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TecmoSuperJoe

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2014 NFC Championship 

Green Bay Packers (13-4) at Seattle Seahawks (13-4)

Sunday Jan 18, 2015

 

Packers fans look away. I thought I'd spotlight this game because of the upcoming divisional showdown. I remember after the Harbaugh firing I was so disenchanted with the playoffs that year. I watched this game in a daze, especially since I hated both of these franchises. This is what I like to think of as the vintage Russell Wilson game. He can play like doo doo for 90% of the game, but then fart his way to a win in the final few minutes. So annoying. 

Edited by PapaShogun
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The 2012 Atlanta Falcons were a really underrated team, and honestly I think they were the best Atlanta team of the Matt Ryan era. To this day, I still think if John Abraham doesn't get injured in a meaningless week 17 game, they might have played in the Super Bowl and/or win it.

The Falcons got off to an 8-0 start, their best start in franchise history. However, the had to travel to New Orleans to play their hated rivals in the Saints, and it ended up being a classic.
 


Unfortunately, the Falcons didn't win this game, as good as it was, the Saints won 31-27. This game was Matt Ryan starting to enter his prime as a QB as well as Brees being well into his prime - and the score reflected that. They'd get their revenge back down in the Georgia Dome though.
 

The Saints may have taken the Falcons undefeated status, but Brees had a consecutive passing TD record going into this game that was a big deal. So naturally, he threw five interceptions and no touchdowns, breaking that streak. You break our streak, we break yours. The Falcons offense wasn't even that great on this day, but when you get 5 interceptions, you don't have to do too much to win. This might be the worst game of Brees' career, but I'll leave it to Saints fans to say if there's one they think is worse.

Edited by Hukos
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Sorry @ET80

1993 AFC Divisional playoff 

Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) at Houston Oilers (12-4)

Sunday Jan 16, 1994

Last playoff game for the Houston Oilers. Another epic choke job for them unfortunately. The Montana led-Chiefs waltzed into the Houston Astrodome and ended the Oilers 11 game win streak. Oilers owner Bud Adams before the season started put up an ultimatum for his franchise: make the Super Bowl, or there will be a fire sale. Adams made good on his threat, and traded his star QB to the Vikings. Oilers would be barely be competitive for the rest of their existence before becoming the Titans. 

Game was pretty good. Chiefs battled back and broke bread in the 4th with a couple of minutes to go. Joe Montana and Marcus Allen stepped up, and the defense clamped down on Warren Moon, who they had harassed all day. BTW, Moon had huge fumbling problems, and on this day it was more apparent than ever. 

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8 hours ago, PapaShogun said:

1993 AFC Divisional playoff 

Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) at Houston Oilers (12-4)

We avenged 1992 v Buffalo Iast week. ;)

If we get the W in KC, and if Tennessee could beat Baltimore, setting up a "Texans v Old Oilers" AFCCG in Houston. If the Texans won THAT game...

...well, my revenge tour will be complete. I can stop watching football if that were to go down. Literally, that very minute, I'd retire from watching or talking about football. I'd probably hang out in TAST, play Mafia and post in WAYTA the whole time, I'd have no desire to watch football ever again.

I'd also name my next kid Deshaun.

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Jimmy Johnson gets the surprise announcement of being inducted into the HOF. 

I'd like to say I'm surprised he made it, but then again maybe not due to what has happened in recent history. You have a few guys now that have had a "shooting star" effect in the football landscape that are enshrined. Terrell Davis, Kurt Warner, and now Jimmy Johnson. That's not to say Johnson was a fluke in his contributions, he wasn't. I'm just saying that the success he had in Dallas from 1991 to 1993 was a huge deviation from the rest of the years he coached. 

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This is a hot take but I'd rather have guys in the Hall of Fame who were legitimately the greatest at their positions for that period of time (even if it's only 2-3 years) than guys who were just good but played for a long time (I'd rather have the Terrell Davis' of the world get in as opposed to the Frank Gore's and the Matt Ryan's, guys who fit "hall of pretty good" criteria more than anything else). So in that context, I have no problem with Jimmy getting into the hall.

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1998 NFC Wild Card 

Green Bay Packers (11-5) at San Francisco 49ers (12-4)

Sunday Jan 3, 1999

It took 5 straight losses in 4 years, including 3 straight postseason bounces, but the 49ers finally beat the Packers of the mid to late 90's. A lot of people talk about how Steve Young and the 49ers in the earlier part of the decade couldn't overcome Dallas, but to me the bigger menace was Green Bay. After winning Super Bowl 29, this was the team that the 49ers just could never move past. It was getting ridiculous. And even in this game they had to win it in the final seconds, when it really wasn't necessary (Owens and his dropped passes killed the 49ers this game). Even though the 49ers were eliminated next week in Atlanta, this game didn't make the loss feel so bad. 49ers wouldn't beat the Packers again until 2012 as nutty as that sounds. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

2003 Week 7 Denver Broncos (5-1) at Minnesota Vikings (5-0)

Sunday Oct 19, 2003

Start Time: 1:00pm

Stadium: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

This is basically the Randy Moss "lateral" game for those that don't remember. Broncos get punched in the mouth early, and can't protect their QB Steve Beuerlein, who was filling in for an injured Jake Plummer. The Vikings eventually jump to a 28-10 lead in the 3rd quarter, but Denver tries to storm back in the 4th with third string QB Danny Kanell who would actually replace Beuerlein after he got hurt. This would be the final start of Steve Beuerlein's long journeyman career. Better game than I remember. Minnesota started 6-0 following this game, but would implode, winning only 3 of the next 10 to finish 9-7, and missing the playoffs. 

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Super Bowl 19 

San Francisco 49ers (15-1) vs. Miami Dolphins (14-2)

Sunday Jan 20, 1985

Start Time: 6:00pm

Stadium: Stanford Stadium

Everyone knows about these teams and how their season went. Just thought I'd post this, since the narratives for Super Bowl LIV are similar with Mahomes getting the Marino treatment, and the 49ers getting the "great team, but not as good a trigger man" treatment. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Is there any reason why blocked field goals were a lot more common 40+ years ago or does it really all come down to kicking units growing more and more specialized over the years? I can't find any significant rule changes that would explain it since the goal posts were pushed to the back of the end zone. The feeling of precarity that comes with FG's being a coin toss rather than near-guaranteed like they are now is really nice and i'm kind of surprised the league hasn't lifted a finger since 1974 to try and tip the scale.

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6 minutes ago, LeonKennedy said:

Is there any reason why blocked field goals were a lot more common 40+ years ago or does it really all come down to kicking units growing more and more specialized over the years? I can't find any significant rule changes that would explain it since the goal posts were pushed to the back of the end zone. The feeling of precarity that comes with FG's being a coin toss rather than near-guaranteed like they are now is really nice and i'm kind of surprised the league hasn't lifted a finger since 1974 to try and tip the scale.

There have been a fair number of rules changes over the years.
Defenders cannot line up over the Center/ long snapper anymore, they have to be outside of his shoulders.
Players may not use another player to aid their leap. They may not get a running start towards the line of scrimmage.
They can leap up, but not forward and they have to land clean - if they come down on top of another player its a penalty.

Players can't block the FG when it reaches the goal posts, but I don't remember when that was enacted

On the offensive side, the ball used to be placed 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage and now its typically placed 8 yards back to avoid blocks
Those are a few of the rules that have been enacted since the move of the goal posts, there are probably more

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  • 1 month later...

1999 Week 15 Pittsburgh Steelers (5-8) at Kansas City Chiefs (9-4)

Saturday Dec 18, 1999

Start Time: 12:41pm

Stadium: Arrowhead Stadium

Steelers were essentially out of the playoffs at this point, but the Chiefs were fighting for a playoff spot with three games left. Tony Gonzalez had a big day against the Steelers defense along with WR Derrick Alexander on one nutty rushing play that went for an 82 yard touchdown. The Chiefs defense forced 4 turnovers against Steelers QB Mike Tomczak who just had a terrible afternoon passing the ball. This would actually be Tomczak's last season in the NFL, ending a 17 year journeyman odyssey, mostly as backup QB for the Bears and Steelers. The Chiefs won the game and got to 9-5, but dropped their last two to finish 9-7. Unfortunately they lost out on tiebreakers to the Seahawks (who won the AFC West) and Dolphins, which resulting in missing the playoffs. 

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On 1/25/2020 at 4:34 PM, PapaShogun said:

2003 Week 7 Denver Broncos (5-1) at Minnesota Vikings (5-0)

Sunday Oct 19, 2003

Start Time: 1:00pm

Stadium: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

This is basically the Randy Moss "lateral" game for those that don't remember. Broncos get punched in the mouth early, and can't protect their QB Steve Beuerlein, who was filling in for an injured Jake Plummer. The Vikings eventually jump to a 28-10 lead in the 3rd quarter, but Denver tries to storm back in the 4th with third string QB Danny Kanell who would actually replace Beuerlein after he got hurt. This would be the final start of Steve Beuerlein's long journeyman career. Better game than I remember. Minnesota started 6-0 following this game, but would implode, winning only 3 of the next 10 to finish 9-7, and missing the playoffs. 

Ah yes, the year the Vikings that ended their season in Arizona.  That was also an entertaining (and sloppy) game.  That also led to the infamous Seahawks/Packers Wild Card game the following week that was pretty good (and with a wild finish).

Least we still got Fitz out of that win.

Edited by Zalixar
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The COVID-19 lockdown is official, leaving millions of football fans with a serious case of spring fever and mounting concerns about the fall season. I don't know about you, but until the furor dies down I'll be settling in with my favorite throwback games. My "desert island" games. Outings of NFL football that I wish never to be without. Allow me to share them with you!

As certain Super Bowls go without saying, I will leave them out of this list. Picking Vikings games (like us at Green Bay in '98 and '09, us against Joe Montana's 49ers in the '87 playoffs, and us against the Saints in the 2019 Wild Card for example) would make it too easy, so I will exclude them as well.

AFC FAVORITES

Denver Broncos at New York Jets (Week 2, 1994) 1stH/2ndH

Despite the presence of playmakers like Ronnie Lott, Boomer Esiason, Mo Lewis, and Richie Anderson, the Jets were every bit as unlucky in the mid-90s as they are now--just with better uniforms. But in '93 and the first few weeks of '94, they really did look like a team on the rise. This is pure football, played with reckless abandon compared to today's game. Rob Moore (now WR coach for the Titans) starts with a broken wrist and still lights up the field. Boomer is picked off time and again but refuses to give up, forcing a thriller in overtime.

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens (Wild Card, 2003-04) Here

There was no getting around it: the Ravens had the Titans' number in the early 2000s. Winless against Baltimore since Week 8 of 2000, Tennessee faltered time and again before that suffocating defense and was expected to do the same thing here. But a banged-up Steve McNair, a used-up Eddie George, and 44-year-old kicker Gary Anderson--still looking for playoff redemption after his miss in the '98 NFC Championship--had other ideas. An instant classic.

NFC FAVORITES

Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 10, 2005) Here

So you've played an unbelievable game against a great Washington team led by Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, and a resurgent Mark Brunell. Your QB is former third-stringer Chris Simms (yes, the NBC analyst). Many of your veterans from Super Bowl XXXVII are retired or on their way out. You score a touchdown with less than a minute remaining, and one more point--like, say, from an extra point kick--will tie the game. What do you do? Well, if you're the '05 Bucs who live and die by the seat of their pants, you go for a two-point conversion. 

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 9, 2009) Here

Stylez G. White. The man. The myth. The legend.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Dallas Cowboys at Houston Oilers (Week 11, 1991) 1stH/2ndH

Before Cowboys vs Texans or Renegades vs Roughnecks, there was the original Texas throwdown. Warren Moon and his Run N' Shoot offense are gunning for their first home win over Dallas before 63,000 fans, and they might have had this one easily...if the Cowboys' ST squad weren't playing out of their minds, that is. After 74 grueling minutes of vicious hits on both sides and Dallas players dropping like flies, the winner is decided in an ending that is better shown than told.

New England Patriots at Atlanta Falcons (Week 8, 2001) Here

There's no football like early 2000s football, and this game is a case study in that: insightful broadcast commentary, Astroturf in a dome, receivers getting mugged, a young Michael Vick ... and Tom Brady and a bunch of misfits slowly but surely marching toward greatness.

Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Chargers (Week 1, 2005) Here

In my opinion, the Cowboys under Bill Parcells were about as likeable a team as they've ever been in the Jerry Jones era. A year before Tony Romo took the reigns they had Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, a committee backfield, and their first ever 3-4 defense. They would embark on a season of thrilling victories and agonizing defeats that became must-see TV in my eyes, and this game was just the beginning.

Edited by y*so*blu
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