{"id":260,"date":"2008-01-23T17:55:01","date_gmt":"2008-01-23T22:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/?p=260"},"modified":"2023-03-02T15:02:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:02:59","slug":"fourth-and-long-rivers-of-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/fourth-and-long-rivers-of-courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth and Long: Rivers of Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 2007 and 2008, I wrote a weekly\u00a0online pro football column dubbed “Fourth and Long” for the late Football for Breakfast website.\u00a0<\/em><\/em> <\/em>One hopes the gentle reader will enjoy this blast from 1\/23\/08…<\/em><\/p>\n

As long-time readers can attest, I\u2019ve been a harsh critic of the San Diego Chargers ever since they dumped Marty Schottenheimer last February.<\/p>\n

But one thing about the Chargers I can\u2019t criticize is Phillip Rivers\u2019 courage.<\/p>\n

You can criticize his mouthing off at fans and at opposing teams. You can criticize his bad games earlier in the season. But you can\u2019t criticize his heart.<\/p>\n

Philip Rivers could barely walk Saturday night and yet he managed to courageously quarterback his team through the AFC championship against the juggernaut New England Patriots. And it has since been revealed that Rivers played the game with a completely detached ACL.<\/p>\n

An entire game without the benefit of an ACL in his right knee.<\/p>\n

Gone.<\/p>\n

And if that wasn\u2019t valiant enough, it turns out he had double-secret arthroscopic surgery on his knee to scope out loose cartilage only six days before the game. Philip Rivers has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he has a heart of a lion, finishing the game 19 of 37 for 211 yards on only one leg.<\/p>\n

Which is unfortunate for running back LaDainian Tomlinson who could only manage to play two series in the same game with a sprained MCL.<\/p>\n

Unfortunate because L.T. looks pretty bad in comparison.<\/p>\n

Especially with all the talking L.T. has done this year.<\/p>\n

L.T. used to be the class of the league. Only last year during his MVP season when he scored a record 31 touchdowns, he was famous for simply handing the ball to the referee after every score and following the Vince Lombardi dictate, \u201cAct like you\u2019ve been there before.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this season he had to add a touchdown celebration and yap. And yap some more.<\/p>\n

Yet when his team needed him the most. When his quarterback gamely played on one leg, L.T. was sitting on the bench.<\/p>\n

Okay, so you can\u2019t make those cuts, you can\u2019t explode anymore. But being on the field gives the entire team a boost.<\/p>\n

Antonio Gates was on the field with a dislocated toe.<\/p>\n

Philip Rivers gallantly played an entire game without an ACL.<\/p>\n

In that situation, in that championship game, I think you have to be on the field. If you can walk, you gut it out. Even as a decoy.<\/p>\n

This was a game the Chargers lost by only 9 points with four trips to the red zone resulting in four field goals.<\/p>\n

A two point game at the start of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Imagine if L.T. could have given Rivers the opportunity for one effective play-action pass on any of those drives.<\/p>\n

Convert one of those trips into a touchdown and suddenly you have a shot at glory. A shot at immortality.<\/p>\n

Two wounded lions triumphing over the greatest team in NFL history.<\/p>\n

But, alas, the Chargers never got that opportunity. Because while one of those lions was on the field, the other, during the biggest game of his career, was hiding on the bench under his cloak and his helmet and his mirrored visor.<\/p>\n

‘Larry King’ Ramblings <\/strong><\/p>\n

In a news conference following their loss to the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys\u2019 head coach Wade Phillips opined, \u201cAfter looking at the tape, I feel like the best team lost the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure what the point of that assertion was meant to be.<\/p>\n

Was Phillips suggesting, We were the better team, but I didn\u2019t prepare us well enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

Maybe, the Giants\u2019 victory will be forever tarnished because we didn\u2019t win.<\/em><\/p>\n

Or more likely, since Wade found himself on the losing end of the Music City Miracle, Don\u2019t look at me, the football gods hate me.<\/em><\/p>\n

I can understand the sour grapes and frustration from Wade Phillips. But this tendency of claiming that somehow the wrong team advanced in the playoffs is slowly and disturbingly permeating the NFC post-season landscape.<\/p>\n

This week, Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Gazette<\/em> asserted, \u201cMisguided football purists claim the Giants were the better team and won because they were more physical and dominated the line of scrimmage. While the Giants controlled the clock and the stat sheet, the most talented team lost on Sunday at Lambeau Field \u2026 if the Packers were physically inferior, why didn\u2019t it show on the scoreboard?\u201d<\/p>\n

Um\u2026 Mike? Did you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game? I think it read, Giants 23 Packers 20.<\/p>\n

And remember the Giants won the game despite missing two <\/em>fourth-quarter field goals.<\/p>\n

Oh, and I might add that the Packers were playing at home<\/em> and got the ball first<\/em> in overtime.<\/p>\n

Why is it that no one seems capable of accepting that the New York Giants went on the road and earned<\/em> consecutive playoff victories over the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the #1 seed Dallas Cowboys and #2 seed Green Bay Packers?<\/p>\n

What will happen if those pesky Giants pull off the impossible and beat the unquestionably more talented New England Patriots, quite possibly best team of all-time?<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s safe to assume that a columnist from Boston will pontificate that the better team lost.<\/p>\n

Maybe they\u2019ll have to put an asterisk on the Giants\u2019 Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n

‘Heidi’ Chronicles <\/strong><\/p>\n

Football fans certainly warmed up to the sub-zero New York Giants-Green Bay Packers NFC championship game Sunday night giving the riveting telecast a 31.7 overnight rating.<\/p>\n

To put that in perspective, it made for the most watched NFC championship game since 1996 (when the Cowboys defeated the Packers 38-27) and the most-watched football game since last year\u2019s Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

With two of the larger market teams and the most compelling storyline in decades, one has to wonder if this year\u2019s Super Bowl matchup will generate the best Super Bowl ratings in television history.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s saying something since 10 of the top 20 television broadcasts of all-time are Super Bowl telecasts.<\/p>\n

Bearing in mind that rating<\/strong> represents the percentage of all televisions that are tuned to a specific program and share<\/strong> represents the percentage of all televisions turned on<\/em> that are tuned to a specific program, here are how the past 41 Super Bowl broadcasts have fared\u2026<\/p>\n

\t                                       Rating Share\n2007\tColts 29\tBears 17\tCBS\t42.6\t64\n2006\tSteelers 21\tSeahawks 10\tABC\t41.6\t62\n2005\tPatriots 24\tEagles 21\tFOX\t41.1\t62\n2004\tPatriots 32\tPanthers 29\tCBS\t41.3\t63\n2003\tBucs 48 \tRaiders 21\tABC\t40.7\t61\n2002\tPatriots 20\tRams 17\t\tFOX\t40.4\t61\n2001\tRavens 34\tGiants 7\tCBS\t40.4\t61\n2000\tRams 23\t\tTitans 16\tABC\t43.2\t62\n1999\tBroncos 34\tFalcons 19\tFOX\t40.2\t61\n1998\tBroncos 31\tPackers 24\tNBC\t44.5\t67\n1997\tPackers 35\tPatriots 21\tFOX\t43.3\t65\n1996\tCowboys 27\tSteelers 17\tNBC\t46.1\t72\n1995\t49ers 49\tChargers 26\tABC\t41.3\t63\n1994\tCowboys 30\tBills 13\tNBC\t45.4\t66\n1993\tCowboys 42\tBills 17\tNBC\t45.1\t66\n1992\tRedskins 27\tBills 24\tCBS\t40.3\t61\n1991\tGiants 20\tBills 19\tABC\t41.8\t63\n1990\t49ers 55\tBroncos 10\tCBS\t39.0\t63\n1989\t49ers 20\tBengals 16\tNBC\t43.5\t68\n1988\tRedskins 42\tBroncos 10\tABC\t41.9\t62\n1987\tGiants 39\tBroncos 20\tCBS\t45.8\t66\n1986\tBears 46\tPatriots 10\tNBC\t48.3\t70\n1985\t49ers 38\tDolphins 16\tABC\t46.4\t63\n1984\tRaiders 38\tRedskins 9\tCBS\t46.4\t71\n1983\tRedskins 27\tDolphins 17\tNBC\t48.6\t69\n1982\t49ers 26\tBengals 21\tCBS\t49.1\t73\n1981\tRaiders 27\tEagles 10\tNBC\t44.4\t63\n1980\tSteelers 31\tRams 19\t\tCBS\t46.3\t67\n1979\tSteelers 35\tCowboys 31\tNBC\t47.1\t74\n1978\tCowboys 27\tBroncos 10\tCBS\t47.2\t67\n1977\tRaiders 32\tVikings 14\tNBC\t44.4\t73\n1976\tSteelers 21\tCowboys 17\tCBS\t42.3\t78\n1975\tSteelers 16\tVikings 6\tNBC\t42.4\t72\n1974\tDolphins 24\tVikings 7\tCBS\t41.6\t73\n1973\tDolphins 14\tRedskins 7\tNBC\t42.7\t72\n1972\tCowboys 24\tDolphins 3\tCBS\t44.2\t74\n1971\tColts 16\tCowboys 13\tNBC\t39.9\t75\n1970\tChiefs 23\tVikings 7\tCBS\t39.4\t69\n1969\tJets 16\t\tColts 7\t\tNBC\t36.0\t71\n1968\tPackers 33\tRaiders 14\tCBS\t36.8\t68\n1967\tPackers 35\tChiefs 10\tNBC\/CBS\t41.1\t79<\/pre>\n
‘John Madden’ Wayback Machine<\/strong><\/p>\n
18-0.<\/p>\n
One win away from the greatest season in NFL history.<\/p>\n
Only the second team to reach that sacred summit of perfection in professional football, right?<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
You might not read about it in any official NFL record books, but there was another professional football team that achieved perfection before<\/em> the 1972 Miami Dolphins.<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t some defunct team from the USFL or WFL.<\/p>\n
No, the Cleveland Browns attained the first perfect season in 1948.<\/p>\n
Only this was before they played in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts all competed in a rival league from 1946 to 1949, the All-American Football Conference (AAFC), that surprisingly boasted better average attendance at their games than the National Football League. So popular were the Browns, in fact, that the NFL champion Cleveland Rams fled for Los Angeles before the Cleveland Browns with Ohio legend Paul Brown as coach had played a single game.<\/p>\n
And for good reason did they leave. The Cleveland Browns were a juggernaut in the AAFC, winning all four league championships and dominating with an 52-4-3 record over that span, pulling in the largest crowds in professional football history.<\/p>\n
In 1948, the Browns finished with a perfect 15-0 record amid a 29-game unbeaten streak. Not that it was all easy. The San Francisco 49ers played them tough that season when both teams were undefeated, losing 14-7 in front of 82,769 fan at Cleveland Municipal Stadium and 31-28 two weeks later in San Francisco. The Browns also survived a special AAFC Thanksgiving promotion that saw them play three games in eight days.<\/p>\n
The Browns overcame every obstacle and crushed the Buffalo Bills in the AAFC championship game 49-7 to claim professional football\u2019s first perfect season.<\/p>\n
Now I know what you\u2019re thinking. Yeah, that\u2019s great, but were they any good?<\/p>\n
Well, the Browns went on to win the championship again in 1949 and when it was announced that three teams from the AAFC would merge with the NFL in 1950, the four-time defending AAFC champion Cleveland Browns were matched up against the two-time defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles to kick off the season. At Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in front of 71,000 fans, \u2018The World Series of Football\u2019 proved to be a mismatch as the Browns, led by quarterback Otto Graham, destroyed the Eagles 35-10.<\/p>\n
The Browns would go on to win the NFL championship that year, beating the juggernaut Los Angeles Rams in the title game on a last-second field goal. Afterwards, NFL commissioner Bert Bell called the Cleveland Browns \u201cthe greatest team to ever play football.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Browns would play in the next five NFL championship games, winning three more. Over a ten year span, the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Otto Graham played in 10 consecutive championship game, winning seven.<\/p>\n
So before we crown the 2007 New England Patriots the greatest team of all-time and Tom Brady the greatest quarterback of all-time, perhaps we should look at the teams of pro football past. Especially teams that don\u2019t crow about their success and pop champagne every year to celebrate their greatness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Back in 2007 and 2008, I wrote a weekly\u00a0online pro football column dubbed “Fourth and Long” for the late Football for Breakfast website.\u00a0 One hopes the gentle reader will enjoy this blast from 1\/23\/08… As long-time readers can attest, I\u2019ve been a harsh critic of the San Diego Chargers ever since they dumped Marty Schottenheimer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5,15],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fourth-and-long","tag-football","tag-fourth-and-long"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typingmonkeys.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}