2004: Patriots Obtain Corey Dillon from Bengals

On April 19, 2004 the New England Patriots obtained accomplished but discontented RB Corey Dillon from the Cincinnati Bengals. To do so they traded a second-round draft pick to Cincinnati that had previously been obtained from Miami (the Bengals used it to select Maryland FS Madieu Williams, who moved into the starting lineup as a rookie but had problems with injuries during his four years with the club).

The 29-year-old Dillon (he turned 30 during the 2004 season) was Cincinnati’s all-time rushing leader, having gained 8061 yards over the course of seven seasons, and was selected to the Pro Bowl three times. He further held a total of 18 franchise records at the time that included most rushing yards in a season (1435). At 6’1” and 225 pounds he had the size to be a punishing runner between the tackles while also possessing speed and elusiveness.

Dillon, who played collegiately at the Univ. of Washington, was originally chosen by the Bengals in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft and came on strong in the second half of his rookie year, gaining 933 of his 1129 rushing yards and scoring 8 of 10 TDs in the last eight games, highlighted by a 246-yard, four-touchdown performance in his fifth contest as a starter. It was the first of six consecutive seasons reaching the thousand-yard rushing threshold. Along the way Dillon had two more 200-yard single-game performances, including a then-league record 278 against the Broncos in 2000.

Dillon began sharing the rushing duties with RB Rudi Johnson in 2003 and had been pushing for a trade, complaining that he should be carrying more of the load. Following a season-ending loss to the Browns at Paul Brown Stadium, Dillon reportedly threw some of his equipment into the stands. He had further gotten into a public spat with OT Willie Anderson, calling him “a bum” on a sports radio show after the Pro Bowl tackle accused Dillon of being selfish at a point when the Bengals were still in playoff contention.

Reportedly, Coach Belichick laid down ground rules to Dillon prior to the trade being finalized. “We are very excited about Corey Dillon becoming a Patriot,” the coach said in reaction to the deal being completed. “Corey joins Kevin Faulk and our other very good backs to deepen an already competitive running back position.”

The Patriots had won two NFL Championships in the previous three years, including 2003, without a feature running back in an offense largely propelled by the passing of QB Tom Brady. Antowain Smith had been a stalwart, if plodding, ground gainer since arriving in 2001 and shared the duties with the more versatile Kevin Faulk in ’03, gaining 642 yards to Faulk’s 638, while Faulk caught 48 passes for 440 yards to Smith’s 92 yards on 14 receptions. The arrival of Dillon marked the end of the line in New England for the 32-year-old Smith.

Any concerns about Dillon and the wisdom of trading for him were resolved during an outstanding 2004 season. He started strong, with a 15-carry, 86-yard effort in an opening-week win over the Colts and followed with 158 yards on 32 attempts at Arizona the next week. He had four straight hundred-yard games as the Patriots got off to a 7-1 start and ended up with a total of nine such performances over the course of the season. Dillon ended up with a club-record 1635 rushing yards on 345 carries for an average gain of 4.7 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. He gained another 292 yards in three playoff games, with 144 coming in a Divisional-level win over the Colts and 75 yards on 18 carries in the Super Bowl victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. Dillon was chosen to the Pro Bowl for the first time in three years and, moreover, proved to be a leader who fit well in New England’s team-first approach.

Dillon spent two more seasons with the Patriots, rushing for lesser totals of 733 and 812 yards, although scoring 12 and 13 TDs, respectively, in 2005 and ’06. He was hindered by a bad ankle in ’05 and showed increased signs of wear in 2006, when he began to lose playing time to rookie Laurence Maroney. Released in the offseason, he ultimately retired.

In his three years in New England, Dillon gained 3180 yards on 753 rushing attempts (4.2 avg.) with 37 TDs. He also caught 52 passes for 431 yards and another two scores (Kevin Faulk continued to be the preferred receiver out of the backfield in addition to being a change-of-pace runner). In eight postseason games, he rushed for 508 yards and four TDs and accumulated 12 pass receptions for 74 yards.

2005: Patriots Defeat Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX for Third Title in Four Years

The New England Patriots were coming off of a championship in 2003, and two in a three-year period, as they entered the 2004 NFL season. It was more of the same as Head Coach Bill Belichick’s team again went 14-2 and defeated the Colts and Steelers to advance to the Super Bowl. Ever-improving QB Tom Brady was joined in the backfield by eighth-year veteran RB Corey Dillon, who rushed for 1635 yards. WR Deion Branch (pictured at right) missed several games due to injury but was back healthy in the playoffs. The tough and savvy defense was anchored by DE Richard Seymour, linebackers Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi, and SS Rodney Harrison.

Their opponents in the Super Bowl on February 6, 2005 were the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles, in their sixth year under Head Coach Andy Reid, had finally broken through after losing three straight NFC title games. A fundamentally sound club on both sides of the ball, the Eagles had made major free agent signings in bringing in WR Terrell Owens and DE Jevon Kearse. QB Donovan McNabb had his best year as he passed for 3875 yards and 31 touchdowns. Owens contributed 77 catches for 1200 yards and 14 TDs before going down with a major ankle injury – he was back in action for the Super Bowl after a seven-week layoff with a metal plate and two screws in his right ankle. RB Brian Westbrook was an outstanding all-purpose back. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson employed an attacking, blitz-heavy scheme that benefited from the addition of Kearse and included Pro Bowlers in MLB Jeremiah Trotter, CB Lito Sheppard, SS Michael Lewis, and FS Brian Dawkins. The Eagles went 13-3 in topping the NFC East and had gotten by the Vikings in the Divisional round of the playoffs and Falcons for the conference title. They came into the Super Bowl as seven-point underdogs against the defending champs.

There were 78,125 fans in attendance at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, plus a huge television viewing audience. The teams traded punts until midway through the first quarter when the Eagles finally put a solid drive together. In a third-and-seven situation at the New England 47, McNabb threw to Owens on a crossing pattern that picked up 30 yards and a roughing penalty added an additional nine yards. However, a sack of McNabb by Mike Vrabel cost Philadelphia 16 yards. McNabb’s poorly-thrown pass into the end zone was then intercepted by CB Asante Samuel, but the Eagles got a break when LB Roman Phifer was penalized for illegal contact. But McNabb followed up with another bad pass that was picked off by Rodney Harrison, and this time the play stood.

The Patriots were unable to move on offense and punted with the Eagles getting the ball back in good field position at the New England 45. Once again they turned the ball over when, three plays later, TE L.J. Smith fumbled after being hit by CB Randall Gay and Samuel recovered for the Patriots.

Again the Philadelphia defense held and, with the scoreless game now early in the second quarter, the Eagles got the ball back at their 19. This time they went 81 yards in nine plays highlighted by McNabb completions to WR Todd Pinkston (pictured at left) that covered 17 and 40 yards. On a third-and-six play, McNabb threw to Smith for a touchdown.

The Patriots came alive on offense, spurred by Brady passes to Corey Dillon for 13 and 16 yards to start off the next series. They advanced deep into Philadelphia territory, but Brady fumbled and DT Darwin Walker recovered at the 13.

The Eagles had to punt after the resulting short possession, with Dirk Johnson getting off a 29-yard kick that allowed New England to start the next series at the Philadelphia 37. The Patriots took seven plays in driving to the tying score, with Brady completing all five of his passes. The last was to WR David Givens in the right corner of the end zone for a four-yard TD. The score was 7-7 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Patriots advanced 69 yards in nine plays despite facing a heavy blitz. Deion Branch caught four passes along the way, the last for a 21-yard gain to the Philadelphia two. From there, Vrabel, used as a short-yardage pass receiver on offense, caught a touchdown pass to put New England back in front at 14-7.

The teams again traded punts until the Eagles responded with a 74-yard drive in 10 plays - eight of them passes - that ended with McNabb firing a throw down the middle to Brian Westbrook for a 10-yard TD.

As the period wound down and the contest entered the fourth quarter, the Patriots were methodically driving down the field against a tiring Eagles defense. RB Kevin Faulk had two catches on screen passes, the second for 14 yards to set up a two-yard Dillon scoring run that put the Patriots back in the lead.

The Eagles had to punt following their next series and the Patriots again drove to a score. On second down, Brady (pictured below) threw to Branch for a 19-yard gain and a roughing the passer penalty on DT Corey Simon moved the ball to the Philadelphia 16. Two runs by Dillon advanced the ball to the four and, while the defense held, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 22-yard field goal to put New England up by ten points.

On the next Eagles possession, McNabb was intercepted by Tedy Bruschi, but the resulting New England series was a short one and Philadelphia got the ball back with 5:40 left to play. The Eagles showed a surprising lack of urgency on the next drive as they moved methodically down the field, huddling after each play and using up a great deal of time. McNabb completed eight passes during the 13-play series that covered 79 yards. He tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to WR Greg Lewis, but there was just 1:48 remaining in the game.

An onside kick was recovered by New England. Using all of their timeouts as the Patriots ran the ball three times and punted, the Eagles got the ball back at their four yard line with 46 seconds left. It was too much to overcome - Rodney Harrison’s second interception with nine seconds remaining on the clock clinched the 24-21 win for the Patriots.

The Eagles gained the most yards (369 to 331) and had more first downs (24 to 21). However, the vast majority of those yards came through the air as they were only able to run for 45 yards on 17 carries against the New England defense. Philadelphia also turned the ball over four times, to one suffered by the Patriots, and McNabb was sacked on four occasions while the Eagles got to Brady twice.

Deion Branch tied the Super Bowl record for pass receptions as he had 11 catches for 133 yards and was the game’s MVP. Tom Brady completed 23 of 33 passes for 236 yards with two touchdowns and none intercepted. Corey Dillon ran for 75 yards on 18 carries that included a TD.

For the Eagles, Donovan McNabb was successful on 30 of 51 throws for 357 yards and three TDs but also tossed three interceptions. Terrell Owens (pictured below) caught 9 of those passes for 122 yards. Brian Westbrook had just 44 rushing yards on 15 attempts but also had 7 pass receptions for 60 yards and a TD. Todd Pinkston contributed four receptions for 82 yards.

“I was proud of the effort and they battled, but we came up just short – too many turnovers,” said Andy Reid in defeat. “And against such a tough football team you can’t do that.”

With three championships in four years, the Patriots received many accolades and the word dynasty was liberally employed. “We’ve never really self-proclaimed ourselves anything,” said Tom Brady. “If you guys say we’re great, we’ll accept the compliment.”

New England still topped the AFC East in 2005, although with a lesser 10-6 record as they endured the offseason loss of both offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, and had to deal with a spate of injuries during the regular season. The effort to win a third straight NFL title ended with a loss to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional playoff round. They would next return to the Super Bowl following the 2007 season.

For Philadelphia, the Super Bowl defeat led to a difficult offseason in which several players became embroiled in contract squabbles – most notably Terrell Owens, who publicly questioned Donovan McNabb’s performance during the slow-moving fourth quarter drive. Owens returned to the club but was eventually suspended during the season, McNabb (pictured below) was lost in the 10th game, and the Eagles dropped to the bottom of the NFC East with a 6-10 record. They bounced back to win the division in ’06 – with Owens gone to Dallas and Jeff Garcia spelling an injured McNabb. 

2000: Four NFL Runners Reach 200 Yards on Same Day

As much as modern pro football has become more pass-oriented, running the ball is still an integral part of the game and running backs still achieve big performances. December 3, 2000 was a day for ground-gaining achievements as an unprecedented four NFL runners gained 200 yards rushing on the same date.

The highest total was registered by rookie RB Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos (pictured at right), who had 251 yards on 37 carries in a game against the Saints at the Louisiana Superdome. Both the 6’0”, 230-pound Anderson and the Broncos had been on a hot streak. Denver had won six of its last seven games, including four straight, coming into the contest against the 8-4 Saints. Anderson had already gone over 100 yards on four occasions and twice flirted with 200, including 195 the week before at Seattle, making the most of his opportunity to play after injuries had cut down veterans Terrell Davis and Olandis Gary.

Anderson scored the first of his four touchdowns (all by rushing) in the opening period and his second TD, of five yards, in the second quarter put the Broncos ahead to stay. They won handily, 38-23.

Cincinnati RB Corey Dillon, who at the time held the NFL single-game record with 278 yards in a game that he set just six weeks before on October 22 (coincidentally, against Denver), reached the 200-yard threshold for the second time in 2000 with 216 on 35 attempts against the 3-9 Arizona Cardinals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals had not been as successful as the 6’1”, 225-pound fourth-year running back out of Washington – they were 2-10 entering the game and had lost four straight.


Dillon (pictured at left) set the pace from the start, running for 57 yards on the team’s second play from scrimmage to set up a short TD pass from QB Scott Mitchell to TE Tony McGee. By the half, he had gained 134 yards and scored on a one-yard TD run to extend Cincinnati’s lead to 14-0. It was 21-0 in the third quarter before the Cardinals began to come back and narrowed the margin to 21-13. But Dillon, along with RB Brandon Bennett, keyed a long, 17-play fourth quarter drive that ran the clock down and ended with a 32-yard Neil Rackers field goal to cap the 24-13 win.

At Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium, fourth-year RB Warrick Dunn gained 210 yards on 22 rushes with two touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys. The Buccaneers were 7-5, and had won four of their last five, while Dallas was a dismal 4-8. The 5’8”, 180-pound Dunn typically split duty with FB Mike Alstott, who was struggling with injuries, and with more of an opportunity to run the ball had his first 100-yard game of the year the previous week (106 vs. Buffalo).

Tampa Bay dominated the Cowboys throughout the game. It was already 3-0 in the first quarter when Dunn took off on a 70-yard run for the first touchdown of the game. He scored again in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard carry that made the final tally 27-7. It was the third 200-yard rushing performance of the year against the Cowboys, who had given up just two such performances over the previous 40 seasons, and also marked Tampa Bay’s first-ever win over Dallas.


Finally, RB Curtis Martin of the New York Jets (pictured at right) rolled up a then-club-record 203 yards on 30 carries at Giants Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts. The Jets were 8-4 and battling the 7-5 Colts in the AFC East. The 5’11”, 210-pound Martin was in his third year in New York after three seasons with the Patriots and had been to the Pro Bowl three times. He had been over a hundred yards twice thus far in 2000.

The Jets were ahead by 7-0 in the first quarter when Martin’s 36-yard run keyed a drive that was capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from QB Vinny Testaverde to WR Dedric Ward. It was 20-0 at halftime, but the Colts came back in the second half to close to within 20-17. A fumble recovery by the Jets set up a two-yard scoring run by Martin that clinched the 27-17 win for New York.

Mike Anderson not only led the day but, of the four, had the highest yardage total of the season with 1487, fourth-ranked in the league, on 297 carries. His 5.0 average gain ranked third and 15 rushing touchdowns second (and first in the AFC). It was the high point of his seven-season career in which he reached the thousand-yard mark just once more (1014 in 2005). He did not have any more 200-yard games.

Corey Dillon was right behind Anderson at fifth in the NFL with 1435 yards on 315 carries. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns. It was the fourth of an eventual six straight thousand-yard seasons and was his highest yardage total with the Bengals, although his career high of 1635 came with New England in 2004. Dillon was named to the Pro Bowl for the second of three straight years (and four overall).Including a 246-yard game as a rookie in 1997, and with the two in 2000, he ended up with a total of three 200-yard games for his career.

Curtis Martin ended up with a 12th-ranked 1204 yards on 316 attempts for a 3.8-yard average and nine touchdowns. Factoring in pass receiving yards, however, he ranked ninth in yards from scrimmage with 1712, the highest total of the four. Also the most prolific rusher of the group, his thousand-yard season was the sixth of an eventual 10 straight to start his career, a distinction he shares with Detroit’s Barry Sanders (Emmitt Smith had 11 consecutive, but that streak started with his second season). Martin led the NFL with a career-high 1697 yards in 2004, at age 31, when he was a consensus 1st-team All-NFL selection. He was chosen for the Pro Bowl five times. The performance against the Colts was his only career 200-yard game.


Warrick Dunn (pictured at left) ranked 18th with 1133 yards on 248 attempts. His 4.6-yard average gain ranked considerably higher, tying him for seventh in the league with Dillon. He scored eight touchdowns on the ground. It was the second thousand-yard season of an eventual five for Dunn, with his career high being 1416 with the Falcons in 2005. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2000 for the second of three times. Like Anderson and Martin, the game against the Cowboys marked his only rushing total over 200 yards.