The AFC East had been the sole province of the New England Patriots and Bill Belechick. They were 14-2 last year and Tom Brady had the best statistical season of his Hall of Fame career. They had pummeled the Jets 45-3 when the two battled for first place late in the year. Then a strange thing happened, the Jets grew up. The team who’s coach had brazenly scoffed “I wasn’t brought in to kiss Belichick’s rings” had returned to Foxboro and beat the Patriots in the playoffs. In doing so, not only had they stopped what many thought to be another Super Bowl run for the Patriots, they may have knocked the AFC East off it’s axis. After two seasons of being the little dog nipping at the heels of other AFC heavyweights, they have now become the big dog.
The New England Patriots have countered by taking some significant roster risks in signing WR Chad Ochocinco, DT Albert Haynesworth, and elevated S Patrick Chung to starter and releasing S Brandon Merriweather. They return Tom Brady who threw for 36 TDs and only 4 interceptions and one of the best offensive lines in all of pro football. Also returning is All Pro linebacker Jerrod Mayo who led the league with 175 tackles and improving LB Brandon Spikes. He did sign former Jet DE Shaun Ellis to provide depth for his defensive line. Can their young defensive secondary grow up fast enough for King Belichick to stave off the barbarian Jets at the AFC East gates??
Not this time. Belichick had so many draft picks it was frightening, yet came away with a moderate draft at best. He likes his players but can Ben Jarvus Green Ellis and Danny Woodhead at running back make a Super Bowl run?? With Wes Welker and Deion Branch as the starters at WR over Ochocinco they won’t get open against Jet corners just like last year’s playoff game.
Resurrected Shawne Merriman looks to wreak havoc in 2011.
The Buffalo Bills have made some defensive improvements with 1st round draft pick Marcel Darreus and the resurrection of former Charger Shawne Merriman. The 3-4 provided a 9 sack performance in the third pre-season game against Chicago Bears and bodes well for the new season. Although the team lost LB Paul Pusloszny to Jacksonville through free agency. WR Stevie Johnson has to improve and make fans forget about the departed Lee Evans. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been a solid quarterback yet doesn’t seem like there is more upside to him. He’s serviceable at best and the team needs to find a way to get C.J. Spiller to mimick his explosive collegiate play in Buffalo. They still need an everydown back and again Fred Jackson is serviceable without much more upside. The Bills will be in more games yet don’t have the playmakers to win the majority of them.
The Dolphins are going to try and ride the playmaking ability of Reggie Bush to produce bigger plays on 3rd down. So far so good in the preseason. With Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess alongside, they have playmakers and need Chad Henne to grow into his position as the starter. He should be motivated with the flubbing of the Kyle Orton trade and knows this is his last chance. Where the Dolphins sneak in several wins is with an opportunistic defense. OLB Cameron Wake is a stud who had 14 sacks last year and along with ILB Karlos Dansby, CB Vontae Davis, and Yeremiah Bell are playmakers on defense and will win a few more of the tight games that Buffalo would lose. They are not yet ready to take on the Patriots or the Jets for division supremacy, yet could make some strides this year.
As we stated to you in February: I can’t say it enough but Mark Sanchez is on the cusp of super stardom. He’s young, mobile and grew a thick skin during the ’10 playoff run. This is the only quarterback in the NFL to defeat both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in a single season playoff run. Understand what you are seeing here and yes the Jets are a run first / pass second team. Its a more traditional take on how to run offense yet no other quarterback in history was asked to defeat 3 consecutive Super Bowl winning quarterbacks in one post season run. Yet he didn’t crack under the pressure and proved to be a leader on the rise until the bitter end. After throwing for 5 TDs and only 1 interception in last year’s playoffs, Sanchez was seen rallying the troops on the sideline (most notably) with Jerricho Crotchery that the cameras picked up in the waning moments of the AFC Championship.
Mark Sanchez has been excellent in the preseason, he’s been ready from day one of camp. Another look and you see that Plaxico Burress is playing with a chip on his shoulder in place of departed Braylon Edwards. That additional veteran spark and moxie should bode well for an emotional, motivated team. What awaits this team is a chance to play with homefield advantage and have the road to the Super Bowl go through the Meadowlands.
The winds of change will blow across the AFC North this year starting at the midway point. The Pittsburgh Steelers are due to succumb to age and fatigue. Much like the Los Angeles Lakers in basketball, they’re forays into the NFL playoffs have equalled nearly a complete additional season of wear. Since 2004 the Steelers have participated in 13 post season games. Coming back with 7 projected defensive starters over 30, this should become an issue as it has shown with Troy Palamlu’s late season injuries. With a physical team, it doesn’t bode well for back to back seasons. Even when this team won the Super Bowl after the ’05 and ’08 seasons, they missed the playoffs the following year.
Standing at the gates of this slight dip in production stands the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have to prove to themselves they can beat the Steelers at full strength. They have the first game of the season circled and must come through to build confidence. Many Raven fans have expressed disappointment for losing TE Todd Heap to free agency Yet this team needs more of a vertical presence. Enter WR Lee Evans. If he can come in and free up the underneath routes for Boldin, Flacco can fully develop. He relied on the short throw to the tight end too much. If this happens…
2011 AFC NORTH PREDICTIONS
Baltimore Ravens 11-5 *
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-6
Cleveland Browns 7-9
Cincinnati Bengals 4-12
The Cincinnati Bengals have been on a strange odyssey over the last half decade. They have made the playoffs twice in the last 6 years, yet we had witnessed promise that should move them to the next level, and we’ve been disappointed. At time of this article, Carson Palmer is still in a self imposed exile, and Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco never became the receiving threat as promised. All three are gone from the 2011 squad that is searching for an identity and leadership under coach Marvin Lewis. They signed scrappy quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who looked really good against the Colts in the 3rd preseason game. Will he be able to channel that moxie into firing up his teammates?? Will they have the players to take advantage of it this year?? There is work to do in the Queen City.
Applause for the Cleveland Browns. They are returning to the 4-3 defense after a forgettable stretch in a 3-4. They just don’t have the athletes to run that type of defense and this is a step in the right direction. Peyton Hillis should get the ball as a featured back this year and could wind up with a 350 carry season. With the team slowly bringing Colt McCoy along at quarterback, they’re going to have to win some close to the vest affairs. Especially when they face the Steelers and Ravens. All four of these game happen between weeks 13 -17. So they have time to build some confidence and get ready for these cold weather games. Right now, new coach Pat Shurmur is out to find out who is ready to take the next step and lead the Browns back to prominence. Shouldn’t be a factor until next year at the earliest.
Back to Pittsburgh. The Steelers have developed some young talent at receiver and running back and could have one of the their best offenses in many years. Antonio Brown looks like a legitimate deep threat and kick returner. He gives the Steelers an explosive element not seen since the heyday of Antwan Randle El. Roethlisberger is still in his prime and will have to bail out the Steelers late in many games this year. The one player who should be at his best should be James Harrison, he shows no signs of slowing down and is the enforcer on that defense. He is the one player Pittsburgh can’t afford to lose on defense. Do you realize he is coming up on the all time record for most fumbles forced for a career even though he’s been a starter for only 6 seasons. He’s a wrecking machine and a former defensive player of the year. For the Steelers to retain their AFC North mantle, it’s he and Woodley who have to make all the plays. The problem is they can only mask a deficient secondary so long. See Super Bowl XLV game footage…yet we digress. The Steelers, just like the Ravens will ultimately be undone by their secondaries. However when it comes to the AFC North, the Ravens win it….barely.
Devin Hester on one of his electrifying returns against Kansas City
The NFL is blowing it with this with this new rule change. A good kick return raises the hair on the back of your neck when it gets to that point where the returner is on the verge of breaking one. What is interesting is this rule reverses the 1994 decision to move kickoffs from the 35 to the 30 yard line to generate more excitement. Over these 17 years there have been many dynamic returnmen. From San Diego’s Andre Coleman to today’s Devin Hester (the U), you made sure your ass was back from the refrigerator to catch the kickoff. Now take the extra few minutes, you’re only going to miss a bunch of touchbacks.
In 1993 league brass responded when they heard fans explain why they liked the college game better. It was more exciting with the wide open offenses, kick returns, the two point conversion, the 1 point if the conversion was returned against you. Every element of the game had to be watched and lends an excitement when thinking ‘what is your team going to do in a given situation’. The NFL in contrast had a majority of their kickoffs flying out of the endzone having drafted all the top legs from the collegiate ranks. Where most teams have specialists just to return kicks, back in 1993 teams had specialist kickers just to kickoff!! Remember Brad Daluiso?? He made a career out of the fact he could boom the ball 70 yards on kickoffs http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/daluibra01.htm. Notice his early career numbers for actual field goals. In the 1993 finale between the New York Giants v Dallas Cowboys, made famous for Emmitt Smith’s playing with a separated shoulder. The Giants had come from behind to cut the score to 13-10. Then on the ensuing kickoff Daluiso’s kickoff was so extreme that Cowboy kick returners Brock Marion and Kevin Williams (The U) stood in the middle of the endzone, as the kick was still 40 feet over their heads and hit the Meadowlands wall. The NFL wants that back??
So the NFL adopted the 2 point conversion and moved the kickoffs back from the 35 back to the 30 yard line with the sole purpose of generating excitement. What a noble concept?? What is the reversal of that going to do??
We here at Taylor Blitz Times are all about player safety but at some point you can’t take away the spirit of the game. Its still a collision sport!! Rules have been modified over the last two years to eliminate wedges on kickoffs. Moving down to just two people running interference before a kick returner in a tight formation instead of five. Therefore this eliminated the wedge buster, the kamikaze player whose sole purpose on returns was to violently throw himself at the chain of blockers in an attempt to strip the returner of his interference. We saw horrific injuries like Kevin Everett’s of Buffalo a few years back and that rule change was a good one. We saw less injuries on kickoffs over the last few years with more one on one area blocking on special teams.
This is a knee jerk reaction to the concussion epidemic and player safety awareness that is permeating the league right now. Rules need to be enforced where players aren’t leading with their heads (spearing) as they collide with another player. Ejections and fines for doing so will straighten that out right away. Yet eliminating the kickoff from the pro game is what will happen. Look at the advancements in workout regimens and body building supplements over the last 17-20 years. You don’t think kickers have gotten stronger?? If they were booting them out of the endzone in 1993 which precipitated the rule changes of 1994, what do you think will happen now??
Devin Hester
Between Super Bowls I and XXVIII (1-28 for the roman numeral impaired) there were only 2 kickoff for touchdowns, where from XXIX-XLI (sigh…29-41) there were five. Who could forget the back to back kickoff returns in Super Bowl XXXV between the Ravens and the Giants?? That was the most exciting point of that game. Or the electrifying start to Super Bowl XLI when Devin Hester blew by Adam Vinatieri and the Colts special teams on the opening kickoff?? Speaking of Hester, many pundits and experts believe that this is a rule change to limit Hester’s effectiveness for the Bears. We believe it as well. This eliminates the edge that the Bears had on their NFC brethren in special teams which could be born of their unexpected run to the NFC Championship last year.
The NFL needs to change this rule back to the one that was altered to add excitement to the game, not eliminate it. Vince Lombardi said that “football is a game of blocking and tackling.” So tackle the kick returner, don’t legislate his effectiveness into watching him down the ball on 50 % of his opportunities. Wake up!!
We have always believed that some of the greatest NFL stories have been left on the cutting room floor when it comes to players that didn’t play for the glamour teams. Such is the case for the best cornerback tandem in modern NFL history. During this offseason of condensed free agency, when it appeared Namedi Asoumgha might wind up with Darelle Revis to form the best conrerback tandem in decades. We had thoughts and images of Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon dancing in our heads. They were the best tandem in league history and yes better than Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes of the Los Angeles Raiders. Dixon and Minnifield starred and went to Pro Bowls together for 3 seasons. The most in NFL history.
The Hayes / Haynes connection really was half a season, or at least it’s zenith. Alright they did have a good 1985 but what happened in 1984?? Haynes joined the team in week 6 of 1983, and played on through the season but look up the Raiders 1984 statistics on defense after Super Bowl XVIII, abysmal. The Raiders were 25th against the pass in a 28 team league. Case and point Dan Marino threw for his 37th TD to break the all time touchdown record for a season and went on to throw for 470 yards and 4 TDs on them. They got scorched … Mark Clayton almost put up 200 on ’em…yet we digress. No one put yards on these two like that during their years together. Yet they don’t get their just due for being the terrific tandem that they were and should be receiving more looks when it comes to Hall of Fame Consideration.
From 1986-1988 these two Cleveland Browns were your Pro Bowl Starters for the AFC in Honolulu Hawai’i. Understand that this was the heydey of the AFC Central as well. Of course Steeler fans will disagree but this is where the entire division reigned near the top of the AFC as a whole. From 1986-1989 there was an AFC Central team in the AFC Championship Game all four years. The Browns in 1986 and 1987, the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl in 1988 and then the Browns returned in 1989 to the title game.
Throughout the division there were stellar receivers in Louis Lipps / John Stallworth of the Steelers, Ernest Givins, Haywood Jeffires, Drew Hill of the Houston Oilers, then Tim McGhee, Cris Collinsworth, and Eddie Brown (The [[_]]) of the Cincinnati Bengals. Dixon and Minnifield kept them under wraps throughout this era.
In fact, in 1986 the only receivers that topped 100 yards against them was Chris Burkett of the Buffalo Bills and Wes Chandler of the San Diego Chargers. Burkett’s numbers were strengthened by a 75 yard TD while Chandler piled up yards in garbage time during a 47-17 loss where many Browns starters were pulled during the finale. They had wrapped up homefield advantage and were in the midst of a celebration.
In fact during the AFC Divisional Playoff double overtime win against the Jets, in 6 quarters, Dixon and Minnifield covered Al Toon and Wesley Walker so tight the Browns produced 9 sacks. An NFL playoff record. Neither receiver went over 100 yards and the touchdown that Wesley Walker scored was on a flea flicker and the safety had coverage.
In ’86, Dixon gathered in 5 interceptions, while Minnifield picked off 3 on their way to their first Pro Bowl together. Along the way they shut down the prominent receivers in their division, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton, who both made the ’86 Pro Bowl, and future Hall of Famer James Lofton. None of which gained over 100 yards against them and by the way…. Duper (1,313 yds 11TDs) and Clayton (1,150 yds 10TDs) battled Dixon and Minnifield on a Monday Night and these two Browns gained the country’s attention and respect with that performance.
In 1986 Dan Marino threw for 44TDs and over 4,700 yards…so he was at his zenith. This was the second time, going back to the previous season’s 21-20 playoff loss to the Dolphins that they did this to Miami. In the playoff loss in 1985, Duper never caught a pass and Mark Clayton only caught one!! And that game was in Miami!!! So they came in with something to prove and got shut down again.
So here comes the most misreported fact in NFL history, The Drive, during the ’86 AFC Championship Game. Keep in mind that Denver only had 216 yards for the game on offense going into that famous last drive. Erroneously and without fact checking these two get blamed for this loss when only 1 pass to Steve Watson at the 2 minute warning at midfield was thrown in their territory. The Brown’s Dave Adolph opted to go into a zone and the main passes thrown by John Elway was a pass over 20 yards to Steve Sewell, a running back going up the seem into Chris Rockins territory.
The other was a pass on 3rd and 17 where Mark Jackson who started on Dixon’s left side cut into an opening on a zone in front of the safety. They were just well executed plays. Throw in 2 scrambles by Elway for first downs because the Browns coverage forced him to and a screen pass to Steve Sewell and they were now at the 5 yard line. Again down in the red-zone, the Browns were in a Nickel zone facing a multiple receiver set. They ran a scissors route and threw the ball inside Nickelback Mark Harper to Mark Jackson for the tying touchdown. Now where was it these two failed to deliver??
Even in overtime on the winning drive by the Broncos the two big plays were a corner route to TE Orson Mobley for over 20 yards and another to Tom Watson for a 22 yard gain where Felix Wright #22 made the tackle in zone coverage. Karlis kicks the winning field goal and Denver was off to the Super Bowl. Yet time and time again, writers and nitwit pundits bring up The Drive without knowing ANY of the evidence. Lionize John Elway, fine, but don’t victimize these excellent players who performed well on that day. Take a look
Who were these two?? Well you had Hanford Dixon, who when he came into the league might have been the fastest cornerback in football. The Chancellor first caught wind of him when he chased down Buffalo’s Joe Cribbs enroute to a 60 yard touchdown in 1981 as a rookie. Dixon had been blocked and Cribbs had a 15 yard cushion when this flash of brown and orange tracked him down like Darryl Green on Eric Dickerson. He didn’t prevent the touchdown but he had speed to burn as a young player as that play signified.
Dixon was drafted out of Southern Miss in the 1st round and developed into a top flight man to man cornerback who lined up right in a receivers faces. He was the taller of the two at 5’11 and 186 lbs and was as fluid an athlete that has played corner in the NFL. He could turn and run with anybody that got through his “strike” off the line of scrimmage. He was as effective as a Lester Hayes and had his best year in 1987 when it was recorded that only 7 passes were thrown his way the entire year. He was first team All Pro in 1987 which was the middle year of their 3 year run as well as Pro Bowl teammates with Minnifield.
Hanford “Top Dawg” Dixon one of the all time great cornerbacks.
Mighty Minnie?? Yes that was the nickname for Frank Minnifield on the poster that had he and Dixon atop the roof of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse that sold all over Ohio. Top Dawg and Mighty Minnie were their nicknames. Hanford was the one that coined the phrase “Dawg Defense” during the off-season to motivate the defensive line during training camp in 1985. It caught on full fledged in 1986 so he earned that nickname. Minnifield was the harder hitter of the two.
Frank Minnifield was the shorter of the two at 5’9 180lbs, and had calves as large as his thighs. He had an unbelievable verticle jump as did his brother Dirk Minnifield who starred at the University of Kentucky and later played for the Boston Celtics. Frank played at the University of Louisville and joined the Browns after a 2 year stint in the USFL. He was voted All Pro in 1987 & 1988 and was voted to the Pro Bowl 4 times 1986-1989.
In fact it was his 1988 season that was in our estimation the greatest season by a cornerback in NFL history. With injuries to the Brown quarterbacks that season, the defense had to bear the brunt of the work. In that crucible and facing future Hall of Famers Art Monk, Steve Largent, and ’88 Pro Bowlers Eddie Brown (1,273 yds/9TDs), Mark Clayton (1,129 yards / 14TDs), Drew Hill (1,141 yards /10TDs), Al Toon (1,067 yards /5TDs), J.T. Smith (986 yards / 5TDs) and Andre Reed (968 yds / 5TDs) Minnifield in 11 of 17 games against this top competition allowed ZERO touchdowns all season. An incredible performance. He allowed ZERO touchdowns for the entire 17 game slate.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end and the Browns window to the Super Bowl shut without their having earned the trip. They played in 3 AFC Championship Games in four years but came up short. In all actuality, they were a real good team who almost stretched it to greatness based on the exploits of two tremendous cornerbacks who masked other Brown defensive deficiencies. For their careers Dixon was a Pro Bowler on 3 occasions and Minnifield 4, and each were 1st team All Pro Once. They were intimidating and could cover the field and as a tandem were the best ever. How good would the Cleveland Browns been without them??? How much better would the Cleveland Browns had been had Safety Don Rogers not died from a cocaine overdose the week after Len Bias in summer of ’86??
Below is the middle of their 3 year run in Honolulu when they were 1987’s All Pro cornerbacks.
You can still hear Chris Berman saying “Marshall! Marshall! Marshall!” on NFL Primetime. Can’t you? When we think of great players we tend to think of them at their zenith. For Marshall Faulk it was definitely the years of “The Greatest Show on Turf” where he played his way into the Hall of Fame in just three years. The earlier years were just a harbinger of things to come.
Yet when I think of Marshall Faulk, I think of a faster version of Thurman Thomas. Better yet, if we spliced Thurman Thomas with Barry Sanders, this is the hybrid that would have been created. In fact it was Sanders departure that swung the door wide open for this talent to finally get his acclaim on a world wide basis. When Barry retired, the NFL lost it’s instant highlight reel. We were spoiled as fans because week after week we saw something spectacular and weren’t sure if we’d see that again. Enter Marshall Faulk.
The NFL world was mourning the loss of John Elway and Barry Sanders to retirement. Then we were thrown for another loop when the Indianapolis Colts selected Edgerrin James ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams. Almost as an afterthought Marshall Faulk was traded by the Colts to the Rams to make way for James. Instantly, I remember saying this is the Football Gods reversing the Eric Dickerson trade. Referring to the Rams trading Dickerson, the greatest runner of his era, to the Colts in 1987.
No one was really paying attention to Marshall Faulk going to St Louis yet being in Anaheim at the time, I was still in the Rams television market. My response was a flippant comment and not a premonition but it turned out to be. History would judge this trade on what happened with both teams. I thought the Colts had made a mistake letting Faulk go. So who won the Marshall Faulk / Edgerrin James trade??
Marshall Faulk in Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV Ring
The St Louis Rams became “The Greatest Show on Turf” thanks to a forgotten running back who could play receiver, had moves and an effortless running style with a burst. In three seasons (1999-2001) he rushed for 4,122 yards averaging 5.4 yards per carry while scoring 59 touchdowns!! Won 2 NFL Offensive Player of the Year awards and an NFL Most Valuable Player Award while taking the Rams to 2 Super Bowls. They won Super Bowl XXXIV beating the Tennessee Titans 23-16. Before Faulk the Rams had not been league champion since 1951.
In the 1999 championship season alone, he joined Roger Craig as the only other back to gain 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. When Craig did it he had 1,050 yards rushing, 1,016 receiving. Faulk burst by that with 1,381 yards rushing and 1,048 yards receiving while sitting out most of the last 3 quarters of the finale against Philadelphia.
That game the Rams lost 38-31 and Faulk would have stretched his numbers further had he played that game and the 4th quarter of 4 other blowouts at home. Not factoring that in, Faulk still broke Barry Sanders record for total yards from scrimmage with 2,429 yards. Greatness. He was the impetus for one of the NFL’s greatest champions.
How do you follow up a season like that? How about narrowly missing another 1,000/1,000 season with 1,359 yards rushing and 830 receiving while setting a new record by breaking Emmitt Smith’s TD record with 26 TDs. In 2001 he led the league with yards from scrimmage for the 4th straight year tying the record of Thurman Thomas. Yet all four of Faulk’s seasons were over 2,000 combined yards where Thomas only had 3. Now when you look back and see that in 1998, in his last season with the Colts, he ran for 1,319 yards and caught passes for 908 yards. He had four consecutive seasons where he flirted with 1,000/1,000.
He broke records and tied another of Hall of Fame running backs, how could he not be enshrined with them with numbers like that?? All this to lead the Rams in becoming the first team to score over 500 points in multiple seasons with 3 (1999-2001). The Rams also averaged 32.6 points per game for those 3 seasons which was the best in history narrowly beating their 1951 predecessors with just under 31 points.
Marshall Faulk on Saturday’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Marshall went on to finish his career with 12,279 yards rushing with another 6,875 receiving and 136 overall touchdowns. Yet it was this amazing 3 year run that catapulted him to the halls of Canton. Now its interesting to note that while Faulk was doing all this, Edgerrin James (The U) twice led the league in rushing.
Yet the Rams were participating in Super Bowls and became one of the most memorable teams in league history. Another irony is they each went to the Super Bowl while teaming with Kurt Warner when….wait for it…..the Colts let James go via free agency. *In all due respect, the Colts gave Edgerrin a Super Bowl XLI ring for all that he had done for them up to that point.* Jim Irsay don’t let any more running backs go because the one you let out of town in 1998 was one of the best in history. The Rams won that trade plain and simple. His induction speech was eloquent and he’s been the best analyst on the NFL Network. Congratulations Marshall Faulk…Hall of Famer
We have always believed that some of the greatest NFL stories have been left on the cutting room floor when it comes to players that didn’t play for the glamour teams. Such is the case for the best cornerback tandem in modern NFL history. During this offseason of condensed free agency, when it appeared Namedi Asoumgha might wind up with Darelle Revis to form the best conrerback tandem in decades. We had thoughts and images of Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon dancing in our heads. They were the best tandem in league history and yes better than Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes of the Los Angeles Raiders. Dixon and Minnifield starred and went to Pro Bowls together for 3 seasons. The most in NFL history.
From 1986-1988 these two Cleveland Browns were your Pro Bowl Starters for the AFC in Honolulu Hawai’i. Understand that this was the heydey of the AFC Central as well. Of course Steeler fans will disagree but this is where the entire division reigned near the top of the AFC as a whole. From 1986-1989 there was an AFC Central team in the AFC Championship Game all four years. The Browns in 1986 and 1987, the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl in 1988 and then the Browns returned in 1989 to the title game.
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