Category Archives: 1990s

When Barry met Emmitt

Barry Sanders

Emmitt Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you imagine getting excited these days about a Running Back Duel — salivating at the prospect of two backs trying to match each other yard for yard, missed tackle for missed tackle, touchdown dance for touchdown dance? The position has been so devalued in recent years that I’m not sure such a thing is even possible anymore. Consider: The Eagles’ LeSean McCoy and the Bears’ Matt Forte, the NFL’s top two rushers last season, crossed paths in Week 16. Did anybody think twice about it during the run-up to the game?

I raise these questions because 20 years ago this week we had one of the all-timers. Under the bright lights of Monday Night Football, two Hall of Fame backs at the peak of their talents gave us an evening of thrills not likely to be duplicated. In one corner, wearing the white jersey, was the Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith. And in the other corner, decked out in Honolulu blue, was the Lions’ Barry Sanders.

It was a matchup to die for. Sanders, 26, was early in his sixth season and had already racked up 6,925 rushing yards. Smith, 25, was in his fifth year and not far behind with 5,960. It was pretty clear that, barring an asteroid striking the Earth or some other cosmic catastrophe, both were headed to Canton. The discussion was more: Where do they rank among the great backs in history and, just as important, who’s better?

In my own mind, they were certainly in the Top 10 — and moving up fast. Jim Brown, Walter Payton, O.J. Simpson, Gale Sayers and Earl Campbell occupied the highest rungs, but after that . . . Sanders and Smith were right there. In Barry, you had a back who never saw a tackler he couldn’t elude, even in a telephone booth. In Emmitt, you had a runner who seemed to wring extra inches, feet and yards out of every carry. For their careers to overlap as much as they did — so we could measure them side by side — was one of the great blessings of the ’90s, the running back equivalent of the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivalry today.

As for the “Who’s better?” argument, it was a matter of taste, really — like the Leno-Letterman debate or the boxers/briefs conundrum. Sanders might have made more Wow Plays, but Smith ran like a 5-foot-9 Hummer. It was hard not to love both of them (and to love, as much anything, how differently they went about their jobs).

One of the reasons you knew they were special was because they didn’t remind you of anybody but themselves. Joe Perry, the 49ers’ Hall of Famer, once put it to me this way: “Running is mostly instinct, and you can’t teach instinct. You can’t teach somebody to run like [Hugh] McElhenny or Perry or [Jim] Brown or John Henry [Johnson]. That’s their own, and it’s God-given. It’s like a fingerprint.” Barry and Emmitt left their fingerprints — and footprints — all over the league.

Smith had enjoyed more team success with the Cowboys — two Super Bowl rings (with a third to come) to Sanders’ none — but there’s only so much a running back can control. Besides, part of the backstory to their ’94 showdown was the Lions’ 38-6 destruction of Dallas in the ’91 playoffs, a game in which the two backs battled to a statistical draw (though Barry delivered the parting shot with a 47-yard touchdown run). Heading into the Monday nighter, Sanders’ Lions had won two of three against Smith’s Cowboys.

Then referee Bernie Kukar blew his whistle, Jason Hanson kicked off for Detroit and, amazingly, Barry vs. Emmitt actually exceeded expectations. A Hall of Fame quarterback (Dallas’ Troy Aikman), Hall of Fame receiver (Aikman go-to guy Michael Irvin) and assorted other luminaries also were on the field that night, but you couldn’t take your eyes off the two backs. Sanders struck first, breaking a 28-yard run in the second quarter to set up a touchdown pass from Scott Mitchell to Brett Perriman. But Smith, as was his wont, kept coming. If Barry was Muhammad Ali, floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, then Emmitt was Joe Frazier, his head in your chest, throwing shot after remorseless shot.

With 4:09 left in the fourth quarter, Smith ran 6 yards around right end to send the game into overtime tied at 17. The outcome, though, was decided not by one of the Main Attractions but by Aikman’s sack-fumble at the Dallas 43. Five snaps later, Hanson booted a 44-yard field goal, and Detroit made off with a huge road win over the two-time defending champions.

The final stat sheet told the tale:

Sanders: 40 carries (his career-high by eight), 194 yards.

Smith: 29 carries, 143 yards, one TD, plus 7 receptions for 49 more yards. Yards from scrimmage: 192.

194 to 192. 76 combined touches. Two decades later, it still seems slightly unreal these legends could summon such a performance — especially in what would turn out to be their final head-to-head meeting. How rare was it? Well, the following chart puts it somewhat in perspective. (I say “somewhat” because none of the other games had nearly the Advance Buzz that Smith-Sanders IV did.)

OPPOSING RBS WITH 190+ YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGE IN A GAME (SINCE 1960)

[table]

Date,Back\, Team (W/L),Yards,Back\, Team (W/L),Yards

10-14-90,Barry Sanders\, Lions (L),225,Barry Word\, Chiefs (W),200

9-19-94,Barry Sanders\, Lions (W),194,Emmitt Smith\, Cowboys (L),192

11-26-00,Mike Anderson\, Broncos (W),209,Ricky Watters\, Seahawks (L),203

9-15-02,Edgerrin James\, Colts (L),220,Ricky Williams\, Dolphins (W),194

12-1-02,L. Tomlinson\, Chargers (W),271,Clinton Portis\, Broncos (L),193

12-28-08,Steven Jackson\, Rams (L),215,Michael Turner\, Falcons (W),208

[/table]

Why the NFL Network doesn’t re-broadcast games like Barry vs. Emmitt on a regular basis is an eternal mystery. Then again, we all know the league’s mentality: Keep the focus on today’s players. We wouldn’t want anyone thinking they aren’t the greatest thing since the invention of the dropkick. At any rate, we’re all the poorer for it — those of us, at least, who enjoy time travel (and aren’t convinced that newer is necessarily better).

Sanders went on to lead the NFL in rushing that year with 1,883 yards. (His 2,000-yard season was still three years away.) Smith finished third with 1,484 — and also had a league-best 21 touchdowns. This, of course, was nothing out of the ordinary for either of them. You look at their numbers, season by ridiculous season, and you just shake your head.

Will we ever see anything like that again, two thoroughbreds — running backs who defined their position — galloping free across the, uh, artificial turf of pro football? I’m not so sure.

Which is why I wanted to spend a few minutes reminiscing about it. Just in case.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Friday Night Fights II: Mark Gastineau vs. Alonzo Highsmith, 1996

Now we’re getting to the Good Stuff. This was one of those classic Shield vs. Shield bouts, as Roger Goodell would put it, between two former NFL players — Mark Gastineau, the erstwhile Jets sack dancer, and Alonzo Highsmith, who’d had a more modest career as a running back after the Oilers took him third overall in the 1987 draft.

Both had a fair number of pro fights under their belts, though Gastineau’s were more of the State Fair variety. Indeed, Mark (15-1 with 15 knockouts) hadn’t fought in 2 ½ years. He’d supposedly gone into the gym — after a four-round no-decision against the immortal Craig Thurber in Topeka — to learn some ring craft and had emerged, at the age of 39, a more polished pugilist.

Highsmith, eight years younger and 31 ½ pounds lighter (223 ½ to Gastineau’s 255), had a somewhat better track record (15-0-1 with 13 KOs), but that’s not saying much. Two of his recent victims had records of 2-24 (Jim Wisniewski) and 0-23 (Ed Strickland) when they climbed between the ropes. In fact, Strickland was winless in 30 career bouts.

The Gastineau-Highsmith tussle took place Nov. 3, 1996, in Urayasu, Japan, outside Tokyo. Believe it or not, it was on the undercard of George Foreman’s bout against Crawford Grimsley for Foreman’s dime-store IBA and WBU titles. George, 47, won a unanimous 12-round decision, but laced up his gloves only twice more before returning his full attention to selling grills.

Our two gladiators are ready to rumble. Let’s go to the ring for the introductions:

Once again, the beginning of the end for Gastineau:

Bruce Keidan in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Highsmith is no great boxer, but compared to Gastineau he is Sugar Ray Robinson. . . .

“Gastineau didn’t even know how to quit,” an eyewitness reports. “He finally sat down. You’ve heard of guys taking a knee? He took a buttock.”

“The referee was counting in Japanese,” another reports. “Gastineau couldn’t be sure when it was safe to get up. So he just stayed down until he was sure the referee was done counting.”

Obviously, the second report was embellished. The referee, Tom Vacca “from Ashland, Ohio,” most definitely counted in English. But at that point, Gastineau was so groggy it probably sounded like Japanese.

Highsmith went on to fight 13 more times, against better competition, before calling it quits. Final record: 27-1-2 with 23 KOs. But for Gastineau it was his last bout — and wisely so. A better matchup for him would have been Sylvester Stallone — with the winner getting Brigitte Nielsen.

Screen Shot 2014-09-12 at 1.17.09 PMStallone and Nielsen

 

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Another tight end runs amok

If you don’t think the Era of the Tight End is upon us, consider this: When Julius Thomas caught three touchdown passes in the Broncos’ Week 1 win over the Colts, it was the 18th time in the 2000s a tight end had done that. What’s more, we’re talking about 16 different tight ends, everybody from Mark Campbell (Bills, 2004) to Greg Olsen (Bears, 2009) to Dante Rosario (Chargers, 2012 — his only three scores that season). The only ones who’ve had two of these games (playoffs included) are the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and the Chargers’ Antonio Gates.

Thomas also had 104 yards receiving. Three TD grabs and 100 receiving yards in a game aren’t so common for a tight end. In fact, there have been only 10 such performances in the last 25 years. The roll:

TIGHT ENDS WITH 3 TD CATCHES, 100 RECEIVING YARDS IN A GAME SINCE 1989

[table]

Date,Tight end\, Team,Opponent,Rec,Yds,TD

9-7-14,Julius Thomas\, Broncos,Colts,7,104,3

1-14-12*,Rob Gronkowski\, Patriots,Broncos,10,145,3

10-22-06,Alge Crumpler\, Falcons,Steelers,6,117,3,

10-30-05,Antonio Gates\, Chargers,Chiefs,10,145,3

11-16-03,Shannon Sharpe\, Broncos,Chargers,7,101,3

9-29-02,Tony Gonzalez\, Chiefs,Dolphins,7,140,3

12-14-97,Ken Dilger\, Colts,Dolphins,5,100,3

10-6-96,Shannon Sharpe\, Broncos,Chargers,13,153,3

10-3-93,Johnny Mitchell\, Jets,Eagles,7,146,3

9-17-89,Keith Jackson\, Eagles,Redskins,12,126,3

[/table]

*playoffs

For sheer economy, you can’t do much better than Lions tight end Joseph Fauria did last season against the Browns: three catches, 34 yards, three touchdowns. The only TEs since the merger who’ve topped him — that is, scored three times in fewer yards – are, well, see for yourself:

FEWEST RECEIVING YARDS IN A GAME FOR A TIGHT END WITH 3 TD CATCHES 

[table]

Date,Tight end\,Team,Opponent,Rec,Yds,TD

10-12-75,Mack Alston\, Oilers,Browns,3,22,3

10-14-90,Eric Green\, Steelers,Broncos,4,28,3

10-13-13,Joseph Fauria\, Lions,Browns,3,34,3

11-21-04,Mark Campbell\, Bills,Rams,4,37,3

12-18-88,Damone Johnson\, Rams,49ers,4,42,3

[/table]

I’ll say it for you: Stats don’t get any more obscure than that.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The statistical phenomenon that is DeAngelo Hall

Statistics were invented for a player like DeAngelo Hall. He isn’t that rare Shutdown Corner everybody lusts for — a Darrelle Revis or a Richard Sherman — and at going-on-31 his Pro Bowl years are probably behind him. The Redskins, strapped for cap dollars, deemed him expendable enough to release him during the 2013 offseason, though he eventually re-signed with them and played well enough to earn a four-year extension.

But Hall does have value, even if it’s declining. He may not be a great cover man, but he’s durable and — here’s where the stats come in — opportunistic. In fact, he’s the football equivalent of that guy at the beach with the metal detector. He’s always finding “loose change” by hanging around the ball. And he’s especially good at doing something with said ball once he latches onto it.

Stat No. 1: Because Hall came out of Virginia Tech early and was 20 when he played in his first NFL game, he played 143 games in his 20s. That gave him an unusual amount of time to make his statistical mark, and he took advantage of it. Consider: Since the big rule changes in 1978, the ones that turned the league into a Picnic for Passers, only one pure corner has had more picks in his 20s than DeAngelo did. The Top 10 looks like this:

MOST INTERCEPTIONS BY A CORNERBACK IN HIS 20S SINCE 1978

[table]

Seasons,Cornerback,Teams(s),Ints

1981-88,Everson Walls,Cowboys,44

2004-13,DeAngelo Hall,Falcons\, Raiders\, Redskins,42

1999-07,Champ Bailey, Redskins\, Broncos,42

2003-10,Asante Samuel,Patriots\, Eagles,42

1992-00,Terrell Buckley,Packers\, Dolphins\, Broncos,38

1991-97,Aeneas Williams,Cardinals,38

1996-03,Donnie Abraham,Bucs\, Jets,36

1988-95,Eric Allen,Eagles\, Saints,35

1995-03,Ty Law,Patriots,35

1989-96,Deion Sanders,Falcons\, 49ers\, Cowboys,34

[/table]

Note: Ronnie Lott (43) and Ray Buchanan (38) aren’t included because they got some of their interceptions at the safety spot (enough, at least, to take them below the cutoff of 34).

Granted, Hall has a tendency to gamble, but 42 picks are 42 picks, particularly in an era with low interception rates and a ton of one-possession games. Often, One More Takeaway can be the difference between victory and defeat. That’s what Hall, for all his flaws, gives you.

Stat No. 2: Last season Hall ran back two interceptions and one fumble for touchdowns. That brought his career totals in those categories to five and four. Only one other player in NFL history has returned at least four INTs and four fumbles for scores. Here are the 11 with 3 or more of each:

PLAYERS WITH 3 INTERCEPTION TDS AND 3 FUMBLE TDS, CAREER

[table]

Seasons,Player,Team (s),Int TD,Fum TD

1997-12,Ronde Barber,Bucs,8,4

2004-14,DeAngelo Hall,Falcons\, Raiders\, Redskins,5,4

1997-11,Jason Taylor,Dolphins\, Redskins\, Jets,3,6

2000-09,Mike Brown,Bears\, Chiefs,4,3

2000-09,Adalius Thomas,Ravens\, Patriots,3,3

1991-04,Aeneas Williams,Cardinals\, Rams,9,3

1988-00,Cris Dishman,Oilers\, Redskins\, 2 others,3,3

1989-98,Anthony Parker,Vikings\, 4 others,4,3

1969-81,Bill Thompson,Broncos,3,4

1970-82,Lemar Parrish,Bengals\, Redskins\, Bills,4,3

1964-79,Paul Krause,Redskins\, Vikings,3,3

[/table]

Not a bad bunch. Williams and Krause are in the Hall of Fame, Taylor is surely headed there and I’ve never quite understood why Parrish’s eight Pro Bowls and excellence as a returner don’t merit him serious consideration. Also, did you notice that five of the 11 played at one time or another for the Redskins (for whatever that’s worth)?

Anyway, like I said, DeAngelo Hall was made for stats.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Cordarrelle Patterson and the Snowflake Theory

A snowflake fell in St. Louis on the first Sunday of the NFL season. Not the shoveling kind; the Dave Kindred kind. “At every game, if you’re paying attention, you’ll see something you’ve never seen before,” the esteemed sportswriter once wrote. “It’s my Snowflake Theory. Every game is somehow different from every other game ever played.”

Often, of course, these snowflakes are barely visible to the naked eye, of little consequence in the course of human events. Sometimes, though — when we get lucky — they’re big, fluffy things, happenings that are discussed, analyzed, marveled at and even laughed about long after the clock hits zeroes.

Which brings us to Cordarrelle Patterson, the Vikings’ multi-purpose wide receiver. Patterson, you may have heard, rushed for 102 yards in the Vikes’ 34-6 win over the Rams. No wide receiver — in the modern era, at least — had ever had a 100-yard rushing game. Before that, the best rushing performance by a wideout was 86 by the Seahawks’ Joey Galloway. (He got them all on one play, a touchdown run against the Jaguars as a rookie in 1995.)

Patterson had a quiet offensive day otherwise, though — three catches for 26 yards — so we’re still waiting for a wideout to rack up 100 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing in the same game. That’s the Holy Grail — like 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick flirting with an unthinkable 300 yards passing/200 yards rushing game against the Packers in the 2012 playoffs. (He settled for 263 and 181, which is ridiculous enough.)

Here’s some Stat Candy for you:

WIDEOUTS WITH 100 YARDS RECEIVING, 50 RUSHING IN A GAME SINCE 1960

[table]

Date,Player\, Team,Opponent,Rec,Rush

11-12-95,Joey Galloway\, Seahawks,Jaguars,5-114-2,1-86-1

9-20-82,James Lofton\, Packers,Giants,4-101-0,1-83-1

11-5-06,Javon Walker\, Broncos,Steelers,6-134-2,1-72-1

1-16-83,James Lofton\, Packers,Cowboys,5-109-1,1-71-1

10-11-87,Kelvin Edwards\, Cowboys,Eagles,6-100-0,1-62-1

12-5-76,Freddie Solomon\, Dolphins,Bills,5-114-1,1-59-1

[/table]

Note: Figures are receptions (or rushing attempts), yards and touchdowns.

Kind of thought Percy Harvin would be in this group. But Harvin’s top rushing total in a 100-yard receiving game is 45 in ’09 vs. the Bears. In fact, he’s rushed for as many as 50 yards just once — on a day he was held to 42 receiving.

Still, Percy strikes me as the kind of player who has a snowflake or two in him. He and Cordarrelle both. This gets me thinking about other snowflakes, other singular single-game events — or, at the very least, exceedingly rare events. The list I came up with:

● Intercepting a pass and scoring a safety. In modern times, the only player who has this double on his resume is James Harrison. Against the Chargers on Nov. 16, 2008, the Steelers linebacker sacked Philip Rivers in the end zone, caused a fumble that was recovered by tackle Marcus McNeill, then tackled McNeill in the end zone for the two points. Later Harrison picked off a pass and ran 33 yards to the Pittsburgh 43. I don’t remember anybody making a big deal of this. And in addition to being highly unusual, it happened in a single quarter (the second). What got more attention — for whatever reason — was that the game produced the first 11-10 final score in NFL history. (Thanks to James’ heroics, Pittsburgh eked it out.)

● 100 rushing yards and 100 punt-return yards. Bears Hall of Famer Gale Sayers did this the same day he tied the NFL record by scoring six touchdowns against the 49ers (Dec. 12, 1965). He was 9 for 113 rushing (long: 50) and 5 for 134 running back punts (long: 85). No one else has managed it since.

● Throwing an interception and intercepting a pass. A Steelers rookie named Tony Dungy chalked up this exploit on Oct. 9, 1977. At safety, the future Bucs and Colts coach picked off a Dan Pastorini throw for the first interception of his pro career. As if that weren’t enough, he also served as Pittsburgh’s emergency quarterback in the fourth quarter — after Terry Bradshaw and Mike Kruczek got hurt — and threw a pair of INTs. (He’d been a QB in college at Minnesota.) Maybe Bill Belichick could let Julian Edelman try this. Edelman, the all-purpose Patriot, has seen action at DB in addition to playing receiver and was a quarterback at Kent State.)

● Three touchdown catches and a punt-return TD: Az-Zahir Hakim, Rams, vs. Bengals, Oct. 3, 1999. TD receptions (all from Kurt Warner): 9, 51 and 18 yards. Punt return: 84. Five players since 1960 have had three (or more) touchdown grabs and also scored a rushing TD — all backs — but only Hakim has accomplished this particular combo. And it’s getting harder to do with all the specialization now.

● 100 punt-return yards with a punt-return TD and 100 kickoff-return yards with a kickoff-return TD. Walter Payton’s younger brother, Eddie, had a game like this for the Vikings against the Lions on Dec. 17, 1977. Kick returns: 5 for 184 with a 98-yard score. Punt returns: 3 for 105 with an 87-yard score.

● 150 yards from scrimmage and 150 yards on punt and kickoff returns. Since 1960, it’s been done as many times in the playoffs (2) as in the regular season. Go figure. The postseason guys:

— Darren Sproles, Chargers, Jan. 3, 2009 vs. Colts: 150 yards from scrimmage (105 rushing, 45 receiving), 178 return yards (72 on punts, 106 on kickoffs). He also scored the winning touchdown in overtime on a 22-yard run.

— Ed Podolak, Chiefs, Dec. 25, 1971 vs. Dolphins: 195 yards from scrimmage (85 rushing, 110 receiving), 155 return yards (153 on kickoffs, 2 on punts). This was the famous Christmas Day game, the one that went into the sixth quarter. Snowflakes (single-game division) that haven’t fallen yet:

● Catching a touchdown pass and returning an interception for a TD. Or to put it another way: Scoring on a pass on both sides of the ball. Nobody in the modern era (read: since 1960) has done it. Surprised? So am I — a little. Especially since Deion Sanders and Roy Green (among others) swung between defensive back and receiver and Mike Vrabel snuck out for 12 TDs as a goal-line tight end when he wasn’t backing up the line (and picking off 11 passes).

● 100 yards rushing, 100 receiving and 100 returning. Again, nobody in the modern era has done it. The Browns’ Greg Pruitt came closest on Nov. 23, 1975 against the Bengals (121 rushing, 106 receiving, 77 returning). A snowflake that hasn’t fallen in decades, but seems bound to with all these quarterbacks running around:

● 50 yards passing, 50 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving. The only player to do it in the last 50 years is Walter Payton, who had 50 passing, 81 rushing and 55 receiving against the Lions on Dec. 22, 1985. Nowadays, though, one of the Mobile QB Brigade — Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III — seems more likely to pull it off. Somebody just needs to catch the defense napping.

Now, you can question the significance of some of these feats, and I respect that. But regardless of how you feel, you have to admit: We’re not talking about walking and chewing gum here. If we were, players would do this stuff a lot more regularly.

Fear not, by the way. Pro Football Daly will keep an eye peeled for any future snowflakes and dutifully report them. It’s one of our hobbies.

Or to put it another way: Snowflake Fever — catch it.

1 Which reminds me: In Week 1 of that First Sack Season, the Browns’ Chip Banks began his NFL career with a three-sack day against the Seahawks. No rookie in the 31 years since has made a better Week 1 debut, sack-wise (though the Titans’ Carlos Hall tied Banks with three against the Eagles in 2002).

Sources: pro-football-reference.com, The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia.

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Down go the Seahawks

The Seahawks got their first reminder Sunday: When you’re the defending champs, every game is the Super Bowl — for the other team, at least. Beyond that, I’m not sure how much we should read into their 30-21 loss to the Chargers in Week 2. They caught a possible Hall of Fame quarterback, Philip Rivers, on an afternoon when he played like a definite Hall of Fame quarterback. It can happen to anybody.

As I said at the top, though, Seattle had best gear up for a long grind, because that’s what you’re looking at after you’ve won it all. Jerry Kramer, one of Vince Lombardi’s favorite Packers, had a great quote about defending your title. It went something like this: “Winning one is hard. Winning two in a row is really hard. And winning three in a row” — as his Green Bay club did from 1965 to ’67 — “is an absolute bitch.”

If it’s any consolation to the Seahawks, the ’93 Cowboys dropped their first two and still repeated as champions. (I know, I know. Emmitt Smith was holding out and didn’t play until the third game. But it’s not the kind of start any contender wants.)

As for the best starts by teams that have just won titles, you’ll find those here:

      BEST STARTS BY DEFENDING NFL CHAMPIONS

[table width=”450px”]

Year,Team,Start,Result

1934,Bears,13-0,13-0 in regular season; lost title game.

1998,Broncos,13-0,14-2 in regular season; won Super Bowl.

2011,Packers,13-0,15-1 in regular season; lost in playoffs.

1942,Bears,11-0,11-0 in regular season; lost title game.

1962,Packers,10-0,13-1 in regular season; won title game.

1990,49ers,10-0,14-2 in regular season; lost NFC title game.

1931,Packers,9-0,12-2 final record gave them the title.

1930,Packers,8-0,10-3-1 final record gave them the title.

1948,Browns,14-0,14-0 in regular season; won title.

[/table]

I threw in that last one to make sure you were paying attention. The Browns were still playing in the rival All-America Conference, of course, in ’48. (They didn’t join the NFL for another two years.) Still, that was a fabulous Cleveland club whose perfect 15-0 season — unlike the Dolphins’ 17-0 mark in ’72 — has been mostly forgotten. So whenever I get the chance, I give them a little pub.

Note that five of the nine teams won the championship again, and two others lost the title game. Also, when the ’30 and ’31 Packers successfully defended their crown, they did it based on their regular-season record. There were no playoffs until ’32.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Giovani Bernard, doing what he does

Giovani Bernard had another Giovani Bernard Game in the Bengals’ Week 1 win over the Ravens: 14 rushes for 48 yards, 6 receptions for 62 yards and 110 yards from scrimmage. Just starting his second season, Bernard has yet to have a 100-yard game rushing or receiving; but he’s had five 100-yard games rushing and receiving, playoffs included (and two others in which he’s gained 99 and 95 yards from scrimmage).

Something I didn’t know until researched it: Bernard last season was just the 10th rookie back in NFL history to gain 500 yards rushing and 500 receiving. And one of the 10, Herschel Walker, was really a fourth-year pro coming out of the USFL, so I’m more inclined to think of Giovani as the ninth. But I’ll leave that call up to you. The list:

ROOKIE RUNNING BACKS WITH 500 YARDS RUSHING AND 500 RECEIVING

[table]

Year,Running back,Team,Rush,Rec

2013,Giovani Bernard,Bengals,695,514

2006,Reggie Bush,Saints,565,742

1999,Edgerrin James,Colts,1\,553,586

1994,Marshall Faulk,Colts,1\,282,522

1986,Herschel Walker,Cowboys,737,837

1980,Earl Cooper,49ers,720,567

1980,Billy Sims,Lions,1\,303,621

1965,Gale Sayers,Bears,867,507

1964,Charley Taylor,Redskins,755,814

1960,Abner Haynes,Texans (AFL),875,576

[/table]

Several things jump out at you. First, there are three Hall of Famers — Faulk, Sayers and Taylor — though Charley got in as a wide receiver. And James, with the numbers he put up, might make it four.

Second, Taylor is the only rookie who’s had 750 yards rushing and 750 receiving — and he did it 50 years ago in a 14-game season. What a player.

Third, I usually disregard early AFL stats. The league simply wasn’t on a par with the NFL yet. But Haynes — along with the Raiders’ Clem Daniels — is an underappreciated run-catch threat from that era. In the next four seasons, he averaged 15 yards a grab (on 140 receptions). He wasn’t, in other words, just a swing-pass guy. Coach Hank Stram would flank him out, as he did here in the ’62 AFL title game:

We all have our weaknesses. One of mine is for running backs who are multi-dimensional, who give you a little of this and a little of that. Bernard certainly fits that description. What’s surprising is how few backs in the 2000s, rookies or veterans, have had more than one of these 500/500 seasons. (I count 14.) Blame it on all the teams that split the position between a Running Specialist and a Receiving Specialist.

At any rate, only five active backs — the infamous Ray Rice included — have had at least two 500/500 seasons. Here’s that group:

500/500 SEASONS (ACTIVE BACKS)

[table width=”300px”]

Running back,Team,Seasons

Ray Rice*,Ravens,        3

Reggie Bush,Saints\, Lions,        2

Matt Forte,Bears,        2

Arian Foster,Texans,        2

LeSean McCoy,Eagles,        2

[/table]

*suspended indefinitely

(Note: Earlier in the 2000s, the Giants’ Tiki Barber had five of these seasons and the Eagles’ Brian Westbrook four. The record is six by Faulk.)

No one would suggest Bernard is a great player. He’s merely the kind who Moves the Ball — whichever way it needs to be moved. There are worse things you can say about a back.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Frank Gore joins the 10,000 Club

Walter Payton (16,726) and Emmitt Smith (18,355) pushed the NFL career rushing record so high that, in the new millennium, 10,000 yards means you’re barely halfway to the top. When Jim Brown (12,312) was the all-time leader from 1961 to ’84, the milestone was a much bigger deal.

Consider: Through the ’95 season — the league’s 76th — just 10 backs had broken the 10,000 barrier. Only one isn’t in the Hall of Fame (and if you’d seen him as a rookie, when he rushed for 1,605 electric yards, you would have sworn he was a shoo-in).

10,000-YARD RUSHERS THROUGH 1995

[table]

Yards,Running Back,Team(s),Years,Hall of Fame?

16\,726,Walter Payton,Bears,1975-87,Yes*

13\,259,Eric Dickerson,Rams\, Colts\, 2 others,1983-93,Yes*

12\,739,Tony Dorsett,Cowboys\, Broncos,1977-88,Yes*

12\,312,Jim Brown,Browns,1957-65,Yes*

12\,120,Franco Harris,Steelers\, Seahawks,1972-84,Yes*

11\,352,John Riggins,Jets\, Redskins,1971-85,Yes

11\,236,O.J. Simpson,Bills\, 49ers,1969-79,Yes*

10\,908,Marcus Allen,Raiders\, Chiefs,1982-95,Yes*

10\,273,Ottis Anderson,Cardinals\, Giants,1979-92,No

10\,172,Barry Sanders,Lions,1989-95,Yes*

[/table]

*first year of eligibility

Note that eight of the 10 were elected to the Hall in their first year of eligibility (and Riggins made it in his second).

Since then, 19 more backs have joined the 10,000 Club — including the 49ers’ Frank Gore on Sunday against the Cowboys — which brings the membership to 29. It’s not so exclusive anymore, and that’s reflected in the fact that just six of those 19 are either in Canton or total locks for the place once they’re eligible. The breakdown:

● Already enshrined (4): Emmitt Smith (18,355), Curtis Martin (14,101), Marshall Faulk (12,279), Thurman Thomas (12,074).

● Destined to be enshrined (2): LaDainian Tomlinson (13,684), Adrian Peterson (10,190).

● Has been a finalist but hasn’t been voted in (1): Jerome Bettis (13,662).

● Maybe someday (1): Edgerrin James (12,246).

● Little to no chance, unless the Veterans Committee champions their cause (11): Fred Taylor (11,695), Corey Dillon (11,241), Warrick Dunn (10,967), Steven Jackson (10,730), Ricky Watters (10,643), Jamal Lewis (10,607), Thomas Jones (10,591), Tiki Barber (10,449), Eddie George (10,441), Frank Gore (10,030), Ricky Williams (10,009).

(If it were up to me, I’d give serious consideration to Barber. He’s 10th all time among backs in yards from scrimmage with 15,632 and also did some returning. But I don’t think the selectors are so inclined.)

As for Gore, he’s had a terrific career with seven 1,000-yard seasons and five Pro Bowls, but he’s really had only one monster year — 2006, when he rushed for 1,695 yards and gained 2,180 from scrimmage. None of his other seasons have come within 600 yards of that second figure (best: 1,538). Maybe he’ll have enough staying power put up Undeniable Numbers, but it doesn’t look like it.

At least he made it to 10,000, though, which may not be as rare as it once was but can still prove elusive to even the best backs. Earl Campbell (9,407), for instance, broke down before he got there — which didn’t, of course, keep him out of the Hall. And in recent years, Clinton Portis (an agonizingly close 9,923) and Shaun Alexander (9,453) have fallen short

It’s still a remarkable feat of endurance, never mind talent, whether it leads to Canton or not. Those are large men, after all, who are hitting you, and the ground isn’t exactly a mattress.

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The big tease

Sure, the Cardinals and Steelers missed the playoffs last year, but they did go 6-2 in the second half. (Not to sound like a Holiday Inn Express commercial or anything.) That was the best record by any team that didn’t qualify for the postseason. How much does this mean, though? Are these clubs on the verge of greater things, or does a strong finish one year have little bearing on the next?

Let’s look at the previous four years and the teams that earned this distinction:

[table width=”350 px”]

Year  Team (W-L),2nd Half,Next Season

2012  Cowboys (8-8),5-3,8-8

2012  Panthers (7-9),5-3,12-4

2011  Cardinals (8-8),6-2,5-11

2010  Chargers (9-7),6-2,8-8

2009  Titans (8-8),6-2,6-10

[/table]

A bit surprising, you have to admit. Three went backward the next year, one stayed stuck in its 8-8 rut and the other — the Panthers — won the division title (and got a first-round bye in the playoffs).

But that’s a rather small sample size. So I researched the matter further — back to 1990, when the playoffs were expanded to 12 entrants. A total of 39 clubs in those 24 seasons fell into the Best Second-Half Record By A Non-Playoff Team category (accounting for ties). Here’s how they did the following year:

[table width=”250 px”],,

Made playoffs,15

Missed playoffs,24

Wild card,   7

Division champion,   8

Reached conference title game,   5

Reached Super Bowl,   3

Won Super Bowl,   1

[/table]

As you can see, almost two-third of the clubs (61.5 percent) failed to qualify for the playoffs the next season. The last four years, in other words, are no aberration. For teams such as these, there simply isn’t much of a carry-over effect. Indeed, 24 of them — the same 61.5 percent — failed to improve their record the following season, much less make the playoffs. (Fifteen were better, 19 were worse and five posted the same mark.)

The clubs that reached the Super Bowl, by the way, were the 1998 Falcons (7-9 the year before, 6-2 in the second half), 2003 Patriots (9-7/5-3) and ’08 Cardinals (8-8/5-3). And the only one that walked off with the Lombardi Trophy, of course, was the ’03 Pats, who had won it just two seasons earlier (and would win it again in ’04).

The moral: Don’t get your hopes too high if your team finishes its season on an upswing. It could lead to greater success, but the odds are against it. Why? Oh, you could probably come up with a bunch of reasons — injuries, free-agent defections, a tougher schedule, bad luck, and on and on. Then, too, winning games when you’re out of the running – as many of these clubs were – is a lot like gaining yards when you’re hopelessly behind. They might make things look a little better, but looks can be deceiving.

Sources: pro-football-reference.com, The Official NFL Record and Fact Book

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You never want to beat yourself, unless . . .

Had Peyton Manning not sat out the last game of the 2004 season — except for the first three snaps, that is — he might have done something last year that hadn’t been done in two decades: break his own NFL season record.

Manning, you may recall, had 49 touchdown passes going into the ’04 finale at Denver. He’d topped Dan Marino’s mark of 48 the week before, so there was no compelling reason for him to run up the score, so to speak — especially since the Colts had already clinched their division and had no shot at a first-round bye. So after the first series against the Broncos, coach Tony Dungy played it safe and replaced him with Jim Sorgi.

Three years later, the Patriots’ Tom Brady threw for 50 TDs to edge past Manning. And last season Manning threw for 55 to take the record back. But had Peyton gone the distance in the ’04 closer, he might well have thrown for several scores. Indeed, the following week in the playoffs, in a rematch with Denver, he threw for four in a 49-24 blowout. Could Brady have gotten to 52 or 53 – or more? I wouldn’t count on it.

Ah, what might have been. The last time a player broke his own NFL season record, according to my research, was in 1993, when the Packers’ Sterling Sharpe caught 112 passes, surpassing his own mark of 108 set in ’92. (The next year, the Vikings’ Cris Carter topped Sharpe by hauling in 122. So it goes in the receiving game.)

I’m not talking about any old records, by the way. I’m talking about records that fans care about (at least a little). We seem to be at the point in pro football history where this sort of thing – self-erasure – is getting incredibly hard to do.

It wasn’t always thus. In the ’30s and ’40s, another Packers receiver – the iconic Don Hutson – upped his own record nine times in various categories (receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, points scored). Of course, the passing game was still in its infancy then, and Green Bay was one of the few teams that made effective use of it.

Nowadays, though, one record-breaking season appears to be all a player has in him. Take the Saints’ Drew Brees, for instance. Three years ago he threw for 5,476 yards to blow by Marino’s longstanding mark of 5,084. In 2012, however, despite a fabulous effort with a 7-9 team, he fell 299 yards short of his record. Now that he’s 35, he might never get that close again.

Maybe this is another way we can measure greatness: Was a guy good enough to break his own season mark? The list of players who’ve done it since — World War II — is fairly short:

● RB Steve Van Buren*, Eagles (rushing yards) — 1,008 in 1946 (old mark: 1,004), 1,146 in ’49.

● E Tom Fears*, Rams (receptions) — 77 in 1949 (old mark: 74), 84 in ’50.

● K Lou Groza*, Browns (field goals) — 13 in 1950 (old mark: 12 by drop-kicker Paddy Driscoll of the Bears in ’26), 19 in ’52, 23 in ’53. (Yes, he broke his own record twice.)

● RB Jim Brown*, Browns (rushing yards) — 1,527 in 1958 (old mark: 1,146), 1,863 in ’63.

● QB Y.A. Tittle*, Giants (touchdown passes) — 33 in ’62 (old mark: 32), 36 in ’63.

Note: George Blanda tossed 36 TD passes for the Houston Oilers in 1961. But I’m excluding the pre-merger (1960-66) AFL from this discussion, even though the NFL includes the league’s statistics in its record book. It just wasn’t as good a league in the early years (much as I enjoyed it).

● QB Dan Fouts*, Chargers (passing yards) — 4,082 in 1979 (old mark: 4,007), 4,715 in ’80, 4,802 in ’81.

Note: The record Fouts broke in ’79 was set by the Jets’ Joe Namath in a 14-game season. So he didn’t really break it, not if you go by per-game average (255.1 for Dan vs. 286.2 for Broadway Joe). But his ’80 (294.7) and ’81 (300.1) averages were better than Namath’s.

● WR Sterling Sharpe, Packers (receptions) — 108 in 1992 (old mark: 106), 112 in ’93.

* Hall of Fame

As you can see, the only one of the Select Seven who isn’t in the Hall is Sharpe, whose career was cut short by injury. He may yet make it as a Veterans Candidate, though. After all, he did put up some impressive numbers in just seven seasons (595 catches, 8,134 yards, 65 TDs, 5 Pro Bowls).

Anyway, it’s something for the Lions’ Calvin Johnson to think about as he attempts to climb Mount 2,000.

Sources: The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia, pro-football-reference.com

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