1982: Jim McMahon Leads Bears Over Lions in First Pro Start

The Chicago Bears finished with a mediocre 6-10 record in 1981, and the 86-year-old owner, “Papa Bear” George Halas, asserted his authority one last time to change the direction of the team and try and recover some of the past glory of the Monsters of the Midway.

First, he rehired the defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan. Second, he replaced Head Coach Neill Armstrong with former star tight end Mike Ditka, who had been an assistant in Dallas and provided a very vivid link to the last Chicago championship team in 1963. And third, he and Ditka selected a quarterback in the first round of the 1982 draft, something the Bears had not done since 1951.

Jim McMahon had been a record-setting passer at Brigham Young. On the downside, he was just six feet tall, had a bad knee, and vision that had been impaired in a childhood accident. But his upside was that he had been operating in a sophisticated offense at BYU and showed tremendous potential.

The Bears started off with losses in the first two games. Veterans Vince Evans, the incumbent starter, and Bob Avellini had played at QB, although McMahon saw significant action in the second week. But then the season was interrupted by the eight-week player’s strike.

When the strike ended and NFL games resumed on November 21, 1982, McMahon was given his first starting assignment against the visiting Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. Things got off to a shaky start for the rookie as he threw two interceptions in the first quarter, one of which was returned for a touchdown by safety Ray Oldham. But McMahon brought the Bears back from a 14-3 deficit, first hitting WR Ken Margerum with an 11-yard TD pass in the second quarter and then TE Emery Moorehead on a 28-yard pass play that put Chicago in front, 17-14.

Detroit came back to tie the score with a 32-yard Eddie Murray field goal, but McMahon led the Bears on a drive that culminated in a game-winning field goal of 18 yards by John Roveto. The 20-17 win gave the Bears their first win of the season, Ditka his first victory as a head coach, and McMahon a win in his first start.

McMahon completed 16 of 27 passes for 233 yards with two TDs and three interceptions. FB Matt Suhey had the most receptions (6, for 46 yards) while Moorehead had the most receiving yards with 78 on his three catches, including the one TD. RB Walter Payton, who had been the team’s primary offensive weapon for the better part of seven years, had a typically solid performance with 87 rushing yards on 21 carries.

By contrast, QB Eric Hipple of the Lions completed just 15 of 32 pass attempts for 119 yards with a TD and two interceptions, and was sacked seven times for a loss of 62 yards – a testament to Ryan’s defense. Star RB Billy Sims gained just 67 yards on his 20 runs.

The Bears were still a work in progress and concluded the strike-shortened season with a 3-6 record. McMahon completed 120 of 210 passes (57.1 %) for 1501 yards, with 9 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. As modest as his numbers might appear, his passer rating of 79.9 was the best by a Chicago quarterback since 1965, the completion percentage was the second best in team history, and none of his last 105 passes were intercepted. He was selected to the NFL All-Rookie team. To be sure, the offensive line was a sieve and McMahon had to run far too often (the quarterbacks collectively were sacked a NFC-high 33 times).

McMahon would prove to be a successful quarterback for the Bears, if also a brittle and occasionally controversial one. But the pieces that Halas put in place in 1982 would culminate in a championship in 1985 (the “Papa Bear” wouldn’t live to see it – he died in 1983).

1966: Falcons Defeat Giants for Franchise’s First Win

The game at Yankee Stadium on November 20, 1966 between the New York Giants and visiting Atlanta Falcons was hardly a thrilling spectacle – the Falcons broke out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and never fell behind. Nor was it significant in the standings, as Atlanta had yet to win a game (0-9) and the Giants were scarcely better (1-7-1). However, when the Falcons won by a score of 27-16, it was not only their first win of the season but the first in the history of the franchise (excluding the preseason).

Atlanta had flirted with the AFL, both as a potential expansion site or as a new home for the Denver Broncos. The Broncos stayed put, however, and the NFL pulled the rug from under the rival league by awarding a franchise to insurance executive Rankin Smith for the 1966 season (the AFL expanded to Miami instead).

The Falcons took the field under Head Coach Norb Hecker, who had been an assistant under Vince Lombardi at Green Bay. As was usually the case with expansion teams, it was made up largely of castoff veterans and young, unproven players. However, they drew well at the new Atlanta Stadium, averaging over 56,000 in attendance for each home game.

Following the usual formula for a new team, Hecker concentrated on defense in this first season, building around MLB Tommy Nobis, the overall first draft pick out of Texas. The offense was also directed by a rookie, QB Randy Johnson from Texas A&I. The team didn’t score much, but they had a couple of reliable, if plodding, running backs in Junior Coffey (pictured) and ex-Giant Ernie Wheelwright, and veteran flanker Alex Hawkins, who had previously been a reserve with the Colts.

Against New York, Atlanta scored on a nine-yard pass from Johnson to Wheelwright in the first quarter. The Giants responded with a 24-yard field goal by Pete Gogolak, but Johnson threw his second TD pass of the game, an eight-yarder to split end Vern Burke, to give the Falcons a lead of 13-3 at halftime (the PAT attempt failed).

It was Johnson to Wheelwright again in the third quarter, for a six-yard TD, before the Giants finally scored a touchdown on a three-yard pass from QB Tom Kennedy to the versatile Joe Morrison, playing at halfback. Johnson scored once more on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter. The Giants were able to come up with one more TD, a 12-yard run by Morrison (who led all rushers in the game with 91 yards on 17 carries), to close out the scoring (the extra point attempt was no good).

The 27 points were the most the Falcons had scored to date. Johnson had made good on 15 of 25 passes for 177 yards, with three touchdowns against one interception. Coffey led the running game with 64 yards on 16 carries, while the fullback Wheelwright carried 14 times for 51 yards and also led the team in receptions with 5 for 35 yards and two scores. TE Taz Anderson had the most receiving yards for Atlanta, with 47 on his two catches.

Atlanta went on to win two of the remaining three games to finish with a 3-11 record and become the first expansion team to not finish in last place; they were in seventh in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the 1-12-1 Giants. For the Giants, the loss was one of many low points on the way to the worst record in franchise history.

For the year, Johnson completed 129 of 295 passes (43.7 %) for 1795 yards with 12 TDs and 21 interceptions. Coffey had a respectable season, ranking ninth in the league with 722 yards rushing on 199 carries. Wheelwright added 458 yards on 121 attempts; both caught 15 passes apiece.

While the anticipation was great that the Falcons would improve on the 1966 showing in ’67, it was not to be – they regressed to 1-12-1.

1978: Giants Fumble Away Win to Eagles

For Eagles fans, it’s “the Miracle of the Meadowlands”. For Giants fans, it is more odiously referred to as “The Fumble”. By whatever name, it remains one of the most astounding plays to decide the outcome of a game in pro football history.

Philadelphia, in its third season under Head Coach Dick Vermeil, came into the November 19, 1978 matchup at Giants Stadium with a 6-5 record; New York was struggling at 5-6. The Giants broke out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to touchdown passes by QB Joe Pisarcik of 19 yards to RB Bobby Hammond and 30 yards to WR Johnny Perkins.

RB Wilbert Montgomery finally put the Eagles on the board in the second quarter with an eight-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was missed. Joe Danelo added a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to extend New York’s lead to 17-6. FB Mike Hogan narrowed the score to 17-12 in the fourth quarter with a one-yard run, followed by another unsuccessful PAT attempt (with placekicker Nick Mike-Mayer on injured reserve, his punter-cum-placekicker replacement, Mike Michel, proved woefully inadequate).

It looked as though that would be the final score when a last-ditch Eagles drive ended with QB Ron Jaworski throwing his third interception of the day. The Giants took over on their own 21 yard line with just 1:23 left to play. Philadelphia had no time outs remaining, so it was just a matter of running out the clock. Fans began filing out of the stadium and Giants players on the sideline were beginning to celebrate.

On the first play, Pisarcik handed off to FB Larry Csonka for an 11-yard gain. On the next play, he took a knee and received some rough treatment from frustrated Eagles linebackers Frank LeMaster and Bill Bergey. The clock was down to 28 seconds as the Giants came up to the line again for what all assumed would be a final kneel-down by Pisarcik to end the game. The broadcasters for the telecast were making their parting comments and the credits were rolling down the screen.

But instead of taking a knee, instruction came from the offensive coordinator, Bob Gibson, to run the ball. While several Giants urged Pisarcik to ignore the call from the sideline and just kneel, the play proceeded. The snap was rushed and the quarterback never had control of the ball as he tried to hand it off to Csonka, instead hitting him in the hip. The ball bounced away from the sprawling Pisarcik, directly into the hands of Eagles CB Herman Edwards, who ran it 26 unmolested yards into the end zone.

Michel kicked the extra point and the final score was 19-17 in favor of Philadelphia. For Edwards, there was redemption since he had been badly beaten on one of the Giants’ touchdown passes. For the Eagles, it was a miraculous win that helped lift the team to a 9-7 record for the season and a wild card spot in the playoffs – the first postseason appearance since winning the 1960 championship (excluding the meaningless Playoff Bowl), and only the third season over .500 since then as well.

For the Giants, it also marked something of a turning point. Gibson was fired the next day (although the call resulting in the fumble was not given as the reason), and after New York finished out the season with three more losses in the last four games, Head Coach John McVay was let go as well. The Mara family, which owned the team, made a decision to hire a new general manager, who turned out to be George Young. A turnaround for the franchise in the 1980s would be forthcoming.

While the bizarre ending has long overshadowed the rest of the game, there were solid performances for the Eagles by RB Montgomery, who had 88 yards rushing on 22 carries with the one TD, and WR Harold Carmichael with five receptions for 105 yards.

The question of why the Giants ran the play has long been a subject of speculation and argument. Many Eagles believed that the rough handling of Pisarcik by either LeMaster or Bergey caused Gibson to send in a running play both to protect his quarterback and to give the offensive line one last chance to tee off on the Eagles defense. Others have suggested that bad feelings among some of the coaching staff caused Gibson to stubbornly insist on a running play.

Whatever the reason, the play long ago entered the realm of pro football lore. And it has left a lasting imprint on the game to this day – every time an offense is running out the clock and the quarterback is preparing to take a knee, a teammate is lined up about 10 yards behind the play, just in case the ball goes bouncing away.

1984: Greg Bell’s 206 Rushing Yards Spur Bills Upset of Cowboys

It had been a long and disappointing season in Buffalo as the winless Bills (0-11) prepared to take on the visiting Dallas Cowboys (7-4) at Rich Stadium on November 18, 1984. The Cowboys were tied with Washington atop the NFC East and couldn’t be blamed for believing that they had little to fear from the hapless Bills.

The Bills were a team in transition under Head Coach Kay Stephenson. The offense had been particularly disappointing, with the exception of rookie RB Greg Bell, replacing the talented Joe Cribbs who had jumped to the USFL. Bell had carried the ball 158 times for 646 yards thus far, a 4.1 average gain, with two hundred-yard performances. On this day he set the tone by taking off on an 85-yard scoring run on Buffalo’s first play from scrimmage. It would prove to be all the points the Bills would need.

The defense played inspired football, holding the Cowboys to just 78 rushing yards on 24 attempts (virtually all by RB Tony Dorsett, who had 70 yards on 17 carries). Dallas QB Gary Hogeboom completed fewer than half his passes (22 of 45) and the Bills intercepted him twice.

Buffalo missed opportunities to score twice more in the first half. Don Wilson returned a punt 34 yards to put the Bills in good field position, but the resulting field goal attempt failed due to a bad snap. LB Joe Azelby blocked a Danny White punt, but Bills QB Joe Ferguson promptly threw an interception that led to the only Dallas score of the game, a 20-yard Rafael Septien field goal that made it 7-3 at the half.

Thanks to Bell’s running, the Bills were able to control the ball for extended periods during the second half, including a total of 11:34 in the fourth quarter alone. A nine-play, 70-yard drive resulted in the only other touchdown of the day, fittingly scored by Bell on a four-yard pass from Ferguson. Safety Rod Kush and CB Brian Carpenter both intercepted Hogeboom passes to snuff out Dallas drives. The final score was 14-3 as Buffalo entered the win column.

Bell, the star of the game, ran for 206 yards on 27 carries and caught two passes for another 12. QB Ferguson had an ordinary performance, completing just 13 of 29 passes for 117 yards with a TD and two interceptions. WR Byron Franklin topped the Buffalo receivers in both receptions (6) and yards (55).

In the euphoric mood after the game, Bills DE Ben Williams said “this is kind of like our Super Bowl.” Owner Ralph Wilson added “I feel like we’re leading the league.” Meanwhile, Dorsett summed up the feeling of the stunned Cowboys by saying “I’m totally embarrassed…it’s total humiliation.”

The joy didn’t last long for the Bills – they lost decisively at Washington the next week, although they did win once more to the floundering Indianapolis Colts to conclude the season with a league-worst 2-14 record. However, they used the first overall pick in the 1985 draft to select Bruce Smith from Virginia Tech, who would become a bulwark at defensive end. The Cowboys split the remainder of their games and finished with a 9-7 record, which was the same as that of the Giants and Cardinals in the NFC East but, with tie-breakers applied, left them in fourth place and out of the postseason.

Greg Bell ended up compiling 1100 yards on 262 carries for the year with seven TDs, and caught 34 passes for 277 yards and another score. He was selected to the AFC Pro Bowl team.

1968: Raiders Stun Jets in the “Heidi Game”

The November 17, 1968 contest at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum between the host Raiders and visiting New York Jets (both with 7-2 records) was a key showdown between two of the strongest contenders for the AFL title. The game was televised nationally by NBC, with a starting time on the East Coast of 4 o’clock, and it certainly lived up to expectations as it was an exciting contest that was decided in the final seconds. However, the decision by the network to cut away to scheduled programming before the completion of the game is what gave it a special distinction in pro football history.

Oakland, in a battle for control of the Western Division with Kansas City, scored the first two touchdowns on passes from gunslinging QB Daryle Lamonica of 9 yards to split end Warren Wells and 48 yards to TE Billy Cannon. The Jets, in control of the Eastern Division, scored on two field goals by Jim Turner and a one-yard run by QB Joe Namath; the extra point attempt failed and Oakland held a 14-12 halftime lead.

New York pulled in front in the third quarter on a four-yard run by FB Bill Mathis, but the Raiders came back with a three-yard rushing TD by HB Charlie Smith. With a successful two-point conversion, the Raiders led 22-19 at the end of the third quarter.

Oakland was three yards away from another score as the fourth quarter started, but on the first play Smith fumbled the ball away to the Jets, who took full advantage. Namath hit flanker Don Maynard on a 47-yard pass play to midfield, and then passed to Maynard again for a 50-yard touchdown that put New York back in front, 26-22. When the Jets next got the ball back, they scored again, this time on a 12-yard field goal by Turner for a 29-22 advantage.

The Raiders were hardly done, though, and the “Mad Bomber” Lamonica passed for a 22-yard TD to flanker Fred Biletnikoff that tied the score at 29-29. In this back-and-forth struggle, the Jets responded with Jim Turner’s fourth field goal of the game, from 26 yards out, to re-take the lead at 32-29 with 1:05 remaining in the contest.

However, a behind-the-scenes drama involving NBC was about to pull the plug on the game for the fans in the Eastern time zone. The network had allotted three hours, from 4 o’clock until 7, for the game, at which point a heavily-promoted production of the children’s classic, “Heidi”, was to air. The game in Oakland was running long, however. With lots of passing and a total of 19 penalties (the Jets were called for five facemask infractions alone), it was fast approaching 7 o’clock in the East when the Raiders got the ball back.

There was plenty of head-scratching afterward as to who made the call at NBC to end game coverage and shift to “Heidi” at 7 o’clock, but what football fans in the East saw was a Lamonica to Smith pass for 20 yards, followed by a penalty on the Jets that put the ball on New York’s 43 yard line with 50 seconds to go. As the teams were about to run the next play, screens went dark and then to commercial, after which the opening to “Heidi” began to run.

There was pandemonium on the telephone lines, and even NBC President Julian Goodman’s anxious request to cut back to the game got lost as the switchboard in New York was overwhelmed by calls. While fans on the Pacific Coast were able to see the end of the game, the Eastern fans – in particular, the Jets fans in the New York City area – were left in the dark.

What did they miss? First, they missed Lamonica’s go-ahead touchdown pass to Charlie Smith (pictured) that covered 43 yards. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, the Jets fumbled and Raiders reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber grabbed it and fell into the end zone for yet another score which made the final tally 43-32 in favor of Oakland.

On the field, Lamonica had completed 21 of 34 passes for 311 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Fred Biletnikoff was the leading receiver for the Raiders with 7 catches for 120 yards and a score. On the New York side, Namath threw 37 passes and completed 19 of them for 381 yards with a TD and no pickoffs. Don Maynard was the pass receiving star, grabbing 10 passes for a club-record 228 yards and a touchdown.

Off the field, over an hour after the end of the game, NBC twice scrolled the score across the screen, which only angered the football fans all the more knowing that they had missed something significant, and, when the second crawl occurred during an especially dramatic moment during the program, managed to alienate the “Heidi” fans, too.

NBC President Goodman offered an apology the next day, and a new pro football/tv network policy took hold - while pulling away from games in progress had occurred previously, henceforth games would be shown until their completion.

The Oakland Raiders won the remainder of their games and finished the season at 12-2, tied for first in the Western Division with Kansas City. They defeated the Chiefs in the resulting playoff and faced the Jets, who also won the rest of their games while remaining easily in first place in the weaker Eastern Division with an 11-3 record, for the AFL championship. The Jets got their revenge for the loss in the “Heidi game”, winning 27-23 at Shea Stadium, and went on to face the NFL’s Baltimore Colts in a fateful Super Bowl encounter.

2003: Ball Control – and a Fake FG – Helps Colts Overcome Big Plays by Jets

The New York Jets were struggling with a 3-6 record as they took on the 7-2 Colts at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis on November 16, 2003. The Colts were coming off a loss to Jacksonville and were missing star wide receiver Marvin Harrison, who was out with a hamstring injury, while New York had won for the third time in five games at Oakland.

Following a 31-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt of the Colts, the Jets scored the first touchdown of the game on a 62-yard pass play from QB Chad Pennington to WR Jonathan Carter. However, the Colts came back with a TD pass of their own from QB Peyton Manning to WR Troy Walters that covered 46 yards. After two short scoring runs by RB Edgerrin James in the second quarter, with a Jets field goal in between, Indianapolis held a 24-10 lead at the half.

New York came back strong with three touchdowns in just over eight minutes in the third quarter, starting with WR Curtis Conway hauling in a 28-yard TD pass from Pennington. The Colts responded with James scoring his third short touchdown run of the day, but Carter returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a TD to again shorten the Indianapolis lead to 31-24. The game was tied when Jets WR Santana Moss scored on a pass play from Pennington that covered 48 yards.

Indianapolis drove to the Jets 21 yard line and went ahead to stay when punter Hunter Smith, the holder for placekicks, ran for a touchdown on a fake field goal attempt. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter as the Colts defense stiffened, and Manning finally settled the matter with a 35-yard pass to WR Reggie Wayne in a third and seven situation for a game-clinching first down with 1:46 remaining in the contest.

Showing the significance of big plays in keeping the Jets in the game, the Colts ran far more plays (77 to 34) for more yards (538 to 324) and controlled the ball far longer (38:52 to 21:08). Manning completed 27 of 36 passes for 401 yards and a TD, with none intercepted. The Colts had two receivers hit the 100-yard threshold, Reggie Wayne with 141 (on a team-leading 9 receptions) and TE Dallas Clark with an even 100 on five catches.

But while Manning had an outstanding game even with his best receiver on the sideline, it was Edgerrin James who helped the most to keep the Colts offense on the field (and the Jets offense off of it), running 36 times for 127 yards, including the three scores. James had complained in the previous week’s loss about a lack of carries, but workload wasn’t an issue in this contest. He also passed Lydell Mitchell’s franchise record of 5487 yards to become the all-time rushing leader for the Colts.

The Jets benefited most from Jonathan Carter’s 242 yards on six kickoff returns, including the one TD; when combined with his long scoring reception, his total yardage for the day came to 304. Chad Pennington had an efficient performance, completing 11 of 14 passes for 219 yards and three TDs, while RB Curtis Martin had 105 rushing yards on just 13 carries. Overall, New York averaged 9.4 yards per play.

“Defensively, we couldn’t get off the field enough times,” said a disappointed Jets Head Coach Herman Edwards afterward. Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy summed up his team’s win by saying “Championship teams find ways to win games differently…We've won 9-6 games, we've won games where we shut people down, we won today because we outscored them.”

Indianapolis ended up winning the AFC South with a 12-4 record and advanced to the conference championship, losing to New England. The Jets won three of their next four games and finished with a 6-10 record at the bottom of the AFC East along with Buffalo.

For the year, Peyton Manning led the NFL in passing yards (4267), completion percentage (67.0), and passes completed (379). Edgerrin James rushed 310 times for 1259 yards and 11 touchdowns, his third thousand-yard season and first since 2000.

1959: Cleveland’s Bobby Mitchell Runs for 232 Yards on 14 Carries

Bobby Mitchell played the first four seasons of his brilliant 11-year career as a halfback for the Cleveland Browns. During that time, while recognized for his speed in the open field, he typically played in the shadow of Jim Brown. But in one game in his second season, it was Mitchell outgaining Brown and very nearly breaking the great fullback’s single game rushing record.

On November 15, 1959 the Browns (5-2) played the Redskins (3-4) at Washington’s Griffith Stadium. Mitchell had his biggest run of the day in the first quarter as he scored a 90-yard touchdown (the longest run from scrimmage in the NFL in ’59). While the Redskins managed to keep it close thanks to scoring runs by HB Dick James and FB John Olszewski that tied the score at 14-14 at the half, it was all Browns the rest of the way. Mitchell had scoring runs of five yards in the third quarter and 23 yards in the fourth as Cleveland cruised to a 31-17 win. Most significantly, Mitchell gained a total of 232 yards rushing – just five yards short of Jim Brown’s then-league record – on only 14 carries (a 16.6-yard average gain).

Mitchell’s performance overshadowed a 190-yard rushing day for Washington’s Olszewski (on 18 attempts with a long gain of 65 yards). Brown had just 40 yards on 16 carries, his lowest total of the year, which broke a string of four straight 100-yard games (he would be back over 100 in the next two games, and three of the last four).

Perhaps no game better pointed out the ability of the Brown/Mitchell tandem to confound opposing defenses. While Brown was clearly the dominant running back of his era (and arguably the greatest of all time), Mitchell could cause opposing teams to pay a price if they keyed too heavily on him. In 1959, the two combined for over 2000 yards (2072) and 19 TDs on the ground alone (Mitchell had four more scores on pass receptions plus one on a punt return). Together they averaged 4.9 yards per carry.

Individually, it was Jim Brown who led the NFL in rushing for the third consecutive season with 1329 yards on 290 attempts, with a 4.6 average gain and 14 touchdowns. Mitchell ranked fifth with his 743 yards on 131 carries for a 5.7-yard average gain and four TDs.

Not surprisingly, high average gains were typical of Mitchell during his years as a running back. Over the course of his four seasons in Cleveland, he accumulated 2297 yards on 423 carries for a 5.4-yard average. In spite of the relatively low number of rushing attempts (the 131 in ’59 were his career high), he never had less than 500 yards on the ground in any of those seasons.

Mitchell also caught 35 passes for 351 yards out of the backfield in 1959; not surprisingly, for a player who would be converted to flanker in Washington with great success, he was an excellent receiver from the halfback position. By way of comparison, Brown caught 24 passes for 190 yards - while he also was a good receiver out of the backfield, he wasn’t thrown to as often, and Head Coach Paul Brown often liked to use him as a decoy in passing situations.

Despite being the NFL’s best rushing team, the Browns ended up with a 7-5 record, tied for second in the Eastern Conference and three games behind the Giants. After rising to 6-2 with the win over the Redskins, they lost their next three games to fall out of contention. Problems with the passing attack and defense negated the ground gaining advantage. As to Washington, they sank to 3-9 for the year, in fifth place in the East.