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.

1943: Sid Luckman Passes for 433 Yards and 7 Touchdowns vs. Giants

November 14, 1943 was “Sid Luckman Day” at the Polo Grounds in New York. Luckman, quarterback of the visiting Chicago Bears, was a Brooklyn native who had played his college football at Columbia University. He had led the Bears to three consecutive Western Division titles and two NFL championships, and was now due to report for wartime duty as an ensign in the Merchant Marine after the season. He received two $1000 War Bonds, one each from the Giants fans and the Bears. And then Luckman proceeded to make the day truly his with a record-setting performance against the home team.

The Bears struck early in the first quarter on a low throw from Luckman that end Jim Benton scooped in and turned into a four-yard touchdown. Luckman hit end Connie Berry in stride for a 44-yard TD completion to make the score 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Giants put together a 73-yard drive, culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by FB Carl Kinscherf to cut the lead to 14-7. But the Monsters of the Midway came right back as Luckman threw his third TD, 27 yards to end Hamp Pool. A four-yard run by HB Harry Clarke closed out the scoring for the first half, with the Bears holding a commanding lead over the Giants of 28-7.

Luckman threw his fourth and fifth scoring passes of the game in the third quarter, 62 yards to Clarke and 15 yards to Benton. Number six came in the fourth quarter on a three-yard pass to end George Wilson. Head Coach George Halas had wanted to pull Luckman once it was apparent that the Bears had the game well in hand, but the other players revolted, wanting the star quarterback to get a chance to break the record of six touchdown passes in a game that Washington’s Sammy Baugh had set just two weeks earlier. He did, passing for his seventh TD on a 40-yard completion to Pool with six minutes remaining, and the Bears wrapped up a 56-7 win.

Not only did Luckman set a new standard for touchdown passes in a game (tied four times but never surpassed), but he also became the first QB in NFL history to pass for 400 yards in a game (433). He completed 21 of 32 passes, with one interception as the only blemish on a dominating performance.

The Bears finished the season with an 8-1-1 record that kept them atop the Western Division. The Giants, a strong team under Head Coach Steve Owen in spite of being demolished by the Bears, ended up at 6-3-1 and tied with the Redskins for first place in the East, losing the divisional playoff. Chicago defeated Washington for the NFL championship, with Luckman beating his quarterback rival, Baugh, and steering the Bears to three titles in four years.

For the season, Luckman led the league in passing yards (2194) and touchdown passes (28), both of which set new NFL records (the record for TD passes didn’t fall until 1959). His yards per attempt average of 10.86 was also a record and remains the second highest to date (Luckman also ranks second all-time with his 8.42 career yards per attempt). Luckman was a unanimous All-NFL selection and received the Joe F. Carr Trophy as league MVP. For a quarterback who had difficulty mastering the complexity of the T-formation when he first joined the Bears, he became a masterful performer, and the 1943 season was the pinnacle of his Hall of Fame career.

1994: Drew Bledsoe Completes 45 of 70 passes to Overcome Vikings

The fans at Foxboro Stadium on November 13, 1994 were treated to a passing frenzy as the New England Patriots (3-6) faced the visiting Minnesota Vikings (7-2). 22-year-old Drew Bledsoe, in his second year in the league, was rapidly developing into a very effective quarterback. On this day, he was facing off against Warren Moon, just a few days short of his 38th birthday, the veteran signal caller who was now in his first year with the Vikings.

In the first half, it looked as though Moon would win the showdown as he passed for 234 yards, including a 65-yard TD to WR Qadray Ismail, as the Vikings rolled to a 20-0 lead; the Patriots finally scored on the last play of the half as Matt Bahr connected on a 38-yard field goal.

New England utilized the no-huddle offense in the second half to good effect. Bledsoe completed a 31-yard TD pass to WR Ray Crittenden in the third quarter to cut the Minnesota lead in half, and in the fourth quarter he led the Patriots on an 87-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown strike to RB Leroy Thompson. A 56-yard drive set up the game-tying field goal by Bahr with 14 seconds left.

New England received the kickoff in overtime and went 67 yards in a game-winning drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to FB Kevin Turner. In the second half and overtime periods alone, Bledsoe filled the air with 53 passes, completing 37 of them for 354 yards and three TDs.

Overall, Bledsoe set NFL records both for passing attempts (70) and completions (45) in a game, totaling 426 yards with the three touchdowns and, perhaps most remarkably, no interceptions. With Warren Moon completing 26 of 42 passes for 349 yards and a TD, both teams combined for the most passes attempted (112) and completed (71) in a game.

Three New England receivers reached double figures, Leroy Thompson topping the list with 11 for 74 yards. TE Ben Coates also accumulated 74 yards on his 10 receptions, while WR Michael Timpson caught 10 passes and led the team with 113 yards. Not surprisingly, the Patriots ran the ball just 12 times (for 42 yards), but they were not a strong running team in ’94, ranking at the bottom of the NFL with a yards per carry average of just 2.8.

The game marked a turning point for the Patriots – they won their remaining six games to finish at 10-6, good enough for second place in the AFC East and a wild card spot in the postseason. They lost to Cleveland in the first round. The Vikings split the rest of their games and also ended up at 10-6, winning the NFC Central title and also losing in the first round of the playoffs to Chicago.

Drew Bledsoe led the league in four passing categories: attempts (691), completions (400), yards (4555), and, on the downside, interceptions (27), all of which were career highs. He was selected to the first of his four Pro Bowl appearances – impressive for just a second-year quarterback. His favorite receiver, Ben Coates, led the AFC with 96 receptions (for 1174 yards); Timpson nearly joined him as a thousand-yard receiver with 941 yards on 74 catches.

Warren Moon lost on this day, but as his statistics indicate, he had another solid season in his Hall of Fame career, passing for over 4000 yards (4264) for the third of four times.

1892: Pudge Heffelfinger Becomes First Documented Pro Football Player

On November 12, 1892 a crowd of approximately 3000 packed Recreation Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), home of the Allegheny Athletic Association (AAA), for its showdown with the archrival Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC). In the second half of the 19th century, athletic clubs became very popular and were used to organize teams in a variety of sports including football. Winning was a means to gaining social prestige for the club, and so games were taken quite seriously and rivalries could be very fierce. These two teams had played to a hard-fought 6-6 tie at the PAC’s home field on October 12, and there were rumors that both sides were attempting to hire ringers for the rematch.

In fact, PAC’s manager, George Barbour, had made a trip to Chicago to make an offer to William “Pudge” Heffelfinger and another player to join his team. Heffelfinger had been a three-time college All-American guard at Yale (1889-91) and was now playing for a traveling amateur team, the Chicago Athletic Association. Barbour was unsuccessful, however; for Heffelfinger had quit the team and gone to Pittsburgh where he met up with the AAA’s manager, Billy Kountz. When game day arrived, Heffelfinger and two other teammates from Chicago were playing for the Three A’s (as they were often referred to locally).

The PAC immediately protested and an argument broke out between the clubs. The substitutes for the two teams began playing, which hardly satisfied the crowd in attendance, but finally the regular players agreed to an abbreviated game (since darkness was approaching) of 30 minutes rather than the usual 45. Heffelfinger did not disappoint – he forced a fumble that he then picked up and ran 35 yards for the game’s only touchdown. The AAA won, 4-0 (touchdowns were worth less in those days).

Afterward, Heffelfinger received $500 plus $25 for expenses (his teammates from the Chicago AA, Ed Malley and Ben “Sport” Donnelly, received expense money). It was the first recorded incidence of an athlete being paid to play football.

While it is suspected that others may have been paid prior to Heffelfinger, and certainly received perks provided by the athletic clubs for their participation, the entry in the Allegheny Athletic Association’s ledger documenting the transaction is the oldest proven player payment (the documentation wasn’t uncovered until the 1960s, and is now held by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Previously, a club in Latrobe, Pennsylvania had claimed to be the first to have paid a player, in 1895).

It did not take long for professionalism to take hold, even if at a rather modest level. By 1896, there were teams that were entirely made up of paid players. The league that would become the National Football League was still 24 years in the future.

Pudge Heffelfinger went on to become a college football coach at the University of California, Lehigh University, and the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. But for one game, he made his mark in the development of pro football.

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.