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.

2007: Adrian Peterson Runs for 296 Yards Against Chargers

Running back Adrian Peterson wasted no time in making an impact as a rookie for the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. In his first seven games, he carried the ball 128 times for 740 yards (a 5.8- yard average gain) and five touchdowns. He had gone over the 200-yard mark once (224 on 20 rushes at Chicago) and had reached one hundred yards in four games.

In the November 4 matchup against the San Diego Chargers at home in the Metrodome, Peterson went a significant step further as he rushed for an NFL-record 296 yards on 30 carries.

For all of Peterson’s heroics, the rebuilding Vikings came into the game at 2-5 while the Chargers sported a 4-3 record and were tied with Kansas City atop the AFC West. Peterson had a relatively quiet first half, carrying 13 times for 43 yards and a one yard TD. The biggest (and last) play of the half had been turned in by San Diego when CB Antonio Cromartie leaped near the back of the end zone to grab a missed 57 yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell and returned it 109 yards for the longest play in league history, which staked the Chargers to a 14-7 halftime lead.

On the opening drive of the second half, Peterson responded with a 64-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14-14. On the next two series, he gained 89 yards on 9 carries, setting up the Vikings go-ahead touchdown but also fumbling the ball away as CB Drayton Florence recovered for the Chargers. Minnesota forced a punt, after which Peterson made up for the turnover by racing 46 yards for a score that put the Vikings decisively in front, 28-17.

With a total of 253 yards in the second half, including 146 in the fourth quarter alone, Peterson passed the single-game rushing record set by Ravens RB Jamal Lewis in 2003 by a yard. The Vikings ended up winning handily, 35-17, on the way to an 8-8 final record and second place in the NFC North. The Chargers recovered to win the AFC West at 11-5, advancing to the AFC Championship game.

Adrian Peterson wound up with 1341 yards rushing on 238 carries with 12 TDs. He was selected as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press and went to the Pro Bowl. Peterson missed two games due to a knee injury and found himself facing eight- and nine-man fronts when he came back (opponents feared him more than Minnesota’s mediocre passing game); as a result, he had just one more hundred-yard performance in ‘07. But he also set the tone for a career that is still a work in progress.

1934: Detroit’s Consecutive Game Shutout Streak Comes to an End After 7 Games

The November 3, 1934 game between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Pirates at University of Detroit Stadium wasn’t a close contest; the Lions won convincingly, 40-7. However, when Pittsburgh tailback Harp Vaughan completed a 62-yard TD pass to end Muggsy Skladany on a fake punt (the only pass completion of the day for the Pirates), it was the first time the Lions had been scored upon all season after a total of seven consecutive shutouts.

The Lions were in their first season in Detroit after a group headed by a radio executive, George Richards, bought the Portsmouth Spartans (of Portsmouth, Ohio) and relocated the four-year-old franchise. Coached by the no-nonsense George “Potsy” Clark, the team featured a group of single-platoon players who were equally adept at playing defense as well as offense such as Dutch Clark (pictured; the biggest star and a charter Pro Football Hall of Famer) and Glenn Presnell at tailback; wingback Ernie Caddell; Ace Gutowsky, solid at fullback on offense and linebacker on defense; and Roy “Father” Lumpkin, an offensive blocking back and defensive linebacker. Linemen included George “Tarzan” Christensen, a tackle and, at 240 pounds, the biggest player on the team; guard Ox Emerson; tackle “Cowboy Jack” Jackson; center and linebacker Chuck Bernard; and ends “Wild Bill” McKalip and “Big John” Schneller. Harry Ebding was both a two-way end and wingback.

There was nothing unique about the Detroit defense – they played the standard 6-2-2-1 alignment of that era and the linemen were no bigger than average. They simply outplayed their opponents from week to week, starting with the New York Giants in the 9-0 season-opening win. From there, they won 6-0 over the Chicago Cardinals, 3-0 on the road over the Green Bay Packers (thanks to a then-league record 54-yard field goal by Presnell), 10-0 over the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-0 over the Boston Redskins (intercepting 4 passes and holding the Redskins to 112 total yards), 28-0 over the Brooklyn Dodgers (the first team to penetrate as close as the Detroit 20 yard line, thanks to a fumble recovery), and 38-0 over the hapless Cincinnati Reds (who never got beyond midfield; the franchise folded before the end of the season).

During the streak, the Lions allowed their opponents a total of 835 yards (119.3 per game) and intercepted at least 19 passes (statistics for interceptions in the 1930s are a bit inexact).

While the 1920-21 Akron Pros had recorded 13 straight shutouts and the 1926 Pottsville Maroons had also put together a seven-game streak, these came before the football had been slimmed down and passing rules relaxed. Detroit’s streak remains unique, and no team since has come close to duplicating the feat (or is likely to).

The Lions won two more games after the streak ended before losing the last three games of the season – including a 19-16 defeat in a Thanksgiving showdown with the Chicago Bears – to end up 10-3 and in second place behind the Bears in the Western Division. They outscored their opponents 238-59, allowing just seven touchdowns all season (two of them by rushing, another still-standing league record).

1986: Schroeder and Redskins Overcome Kramer and Missed PATs

The game between the Minnesota Vikings (5-3) and host Washington Redskins (6-2) on November 2, 1986 at RFK Stadium was a hard-fought battle that went into overtime. Ultimately, it was a heartbreaking loss on a record-setting day for Vikings QB Tommy Kramer. The Redskins, who came into the Week 9 matchup in a three-way tie atop the NFC East, skirted with defeat but managed to come from behind to force OT and eke out the win.

Washington struck first with a two-yard TD run by RB George Rogers and a 25-yard Max Zendejas field goal to take a 10-0 lead. But the Vikings answered with two touchdowns of their own, including a 67-yard pass play from Kramer to WR Leo Lewis to lead 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Redskins DE Dexter Manley returned a fumble 26 yards for a TD in the second quarter, but the extra point attempt failed. A 39-yard field goal by Minnesota’s Chuck Nelson made the score 17-16 in favor of the Vikings at the half.

Kramer had two more long TD pass plays in the third quarter, first to TE Steve Jordan for 68 yards and the second to Leo Lewis once again, this time for 76 yards. In between, Washington added a field goal and 40-yard TD run by Rogers to make the score 31-26 at the end of three quarters.

When Tommy Kramer tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the day, this time a short one of only a yard to RB Darrin Nelson, the Vikings appeared to be in control with a 38-26 lead and just 5:16 remaining on the clock. But Washington QB Jay Schroeder hit WR Art Monk for a 34-yard touchdown (again the PAT attempt was missed) and, with 1:03 remaining in regulation, Rogers scored his third TD of the game from two yards out. However, for the third time the extra point attempt failed, thus taking the game into sudden death.

A Schroeder to WR Gary Clark pass play of 38 yards ended the struggle and gave Washington a 44-38 win. Drained Head Coach Joe Gibbs said afterward “I feel like we’ve been playing for twelve hours….like we won, lost, won, lost, and won all at the same time”. For Vikings Head Coach Jerry Burns it was a bitter defeat, “a very tough loss to take. I thought we had it.”

Tommy Kramer set a Minnesota team record with 490 passing yards, completing 20 of 35 passes with 4 TDs and an interception. Including the two long touchdowns, Leo Lewis ended up with 159 yards on just three receptions, but he wasn’t the highest yardage producer of the receivers – that was Steve Jordan with 179 yards on six catches and a long score of his own.

Both of Washington’s starting wide receivers, Gary Clark (123 yards) and Art Monk (102) reached triple figures, each with six catches. Schroeder, the second year quarterback, completed 24 of 47 passes for 378 yards with two TDs and an INT. George Rogers was the game’s leading rusher with 88 yards on 19 carries, including the three scoring runs.

The gunslinging Kramer ended up with an even 3000 yards in 1986 and led the NFL with a passer rating of 92.6, with an uncharacteristically strong ratio of 24 TD passes to 10 interceptions. Minnesota ended up with a 9-7 record, in second place in the NFC Central.

The Redskins went 12-4 and were a wild card entry in a postseason that saw them advance all the way to the NFC Championship before falling to the division rival Giants. Kicker Max Zendejas, of the three missed PATs, did not last that far – he was replaced prior to the regular season finale. Second-year quarterback Jay Schroeder had the best of his three seasons with Washington, passing for 4109 yards, although tossing as many interceptions as touchdown passes (22 each). On this day, he had skill enough to bring his team back from the brink and pull out a victory.