Three notes about the 2009 BCS Title Game:
1) I’m one of those people who despises the tendency of far too many football analysts who really should know better to use tired and nebulous psychological reasons to explain game developments rather than noting the role of little things like talent, strategy and execution. You know what I’m talking about: “momentum”, “confidence”, “the will to win” and the timeless classic “one team wanted it more”. But I don’t think it’s crazy to say Oklahoma’s failure to take advantage of golden opportunities in the first half must have affected them on some level. Remember, Florida never trailed in that game. Even when they were playing poorly they never trailed. As we all saw, the Sooners blew two big chances to go on top in the first half--the goal-line stand and Bradford’s INT inside the five. Given Oklahoma’s recent history of losing bowl games, including BCS championship games, their inability to get in front was costly. Meanwhile, Florida had a coach and a bunch of players who’d been there before. Self-doubt may have crept into psyche of the OU players, but in the second half the Gators played like a team with a whole lot of confidence.
2) By all the available evidence Tim Tebow, like Danny Wuerffel and Chris Leak before him, is a fine young man. But even a Gator fan can’t defend the full-blown idolatry of Tebow that spewed forth before, during and after the broadcast of the game. Unfortunately, all that talk about leadership, Phillipino slums and preaching to prisoners sort of swallowed up what Tebow actually did on the field against Okalahoma. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one shocked to see him throw two picks in the first half. And both were horrible throws. But he gathered himself and turned the game in Florida’s direction in the second half.
Tebow knew what the offense was doing wasn’t working and he flat-out told the coaches he was going to run it more. On his team’s second possession of the second half Tebow saw open space, took matters into his own hands and carried it five times for 49 yards to drag his team to the one where Harvin finished off the drive. Meyer admitted those runs weren’t brilliant play calls but Tebow making things happen. Then, after Bradford’s INT in the 4th quarter gave UF a chance for a game-sealing TD drive, Tebow switched up and delivered four clutch passes. First, on 3rd-and-12 scrambling to his left and finding Cooper for 17 yards. Then the 29-yard laser to Nelson to get the Gators into scoring position. Then a 9-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 to Hernandez. And finally the jump pass for the backbreaking TD to Nelson that chiseled Tebow’s legend into stone for all-time. Please note that with a championship on the line Tebow’s receivers for the biggest passes of his life were not named Harvin, or Demps or Rainey, but instead Nelson, Cooper and Hernandez (who?). Like no other Gator player before him Tebow defined clutch. I don’t know if meeting Tebow for five minutes would change my life or not, but I do know the man is one hell of a college football player.
3) I’ve watched a lot of football games in my life and after thinking it over I’m convinced that FOX’s telecast of the 2009 BCS Championship Game was the single worst broadcast of an important game I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was freaking amateur hour.
--The announcers. No need to rehash the embarrassing Tebow worship of Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis. But what happened on the goal line stand when Brennaman had no clue what down it was on three straight plays? How does that happen? Did anyone think they’d ever watch see a big-time football that made them long for Joe Buck or Brent Musberger?
--The replays. Where were they? When FOX failed to treat us to all kinds of replays of Major Wright’s huge hit on a Sooner WR on the first possession, I had a feeling we were in for some trouble. As the night ensued big play after big play would go by and we’d never know if we’d luck out with a replay of it. If we did get one it was usually long after we stopped caring about the play. My favorite moment was after Percy Harvin got hurt in the 4th quarter. As he lay hurt on the field and the announcers babbled on about something, you could suddenly heard the stadium crowd start to boo. I immediately surmised the stadium Jumbotron must have shown how Harvin got hurt--a dirty hit. But who would know? Finally, after five minutes passed FOX deigned to show us a replay and lo and behold the OU tackler did grab and pull on Harvin’s leg. At least I think he did. The replay sucked and didn’t show the whole picture and then it was on to something else. Thanks FOX.
--The stupid Oklahoma snap clock. Most football broadcasts often show viewers a little something call the play clock. You know, snap the ball in 30 seconds or its delay of game. But not FOX. Rather than show the play clock they came up with some idiotic Sooner clock to impart to us just how fast the Sooner offense was getting up to the line of scrimmage after the end of their previous play. Sounds exciting right? Now I didn’t see a single OU game all year but from what eventually put together from the lame announcers was that running up to the line after the previous play was standard operating procedure all year for OU. The advantages were: (1) the defense wouldn’t be ready; or (2) the Sooners could see what formation the defense was in and the sideline would call in the right play to take advantage. But in the BCS Championship game the Sooners faced a superbly coached team, one that was always ready at the line of scrimmage before OU was and one that gave away nothing of importance in its formations. So what we got were endless shots of Bradford standing dumbfounded at the line, bleakly looking over towards the sidelines for help. He’d take so long sometimes that FOX would switch the screen to some kind of crazy quarter split screen to show Bradford at the line in one picture with a tiny shot of his yelling coach Bob Stoops in the other. Meanwhile, FOX’s stupid snap clock would approach and pass 30 seconds leading one to wonder if the Sooners were taking too much time. But how would we know? FOX never showed the actual play clock! Morons.
--The camera work. In addition to the aforementioned lack of replays, the crowd shots were certainly unique. Normally you expect to see reaction shots of people in the crowd. You know, the ones in funny outfits, the ones holding up the stupid signs, the hotties, etc. Not this time. FOX crossed us up. They somehow thought we’d prefer quick dizzying fraction-of-a-second shots panning the crowd from so far away that you couldn’t make out a damn thing. Vertiginous I believe is the correct adjective. When Harvin went down in the 4th we finally got a normal apropos shot of a shocked-looking female fan holding her hands over her mouth. Honestly, I’d never have noticed anything this stupid if the broadcast wasn’t so supremely horrible.
Luckily nothing, not even the worst broadcast ever, could take away the thrill of a national title.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Florida Gators: 2009 BCS National Champions, Part I
The masthead of this website promises “deep thoughts about football” and to date those oh-so-deep football thoughts have only concerned the professional variety. While Past Interference’s obsession with the National Football League continues unabated, allow the humble author of this post to finally reveal himself to be an alumnus of the University of Florida and therefore a proud member of a Gator Nation currently celebrating its third national championship in the sport of college football. As one who attended UF just prior to Steve Spurrier’s resuscitation of the program I admit it’s still a little hard to believe the Gators are the most dominant football program in the country right now. While I attended we just prayed for the end of the school’s 50-plus year streak of not winning a Southeastern Conference Championship. (And even when the football gods answered our prayers in 1984, more powerful deities, the NCAA and the SEC, stepped in to place UF on probation and yank that title away from us.) The talent to compete was there--Emmitt Smith, Wilbur Marshall, Lomas Brown, John L. Williams, Louis Oliver, Jarvis Williams, Neal Anderson, Ricky Nattiel, Brad Culpepper—but competent coaching was not. Not cheating would have helped too.
The Ol’ Ballcoach finally ended UF’s rep as a program that produced great athletes but couldn’t win. Not only did Spurrier repeatedly lead the Gators to SEC titles year after year but incredibly he made that quest secondary to yearly dreams of a National Championship, something he actually brought home in 1996. Gator Nation had finally arrived. And I don’t know that Spurrier’s teams actually featured as much football talent as some of those 80’s teams. Spurrier’s strength is game planning not recruiting but, when it comes to football, brilliant coaching counts for a lot and don’t let anybody tell you differently. However, a great offensive design won’t always prevail against tremendous athletes as demonstrated by the hated Seminoles more often than not getting the better of the Gators during the Spurrier era (and how that worm has turned).
It was sad to see Spurrier leave for what proved to be (for him) the bitter pasture of FedEx Field, especially when UF tapped the overmatched Ron Zook to replace him. Once Zook inevitably exhausted the patience of Gator Nation and FireRonZook.com had done its holy work, Urban Meyer took over the reigns of the football program. And after four seasons as the head man Meyer has revealed himself to be both a bit of a genius coach in his own right and a recruiter of football talent like no Gator’s ever seen. And now, for the second time in three seasons, Florida reaps the ultimate rewards of that happy combination. For generations every UF student at his or her first Gator game quickly learns the chant “It’s Great To Be A Florida Gator” but now, when it comes to football, it’s at last a simple statement of fact.
The Ol’ Ballcoach finally ended UF’s rep as a program that produced great athletes but couldn’t win. Not only did Spurrier repeatedly lead the Gators to SEC titles year after year but incredibly he made that quest secondary to yearly dreams of a National Championship, something he actually brought home in 1996. Gator Nation had finally arrived. And I don’t know that Spurrier’s teams actually featured as much football talent as some of those 80’s teams. Spurrier’s strength is game planning not recruiting but, when it comes to football, brilliant coaching counts for a lot and don’t let anybody tell you differently. However, a great offensive design won’t always prevail against tremendous athletes as demonstrated by the hated Seminoles more often than not getting the better of the Gators during the Spurrier era (and how that worm has turned).
It was sad to see Spurrier leave for what proved to be (for him) the bitter pasture of FedEx Field, especially when UF tapped the overmatched Ron Zook to replace him. Once Zook inevitably exhausted the patience of Gator Nation and FireRonZook.com had done its holy work, Urban Meyer took over the reigns of the football program. And after four seasons as the head man Meyer has revealed himself to be both a bit of a genius coach in his own right and a recruiter of football talent like no Gator’s ever seen. And now, for the second time in three seasons, Florida reaps the ultimate rewards of that happy combination. For generations every UF student at his or her first Gator game quickly learns the chant “It’s Great To Be A Florida Gator” but now, when it comes to football, it’s at last a simple statement of fact.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Chad Pennington: Playoff Goat
Irony, thy name is Chad. Just as I put the finishing touches on my brilliant Pennington-For-MVP post he has to go out and lay an incredible inedible egg against the Ravens. Probably the worst game of his career and the number one reason Miami loses the game. Clearly Miami needs to bring in some playmakers on offense to help Pennington out but what can you say? He flat-out sucked. Still, one bad game against a great defense can’t nullify the most fun season we Dolphins fans have had since 1984. That’s a long friggin’ time. I expected nothing from Miami this year and I got something. A lot more than something. 11 wins! An AFC East title! Kicking the Jets (and Favre’s) ass to seal the deal (and knocking the Pats out in the process)! It was like a dream. Thanks Chad. We owe you.
Chad Pennington: 2008 NFL MVP
Peyton Manning won the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award the other day. His third. Now, Manning had a fine season, but the wrong man won the award. Your true 2008 MVP was none other than James Chad Pennington. Yes, I'm a biased Dolphin fan so let me carefully lay out my logical, irrefutable argument in painstaking fashion.
1) The Numbers. Sure Manning threw for more yards and touchdowns, but Pennington surpasses Manning in all of the most important numbers.
Net Yards Per Attempt
Pennington 7.1
Manning 6.9
Interception Percentage
Pennington 1.5
Manning 2.3
Completion Percentage
Pennington 67.4
Manning 66.8
Quarterback Rating
Pennington 97.4
Manning 95.0
Manning may have posted bigger totals, but clearly Pennington was the more efficient passer. Pennington made his throws count more and, most importantly, he turned it over less.
2) The Supporting Cast. Not only did Pennington pass more efficiently, he did it with a receiving corps consisting of Ted Ginn, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, Anthony Fasano and David Martin. Now those guys played their guts out this year and surprised a lot of people but I don’t think I’m making a controversial assertion in saying the guy throwing to Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison (admittedly not what he once he was), Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez had a huge advantage. Yet Pennington surpassed Manning with far inferior targets.
Arguably Pennington was aided by a superior running game. The Colts were terrible on the ground, ranking 19th in rushing yards and dead last in yards per carry. Yet Miami wasn’t exactly spectacular here either. The Dolphins ranked 11th in rushing yards and 15th in yards per carry. So Miami ran better than Indianapolis in 2008, but Miami’s running game was only average just like it was the season before when they ranked 16th in yards per carry. The team did not improve in this area. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams sound like an all-star backfield but Brown clearly wasn’t the same electrifying runner he was prior to tearing his ACL in 2007. His YPC dropped by almost a yard in 2008. And Ricky played well at times but all the years, suspensions and bong hits have taken their toll. This isn’t the dominant 2002 Ricky Williams. No, Pennington’s the man who deserves most of the credit for the improvement of his team’s offense.
As for the defenses, Miami’s defense did step up. The team ranked 30th in points allowed in 2007 and moved all the way up to 9th in 2008. But the Colts were better, ranking 7th. And I think it’s important to note the Dolphins’ improvement in yards allowed was not as impressive; they moved from 23rd to 15th. So it’s likely Miami’s bend-but-not break defense was aided by Pennington’s superior play. By not turning it over and by his efficient passing (the team ranked 11th in first downs and 8th in net yards per attempt), Pennington gave his defense far fewer short fields than they had last year.
Plus, while some of their players had some disappointing years, remember that the Colts are a team that makes the playoffs year after year. A team that wins 12 games a year like clockwork. A team featuring many veterans of Super Bowl XLI. Meanwhile the Dolphins haven’t sniffed the playoffs for years. Pennington had no experienced vets to rely on in pressure situations. Manning did.
3) The record. Everybody wondered how well Indianapolis might have done had Manning not recovered from his knee surgery. And I suspect they may not have been a playoff team. But that’s speculation. We know for sure the Dolphins won a single game without Pennington and with him they stunned everybody with 11 wins and a division title. That’s tied for the greatest turnaround in NFL history and the best ever turnaround for a one-win team. Miami obviously upgraded in several areas (notably coaching), but other than rookie OT Jake Long (who played well but isn’t going to any Pro Bowls just yet), the offensive side wasn’t much different than a year ago. And the biggest star on defense, Joey Porter, was a Dolphin in 2007.
4) Clutch play. Manning led his team to a number of key comebacks this year and his team won their final 9 in a row after a 3-4 start. No way to criticize that. But Pennington just about matched that, leading Miami to wins in 8 of their final 9 games after a 2-4 start. And I really want to highlight something here. Even when they had good teams, the Dolphins historically have played poorly late in the season and especially in cold weather games. They’re famous for blowing those late season cold weather games. But not this year. In their last two games of the year Miami traveled to Kansas City, where they played in what turned out to be the coldest game in team history, and then to the Meadowlands in New York, the Dolphins’ personal house of horrors. In other years you could bet your house on Miami losing those games. But not this year. With the division title hanging in the balance, Pennington led Miami to come-from-behind wins with big second half TD drives. The man was clutch when it mattered most.
With a weaker supporting cast Pennington posted better stats than Manning and, by leading the Dolphins to the playoffs after a one-win season, he did the impossible. He didn’t win the award but Chad Pennington was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
1) The Numbers. Sure Manning threw for more yards and touchdowns, but Pennington surpasses Manning in all of the most important numbers.
Net Yards Per Attempt
Pennington 7.1
Manning 6.9
Interception Percentage
Pennington 1.5
Manning 2.3
Completion Percentage
Pennington 67.4
Manning 66.8
Quarterback Rating
Pennington 97.4
Manning 95.0
Manning may have posted bigger totals, but clearly Pennington was the more efficient passer. Pennington made his throws count more and, most importantly, he turned it over less.
2) The Supporting Cast. Not only did Pennington pass more efficiently, he did it with a receiving corps consisting of Ted Ginn, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, Anthony Fasano and David Martin. Now those guys played their guts out this year and surprised a lot of people but I don’t think I’m making a controversial assertion in saying the guy throwing to Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison (admittedly not what he once he was), Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez had a huge advantage. Yet Pennington surpassed Manning with far inferior targets.
Arguably Pennington was aided by a superior running game. The Colts were terrible on the ground, ranking 19th in rushing yards and dead last in yards per carry. Yet Miami wasn’t exactly spectacular here either. The Dolphins ranked 11th in rushing yards and 15th in yards per carry. So Miami ran better than Indianapolis in 2008, but Miami’s running game was only average just like it was the season before when they ranked 16th in yards per carry. The team did not improve in this area. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams sound like an all-star backfield but Brown clearly wasn’t the same electrifying runner he was prior to tearing his ACL in 2007. His YPC dropped by almost a yard in 2008. And Ricky played well at times but all the years, suspensions and bong hits have taken their toll. This isn’t the dominant 2002 Ricky Williams. No, Pennington’s the man who deserves most of the credit for the improvement of his team’s offense.
As for the defenses, Miami’s defense did step up. The team ranked 30th in points allowed in 2007 and moved all the way up to 9th in 2008. But the Colts were better, ranking 7th. And I think it’s important to note the Dolphins’ improvement in yards allowed was not as impressive; they moved from 23rd to 15th. So it’s likely Miami’s bend-but-not break defense was aided by Pennington’s superior play. By not turning it over and by his efficient passing (the team ranked 11th in first downs and 8th in net yards per attempt), Pennington gave his defense far fewer short fields than they had last year.
Plus, while some of their players had some disappointing years, remember that the Colts are a team that makes the playoffs year after year. A team that wins 12 games a year like clockwork. A team featuring many veterans of Super Bowl XLI. Meanwhile the Dolphins haven’t sniffed the playoffs for years. Pennington had no experienced vets to rely on in pressure situations. Manning did.
3) The record. Everybody wondered how well Indianapolis might have done had Manning not recovered from his knee surgery. And I suspect they may not have been a playoff team. But that’s speculation. We know for sure the Dolphins won a single game without Pennington and with him they stunned everybody with 11 wins and a division title. That’s tied for the greatest turnaround in NFL history and the best ever turnaround for a one-win team. Miami obviously upgraded in several areas (notably coaching), but other than rookie OT Jake Long (who played well but isn’t going to any Pro Bowls just yet), the offensive side wasn’t much different than a year ago. And the biggest star on defense, Joey Porter, was a Dolphin in 2007.
4) Clutch play. Manning led his team to a number of key comebacks this year and his team won their final 9 in a row after a 3-4 start. No way to criticize that. But Pennington just about matched that, leading Miami to wins in 8 of their final 9 games after a 2-4 start. And I really want to highlight something here. Even when they had good teams, the Dolphins historically have played poorly late in the season and especially in cold weather games. They’re famous for blowing those late season cold weather games. But not this year. In their last two games of the year Miami traveled to Kansas City, where they played in what turned out to be the coldest game in team history, and then to the Meadowlands in New York, the Dolphins’ personal house of horrors. In other years you could bet your house on Miami losing those games. But not this year. With the division title hanging in the balance, Pennington led Miami to come-from-behind wins with big second half TD drives. The man was clutch when it mattered most.
With a weaker supporting cast Pennington posted better stats than Manning and, by leading the Dolphins to the playoffs after a one-win season, he did the impossible. He didn’t win the award but Chad Pennington was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Paul Hornung: Worst Kicker Ever
Paul Hornung. The Golden Boy. Heisman Trophy Winner. The NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1961. A key member of the 1960’s Packers Dynasty. A Hall-of-Famer. A degenerate gambler. An utterer of controversial racial comments. A man who drops his pants his public. And someone who hit on my mom at Gulfstream Park back in the early 1980’s. Since my mother was able to rebuff the Golden Boy’s unwanted lecherous advances, let’s concentrate on what’s really important to this website, his NFL career. Or at least one aspect of it.
Hornung was one of the great all-around players in NFL history. He ran, caught, passed, kicked and punted for Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. But it’s the placekicking I’m most interested in. Clearly Hornung was incredibly valuable if he could serve as both his team’s halfback and kicking specialist. But to make his saving of a roster spot worthwhile of course he had to be an effective kicker. Was he?
Well, Horning served at the Packers’ main placekicker from 1958 through 1961. Here are his field goal percentages for each season with his NFL rank in parenthesis
1958: 52.4 (2)
1959: 41.2 (9)
1960: 53.6 (8)
1961: 68.2 (2)
So half the time Hornung was excellent and the other half he was below average (the NFL only had 12-14 teams during this time). In 1962, Hornung connected on 6 out of 10 FG’s but missed much of the season due to a leg injury and right guard Jerry Kramer was pressed into service. Kramer was sensational, nailing 9 of 11 and then hitting 3 more in horrific weather conditions in the 1962 NFL Championship Game. The Pack won 16-7. Horning missed all of the 1963 season due to his infamous gambling problem so Kramer handled all the kicking that year. He fell back to earth, hitting only 16 of 34 field goals, so Lombardi handed the job back to Horning in 1964. And Horning responded with what I believe to be the single worst season any NFL kicker has ever had.
Check it out. If Lombardi thought Kramer was bad in ’63, what about the Golden Boy in 1964? That year Hornung set an NFL record that may never be broken. He missed 26 field goals. Yeah, 26!!!!!!! 12-of-38. How is that even possible? How could a coach as great as Vince Lombardi, how could any coach ever, keep sending out a guy that ineffective? Once a guy gets to, I don’t know, 20, wouldn’t that be time for some kicking tryouts?
Hornung did at least execute most of his extra points correctly, making 41 of 43 (but oh those two misses). The field goal stats are themselves bad enough, but I found an interesting piece about the Packers' 1964 season here at JS Online. Reading it ought to convince anybody Hornung's 1964 season was the worst season any kicker's ever had. It convinced me. Horning didn’t just miss a lot of kicks, he missed critical kicks that probably cost his team a shot at yet another NFL championship. Here's a list of Hornung's kicking "accomplishments" of 1964:
Week Two: Hornung misses an extra point against the Colts. Packers lose by one.
Week Four: Packers lose to Vikings 24-23. Hornung has an extra point try blocked allowing Vikings to win with a late FG.
Week Six: Hornung missed 5, count ‘em 5, field goals! Up 21-17 late, Hornung missed his final kick of the day, a 47-yarder that the Colts returned 36 yards. They scored a TD with just over a minute left to beat the Packers 24-21.
Week Seven: Hornung misses two FG's against the Rams. The Rams return the second miss 94 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and beat the Pack 27-17 after trailing 17-0. The loss drops Green Bay to 3-4, three games behind the Colts.
Week Ten: Hornung misses three field goals and has another blocked. The Packers and Rams tie 24-24.
Wow. The Packers wound up 8-5-1, their worst season since 1959, Lombardi's first year as coach. Hornung’s misses helped his team lose four times and tie once. The misses in those Colts games were particularly brutal as each head-to-head matchup represented a two-game swing in the standings. The Colts finished at 12-2 to take the Western Conference title and earn a spot in the 1964 NFL Championship Game (they lost). The Pack came in second but had they swept the Colts Green Bay would have won the conference by half a game and played for the title. Having had enough, Lombardi brought in a legitimate kicker, Don Chandler, to handle the job in 1965. It might not be a coincidence that Green Bay went on to win championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967 with Chandler.
If you brought Hornung in to try a field goal for you odds are he missed it; his career field goal percentage was a far from impressive 47.1%. You can’t take away his many contributions to a number of championship teams, but for at least one season the Golden Boy was the single worst kicker in NFL history.
By the way Paul, my mother’s available.
Hornung was one of the great all-around players in NFL history. He ran, caught, passed, kicked and punted for Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. But it’s the placekicking I’m most interested in. Clearly Hornung was incredibly valuable if he could serve as both his team’s halfback and kicking specialist. But to make his saving of a roster spot worthwhile of course he had to be an effective kicker. Was he?
Well, Horning served at the Packers’ main placekicker from 1958 through 1961. Here are his field goal percentages for each season with his NFL rank in parenthesis
1958: 52.4 (2)
1959: 41.2 (9)
1960: 53.6 (8)
1961: 68.2 (2)
So half the time Hornung was excellent and the other half he was below average (the NFL only had 12-14 teams during this time). In 1962, Hornung connected on 6 out of 10 FG’s but missed much of the season due to a leg injury and right guard Jerry Kramer was pressed into service. Kramer was sensational, nailing 9 of 11 and then hitting 3 more in horrific weather conditions in the 1962 NFL Championship Game. The Pack won 16-7. Horning missed all of the 1963 season due to his infamous gambling problem so Kramer handled all the kicking that year. He fell back to earth, hitting only 16 of 34 field goals, so Lombardi handed the job back to Horning in 1964. And Horning responded with what I believe to be the single worst season any NFL kicker has ever had.
Check it out. If Lombardi thought Kramer was bad in ’63, what about the Golden Boy in 1964? That year Hornung set an NFL record that may never be broken. He missed 26 field goals. Yeah, 26!!!!!!! 12-of-38. How is that even possible? How could a coach as great as Vince Lombardi, how could any coach ever, keep sending out a guy that ineffective? Once a guy gets to, I don’t know, 20, wouldn’t that be time for some kicking tryouts?
Hornung did at least execute most of his extra points correctly, making 41 of 43 (but oh those two misses). The field goal stats are themselves bad enough, but I found an interesting piece about the Packers' 1964 season here at JS Online. Reading it ought to convince anybody Hornung's 1964 season was the worst season any kicker's ever had. It convinced me. Horning didn’t just miss a lot of kicks, he missed critical kicks that probably cost his team a shot at yet another NFL championship. Here's a list of Hornung's kicking "accomplishments" of 1964:
Week Two: Hornung misses an extra point against the Colts. Packers lose by one.
Week Four: Packers lose to Vikings 24-23. Hornung has an extra point try blocked allowing Vikings to win with a late FG.
Week Six: Hornung missed 5, count ‘em 5, field goals! Up 21-17 late, Hornung missed his final kick of the day, a 47-yarder that the Colts returned 36 yards. They scored a TD with just over a minute left to beat the Packers 24-21.
Week Seven: Hornung misses two FG's against the Rams. The Rams return the second miss 94 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and beat the Pack 27-17 after trailing 17-0. The loss drops Green Bay to 3-4, three games behind the Colts.
Week Ten: Hornung misses three field goals and has another blocked. The Packers and Rams tie 24-24.
Wow. The Packers wound up 8-5-1, their worst season since 1959, Lombardi's first year as coach. Hornung’s misses helped his team lose four times and tie once. The misses in those Colts games were particularly brutal as each head-to-head matchup represented a two-game swing in the standings. The Colts finished at 12-2 to take the Western Conference title and earn a spot in the 1964 NFL Championship Game (they lost). The Pack came in second but had they swept the Colts Green Bay would have won the conference by half a game and played for the title. Having had enough, Lombardi brought in a legitimate kicker, Don Chandler, to handle the job in 1965. It might not be a coincidence that Green Bay went on to win championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967 with Chandler.
If you brought Hornung in to try a field goal for you odds are he missed it; his career field goal percentage was a far from impressive 47.1%. You can’t take away his many contributions to a number of championship teams, but for at least one season the Golden Boy was the single worst kicker in NFL history.
By the way Paul, my mother’s available.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Schedule
When discussing the reasons for the turnaround of the Miami Dolphins this season, I was remiss in not mentioning the schedule. Yes, the Dolphins and the whole AFC East got lucky matching up against the pathetic the NFC and AFC West divisions this year. No doubt the fans of the Cardinals and the Denver/San Diego winner will feel their souls swell with pride when those “2008 Division Champion” banners are hoisted high next year. Still, Miami’s gone 4-1 in November and 3-0 in December so far. When was the last time this team played that well in down the stretch? Yeah, I know Kansas City’s only won two games all year but I’ve been watching the Dolphins for a long time and this is exactly the kind of game they always lose! You know what I'm talking about Fins fans. A cold-weather road game in December with playoff hopes on the line. A recipe for choking. And yet with everything on the line the Dolphins came from behind to win it! If I didn't before now I know there’s something special about this team and their improvement cannot just be chalked up to better luck, regression to the mean, etc.
I also want to note there that the “last-place schedule” played no role whatsoever in the turnaround. As a reward for 1-15, Miami played last year’s last-place finishers in the AFC North and AFC South. As it turned out, the Baltimore Ravens were a playoff contender and the Houston Texans weren’t half bad. Both teams thumped the Dolphins.
I also want to note there that the “last-place schedule” played no role whatsoever in the turnaround. As a reward for 1-15, Miami played last year’s last-place finishers in the AFC North and AFC South. As it turned out, the Baltimore Ravens were a playoff contender and the Houston Texans weren’t half bad. Both teams thumped the Dolphins.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Turning Point
I'm back and I know all three of you missed me.
After the Miami Dolphins shocked the Patriots in Week 3 (the greatest upset in Dolphins history), one of the team’s radio announcers said we might look back on this game some day as the longed-for turning point for the franchise. Nodding in agreement (at least in spirit) and caught up in the hype of the huge win I was sorely tempted to write a subsequent post about “The Turning Point”. Then I remembered that, however impressive, it was just one win. There’s no law that said the Dolphins couldn’t go back-to-back 1-15. And I’d refrained from making any predictions after all of my 2007 ones bombed like The Love Guru. Remember? Miami’d go 8-8. Favre was washed up. So was Jamal Lewis. John Beck might be good. That didn’t happen? Actually I didn’t refrain from making predictions, I retired out of embarrassment. So no predicting a Turning Point. I needed definitive proof. When Miami followed up the big upset with a nice win over the Chargers, a preseason Super Bowl fave after all, I was on the verge of writing about “The Turning Point” but I decided to wait one more week first. After Miami came back late to take the lead on the road against the Texans my typing fingers were warming up but they let it slip away, blowing a chance for a third straight win and a winning record. Back into hibernation went The Turning Point. Still the team was at least competitive; two of their three losses had been close. However, the next loss wasn’t. Baltimore came to town and handed Miami their lunch. The Dolphins looked listless and overmatched against the lone team they beat one year earlier. Goodbye Turning Point.
And hello again Turning Point. Yes, after four straight wins and a 6-4 record we can safely say this Dolphins team is far better than it was last year and there’s no reason to think the improvement’s a fluke or that it can’t be built upon. Of course I’m so slow I couldn’t finish this post before Miami’s win streak ended at the hands of, who else, the Patriots. Still, the improvement is clearly real so what can we say accounts for this great leap forward? I’d go with these things:
1) New Talent: The passing game is by far the team’s best unit right now and most of the credit must go to Chad Pennington. What a huge upgrade he’s turned out to be over last year’s terrible trio of Green, Lemon and Beck. And he cost the team virtually nothing. The Dolphins are a run-first team this year but when Pennington drops back to pass he’s not throwing many interceptions and he’s averaging eight yards an attempt. Free-agent pickup Anthony Fasano and undrafted Davone Bess have been reliable weapons for Pennington. And number one pick Jake Long looks very good so far.
2) Old Talent. Specifically, getting more out of it. Joey Porter’s having a career year. Ted Ginn (who we feared a bust), Greg Camarillo (before he got hurt) and David Martin (who?) have all played much better this year, no doubt helped by better quarterbacking. The Dolphins now appear to have the makings of a solid receiving corps. Even Ricky Williams is contributing. Who knew? Ronnie Brown’s back to his pre-torn ACL self.
3) Coaching: Fasano’s brought the Wildcat back to the NFL! Need I say more? Ok, it’s not single-handedly responsible for all the wins but it gave the team a huge edge when first introduced, it helped instill confidence in the players that the coach has some idea what he’s doing (an element sorely lacking last year!) and it’s gotten more playmakers involved in the offense. The whole thing was brilliant. I also can’t recall any games this year where Fasano seemed overmatched or panicked or butchered the clock or made stupid replay challenges. And the great years Miami’s gotten from guys who’d been disappointments before (Porter, Ginn) is also to Fasano’s credit. Give him his due.
4) Management. Parcells. Someone in charge who knows what he’s doing. It’s been awhile. And it can’t hurt that everyone in the organization must fear the Tuna’s wrath. At least Huizenga’s last big decision before getting out of Dodge was a good one (finally).
Miami’s still got a good shot at making the playoffs, something nobody but the team’s most deluded fan could have expected. As 4 of the last 5 games are on the road I wouldn’t count on it but just finishing with 7 or 8 wins would be a huge accomplishment. Last year Miami looked on the way to becoming this decade’s Detroit Lions. Of course the Lions decided they were still this decade’s Detroit Lions leaving the Dolphins no choice but to make giant strides seemingly overnight. After the misery of last season, this year’s been a lot of fun so far.
After the Miami Dolphins shocked the Patriots in Week 3 (the greatest upset in Dolphins history), one of the team’s radio announcers said we might look back on this game some day as the longed-for turning point for the franchise. Nodding in agreement (at least in spirit) and caught up in the hype of the huge win I was sorely tempted to write a subsequent post about “The Turning Point”. Then I remembered that, however impressive, it was just one win. There’s no law that said the Dolphins couldn’t go back-to-back 1-15. And I’d refrained from making any predictions after all of my 2007 ones bombed like The Love Guru. Remember? Miami’d go 8-8. Favre was washed up. So was Jamal Lewis. John Beck might be good. That didn’t happen? Actually I didn’t refrain from making predictions, I retired out of embarrassment. So no predicting a Turning Point. I needed definitive proof. When Miami followed up the big upset with a nice win over the Chargers, a preseason Super Bowl fave after all, I was on the verge of writing about “The Turning Point” but I decided to wait one more week first. After Miami came back late to take the lead on the road against the Texans my typing fingers were warming up but they let it slip away, blowing a chance for a third straight win and a winning record. Back into hibernation went The Turning Point. Still the team was at least competitive; two of their three losses had been close. However, the next loss wasn’t. Baltimore came to town and handed Miami their lunch. The Dolphins looked listless and overmatched against the lone team they beat one year earlier. Goodbye Turning Point.
And hello again Turning Point. Yes, after four straight wins and a 6-4 record we can safely say this Dolphins team is far better than it was last year and there’s no reason to think the improvement’s a fluke or that it can’t be built upon. Of course I’m so slow I couldn’t finish this post before Miami’s win streak ended at the hands of, who else, the Patriots. Still, the improvement is clearly real so what can we say accounts for this great leap forward? I’d go with these things:
1) New Talent: The passing game is by far the team’s best unit right now and most of the credit must go to Chad Pennington. What a huge upgrade he’s turned out to be over last year’s terrible trio of Green, Lemon and Beck. And he cost the team virtually nothing. The Dolphins are a run-first team this year but when Pennington drops back to pass he’s not throwing many interceptions and he’s averaging eight yards an attempt. Free-agent pickup Anthony Fasano and undrafted Davone Bess have been reliable weapons for Pennington. And number one pick Jake Long looks very good so far.
2) Old Talent. Specifically, getting more out of it. Joey Porter’s having a career year. Ted Ginn (who we feared a bust), Greg Camarillo (before he got hurt) and David Martin (who?) have all played much better this year, no doubt helped by better quarterbacking. The Dolphins now appear to have the makings of a solid receiving corps. Even Ricky Williams is contributing. Who knew? Ronnie Brown’s back to his pre-torn ACL self.
3) Coaching: Fasano’s brought the Wildcat back to the NFL! Need I say more? Ok, it’s not single-handedly responsible for all the wins but it gave the team a huge edge when first introduced, it helped instill confidence in the players that the coach has some idea what he’s doing (an element sorely lacking last year!) and it’s gotten more playmakers involved in the offense. The whole thing was brilliant. I also can’t recall any games this year where Fasano seemed overmatched or panicked or butchered the clock or made stupid replay challenges. And the great years Miami’s gotten from guys who’d been disappointments before (Porter, Ginn) is also to Fasano’s credit. Give him his due.
4) Management. Parcells. Someone in charge who knows what he’s doing. It’s been awhile. And it can’t hurt that everyone in the organization must fear the Tuna’s wrath. At least Huizenga’s last big decision before getting out of Dodge was a good one (finally).
Miami’s still got a good shot at making the playoffs, something nobody but the team’s most deluded fan could have expected. As 4 of the last 5 games are on the road I wouldn’t count on it but just finishing with 7 or 8 wins would be a huge accomplishment. Last year Miami looked on the way to becoming this decade’s Detroit Lions. Of course the Lions decided they were still this decade’s Detroit Lions leaving the Dolphins no choice but to make giant strides seemingly overnight. After the misery of last season, this year’s been a lot of fun so far.
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