Tag Archives: NFL

Cowboys Cut DeMarcus Ware

by

0

In a move we knew was going to happen, the Dallas Cowboys cut ties with DeMarcus Ware. His diminishing skills and injuries were mounting over the last two seasons. Of his 6 sacks, 4 came against the Kansas City Chiefs then the St Louis Rams in weeks 3 and 4. No way you can bring a guy back with a $16 million cap hit when he made only 2 sacks in the final 12 games. Cowboy fans can’t help but feel cheated.

One of the best pass rushers in the history of the Dallas Cowboys

One of the best pass rushers in the history of the Dallas Cowboys

Ware was everything Bill Parcells envisioned when he drafted him out of Troy. Why didn’t the Cowboys do everything to team him with another pass rusher?? No Cowboy fans, I’m not talking of Jason Hatcher or Anthony Spencer. I’m talking a bonafide blue chip player. Imagine Mario Williams, Julius Peppers or Jared Allen across from him with all that noise down in Dallas. Not only did he have 7 straight double digit sack seasons, he had one with 20 (2008) and 19.5 (2011).

Now we have to point to Jerry Jones again. He believed the hype that his team was stocked with blue chip talent. Think of all the tandems in NFL history: Dexter Manley and Charles Mann, Richard Dent & Dan Hampton, Tony Tolbert & Charles Haley, Cornelius Bennett & Bruce Smith, Kevin Greene & Greg Lloyd, then Neil Smith & the late Derrick Thomas, or Clyde Simmons & the late Reggie White. Not once did the Cowboys make a move that could have masked several defensive deficiencies. Or wreaked havoc on opposing offenses and rank near the top in sacks.

The Dallas Cowboys did DeMarcus Ware two disservices. They should have teamed him with another pass rusher to better his chances of taking the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. Then they should have traded him to a team with a chance to win it all sometime in 2012 as well. Both parties would have benefited from such a move. Several Jerry Jones blunders later, Ware has to sell his wares around the NFL. What does he have left in the tank?? As a designated pass rusher he will have some serious suitors. What would happen if he took a small contract for a chance to win it all with Seattle, New England, or go to Denver to play across from a rejuvenated Von Miller?? Ware’s career isn’t over, his tenure in Dallas is left unfulfilled.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

The Soul Of The Game: Gary Fencik

by

5

It’s not written in stone but it has been understood to play defense for the Chicago Bears, you have to be a hitter. Think back to the great Bears Safeties from yesteryear: Doug Plank, the late Todd Bell, the late Dave Duerson, and you have to place Gary Fencik as one of them. Receivers just didn’t cross the middle in Chicago.

Fencik upending Clint Didier in 1985

Fencik upending Clint Didier in 1985

Fencik played with disregard for his body. Over the years programs had him listed between 178-185 lbs. Recently, profootballreference.com had him listed at 194, no way. Anyone who watched him play saw how thin he was and with all the collisions he caused, are surprised at how few games he missed during his career.

In a 12 year career he made the Pro Bowl twice and was voted All Pro once. He may not make the Pro Football Hall of Fame but he has been immortalized as one of the members of the ’85 Bears and the legendary 46 Defense. He was a warrior that manned the last line of defense if you made it past the Bears great front seven. He was a great hitter who lives on in the memory of those historians and fans who tell his story. One whose inclusion in my Soul of the Game series of great defenders took it to their opponents the way it was meant to be played.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

Salary Cap: When Do You Say When??

by

3

Let’s see if we have this right…. All Pro Tight End Jimmy Graham is up for free agency and if he’s franchised, he wants the money of a wideout, not that of the position he plays. Where does that logic come from?? Welcome to the lunacy that can be NFL free agency. For a team that has just $5.1 million of cap space, are the New Orleans Saints about to overpay for Jimmy Graham??

Graham looks to hold the Saints hostage with free agency looming.

Graham looks to hold the Saints hostage with free agency looming.

Now that the Saints are coming off their first season with Rob Ryan as Defensive Coordinator, they made it to 4th in total defense and 14th against the run. Yet the Saints let go of longtime defensive leader Jonathan Vilma and dangle starters Will Smith, CB Jabari Greer, and both Safeties Roman Harper, and Malcolm Jenkins for other teams to sign.

All this for a Tight End that disappeared in 2 games against Seattle last year?? He had a combined 5 catches for 49 yards. The Panthers and 49ers had success against Graham also. The Saints will have to rebuild their defense instead of gaining strength from the continuity they established last year.

That’s too much money for a player that can be taken out of the game by a stout defense.

Sure he caught 86 passes for 1,215 yards and 16TDs but now they won’t have money to field a legitimate defense. At the top of the conference sit the best defenses since the early 2000’s. So how is a Tight End worth $40 million, who is taken out of the game by tough defenses going to improve the Saints??

Stay tuned…

Thanks for reading and please share the article

Corey Dillon Belongs In The Hall of Fame

by

7

There are many NFL fans who miss true talents around the league and just focus on their team. That narrow focus can keep one from seeing a Hall of Fame talent at work. That doesn’t mean an overlooked player should miss the call to the hall if he doesn’t garner great media attention. It’s about what they accomplished on the field and how well their peers respected their exploits.

Did you know that at one point Corey Dillon owned the greatest single game rushing performance and the #6 performance in NFL history?? Not Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, LaDanian Tomlinson, nor Adrian Peterson or any great back you’ve ever watched accomplished that . Well, you have to be in your mid fifties at least to say you saw someone perform to that high a level. That was when OJ Simpson held sway in the NFL. You’d have to be in your fifties!!

Not only that, his 6th place (at the time) performance stood as the NFL’s rookie rushing record at 247 yards in a 1997 game against the Tennessee Oilers. That record Dillon broke had been Jim Brown’s. Each of these have since been broken but it was the manner in which they were set that sets them apart.

Unlike the shifty make ’em miss running style of most halfbacks, Dillon struck like the hammer of Thor. He was a passionate violent runner that thrived on contact. Once he positioned a defender to one side, he’d forearm, stiff-arm, or shoulder right through them. He made a joke of arm tackles and if you wanted to tackle him, your heart had better be in it.

For years media pundits painted him with the broad brush of that of a malcontent. Yet let me ask: If you were one of the best talents in the league, how frustrated would you be with a team that couldn’t get you any help?? In 1999 Inside The NFL broadcast their show from Cincinnati asking “Why can’t the Bengals tun it around?? Were they the JV of the NFL??” They interviewed player after player and the only one whose eyes burned fire with frustration were Dillon’s.

For an instant you could peer into his soul and you understood him completely. For all the hard work to make it to the NFL, then play for a franchise that couldn’t field a better team. He was toiling in anonymity loss after loss. All those childhood dreams of playing in a Super Bowl were dying an agonizing death.

It looked like 2000 would be no different as the Bengals started out 0-6. The optimism of having their 1st season in Paul Brown Stadium was fading fast. They had only scored 34 points while being shut out 3 times when the Denver Broncos, just two years removed from back to back championships, came to town. At the time the Broncos had the NFL’s 2nd ranked run defense.

The heavens opened up and the football god’s touched Dillon, allowing his fury to be unleashed in the greatest rushing display in NFL history.

Inside The NFL Perspective:

Did The Chancellor of Football say the greatest rushing display in the history of pro football?? Absolutely!! Listen, on a day when the Bengals completed just 4 passes, Dillon got off on a defense focused squarely on him. As for the record of 278 yards being broken twice by Jamal Lewis and Adrian Peterson, we will put them side by side in a minute. You have to remember the football world was still reeling from Walter Payton’s death. We were just 1 week short of the 1 year anniversary of his passing. As for the record comparison:

  • 2000 Corey Dillon 22 car. 278 yds 2TDs
  • 1977 Walter Payton 40 car. 275 yds 1 TD
  • 2003 Jamal Lewis 30 car. 295 yds 3TDs
  • 2007 Adrian Peterson 30 car. 296 yds 3TDs

However a closer look and Corey lost 6 yds on 6 of his carries. So in essence he ran for 284 yards in 16 carries or 17.75 yards per rush!!! Yikes!!! Best in history by a wide margin… It was Corey who wiped Jim Brown and Walter Payton from the record book, proving to a generation those records weren’t unbreakable. Payton’s record had stood for 23 years.

Dillon finished the 2000 season with a team record 1,435 yards rushing. Don’t forget he had two games against the  record setting Super Bowl champion Raven’s defense that ranked #2, and two more vs. Tennessee’s ranked at #1. What would he have done had he played in a less stout division defense-wise??

What would he have done behind a line like the Dallas wall with Larry Allen??

In 7 years he only played once with a Pro Bowl lineman.  That was T Willie Anderson in 2003. By then he was splitting time with Rudi Johnson. In that same year Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco) made the Pro Bowl. Other than that he played with NO Pro Bowl players during his Cincinnati years. In those circumstances he ran for 1,000 yards in 6 of 7 seasons. In stark contrast Emmitt Smith’s line had 16 Pro Bowl Linemen and TEs between 1991-1995 alone. But alas he was traded to the New England Patriots for a second round pick when he failed to rush for 1,000 in 2003.

What did the Patriots get??

Try the driving force for their back to back championship season of 2004. He wasn’t just a member of that team. Dillon ran for a Patriots team record 1,635 yards and 13TDs & was the closer for the best of the three champions in their dynasty. He had 9 100 yard performances that year and the playoff clinching win came against Cincinnati. Where he received the game ball from Bill Belichick.

The Patriots went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX 24-21 which validated the career of Corey Dillon. Overall he rushed for 11,241 yards and 82 TDs. Dillon is one of a select few to set the franchise single season rushing record for two different teams.

As the argument heats up about the candidacy of other power runners like Eddie George and Jerome Bettis, neither showed the exhibition of power and speed Dillon displayed. Not to record breaking levels. He had 7 1,000 yard seasons and was a world champion. What could have become of Dillon’s career had he more talent around him??

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

Please write & nominate Corey Dillon
Send letters to:
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Attention Hall of Fame Selection Committee
2121 George Halas Dr NW, Canton, 
OH 44708

There is also a fan vote here on the PFHOF website

For induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I present to you Corey Dillon.

 

Legends of The Fall: Joe Montana

by

9

While being interviewed for the 1999 documentary Unitas, legendary writer Frank Deford offered “all great quarterbacks are descended from John Unitas.” To which I believe. However the narrative has changed to this generation being descendants of Joe Montana. Some of his performances were so impressive they left sports writers in awe and unlike many of today’s quarterbacks, he was rarely thought of as the best during his time. For all his greatness he was overlooked until the latter stages of his career where he took quarterbacking to an art form.

Joe Montana during his san Francisco heydey.

Joe Montana during his San Francisco heydey.

Yet if you think back to the 1981 season, folks were waiting for the cinderella 49ers to fall on their face than appreciate Joe that year. It wasn’t until after The Catch in the NFC Championship Game and we were getting ready for Super Bowl XVI did Montana start to get acclaim.  It was similar to the attention Colin Kaepernick was generating before last year’s Super Bowl. Part curiosity surrounding his play and part flavor of the month.

Remember many writers were reeling at the time having picked Dallas to vanquish him in that ’81 Title game. Then thanks to the surprising Super Bowl opponent being Cincinnati, they were almost forced to talk about him. It was a grudging respect they afforded him.

Back in that time the prototypical quarterback was the tall, stout, rocket arm passer. The Terry Bradshaw, Bert Jones, a young Doug Williams, a Ken Stabler, or a Dan Pastororini. The 6’3 guy who could stand amidst the masses and deliver the football 50 yards down field. The late Bill Wash even contemplated trading Montana for the right to draft John Elway. Even after that first Super Bowl triumph. 

Yet it was his size and mobility that set him apart. On every scouting press release Montana was listed at 6’2 200 lbs. but anyone who saw those skinny legs know better. He looked every bit of 180 lbs. They led to his gliding around the pass pocket and avoiding big hits. Whether he scrambled for yardage or he was biding time for a receiver to clear downfield. It was Montana’s nimble feet that kept him in rhythm with his receivers and had his feet ready to throw at a moments notice. Only later was it revealed that those steps were timed with specific receivers to break open and throw at precise moments. That specificity was where Montana elevated quarterbacking to an artform.

Joe Montana and Bill Walsh are linked forever in football lore.

Joe Montana and Bill Walsh are linked forever in football lore.

Another aspect was the ability to bring his Niner teams from behind. The confidence he could instill in his team was on full display during the 1983 playoffs. First he led a last second drive to hold off the Detroit Lions 24-23 to prove The Catch wasn’t a fluke. Then came the NFC Championship with the defending champion Washington Redskins and NFL MVP Joe Theismann. The Redskins jumped out to a 21-0 lead and going into the 4th quarter were laughing their way to Super Bowl XVIII. Then San Francisco Joe got hot.

At the time, the biggest come from behind win in an NFL postseason game was 20 points. Yet in the 4th quarter alone Montana threw 3 touchdowns to tie the game 21-21. Only an offensive pass interference (pick play) that derailed a late drive and two questionable defensive calls kept Joe from performing the greatest championship come back in league history. RFK Stadium was silent until those questionable calls robbed fans everywhere of another possible great moment. Motivated by the slight they felt in not being able to determine they’re fate in that championship game, propelled Joe and the 49ers through 1984.

The 49ers became the first team to go 15-1 in the regular season in NFL history. In defeating the New York Giants and Chicago Bears during the NFC playoffs, he tamed the next two Super Bowl champions that were led by their defenses. Don’t forget the ’84 Bears record of 72 sacks in an NFL season still stands. He lost the MVP to the power passing game of Dan Marino that year. What did he do to earn the media’s respect ?? He beat Marino in Super Bowl XIX 38-16 and along the way set a passing record of 331 yards and the team set another with 537 yards of total offense. Only when Montana forced the media to vote for him did they award him what he earned. He became a Hall of Famer based on his second Super Bowl MVP.

Over the next two years the 49ers retooled their personnel and Montana adjusted to new receivers. Freddie Solomon was phased out retiring in 1985. Dwight Clark was now facing the Jerry Rices and John Taylors that came aboard during ’85 and ’86. Even Roger Craig moved from fullback to halfback. Joe lent continuity to the offense and raised his level of play and took his teammates with him. Those same blood thirsty defenses he sidestepped started getting closer and 1986 ended in the Jersey Meadowlands with a major concussion suffered against the Giants.

Although the 49ers would go on to win Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV, it was the 1987 season that was Montana’s zenith. Not only were the ’87 Niners the last team in NFL history to finish #1 in both offense and defense, it was Joe’s greatest season. Due to the player’s strike and injuries, Montana only played in 11 games when he threw a career best 31 touchdowns. Projected over a full 16 games he would have thrown for 45 and possibly challenged Marino’s record of 48. Yet he was beaten for NFL MVP by class of ’83 quarterback and media darling John Elway. Now consider the 49ers had the best record with a 13-2 record vs Denver’s 10-4-1 record and show me where Elway was better??

  • Joe Montana 1987- 266 of 398 66.8% for 3,054 yds 31 TDs 13 ints
  • John Elway 1987- 224 of 410 54.6% for 3,198 yds 19 TDs 12 ints

So two years later when the 49ers were up 55-10 in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XXIV over Elway’s Broncos, how satisfying must that have been?? The ’87 season ended with Montana having the flu and playing in his worst playoff game that saw him benched. The 36-24 upset loss to the Vikings in the NFC Divisional is what propelled the 49ers play in an unprecedented run during the 1988,1989, and 1990 NFL playoffs. They came within :02 of having the chance of a threepeat. However Joe was knocked from that game and was out of football for two years.

As we look back, think about some of Joe Montana’s exploits. To win Super Bowl XVI, XIX & XXIII, he beat reigning MVPs Ken Anderson, Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason. In winning his record 3rd Super Bowl MVP, he beat the QB he was almost traded away for in John Elway. During those 4 Super Bowl wins he went 83 of 122 for 1,142 yds 11 touchdowns and a completion rate of 68%. He never threw an interception in the Super Bowl. He came close when the late Lewis Billups of Cincinnati cut in front….but i digress.

Joe Montana at the public memorial service for former coach Bill Walsh.

Joe Montana at the public memorial service for former coach Bill Walsh.

Now we talk about his coming back from back surgery, concussions, or being out of football for 2 years, then leading the Kansas City Chiefs to their only conference championship appearance in 40 years. Consider the greatest pass rush in NFL history was the ’84 Bears with 72 sacks. He beat them in the NFC Championship 23-0. The second greatest was the ’89 Minnesota Vikings of Chris Doleman and Keith Millard with 71 sacks. Montana carved them up something special in a 41-13 NFC Divisional blowout. In Super Bowl XXIV, he beat the #1 scoring defense with a 55 point scoring barrage where he threw a record 5 touchdowns.

It was the four year run from 1987-1990 that changed the landscape of quarterbacking in the NFL. Everyone was looking for their quarteback to run the “West Coast Offense” as Montana had. Then you had the coaches in Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren, and Mike White go abroad preaching the gospel of the offense.

Former Head Coach Bill Walsh had left the 49ers after 1988 and watched Montana’s mastery of the offense he fathered, reach record heights over the next few seasons. Maybe Walsh knew what he was doing when he let it out he was looking at Elway. Then challenged Joe when he brought in Steve Young from Tampa before the 1987 season. No matter what pundits make of these events, they pushed Montana to become the best quarterback he could be. He finished with a 4-0 record in Super Bowls and 16-7 playoff record along with countless completion records. NFL executives have changed the rules over the last 15 years to make pedestrian quarterbacks look more Montana-like.

montana going to kcWhat made Montana special was he was the first Hall of Fame caliber quarterback who went on to success with his 2nd team. The magic spoken of in the vid followed him to Arrowhead while the 49ers lost back to back NFC Championship Games to Dallas.

Both years in Kansas City he carried the Chiefs to the postseason. His 1st season (’93) began with a 27-24 wildcard win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Montana threw the game tying touchdown on 4th down to Tim Barnett with just seconds left. The 1st playoff win for the franchise since Super Bowl IV.

This would have been enough for most Chief fans but the encore was one for the ages. Kansas City earned an all expenses paid trip to Houston for the AFC Divisional playoff. The Oilers finished the ’93 season with an 11 game winning streak and had hired Buddy Ryan who recreated the ’85 Bears with a talented roster. During the streak Houston had knocked out 5 quarterbacks and now faced 37 year old Joe.

In one of the NFL’s defining games of the decade, Montana was battered in the 1st half yet bounced back with 3 touchdown passes in the 2nd half for a 28-20 win. You could see Montana breathing life into his offense as the game wore on. It was a triumph of perseverance as the Chiefs came within a game of the Super Bowl for the first time in 24 years.

An incredible run… had he won the AFC Championship in Buffalo, he could have faced the 49ers in a dream Super Bowl matchup. Alas it was not to be.

The next time someone wants to talk greatest ever quarterbacks and doesn’t start with this man, they clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t tell me what a quarterback was voted, show me what he earned on the field of battle. How did he fare against the best competition during his time?? Competition between his offense and opposing defenses and against opposing quarterbacks. Would his contemporaries pick him as the quarterback on their side in a big game they had to win?? You come to those conclusions and you have a best ever quarterback. Not the quarterback that sports writers want to be.  Big difference.

joe-montana-bust

Epilogue: So they’re arguing on the radio if Tom Brady wins this Super Bowl, will he be the best over Joe Montana?? The answer is no… I saw Montana play his best against history’s best defenses. Montana played when QBs got knocked out, Brady can’t get hit and ducks for cover when he faced the Giants pass rush twice in the Super Bowl.

Now Joe??

He beat the #1 defense in the ’84 Chicago Bears, who set the record for sacks (72) in the NFC Championship 23-0. In 1989 Joe beats the #1 defense in Minnesota Vikings, who were #2 in history with 71 sacks, carves them up 41-13 in the NFC playoffs. Then beats the #3 defense who gave up the fewest points in the league in Denver and drops 55 in a 55-10 Super Bowl win.

In the four Super Bowls he never threw an interception in, once (1989) he was the NFL MVP. Did you know to win his other 3 he had to beat the 81 MVP Ken Anderson to win Super Bowl XVI, the ’84 MVP in Dan Marino in Super Bowl XIX, then the ’88 MVP in Boomer Esiason in Super Bowl XXIII?? So Joe was great against great teams and great quarterbacks… bring your argument son!! I got Super Joe!!

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

Legendary Days: Bo Jackson Explodes On A Monday Night

by

2

Think back to 1986 when Bo Jackson decided to play baseball instead of report to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer organization. What could he have accomplished had he donned that uniform?? Would he have become one of the all time rushers and turned around a moribund franchise?? Or would he spend the bulk of his career playing in relative obscurity as Corey Dillon did in his?? It’s still interesting to think about when we think of the career of Jackson.

Most observers hold on to the what if scenarios over what other players actually performed on the field. The Chancellor doesn’t but what can’t be underscored was the impact he had when the Raiders decided to pick up his rights in the 1987 NFL draft. Yet they had to wait until he finished off his MLB season first.

The 1987 LA Raiders were an aging fading team in need of a spark. They were light years away from the ’83 group that won Super Bowl XVIII and were in the midst of a 7 game losing streak when they traveled to Seattle on a Monday night. Although it wasn’t a scintillating match-up, this was the first chance for a nation to catch the former Heisman winner playing his “hobby”.

The problem was we were left without knowing the best Bo could have been. He could have broken records or he could have just been a good pro. The player that he reminds me of most is Herschel Walker. Another former Heisman winner with a super man type body. Most straight line power runners wear down against modern defenses. There are some exceptions and Bo could have been one of them. Make no mistake about it he had the potential to be one of the biggest stars in NFL history. Yet we didn’t get the chance to see it and that’s the problem. We’re stuck in a gray twilight of what he could have been.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.