1957: Rookie Jim Brown Rushes for 237 Yards vs. Rams

Cleveland Browns Head Coach Paul Brown had gone into the 1957 draft with the hope of picking Purdue quarterback Len Dawson. Without retired star QB Otto Graham, the Browns went 5-7 in 1956 - the first losing season in team history. Getting a replacement seemed a priority.

However, the Pittsburgh Steelers snagged Dawson with the fifth pick in the first round, and with the sixth Brown chose Jim Brown, the star running back from Syracuse, instead (who else was chosen ahead of Brown? In order: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame QB, by Green Bay; Jon Arnett, halfback from USC, a local star by the LA Rams; John Brodie, Stanford QB, by the 49ers; and Ron Kramer, end from Michigan, also by the Packers). It didn’t take Paul Brown long to realize that he had something special in Jim Brown - after the rookie ran 40 yards for a touchdown against Pittsburgh in the second preseason game, Coach Brown called him over and said simply, “you’re my fullback”.

Jim Brown’s emergence during his rookie season was steady. After eight games, he had run the ball 130 times for 532 yards (4.1-yard average) and four touchdowns. His first hundred-yard rushing day had come three weeks before against Washington. In the ninth game, on November 24, he gave his first significant evidence of greatness.

The Browns were 6-1-1 as they faced the Los Angeles Rams (4-4) at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. Brown scored his first TD of the day, a 69-yard run, in the second quarter to stake the Browns to a 14-7 lead. The Rams pulled ahead and were leading in the third quarter by 28-17 after DT Art Hauser recovered a Cleveland fumble and ran it 29 yards for a score.

It was virtually all Browns after that, however, and Jim Brown scored on three more short touchdown runs to give him four on the day. More significantly, he set a new NFL record with 237 yards on 31 carries as the Browns defeated the Rams, 45-31.

Cleveland closed out the season at 9-2-1, handily returning to the top of the Eastern Conference standings although losing decisively to Detroit in the NFL Championship game. The Rams were 6-6 on the year, finishing fourth in the Western Conference.

Jim Brown led the league in rushing with 942 yards on 202 attempts for a healthy 4.7-yard average gain and nine touchdowns (he also had a TD on a pass reception) – while the big game against the Rams put him out of reach, the runner-up, Rick Casares of the Bears, was 242 yards behind with an even 700 yards. Brown was selected as not only NFL Rookie of the Year, but as MVP by the Associated Press and The Sporting News as well. It was only a sneak preview of sorts; he established a whole new set of rushing standards while leading the league in eight of his nine seasons.

His performance was certainly the key to the team’s success in ’57 – Paul Brown’s solution to the quarterback dilemma was to use nondescript veteran Tommy O’Connell, who statistically was the best passer in the NFL that year but only threw the ball 110 times before an injury finished his regular season two weeks after the Rams game (he returned for the championship contest); rookie Milt Plum filled in and inherited the starting job in 1958.

As a footnote, Len Dawson’s road to the Hall of Fame would be less direct than Jim Brown’s. He threw just 17 passes in three seasons in Pittsburgh before Paul Brown finally acquired him for the Browns. Stuck behind Plum, he appeared to be a flop when he tossed 28 passes in two years and was granted his release so he could join the Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1962; there he was re-united with his former backfield coach at Purdue, Hank Stram. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

1995: Scott Mitchell Leads Lions Past Vikings with 410 Yards and 4 TD Passes

Quarterback Scott Mitchell had shown enough potential as a backup to Dan Marino in Miami to warrant a great deal of interest when he became a free agent after the 1993 season. The Detroit Lions won the bidding war for his services, awarding him a three-year contract worth $11 million dollars (he would stay for five seasons). At 6’6” and 240 pounds, with a strong and accurate arm, he had the tools but had problems with consistency, durability, and command of the offense during 1994.

Mitchell and the Lions got off to a 3-6 start in ’95, but then caught fire. On November 23 the record stood at 5-6 as the Minnesota Vikings (6-5) arrived for a Thanksgiving Day matchup at the Pontiac Silverdome. Detroit scored the first two touchdowns on passes from Mitchell to WR Brett Perriman covering 2 and 20 yards respectively. After the Vikings countered with a 55-yard TD pass play from QB Warren Moon to WR Jake Reed, the Lions extended their lead to 21-7 in the second quarter with Mitchell’s third TD pass of 16 yards to WR Johnnie Morton.

The second quarter turned wild as the Vikings scored two non-offensive touchdowns to knot the score at 21-21. First, WR David Palmer returned a punt 74 yards and then free safety Orlando Thomas recovered a fumble and ran it 17 yards into the end zone. The Lions re-took the lead, 24-21, thanks to a 32-yard Jason Hanson field goal, but Minnesota was back in front at the half, 28-24, due to a 10-yard Moon touchdown pass to WR Cris Carter.

After the teams traded field goals in the third quarter, Mitchell put the Lions in the lead with a 27-yard pass to WR Herman Moore that made the score 34-31. When RB Barry Sanders ran 50 yards for a touchdown with 5:18 left in the game to give Detroit a ten-point margin (41-31), it appeared that the Lions would prevail, but the result remained in doubt as Moon connected with Carter again to cut the lead to three points. A 39-yard Hanson field goal provided the final margin of the 44-38 game, but it still came down to Detroit intercepting a Moon desperation pass in the end zone on the last play to nail down the win once and for all.

In all, it was a wild offensive show as both teams combined for 919 total yards; the Lions accounted for 534 of that total. Mitchell set a new Detroit single-game passing yardage record (since broken) with 410 as he completed 30 of 45 passes. Four of them went for touchdowns, while one was intercepted. Perriman led all receivers with 12 receptions and was one of three Lions receivers to accumulate over a hundred yards, with 153. Moore had 127 yards on his 8 catches and Morton contributed 102 on 7 receptions. The ground game contributed significantly as well thanks to Sanders rushing for 138 yards on 24 carries (virtually all of which came in the second half).

For the Vikings, Warren Moon completed 30 of 47 passes for 384 yards with three TDs and two interceptions. RB Amp Lee caught the most passes with 9 for 92 yards, while WR Reed accumulated the most yards with 149 on his 6 receptions. Minnesota didn’t do as much on the ground, however, rushing for just 34 yards on 15 attempts.

It was the third of seven consecutive wins to close out the regular season for the Lions as they finished at 10-6 for second place in the NFC Central and a wild card berth; they were embarrassed by the Eagles in the first round by a score of 58-37. Minnesota ended up in fourth place in the division with an 8-8 record.

For Scott Mitchell, it was a career year as he achieved highs in pass attempts (583), completions (346), completion percentage (59.3), passing yards (4338), TD passes (32), and passer rating (92.3); the yardage and TD totals were also team records. While the season accented his strengths, his weaknesses also became apparent, especially in the postseason loss when he was benched in favor of backup Don Majkowski after throwing four interceptions.

Mitchell was helped a great deal by his outstanding receiving corps, especially when they went to three wide receivers as their basic offense. Herman Moore led the NFL with a then-record 123 receptions for 1686 yards and 14 touchdowns. Brett Perriman hauled in 108 passes for 1488 yards and another 9 scores; in combination with Moore, the 231 receptions were a record for two teammates. Johnnie Morton, in his second year, was hardly a slouch with 44 catches for 590 yards and 8 TDs, while Barry Sanders grabbed another 48 passes for 398 yards and a touchdown.

Of course, Sanders contributed most significantly on the ground, reaching the thousand-yard mark for the seventh time in as many seasons with an even 1500 yards on 314 carries with 11 TDs.

While Mitchell never again approached his 1995 numbers and would ultimately be considered a disappointment in Detroit, it is a testament to the other key offensive contributors that they expanded on their performances. Moore caught over a hundred passes in the next two seasons and again led the league in 1997. Morton stepped up and had three thousand-yard receiving seasons from 1997 to ’99 and four in five years. Perriman caught 94 passes for 1021 yards in ’96, although his career was essentially over after that. Sanders, arguably the best running back of his era, never had less than a thousand yards rushing in any of his ten seasons, and reached the 2000-yard mark in 1997.

1945: Jim Benton Catches 10 Passes for 303 Yards vs. Lions

End Jim Benton had been a solid receiver for the Cleveland Rams (and one season with the Chicago Bears) since coming into the league in 1938, when he led the league in yards per reception (19.9 on 21 catches). The Rams had not been a winning team, with a 5-5-1 record in 1939 their best since joining the NFL in 1937. But both Benton and the Rams rose to new heights in 1945.

By the time the Rams met up with the Detroit Lions on November 22 for a Thanksgiving showdown at Briggs Stadium, they were sporting a 7-1 record under the guidance of Head Coach Adam Walsh. The Lions were 6-2 and, with just one more week to play in the ten-game season, control of the Western Division was at stake.

Benton had caught 27 passes for 645 yards, resulting in a very healthy 23.9-yard average, with six touchdowns and three hundred-yard games. Coach Walsh had installed the T-formation, and the offense benefited from the arrival of rookie QB Bob Waterfield from UCLA to run it. The 6’3”, 200-pound Benton was his favorite target.

Earlier in the season, Green Bay’s Don Hutson had scored four TDs and accumulated 144 yards against the Lions, which had exposed a deficiency in their pass defense. The Rams took advantage. They broke out to a 21-7 lead in the first half and went on to win 28-21. Benton scored on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Waterfield in the second quarter and, when it was all done, had caught 10 passes for 303 yards.

The 303 yards not only set a new single-game pass receiving yardage record, but remained the NFL record for 40 years until broken by Stephone Paige of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1985 (Cloyce Box of the Lions came within a yard of the record in 1950). It was also the first occasion that any player had accumulated over 300 yards from scrimmage in an NFL game.

Benton accounted for virtually all of Cleveland’s passing yards – Waterfield in all completed 12 of 21 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns. A 17-yard throw to the other end, Steve Pritko, accounted for the second TD pass and most of the remaining yards that didn’t belong to Benton. The rookie quarterback’s showing was especially impressive because he was suffering from a painful rib injury and had been tightly wrapped up by the team’s trainer prior to the game.

With the win, the Rams clinched the West and won again in the season finale (with Benton chalking up his fifth hundred-yard receiving game of the year) to finish with a 9-1 record. They defeated the Washington Redskins in the NFL Championship game, as Benton capped his outstanding year with 9 catches for 125 yards and a TD. Detroit remained the runner-up in the Western Division at 7-3.

It was typical throughout the season for the Rams to not throw often – they were actually the league’s top rushing team with 1714 yards – but they passed very effectively. Waterfield threw 171 passes, averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and tied for the lead in touchdown throws with 14.

Benton ended up catching 45 passes for 1067 yards (a 23.7-yard average) and eight touchdowns. The reception total put him two behind the league leader, Hutson; the yards led the NFL and made him the second pass receiver to reach the thousand-yard threshold in a season. The mark is all the more remarkable in that Benton played in just nine games, missing a contest against the Bears earlier in the season due to injury, so his per game average was a gaudy 118.6.

While Benton’s outstanding season came in the last year of World War II manpower shortages, he proved it was no fluke in 1946 by leading the league both in pass receptions (63) and yards (981). At this point he was now playing for the Los Angeles Rams; in spite of winning the championship, the team had lost some $50,000 and owner Dan Reeves moved the franchise to the West Coast.

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.