1990: Derrick Thomas Has 7 Sacks vs. Seahawks

On November 11, 1990, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas set the record for most sacks by an individual player in an NFL game with seven – but it was the one that he failed to make that cost the Chiefs the game.

Kansas City was 5-3 and trying to keep pace with the Raiders in the AFC West as they hosted the Seattle Seahawks (3-5) at Arrowhead Stadium. The game was low-scoring, with the Chiefs holding a 6-3 lead at the half. The Seahawks passed for the first touchdown in the third quarter, with QB Dave Krieg hitting WR Jeff Chadwick for 54 yards.

After Kansas City’s Nick Lowery narrowed the margin with a 24-yard field goal to make the score 10-9, Thomas forced a fumble as he sacked Krieg for the third time in the game; NT Dan Saleaumua recovered in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

Thomas put on an outstanding display of pass rushing skill as he sacked Krieg four more times to break Fred Dean’s record of 6 sacks in a game (set in 1983). But in the end it wasn’t enough as the Seahawks went 66 yards on four plays in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. With time expiring, Krieg looked downfield to make a desperation pass and it appeared that Thomas had a grip on him for a game-ending sack; instead, the quarterback got free and fired the ball into the end zone where a well-covered WR Paul Skansi outleaped the Kansas City defenders and came down with the 25-yard TD reception. Norm Johnson kicked the game-winning extra point, and Seattle ended up with a 17-16 win.

“I thought I had him,” said a disappointed Thomas afterward. “He just stumbled back and caught his balance and threw the pass. That last sack I didn’t get is the one I’m going to remember.”

In spite of being sacked a total of 9 times (once apiece by LB Chris Martin and DE Neil Smith in addition to the seven by Thomas), Krieg was able to complete 16 of 23 passes for 306 yards and the two touchdowns. His Kansas City counterpart, Steve DeBerg, couldn’t get the Chiefs into the end zone, completing 16 of 30 passes for 124 yards, with no completion longer than 15 yards.

The Chiefs ended up with an 11-5 record, coming in second in the AFC West and making the postseason as a wild card; they lost to Miami in the first round (also by a 17-16 score). Seattle was right behind in third place at 9-7.

Derrick Thomas led the NFL with a career-high 20 sacks over the course of the 1990 season, doubling his rookie total of the year before when he had been selected as NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He was a unanimous All-NFL selection and went to his second of an eventual nine Pro Bowls over the course of his Hall of Fame career.

1996: Arizona’s Boomer Esiason Passes for 522 Yards in Wild Win Over Redskins

Boomer Esiason spent one of his 14 seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, and for the most part it confirmed that, at age 35, his best years were behind him. The skills that had made him one of the league’s better quarterbacks in his prime had eroded, and he found himself in competition with journeyman Kent Graham for the starting job.

However, on November 10, 1996 he was in top form as the Cardinals took on the Washington Redskins at RFK Stadium in a Week 11 matchup. Arizona, at 3-6, was struggling under new Head Coach Vince Tobin, while the Redskins were 7-2, having reeled off seven consecutive wins after an opening day defeat before losing badly at Buffalo the previous week.

The first quarter passed quietly as the teams traded field goals. Washington RB Marc Logan scored the initial touchdown of the game in the second quarter on a 36-yard run, but the Cardinals scored the next ten points thanks to a 39-yard field goal by Kevin Butler and a 64-yard TD pass from Esiason to WR Marcus Dowdell. Scott Blanton kicked a 24-yard field goal and the score was tied at the half, 13-13.

Washington twice led by 14 points in the second half, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter for a 27-13 margin and, after Cardinals FB Larry Centers scored from a yard out, by 34-20 when RB Terry Allen responded with a short TD run of his own. But in the fourth quarter, Boomer Esiason put on a phenomenal passing display. He threw TD passes of 13 yards to TE Johnny McWilliams and 12 yards to WR Anthony Edwards that knotted the score at 34-34 and forced the game into overtime, but that told only part of the story; in the fourth quarter and overtime periods alone he completed 23 of 35 passes for 351 yards and the two touchdowns.

The overtime period was certainly gut-wrenching for both teams. The Cardinals won the toss and Esiason drove the team to the Washington 15 yard line, but Butler missed a 32-yard field goal attempt. The Redskins were unable to capitalize and Arizona got the ball back, but a fumble turned the ball back over to Washington. It seemed as though the Redskins had won the game when Blanton kicked an apparent 38-yard field goal, but a holding call nullified the attempt and Blanton missed the ensuing follow-up kick from 48 yards.

With time running down in the overtime period, the Cardinals made it to the Washington 19 yard line and Kevin Butler again attempted a game-winning field goal, only to have it hit the left upright and bounce away. However, safety Darryl Morrison of the Redskins was flagged for being offside, and Butler finally ended the contest with a 32-yard field goal with only seconds remaining in the extra period.

Arizona accumulated 615 yards of total offense – the most ever surrendered in a game by the Redskins – in pulling out the 37-34 win. Most of it was accounted for by Boomer Esiason, who for the day completed 35 of 59 passes for 522 yards and three touchdowns, with four interceptions; the yardage total was the third highest ever attained by an NFL quarterback.

Larry Centers and WR Frank Sanders both caught six passes apiece, and Marcus Dowdell, who had scored on the first TD pass, had the most yards among the receivers with 92 on three receptions; WR Rob Moore was right behind with 91 yards, also on three catches. The efforts of Washington RB Terry Allen, who carried the ball 31 times for 124 yards and two scores, were overshadowed by Esiason’s heroics.

The Cardinals won their next two games and finished at 7-9, in fourth place in the NFC East. Washington lost four of the remaining six games to end up with a 9-7 record and third place in the division. When the two teams met again for the rematch in Phoenix, Arizona won again, although with Kent Graham at quarterback (accumulating far fewer passing yards).

For Boomer Esiason, the outstanding game at Washington was the high point of an ultimately disappointing season. The team went 3-5 in games he started, and competing with Graham did not sit well. When Coach Tobin designated Graham to be the starting quarterback for 1997, Esiason demanded to be released from the second year of his contract and returned to the team he had started with, the Cincinnati Bengals, for his final season.

1975: Steve Spurrier to Gene Washington Ends Rams Win Streak vs. 49ers

The Los Angeles Rams hosted the San Francisco 49ers at the Memorial Coliseum on November 9, 1975, having won 10 consecutive games against the Niners. The Rams, NFC West champs in ’73 and ’74, came into this Week 7 game again leading the division with a 6-1 record, while San Francisco was a lowly 2-5.

It appeared that the win streak, dating back to the 1970 season and having most recently included a 23-14 victory at Candlestick Park six weeks earlier, looked likely to continue when the Rams held a 14-0 lead at the half. Steve Spurrier, starting his first game at quarterback for the 49ers since 1973 in place of Norm Snead, had a mediocre half, completing just 6 of 17 passes for 60 yards. However, San Francisco had an apparent touchdown pass from Spurrier to WR Gene Washington called back due to a penalty and had driven at one point to the L.A. 11-yard line, only to come up empty, so the domination was not quite as complete as the score would imply.

Spurrier began to find the range in the third quarter, completing a 42-yard touchdown pass to Washington. The 49ers tied the score after a long drive that included a 12-yard run by Spurrier on a quarterback draw and concluded with a 19-yard scoring pass to RB Delvin Williams.

L.A. went ahead in the fourth quarter, 17-14, thanks to a 23-yard Tom Dempsey field goal, but a 68-yard Spurrier to Washington pass play put San Francisco back in the lead. The back-and-forth struggle saw the Rams once again move out in front, 23-21, on a short scoring run by RB Jim Bertelsen with 1:24 left to play (crucially, the extra point attempt failed). The 49ers finally prevailed on a 54-yard field goal by Steve Mike-Mayer with 38 seconds left that made the final score 24-23.

For Spurrier, the performance was a highlight in what had been an uneven career in San Francisco. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 290 yards and three TDs, with no interceptions. Gene Washington caught 5 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. On a day when the running game was mediocre (Spurrier was the leading ground gainer for the 49ers with 30 yards on five carries), the Spurrier to Washington combination had been crucial.

The win over the Rams was the first of three consecutive midseason victories for the 49ers, but they lost their last four games to end up with a 5-9 record. They finished a distant second in the NFC West behind the 12-2 Rams, who advanced to the conference championship game and lost to Dallas.

Steve Spurrier ended up starting six games, but hopes for a revival of his career in San Francisco ended and he was traded to the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 1976 season. Gene Washington caught 44 passes for 735 yards, with a typically healthy yards-per-reception average of 16.7 and 9 TDs. Deficiencies with the offense – in particular inconsistency at quarterback – had caused his production to drop after having been a Pro Bowl selection in his first four seasons (1969-72), but as his performance against the Rams made clear, he was still very much a big play receiver.

1970: Tom Dempsey Kicks 63-Yard Field Goal to Jolt Lions

The November 8, 1970 game between the New Orleans Saints (1-5-1) and visiting Detroit Lions (5-2) at Tulane Stadium hardly seemed like a matchup that would come down to the last play. The Saints weren’t playing well, had lost their last two games by 32-14 and 30-17 margins, and had just replaced Head Coach Tom Fears with J.D. Roberts.

The Lions were contenders in the NFC Central and were coming off a key divisional loss to Minnesota, with the rematch coming up the following week. But they led by only 7-6 at the half and were down, 16-14, in the fourth quarter when Saints RB Tom Barrington scored on a four-yard run. However, with 6:42 left in the game, QB Greg Landry led the Lions on a 76-yard drive that ended in an 18-yard Errol Mann field goal with only 11 seconds remaining.

The Saints ran one play after the ensuing kickoff, with QB Billy Kilmer hitting WR Al Dodd along the sideline for a 17-yard gain to the New Orleans 45 yard line (there was some doubt that Dodd had managed to keep both feet inbounds). With two seconds remaining, placekicker Tom Dempsey came onto the field to attempt a field goal.

Dempsey had been born without a right hand and with no toes on his right (kicking) foot. In spite of his disabilities, he played football for Palomar Junior College in California, and joined the Saints in ’69 after a stint on San Diego’s taxi squad. A hefty 6’2” and 255 pounds, he had a powerful leg, but accuracy was always an issue. There was also controversy regarding the modified shoe that he wore on his kicking foot which was in questionable compliance with league rules on footwear.

In his first season in New Orleans, he had been successful on 53.7 % of his field goal attempts (22 of 41) – and was just one for 11 from 50 or more yards away – and thus far in 1970 he had been hampered by a pulled muscle in his hip and had been good on only five of 15 field goal attempts.

On this day against the Lions, Dempsey had kicked field goals from 29, 27, and 8 yards. Now he instructed his holder, Joe Scarpati, to set up eight yards deep rather than the customary seven to provide a bit more time and room for his long attempt.

The snap and hold were just right, and Dempsey kicked the ball solidly. Many of the Detroit defenders didn’t take the long field goal attempt seriously and barely mounted a rush, although veteran DT Alex Karras came charging in and nearly got a hand on the kick. But the ball cleared the line with plenty of height, hung for a long time, and went over the crossbar just to the right of center by about a foot, landing three yards beyond.

Fans and teammates erupted wildly, over both the 19-17 win for the Saints and the wholly improbable manner in which they had won. As Detroit Head Coach Joe Schmidt put it afterward, “You’ll never see it again. It’s like winning the Masters with a 390-yard hole-in-one on the last shot”.

Dempsey’s kick broke the existing record for longest field goal – 56 yards by Baltimore’s Bert Rechichar in 1953 – by seven yards. To date, few have come close, and it was finally tied by Jason Elam of the Broncos 28 years later.

The 63-yard field goal made Dempsey an overnight celebrity, but it didn’t guarantee him job security. He finished the ’70 season at 18 for 34 (52.9 %) and was cut the following preseason. Picked up by Philadelphia during the 1971 season, he actually led the league in field goal percentage (70.6 on 12 of 17 attempts) and set a then-team record for the Eagles with a 54-yard boot. He went on to play three more seasons in Philadelphia before moving on to the Rams, Oilers, and Bills.

The win was the high point for the New Orleans Saints in ’70 – they lost the remainder of their games and ended up with a 2-11-1 record at the bottom of the NFC West. Detroit recovered to finish at 10-4, good enough for second place in the NFC Central and, in this first season of the newly-merged NFL, a postseason spot as the conference’s wild card team.

1976: Sammy White’s 210 Receiving Yards and 2 TDs Lead Vikings Over Lions

The Week 9 divisional matchup at Metropolatin Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota on November 7, 1976 featured the Vikings (6-1-1) against the visiting Detroit Lions (4-4). Minnesota had barely beaten the Lions at Detroit in Week 3, pulling out a 10-9 win, and had lost for the first time the previous week at Chicago, 14-13. Still, they were a strong team that had won the NFC Central Division the previous three seasons and seven of the past eight years, going back to the pre-merger years of 1968 and ’69.

There had been concern with regard to the receiving corps during the offseason, but the addition of rookie wide receiver Sammy White, who had been drafted in the second round, and Ahmad Rashad, a veteran obtained from Buffalo, created a highly effective combination. By Week 9, White had caught 27 passes for 447 yards (an average gain of 16.6 yards) and three TDs.

White scored the first and last Minnesota touchdowns against the Lions, on passes from QB Fran Tarkenton covering 24 yards in the first quarter and 37 yards in the fourth. He also had a 52-yard gain in the process of accumulating a club-record 210 yards on 7 receptions.

Running back Chuck Foreman had two short scoring runs in between, while QB Greg Landry threw a touchdown pass for the Lions and RB Lawrence Gaines rushed for 116 yards and a score. In the end, it was the Vikings prevailing by a 31-23 margin.

Rashad also had solid numbers, if far less spectacular than White’s, with 6 receptions for 85 yards. Tarkenton completed 17 of 25 passes for 347 yards, including the two scoring passes to White and an interception. Since the Lions neutralized the Minnesota running game – Foreman was well below his 4.2 yards per carry rushing average with just 51 yards on 19 attempts – the success of the passing game determined the outcome.

The Vikings went on to finish first in the NFC Central yet again, with an 11-2-1 record, and won the NFC Championship before losing to Oakland in the Super Bowl. Detroit came in third in the division at 6-8.

Sammy White caught a total of 51 passes for 906 yards and 10 TDs in this, his first of ten seasons with the Vikings. He was an All-NFC selection by Pro Football Weekly and UPI, went to the Pro Bowl, and was the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. And in the years since, with the passing game enhanced by rules changes and a parade of great receivers passing through Minnesota, the 210-yard receiving performance still stands out.

1966: Timmy Brown Spurs Eagles Upset of Dallas with TDs on 2 Kickoff Returns

Timmy Brown was an outstanding all-purpose halfback who is often best remembered for his kick returning ability. On November 6, 1966 at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field he had a record-setting day that keyed a surprising – and unusual – win for the Eagles over the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys were sporting a 5-1-1 record and had embarrassed Philadelphia by a 56-7 score just four weeks earlier at the Cotton Bowl. The Eagles were sputtering along with a 4-4 record and the dreadful loss in Dallas had been all too indicative of the uneven play on both sides of the ball.

It was no surprise when Dallas scored first on a two yard run by HB Dan Reeves. But on the ensuing kickoff, Brown fielded the ball at his seven yard line and proceeded to race down the sideline for a 93-yard touchdown. The Cowboys responded with a field goal and then a one-yard TD by QB Don Meredith to move ahead by 17-7 in the second quarter. But once again on the kickoff, it was Timmy Brown running 90 yards for an Eagles TD, becoming the first player in NFL history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game.

When defensive back Aaron Martin returned a punt 67 yards for another score, the Eagles took the lead and after a 31-yard Sam Baker field goal, led at the half, 24-17. Dallas scored two field goals in the second half to close the Philadelphia margin to a point, and in the last two minutes it appeared they would prevail. QB Don Meredith marched the offense down the field with four consecutive pass completions, three to Reeves and one to flanker Buddy Dial.

When Reeves hauled in a pass inside the Eagles 20 and was struggling to get past CB Jim Nettles at the 13, it seemed likely that Dallas would at least be able to get a field goal. However, Eagles free safety Joe Scarpati, who had missed a tackle upfield, came up behind Reeves and pulled the loosely-held ball out of his arm before the referee could whistle the play dead. His act of larceny ended the Dallas threat, and the final score was 24-23 in favor of Philadelphia.

It was an odd end to a game in which all of the Eagles points were accounted for by the special teams. The defense played well, forcing the Cowboys to punt nine times. But the Eagles offense had been dreadful, accumulating just 80 total yards and five first downs. Quarterbacks Norm Snead (1 completion in 8 pass attempts for no yards) and King Hill (4 of 9 for 55 yards) combined for just five completed passes; with 33 yards lost on five sacks by the Cowboys, the net passing yards totaled 22 for the contest. They also turned the ball over three times.

But the day mostly belonged to Timmy Brown, who, beyond the two touchdowns, accounted for 247 yards on five kickoff returns (the second highest single-game total in league history at the time). With 38 yards on 11 rushes, that came to 285 yards of total offense. For a player who twice set the NFL record for total yards in a season (2306 in 1962 and 2428 in ’63), it was another milestone performance.

The Cowboys went on to finish with a 10-3-1 record for the season, winning the Eastern Conference and losing to Green Bay in the NFL Championship game. The Eagles rallied to finish at 9-5 (their only season over .500 between 1961 and 1978), tying for second place with Cleveland and earning a trip to the Playoff Bowl, the postseason consolation game for conference runners-up in the ‘60s, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts.

1944: Steve Van Buren Has First 100-Yard Rushing Performance

In the 1944 NFL player draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected the Honduran-born halfback Steve Van Buren from LSU with their first pick. The Eagles, a perennial losing team since joining the league in 1933, had combined with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1943 due to a shortage of players as a result of World War II and the “Steagles” compiled a 5-4-1 record. With the Eagles back on their own for the ’44 season, innovative Head Coach Earle “Greasy” Neale continued putting the parts together to build a contending team.

The 6’0”, 200-pound Van Buren proved to be a big part of that effort. An outstanding blend of power and speed, he excelled as a kick returner as well as a runner from scrimmage. On November 5, 1944 in a game against the Brooklyn Tigers at Ebbetts Field, he rushed for 129 yards on just 12 carries, including touchdown runs of 44 and 70 yards in the first quarter. It was all the points the Eagles needed – they added one more TD in the second quarter on a 57-yard pass play from QB Roy Zimmerman to HB Mel Bleeker and held on to win easily, 21-7, improving the team’s record to 4-0-1 (Brooklyn finished 0-10 and merged with the Boston Yanks for the 1945 season).

Van Buren ended up with 444 yards rushing on just 80 carries, for a league-leading 5.6 average gain per carry. He also averaged 15.3 yards on 15 punt returns with a 55-yard touchdown and 33.3 yards on eight kickoff returns, again including a TD on a 97-yard return. The 129-yard rushing game remained a record for an Eagles rookie until 2001. It was the first of 19 hundred-yard games in Van Buren’s Hall of Fame career that would see him lead the NFL in rushing four times, twice set the season record, and retire as the league’s career rushing leader.

As for the Eagles, they finished at 7-1-2, losing the Eastern Division title by a half game to the 8-1-1 New York Giants. With Van Buren leading the way, and supplemented by halfbacks Bleeker, Jack Hinkle, Ernie Steele, and Jack Banta, they were the NFL’s best rushing team, both in terms of yards gained (1661) and average gain per carry (3.9). They also scored the most points (267). But while they handed the Giants their only loss, ties with the Giants and Redskins kept them out of the postseason.