Tag Archives: Super Bowl

SUPER BOWL XXVIII CHAMPION 1993 DALLAS COWBOYS

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Jimmy Johnson’s last ring with Dallas after the 1993 season besting MY Buffalo Bills 30-13 in Super Bowl XXVIII, but don’t forget, he and that coaching staff was from  the [[_]]. The Cowboys were on the brink of becoming one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties.

Had Jimmy and Jerry Jones been able to suppress egos this team was primed to win 5 or 6 Super Bowls in the 1990’s. Michael Irvin had just finished his 6th year, Emmitt his 4th, & Troy Aikman his 5th. A slew of defensive starters had come onto the ball club from 1991 on including Russell Maryland, Dixon Edwards, Darren Woodson, Kevin Smith, and Larry Brown. They had just added a rookie star in LB Darrin Smith off the Miami Hurricanes (the [[_]]).

Did you know Hall of Famer Charles Haley didn’t make the Pro Bowl in 1993?? However 10 of his teammates did including 3 members from The Great Wall in Nate Newton, Mark Stepnoski, and Erik Williams. This team was stacked… yet Jimmy and Jerry left us wondering “what if?” which rages on to this day.

**Taken from another Taylor Blitz article comparing the Cowboys and the Patriots who each won 3 titles in 4 years**

xxviii3The Patriots remind me of what I think of the early 70’s Dolphins.  They’re not perceived as stronger, or faster..etc  They were always a step smarter when they needed to be and more physical than you expected. Just ask the Steelers who they beat twice in AFC Championships IN PITTSBURGH in both 2001 & 2004.  They kept Peyton Manning hogtied for years when he faced them. In winning their 3rd in 4 years the question came up “Who was better between the 90s Cowboys or the 00’s Patriots?”  Hmmmm at first glance…its no question the Cowboys were….but lets think about this a second…each team suppressed future super bowl winners…

*Cowboys held back the Packers and 49ers who went on to win 29 and 31 respectively

*Patriots held back the Steelers and the Colts who went on to win 40 and 41 respectively

I’ll have to go with the Cowboys in a close game 30-20.  Charles Haley and Tony Tolbert would have several sacks. Haley had sacks in 4 of the 5 Super Bowls he won…so he would get to Brady. Emmitt and Corey would each rush for 100 yards. Alvin Harper takes Tyrone Poole or Assante Samuel deep a couple times and “Moose” Johnston and Novacek would beat on Patriot linebackers for key first downs.  Deion Branch would do work on Kevin Smith and Larry Brown but other receivers would be swallowed by Darrin Smith (the U) and those fast linebackers. This is before i bring up FS Thomas Everett for any errant throws over the middle.

**No Deion Sanders—using the 93 Cowboys as a model because the 1993 Cowboys would kick the 95 Cowboys ass! Jimmy Johnson would be the coach not Barry Switzer**

Lets not forget the NFL’s MVP was also Super Bowl XXVIII MVP in Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith:

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So upon further review the 93 Cowboys would win…

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SUPER BOWL XXVII RUNNER UP 1992 BUFFALO BILLS

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Now that is a nice AFC Championship ring for the 3rd AFC Championship…

Man I should have been at Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena.  Got robbed in a sales contest at the dealership I worked in…had the tickets and airfare right there and… To hell with Aaron but I digress

 

The Greatest comeback in history a few weeks before in the wildcard..41-38 over Houston.  Then bested Pittsburgh 24-3 in Bill Cowher’s first playoff game as Steelers coach.  Then beat the arch rival Dolphins, in Miami, for the AFC Championship game 29-10! I can remember many Bills fans torn about who should we start at quarterback: Frank Reich, who orchestrated those first 2 playoff wins or Jim Kelly!  I was torn myself thinking maybe go with Reich to shake things up a bit since we lost two Super Bowls prior and Dallas would have limited film to study..hmmmm what if?

xxvii23Yet one of the strongest Bills team ever and I know I’m not alone in celebrating how euphoric it was winning that greatest comeback in history 41-38 over Houston. Celebrating that as a fan was like we had won a SuperBowl. Marv Levy was quoted in ’92 “Where it feels surreal and is this really happening? Most of the time when you’re making history you don’t realize it at the time. In this instance we did.”  I must have watched that game 10 times that week. That was the most uplifting game ever..work was great for the next few weeks, my girlfriend kissed better..etc…I don’t think you could find a Bills fan that didn’t feel that way also.

xxvii2Back to back Super Bowl losses had many fans and pundits writing off the Bills. How would they recover?? Yet all these players were in their prime and led by unsung leaders like LB Darryl Talley, they dusted themselves off and came right back in 1992. During this season they were 4-0 against the NFC west including a 38-35 win in San Francisco vs. the 49ers who went 14-2. Good enough for homefield advantage in the NFC. Going into the final week the Bills were ready to clinch homefield in the AFC for a 3rd straight year when:

So in 6 quarters the Oilers had outscored the Bills 62-6 before the comeback if you included the previous week.The Bills were playing with house money the rest of that postseason. The 52-17 loss to the Cowboys was painful but the euphoric high all Bills had been on for the previous month tempered the pain.  No one shared what we had felt because no other team had ever come from that far down when it looked like the season was over.  It left all Bills fans optimistic going into 1993.

That wildcard win was a gift from the football gods.

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SUPER BOWL XXVII CHAMPION 1992 DALLAS COWBOYS

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The Dallas Cowboys championship for Super Bowl XXVII. I wished Jimmy Johnson would have had this on when I met him and the entire Cowboy coaching staff at Houlihan’s in Columbus, Ohio on St Patrick’s Day 1993.

They had just visited Ohio State University and tested out players before the draft.  Standing room only in this bar on St Patty’s and havin’ a drink with an off duty police officer at the door and in they came right between us…”That S.O.B. looks just like Jimmy Johnson?” is all I could blurt out…I was drinking gang…articulation isn’t a strong suit at a time like that.  Never mind being a fan of the Miami Hurricanes, etc. Talking to him was cool…slapped me on the back and said sorry about Buffalo…lol.  This was 1 1/2 months after the 52-17 Super Bowl win Dallas had over the Bills.

Anyway, think about the ridiculous strength of this 1992 Cowboy team. Everyone has lionized Emmitt, Irvin, Troy, and lauded the trade for Charles Haley.  Bill Bates was injured, Darren Woodson (Cowboys all-time leading tackler) didn’t even start. Jimmy Smith (wideout for Jacksonville Jaguars of nearly 1000 catches) was also on this team and injured.  How many Super Bowls would Dallas have won had Jimmy stayed in Dallas?  I say they would have become the first 5 or 6 time winner of Super Bowls in a decade.  So what was the move that put the Cowboys over the top?  The Charles Haley trade?  No it was the trade for S Thomas Everett who had been a holdout for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

xxvii2You say, huh? Thomas Everett?  Think of it like this…going into the 1992 season the Cowboys Achilles’ heel was their secondary.  Their draft tells you that picking up SS Darren Woodson, CB Kevin Smith, and CB Clayton Holmes in the first few rounds. In 1991, Dallas had lost to 4 run and shoot teams including a 38-6 drubbing to Detroit in the divisional round of the playoffs. The biggest blowout loss of any NFC team in the 1990’s. They had some coverage issues but Everett solidified the secondary, put players in good spots and made several plays that defined the Super Bowl XXVII rout of my Buffalo Bills.  He helped turn the secondary into a team strength.

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

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

Funny he only played for Dallas in 1992 and 1993 and was a Pro Bowler who didn’t get his due for what he meant to that defense.  Without Haley in 1991, they made it to the Divisional round of the playoffs yet were destroyed by Detroit’s passing game.   Everett made sure that no one would do that in 1992.

They were 3-1 against top 10 passing offenses.

This was the best of the Cowboys teams of the 90’s. Everett got his due in ’93 with a Pro Bowl berth.  One of the reason’s they didn’t three-peat in ’94 I believe started with Jimmy Johnson’s (the [[_]]) departure and the other was losing Thomas Everett to Tampa.

Yeah, a nice jacket indeed.

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Overcoaching: Vol 3. Super Bowl XLIX Edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Super Bowl XLIX: Seattle Seahawks v New England Patriots

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As the sun is beaming here in Glendale Arizona the day of Super Bowl XLIX, it’s time to get on to the game at hand.

The Legion of Boom will go down in history as the best defense of the new millenia.

The Legion of Boom will go down in history as the best defense of the new millenia.

As I analyze this game one of the aspects not being covered are the smallish receivers of the New England Patriots vs the Seattle Seahawks cornerbacks. Everyone is mentioning the force of Rob Gronkowski, and he is a mismatch for most teams. However the bigger cornerbacks for Seattle should manhandle the smaller receivers. Much like the 2013 AFC Championship against Denver.

If the Seahawks are able to get to Tom Brady early that would really play into Seattle’s hands. Watch for Belichick to put Brady on half rolls and waggles to minimize that. However will they sustain a gameplan of that. It’s just come down that Jonas Grey is inactive for the game. LaGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen have to carry the load today.

Super-Bowl-Trophy-SizeThe New England Patriots will have to contain Russell Wilson. Whether on rollouts, the zone read where he keeps it, they can’t allow him to extend plays. They may have to concede the run to Marshawn Lynch to a degree.

The Legion of Boom, Russell Wilson, and ‘Beast Mode” should go down in history with a 26-10 win over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The first back to back champion since the Patriots in ’03 & ’04.  Marshawn Lynch should be the MVP.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the game.

SUPER BOWL XXIV RUNNER UP 1989 DENVER BRONCOS

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Whenever the 1980’s Denver Broncos are brought up the first player that comes to mind is John Elway. Rightfully so as he led one of the NFL’s most successful teams during the decade. However his teams did have some great talent on them. Did you know LB/DE Karl Mecklenburg & FS Dennis Smith have been Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalists in the last couple years?? Atwater was immortalized in Bronze in 2020.

If we rewind the clock to 1989, Atwater was a wide-eyed rookie learning the ropes under Smith’s tutelage. Big hits rang up all year as receivers ducked for cover against these big safeties. Smith was a Pro Bowl player in 1989, the 3rd of 6 trips to Hawai’i after an 82 tackle 2 interception season.

courtesy of Roger Guinn

Atwater was the team’s 1st round draft pick out of Arkansas and passed out big hits like Christmas presents. Much like Jack Tatum you heard Atwater. Whether it was the whole stadium giving a collective “Ooooh!” or thumping of the pads.

With 129 total tackles & 3 interceptions Atwater didn’t make the Pro Bowl but came in 2nd to KC’s Derrick Thomas for NFL Defensive Rookie of the year. Both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Think back to the ’87 team where Doug Williams consistently beat then FS Tony Lilly for several TDs in the 2nd quarter. They couldn’t stop the bleeding or deliver a big hit to send Redskin receivers a message. Not so 2 years later. In ’89 he rung more bells than a Christmas caroler. The intimidation factor Atwater & Smith brought led the Broncos to a #3 defensive ranking overall or #2 in the AFC, and yielding the fewest points in the league with 226.

Atwater career retrospective

Meanwhile Mecklenburg was a Pro Bowl player with 143 tackles, 7 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 fumble recoveries. The 1989 season was the 4th of his 6 Pro Bowl trips and where there are a ton of vids showcasing Smith and Atwater, Mecklenburg is largely forgotten in circles outside of Denver. This vignette from ’86 showcases his talent best

In each of the Denver Broncos Super Bowl seasons they fielded a top 10 defense. Unsung players like Simon Fletcher and Michael Brooks made the back 7 one of the best during this era.

Another factor in 1989 was the Broncos finally landing a top running back in rookie RB Bobby Humphrey out of Alabama. He was Denver’s first true breakaway threat since Floyd Little. He rushed for 1,151 yards and 7 TDs after starting the season on the bench. Denver climbed to #6 in rushing where they had ranked 20th in the 1st Elway era Super Bowl team in 1986.

However history outside Taylor Blitz doesn’t bring up the excellent play from defenders who played with John Elway. When this team is discussed they make it seem as though there was John Elway and nothing else. Ask those receivers, QBs, and running backs on other teams how lethal this defense was. They’re not as heralded as the original “Orange Crush” but shouldn’t be in the dustbin of history either for coming up short in XXIV. It would be great to see Dennis Smith or Mecklenburg from this era make it to Canton since they weren’t on the Super Bowl winning Broncos a decade later.

Yet alas this team ran into one of the all time great teams in Super Bowl history. This is the championship ring won by Denver after beating Cleveland for their 3rd AFC championship in 4 years.

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

Write & nominate Karl Mecklenburg / Dennis Smith
Send letters to:
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Attention Hall of Fame Selection Committee
2121 George Halas Dr NW, Canton,
OH 44708

super-bowl-logo-1989Thanks for reading and please share the article.