Werblin spearheaded was to draft Joe Namath and pay him a ridiculous $427,000 contract to be the star in New York. Uh oh…this single shot turned the draft into a who is going to pay the most for a players services between the two leagues.  Talk about impact.

An unwritten agreement existed between the two leagues to not sign each others current players.  Yet the NFL went underhanded, yet again, when the New York Giants signed kicker Pete Gogolak from the two time AFL Champion Buffalo Bills.  The AFL retaliated big time. It was recounted by Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Texans who had moved his team to Kansas City and renamed them the Chiefs, to meet Tex Schramm and discuss a possible merger. Hunt still lived in Dallas. They met at Love Field under the Texas Ranger statue and when the meeting was over, Hunt flew to Houston to elect Al Davis AFL Commissioner.  Joe Foss had been a good commissioner but now they needed a “war time President”.  Al Davis quickly helped teams realize they could bring the NFL to its knees if they created a bidding war by signing away their superstars.

The moves of signing away San Francisco quarterback John Brodie, Los Angeles’ Roman Gabriel, and Chicago’s Mike Ditka were the straw that broke the camel’s back.  The bidding for player’s talents had driven contracts up dramatically and the NFL grudgingly came to the table.  Al Davis was away about to sign another player when Hunt told him that they were going to meet the next day about a merger and they didn’t need the headlines. *Pay attention because this is the birthplace of the Chiefs / Raiders rivalry and the Al Davis against the world mentality takes place*  Davis signs the player which angers Hunt.

In the subsequent negotiations, the leagues agree to a merger with the two league’s champions playing in a new championship game, the Super Bowl, for the first four years and realignment into one all inclusive league in 1970.  Pete Rozelle remained commissioner over all of football, there was a common draft starting in 1966… and Al Davis….?? They left him out in the cold sort of…

Super Bowl I Trophy sits in the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame.

This is where he received his dubious ownership distinction and awkward title President of the Managing General Partner for the Raiders.  He had only been a coach before, yet one of the  items that seemed spineless is the NFL made the AFL’s teams pay $3 million in reparation damages each and had Al Davis been there would never have acquiesced to such a demand.  Not when they had the NFL crawling to the table.  It was this animosity toward Pete Rozelle, Bud Adams and especially the Kansas City Chiefs and Lamar Hunt that raged on for many years. *This is where the animosity between Davis and Rozelle fostered…remember the court battles of the 1980s between the Oakland Raiders v the NFL??*

The patch worn by the Kansas City Chiefs on January 11, 1970 for Super Bowl IV. The final game of the AFL

In the first two Super Bowls Green Bay bested Kansas City and Oakland respectively.  The landmark win came when the Jets upset Baltimore to show that the AFL was on a par in Super Bowl III.  Then with a twist of fate, the ownership group who traitorously tried to sink the AFL by defecting, came into Super Bowl IV against the Kansas City Chiefs and AFL founder Lamar Hunt.  In the last game ever for the AFL, Kansas City buried the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 to bring not only the Super Bowl record to 2-2 between the two leagues, but able to have the satisfaction of kicking Judas’ ass in the process.

In conclusion: It was wrong to not include Davis and to me is the one of the few black eyes in this success story.  The AFL was swallowed into the monolith that is the NFL after expanding the AFL to 10 teams with Cincinnati, and Miami emerging.  These 10 teams were joined by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Colts, yes the Baltimore Colts who gave the NFL a black eye with that first loss. They didn’t go empty handed, each club was paid $3 million to move to the new AFC.  Yet AFL loyalists such as Davis wished the two leagues stay separate, and he truly believed they would have eventually folded the NFL.

In fact in the 3 Super Bowls the Raiders won in the post merger NFL, Davis always used the AFL logo and not the bold modified block “A” of the AFC on their Super Bowl rings.  He didn’t relent until the 2002 AFC championship ring where he finally used the AFC “A”.

hof-lamar-huntThere you have it…how the AFL changed the sporting landscape after the first shot was fired by the folding of their predecessors, the AAFC.  San Francisco’s entering the NFL doesn’t get the impact that it should because so much focus was on champion Cleveland coming over.  The western expansion of American Football owes a debt of gratitude to the 49ers yet even more to those original owners.

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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.

 

 

 

The New York Jets Should Trade for Jameis Winston

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When you begin an NFL season 0-7 with a 1st year coach many pundits are turning to the possibility of a 1 and done year for Head Coach Aaron Glenn. The one thing that’s evident is Justin Fields isn’t an NFL quarterback and it’s tragic watching him misread defenses every week. He is a shot fighter whose fight or flight mechanism has been ruined and he can’t throw his receivers open. IF the Jets trot him out there to underwhelm at quarterback Glenn might be gone.

Right now other teams are licking their chops about to pounce on the Jets expecting a fire sale of their proven players which would retard this organization further. The blueprint for what they need to do was provided by Cincinnati just two weeks ago, trade for the most viable quarterback who would benefit from a change of scenery. With teams ridiculing the Browns for trading within not only their conference but their own division, this isn’t an option. Trade with the Giants (NFC) for Jameis Winston who now sits at #3 on the Giants depth chart.

Jaxson Dart just had a game where he came of age and solidified himself as the unquestioned starter for the Giants which validates his selection as a 1st round pick. With Russell Wilson as the #2 and making upwards of $20 million, Winston for half of his $4 million salary won’t be an issue for a team that is $37 million under the cap. Not only does it make fiscal sense Winston and his family wouldn’t even have to move.

The Cincinnati Joe Flacco blueprint just showed us a team flat on its ass after losing Joe Burrow to injury. They watched backup Jake Browning, who knew the playbook, but didn’t have the confidence or arm talent to throw their top flight receivers Tee Higgins or Ja’Marr Chase the football. All we saw were misreads that turned into checkdowns. A close look at the stats show his completion percentage (64.5%) is less than 1% different than Joe Flacco’s (65.2%). However he threw 8 interceptions in 2 starts and left a lot of plays on the field too scared to throw the football.

We watched Joe Flacco steady that offense and infuse confidence in the Bengals huddle. He infused belief and willingness to let go of the football throwing receivers open downfield. Chase & Higgins caught a combined 22 receptions for 257 yds & 2 TDs Thursday Night vs 15 receptions & 157 yards combined the week before in Green Bay. Chase did better in the game against the Steelers by himself than the two had againt the Packers with Browning at the helm. He had 16 receptions for 161 yards and 1 TD. Why? Flacco let the ball go when it was time to go downfield.

Are you telling me the Jets can’t do that with Jameis Winston and Garrett Wilson? Winston would like his final glimpse of glory and has grown into one of the most respected teammates at his last two stops. Have you seen how players gravitate to him as a man / player?

@saints

Everybody couldnt wait to hug Jameis ❤️ #NFLGameday #wholesome #Hug #Saints #LOVE #Sportsmanship

♬ jeans – 2hollis

Keep in mind this is a man who has won a Heisman Trophy and has thrown for 5,000 yards in an NFL season. He also won a National Championship Rose Bowl in college. Now his detractors point to his famous stat of 33TDSs & 30 interceptions but I can assure you Tyrod Taylor nor Justin Fields will throw for 5,000 yards if you gave them 2 seasons to do it. Lets face it bad scramble, check down, check down and punt for an NFL series is why the Jets are 0-7 in the 1st place. All this safe quarterbacking has the Jets staring at the NFL’s first ever 0-17 season in history. Something drastic has to be done.

Well he won that Natty 10 years ago someone may scoff but wasn’t it 12 years ago Joe Flacco won Super Bowl XLVII?? 47 and we’re 4 months away from the 60th Super Bowl (LX). Do you know how long ago that was? Two of Flacco’s teammates have been enshrined in Canton and he has lost 2 others (Jacoby Jones & Arthur Jones) However it’s muscle memory to having performed in that type of arena before that is the lure.

 

To be a starting quarterback in the NFL you have to have the belief and talent to lead a football team. You don’t accidentally command respect in a huddle and have teammates rally to play hard for you. Without a course correction Coach Glenn, your team is facing disaster with the present QBs on the roster. Make a move to get Jameis and play with a few leads so your defense can show it’s fangs. You’re on the verge of losing everything and now you need the moxie and downfield daring of a Jameis Winston to unlock your offense. Time to infuse some juice!

His 2024:

Aaron Glenn, the trade deadline is November 4th, quit reading this article and go call the Giants!

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The Browns Should Fire Kevin Stefanski Immediately

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Somewhere midway through the 3rd quarter of the Bengals’ thrilling 33-31 victory over Pittsburgh, it became evident Joe Flacco’s performance wasn’t going to subside. What happened to the gun shy quarterback who was benched over in Cleveland leaving a rudderless ship with 2 rookies vying to be the starting quarterback? Moreover what does that say about the coaching prowess of Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski?

Flacco had been unceremoniously benched following a 1-3 start where he completed 93 of 160 (58.1%) for 815 yards 2TDs and a league leading 6 interceptions. He was traded to the Bengals on  October 7th and in just 9 days with his new team led the Bengals to season highs in points (33) and total yards with 470.

Bengals Coach Zac Taylor could coax this type of performance in just 4 practices with a QB new to his system? Again I ask what does this say about Kevin Stefanski as a Head Coach?? Flacco looked nothing like the player we saw on Thursday night. He looked inspired, energetic and in command of an NFL offense. The Bengals played with a belief we did not see in Cleveland through the first 4 weeks. All stemming from the quarterback position…

Isn’t this why Stefanski was hired in the first place?? He was the Minnesota Vikings QB Coach and Offensive Coordinator and he can’t develop any of his quarterbacks. Did he get the job on merit or just a product of the good ole boy network?? Look at the QBs he has run off from Cleveland in the last 5 years and ask yourself what is the common denominator:

Baker Mayfield – The people’s champ who has resurrected his career and is the front runner to be 2025 NFL MVP. In 6 games leads the NFL with 108.5 QBR, 1,539 yds 12 TDs with only 1 interception. Four come from behind victories in under 2 minutes. The year before threw for a career high 41TDs so this isn’t a fluke. Stefanski ran him off…

Jacoby Brissett & Case Keenum –  Both players have been part time starters and mainly 2nd string QBs but couldn’t be molded into a Daniel Jones type leaning on his running game and stout defense to win games?? You may chuckle but you forget Keenum went 11-3 and took the 2017 Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship Game. Remember The Minneapolis Miracle to Stephon Diggs to beat the Saints in the NFC Divisonal Playoff??

Of course you have the strange odyssey of DeShaun Watson where his play has completely regressed since the Browns signed him to a $242 million dollar guaranteed contract. He hasn’t come close to the 3 time Pro Bowl performer he had been. He is “this close” to playing his way out of the league. After throwing for 26, 26, & 33 TDs in 2018-2020 he hasn’t thrown for more than 10 in any of the last 3 seasons.

All this before we talk about the awful treatment of Shedeur Sanders. I’d like to say Watson is playing for his career but we watched Joe Flacco with a new coach breathe life into his. Daniel Jones is on his way to 2025 Comeback Player of the Year now he is out of New York and underachieving Brian Daboll. Coaching matters and poor coaching undermines and derails careers and Stefanski is the worst coach at developing quarterbacks.

What’s worse is Joe Flacco saved Stefanski when he came in off the street to lead his underachieving 2023 team to the playoffs. He even seemed dispirited and disinterested until Thursday Night’s performance with the Bengals. He can’t develop his specialty of QB or platoon a  coordinated offense in Cleveland. He should be fired this Monday if they lose to the 1-5 Miami Dolphins. I see him being fired within the next three weeks and better sooner than later.

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Epilogue: I owe a tremendous apology to Baker Mayfield as I brought up the question of his coachability in the NFL. I was wrong and he is easily the NFL’s MVP if the season were to end today.

This picture was used by The Chancellor of Football to show where he had appeared to devolve to the point of Johnny Manziel. He has resurrected his career and is playing light’s out football and he has proven me wrong and pulling for him.

 

 

 

 

 

How Did Colin Cowherd Survive The FS1 Purge? Always Arguing QBs Need Offensive Coaches Which Totally Is NOT True!

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FS1 decided to shake up their lineup and cancelled Breakfast Ball, The Facility, and Speak which was disappointing but somehow Colin Cowherd survived the purge. In listening to The Facility it was fun to hear the opinions of players with their own stories they could offer in dealing with past colleagues and coaches. It mirrors what you hear now in Podcasts and when I speak to players away from public social media venues to what they believe and see.

I’ve always been a fan of Stink Schlereth and Carton grew on me with his silly antics covering New York teams. It was fun, a little analytical and very opinionated.  Yet Carton and Stink were like talking sports with your friends. Hell thats what Taylor Blitz is… but somehow Cowherd survived the purge.

Year after year and show after show I’ve listened to Cowherd give opinions that help shape the narrative around the country. The one that I’d hear from him on a consistent basis thats totally wrong are QBs need an offensive coach. He’d scoff and put down any team that brought in a defensive coach insisting the league has passed them by. He couldn’t wait to tout the new offensive wizard every chance he had which shuts the door on former defensive players becoming head coaches in impressionable GMs minds and the sporting opinion lexicon. Ohhh… don’t think they’re listening?? Look around… First a little housekeeping on the inaccuracy of that mindset:

Did you know Peyton Manning set the NFL record for points scored (606 points) passing yards (5,554) & touchdowns (55) while playing for defensive coach John Fox in 2013? Fox was the Defensive Coordinator for the NY Giants in 2000 when they went to Super Bowl XXXV.

Yet 13 years later he returned to Giants Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII with a record setting Manning as his QB. Yet every time I turn around I hear Colin Cowherd & ESPN talking heads state QBs have to have Offensive Coordinators as Head Coaches to get the most out of them. This has never been true & I’ll prove it to you and no… “that was a different era” argument is just a copout for the person losing.

Keep in mind all these Head Coaches were defensive position coaches with most rising through as Defensive Coordinators. Not only this but wait until I show you the NFL offensive records these coaches were a part of:

  • Peyton Manning from 1998-2001 played for Colts HC Jim Mora (Linebacker & DB Coach) then Tony Dungy (DB Coach) 2002-2008.
  • Tom Brady from from 2000-2019 played for Patriots HC Bill Belichick (Giants DC & LB Coach) winning 6 Super Bowls.
  • Warren Moon in The Run N Shoot rose to PFHOF status with HC Jack Pardee (former Charger DC & long time NFL Linebacker)
  • Dan Marino shattered NFL records for TDs (48) and yards (5,084) in ’84 playing for Don Shula (Former DB Coach Baltimore Colts)
  • Josh Allen just won NFL MVP in ’24 playing for Sean McDermott (Eagles DC & Panthers DC) accounting for 40 touchdowns.
  • Jayden Daniels won ’24 NFL Rookie of the Year taking Washington to the NFC Championship with Dan Quinn (DC Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas)
  • CJ Stroud won ’23 NFL Rookie of the Year & beat Cleveland 45-14 in the AFC Wildcard Game for HC DeMeco Ryans (DC 49ers)
  • Cam Newton won ’15 NFL MVP throwing 35TDs and rushing for 10 more taking HC Ron Rivera (DC Bears, Chargers) to Super Bowl L.
  • Lamar Jackson won ’19 & ’23 NFL MVP with Ravens HC John Harbaugh (DB & Special Teams Eagles).

Marino’s stats in 84 courtesy of CBS.

Aside from the 7 Super Bowls won from this list, you have 22 conference championship appearances, 12 NFL MVPs, and the last 3 single season passing TD record holders. Dan Marino ’84 (48TDs) Peyton Manning ’04 (49TDs), Tom Brady ’07 (50Tds) and as mentioned earlier Manning ’13 (55TDs). Keep in mind this isn’t accounting for Peyton’s Super Bowl XLIV run where he won league MVP under offensive HC Mike Caldwell and not Tony Dungy. Nor does this account for Brady’s 7th Super Bowl win with Bruce Arians.

So 3 of the last 5 NFL MVPs have played for defensive coaches and 2 of the 3 winningest coaches of all time Don Shula and Bill Belichick were defensive coaches. On top of that these two accounted for the only undefeated regular seasons in NFL history in 1972 & 2007. There were over 100 NFL records before counting 4 Super Bowl MVPs. Of those records the undefeated ’07 Patriots (589 points) & ’13 Broncos (606 points) are the highest scoring teams in NFL history. Not these so-called offensive gurus Colin mentions.

The Super Bowl champion Eagles & Kansas City Chiefs withstanding, the Bills, Ravens, Washington, and Houston Texans are all predicted to have late playoff runs. In fact the Bills and Commanders, on the strength of their offenses were in last year’s conference championship games with a defensive coach.

The issue is media laziness that pushes this narrative setting the climate where NFL Execs believe the noise they need the next “offensive mind”. A young innovative play caller with 800 pick plays that don’t work. I can remember Steve Spurrier “The Old Ball Coach” who was going to conquer the NFL. He got laughed out of the league in 2 years. Urban Meyer? Marc Trestman? Chip Kelly? All these gurus, even Sean McVay and his wizardry fell in Super Bowl LIII 13-3 to Bill Belichick’s Patriots. Remember that?? They lined up in the “I” Formation and ran it down the Rams throats.

Championship Gatorade Bath in ’21

Its cheating the game as defensive coaches know that balance is what wins football games. Taylor Blitz is pulling for Aaron Glenn in New York to have a great career with the Jets. I want to see and hear the pathway for former Jet Linebacker Marvin “Shade Tree” Jones to move up to the NFL ranks. He is head coach of the Tulsa Oilers just a few seasons removed from winning the ’21 Indoor Football League Championship with Omaha Beef. This is a league with a wide open style of offense and showcases his chops to adust philosophy to a different style of play then what he emerged from as a player.

This isn’t new as I mentioned Houston Oiler Coach Jack Pardee earlier. Keep in mind he was a 15 year Middle Linebacker in the NFL. As a coach he ushered in The Run & Shoot offense in the NFL that eliminated the position he played for most defenses that faced his Oilers! Opponents routinely deployed 7 defensive backs and no Middle Linebacker.

One aspect of this issue is this is being done to keep the NFL coaching ranks from having too many black coaches. I’ve written about this before back in ’22 “The Media’s Role Selectively Omitting Genius of Black Coordinators” where media is a willing partner nefariously working toward this narrative. In the same manner we saw Shedeur Sanders name tainted in NFL circles before the draft, we saw this with the way 2 time Super Bowl champion Offensive Coordinator Eric Bienemy was “sidelined” with his coverage in his head coaching search.

So the next time you hear the b.s. narrative and why defensive coaches don’t win, remind whoever the highest scoring teams in league history and all the NFL’s passing records came from QBs led by defensive coaches. The reigning NFL MVP & the last 2 Rookie of the Year recipients are quarterbacks on defensive coach’s teams as well.

If I hear Colin start in on this again, I’m throwing a brick through my television and suing FS1 for damages.

Are we saying crazy takes because we believe what we’re saying with context or spouting what corporate wigs want discussed?? It could be just about ratings but you can’t have me pull out all these NFL records and MVPs and even glean this is an honest truth. We also don’t want this to be the squashing of black voices & points of view in the media as well…

Anyway, we at least have Schlereth still in the booth during games although this allowed us to get to know his basketball likes and appreciation for athletes from multiple sports.

I’m going to miss those guys on Breakfast Ball, listening to former players James Jones, “Shady”, Chase Daniel & Acho. I didn’t get into Speak as much once the crew broke into 2 shows. I’d be listening to it from the other room while working. Joy will rebound and Keyshawn has his All Facts Podcast

So we’ll see Key around…and no you did not have better hands than Marvin Harrison.. yet I digress…  FS1, if you fill the studios with blowhards who didn’t play and have a certain “milk toast personality”, count me out as a fan. I’ll still have First Things First (Cogent Analysis lol ) on in the background while working afternoons but the rest? Sigh… I’ll have on podcasts and ditch network tv like so many others.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

By the way… I didn’t even bring up Mike Tomlin (Tampa DB Coach) 18 non-losing seasons in Pittsburgh, Jimmy Johnson HC in Dallas (DC and Defensive Line Coach) or Bill Cowher 16 seasons in Pittsburgh (DC with Chiefs/Special Teams Browns) which brings you another 4 Super Bowl championships in 6 appearances. Now if I throw in Tom Landry HC in Dallas (DC New York Giants) it goes up to 6 more Lombardis and 10 total Super Bowl visits.

Ok… I’m done… bring your argument… wait Chuck Noll of the Steelers was DC for Baltimore Colts who lost Super Bowl III.

Now… I’m done. Walk your weak ass argument on over.

2022 AFC Championship Preview: Cincinnati Bengals v Kansas City Chiefs

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Is it Arrowhead or Burrowhead? The battle lines have been drawn and the bulletin board material came out of the Queen City right after dusting off Buffalo. This has irked the Kansas City squad along with the national media reminding them Burrow’s Bengals are 3-0 against Mahomes and company. This includes the 2021 AFC Championship Game when they pulled off a shocker. What about this time??

The season began pundits along with The Chancellor of Football swearing the Chiefs were coming back to the pack losing Tyreek Hill. It hasn’t had the affect we anticipated but may today with Travis Kelce banged up and Patrick Mahomes nursing a bum ankle. Hill was used as a deep burner but often would come in motion and catch a “sprint right option” 5 yarder for key 1st downs.

The game will turn with the Chiefs young CBs L’Jarius Sneed & rookie Jaylen Watson trying to take on the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. The trio has combined for 217 rec. 2,837 yards 21TDs and each are able to take over a game. Chase caught 7 for 97 in the last matchup and had 6 rec. for 54 yards and 1TD.

We have to see if Mahomes ankle is ready to go. If he still feels the affects of the high ankle sprain and we assume he will, has to rely on the physical running of Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon on sweeps and screens.

One of the issues is Patrick Mahomes does most of his damage when he is moving out of the pocket. Most of his playoff touchdowns have come when he has bought time and adlibbed beyond the designed play. Removing that from his game really brings the running game into focus.

Once we look at the running game the Bengals have shows of late and its hard to imagine Joe Mixon (1,205 yds / 13TDs) and Samaje Perine to be outdone in that department.

While Mahomes has had a great season in 2022 this seems a bit much and we have the Bengals making it 4 in a row tonight 34-21.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you at the Super Bowl!