Post by coachdoug on Jan 26, 2010 22:42:30 GMT -6
The NFL network has recently been replaying the entire original telecast of the NY Jets big upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III (well, as far as I can tell it’s the entire telecast except for about the first 60 yards of the Colts only scoring drive – a strange thing to cut). I found it very interesting to watch and compare how much the game has changed since that historic contest over 41 years ago.
I was born in 1966, so this game was a little before my time. I grew up in the NY area, though, so I heard about it all the time, and the game is legendary amongst almost all NFL fans over a certain age. Anyway, there were a handful of things that really struck me watching the game now: The Colts should have won the game easily; How unsophisticated the passing game was back then; How poor the kicking game was then; How much roughness the officials let go; And how much better almost everything about the game is today than it was then.
First of all, everything I had always heard and read about this game was that, not only did the Jets pull off one of the biggest upsets in sports history, but they completely dominated the Colts in every aspect of the game from the first whistle to the last whistle. That is simply not true, I was shocked to discover (other than the third quarter, which the Jets did completely dominate, but by then it should have been about 34-7 Colts). The Colts could have (and frankly, should have) won this game by a score of about 48-16. The Jets made some big plays, so I'm not trying to take anything away from them (heck, I’m a Jets fan myself), but without a handful of Colts’ mistakes (and most of the big plays, especially the interceptions, were more the result of Colts’ mistakes than great play by the Jets). The Colts first interception was to a receiver that didn’t have a defender within about 3-4 yards of him in the end zone on a short slant pass. The ball bounced off his shoulder pads, high into the air and Randy Beverly intercepted. That should have been an easy TD and a 7-0 lead. During the first half, the Colts missed 2 short (27 yards and 41 yards) field goals (or what could have been a 13-0 lead). The Jets did have one very nice 80-yd TD drive in the 2nd quarter, which is why the halftime stats were pretty even – other than that one drive (and the interceptions), the Colts completely dominated the first half. On the Colts second interception, Jimmy Orr had the CB (Semple, I think) beat by a good 2 yards in the end zone (today that would be considered wide open), and Morrall just made a terrible throw behind him that Semple was able to catch up to – another easy TD missed (20-7). Finally, right before halftime, the Colts ran the famous gadget play where Tom Matte started on a sweep to the right, threw a lateral back to Morrall on the left and Morrall (whose primary receiver, Orr, was all alone on about the 10) threw back across the field for a pick – the kind of a play that gets 3rd string QBs cut in training camp today, and yet another easy TD lost (27-7). Before the Jets first FG in the 3rd quarter, Namath threw a pass in the right flat that hit a Colts safety (Logan, I think) square in the hands for what would have been a sure pick-six (34-7). The Jets did dominate the rest of the third quarter and picked up 2 FGs, making the real score 13-0 (or 34-10 Colts in my woulda-coulda-shoulda scenario). In the 4th quarter, Unitas had already come in and then he made his own horrible interception on what should have been an easy TD. He had Orr with at least 2 yards on Beverly on a deep vertical route and his just underthrew it by about 5 yards (41-10). Then on the Jets final FG drive, at about midfield, they completed a slant pass to Sauer that he fumbled and the Colts recovered, except the officials ruled him down. It’s a bit tough to tell for sure because the quality of the video isn’t great, but I’m about 95% certain that would have been reversed if they were using replay back then. The Colts finally scored their only real TD to make the real score 7-16 (48-10). With about 3:00 left in the game with the Jets ahead 16-7, the Colts had a 4th and 5 on the Jets 18, and choose to go for it rather than kick the chipshot 25-yd FG (about the same distance as a PAT today). They didn’t make it, effectively ending the game. If they kicked the FG, it would have made the score 16-10 and with all 3 timeouts left plus the 2-min warning, they would have had plenty of time to get the ball back for a game tying drive. Anyway, the Jets also missed a couple makeable FGs (41 and 46 yds), which is why I said the score could have been 48-16 rather than 48-10.
It was really weird watching both the passing offenses and defenses. I saw nothing that looked like any concepts I know offensively – it looked a lot like what you often see in youth games – just a collection of patterns with the QB charged with finding the open guy. I'm sure it was more complex than that - you don't see much of the patterns on the TV coverage, so it's tough to tell what they were running most of the time. I didn’t see either defense stemming much or trying to disguise coverages. The CBs were generally playing 10-12 yards off the wideouts. The announcers were gushing about Namath’s ability to read the complex Baltimore blitz scheme, but I saw it coming almost every time because the blitzing LBs or Safety generally were right up on the line before the snap. All the QBs missed wide open receivers on short (less than 5 yard) routes. Pretty much every pass was off a 7-step drop (sometimes 9 steps) and 1 or more hitch steps. At one point, the color analyst was raving about how complex the Colts’ coverage was because sometimes they had a safety in the flat with no deep responsibility (I guess it was revolutionary then, but our kids can play C-3 Sky). I know the defense could be a lot more physical with receivers back then, but it’s hard to imagine most college QBs today not having a field day against what I saw. I guess the offense could be a lot more physical, too – on one pass the Jets completed early, they had a slot receiver come down and blindside OLB Mike Curtis, who should have had Matt Snell in coverage, who obviously was wide open for about a 13-yd gain with Curtis on the ground. That would be OPI for us today, but I guess it was legal then.
Today, at the NFL level, we take any FG under about 45 yards for granted, but the 2 kickers in this game were a combined 3-7 (with misses from 27, 41, 41 and 46), and no one on the telecast seem to think that was unusual or a poor performance. Even the Colts successful onsides kick off near the end of the game was very simplistic and unimaginative (just kick it on the ground from your regular KO formation and hope you get it).
The rules on personal fouls/unnecessary roughness were way different then. Even though a couple got called, there would have been at least 5 more flags if that game had been played now and at least one ejection (when a Jets DB legally and cleaning pushed a Colts receiver out of bounds, one of the Colts players on the sideline had his helmet off and swung his helmet at the Jets’ player – I couldn’t believe that didn’t even get a flag). Another time, the announcers told us that two players off the screen were fighting, but there were no flags. Finally, at one point a Colts player got injured near their sideline, so instead of stopping the game and having a trainer look at him, about 5 of his teammates just grabbed him and literally dragged him off the field – it was like something out of an old war movie with the soldiers dragging their wounded buddy back into a foxhole.
Not to take anything away from what the players accomplished in their time, but I’ve never really believed the old timers when they say how much better football was in the old days. After seeing that entire game, there is little doubt in my mind that today’s players are much bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic, run far more complex schemes, understand those schemes better, and are just generally better players. I still consider Johnny Unitas one of the greatest QBs to ever play this great game, but he made mistakes in that game that I wouldn’t expect a third stringer to make in a pre-season game today (and Unitas was way better than Morrall in the game). BTW, I should mention that Namath did play really well – it would have been interesting to see him in his prime against more sophisticated defenses. And it’s not just the players and the game on the field – the officiating is 1000% better now, especially with replay. The production values of the telecast don’t even compare – camera angles, replays, graphics, stats, on-screen game info, etc. etc.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on so long, but I was really surprised by what I saw and thought some of you might enjoy my observations and it could be an interesting topic for conversation.
I was born in 1966, so this game was a little before my time. I grew up in the NY area, though, so I heard about it all the time, and the game is legendary amongst almost all NFL fans over a certain age. Anyway, there were a handful of things that really struck me watching the game now: The Colts should have won the game easily; How unsophisticated the passing game was back then; How poor the kicking game was then; How much roughness the officials let go; And how much better almost everything about the game is today than it was then.
First of all, everything I had always heard and read about this game was that, not only did the Jets pull off one of the biggest upsets in sports history, but they completely dominated the Colts in every aspect of the game from the first whistle to the last whistle. That is simply not true, I was shocked to discover (other than the third quarter, which the Jets did completely dominate, but by then it should have been about 34-7 Colts). The Colts could have (and frankly, should have) won this game by a score of about 48-16. The Jets made some big plays, so I'm not trying to take anything away from them (heck, I’m a Jets fan myself), but without a handful of Colts’ mistakes (and most of the big plays, especially the interceptions, were more the result of Colts’ mistakes than great play by the Jets). The Colts first interception was to a receiver that didn’t have a defender within about 3-4 yards of him in the end zone on a short slant pass. The ball bounced off his shoulder pads, high into the air and Randy Beverly intercepted. That should have been an easy TD and a 7-0 lead. During the first half, the Colts missed 2 short (27 yards and 41 yards) field goals (or what could have been a 13-0 lead). The Jets did have one very nice 80-yd TD drive in the 2nd quarter, which is why the halftime stats were pretty even – other than that one drive (and the interceptions), the Colts completely dominated the first half. On the Colts second interception, Jimmy Orr had the CB (Semple, I think) beat by a good 2 yards in the end zone (today that would be considered wide open), and Morrall just made a terrible throw behind him that Semple was able to catch up to – another easy TD missed (20-7). Finally, right before halftime, the Colts ran the famous gadget play where Tom Matte started on a sweep to the right, threw a lateral back to Morrall on the left and Morrall (whose primary receiver, Orr, was all alone on about the 10) threw back across the field for a pick – the kind of a play that gets 3rd string QBs cut in training camp today, and yet another easy TD lost (27-7). Before the Jets first FG in the 3rd quarter, Namath threw a pass in the right flat that hit a Colts safety (Logan, I think) square in the hands for what would have been a sure pick-six (34-7). The Jets did dominate the rest of the third quarter and picked up 2 FGs, making the real score 13-0 (or 34-10 Colts in my woulda-coulda-shoulda scenario). In the 4th quarter, Unitas had already come in and then he made his own horrible interception on what should have been an easy TD. He had Orr with at least 2 yards on Beverly on a deep vertical route and his just underthrew it by about 5 yards (41-10). Then on the Jets final FG drive, at about midfield, they completed a slant pass to Sauer that he fumbled and the Colts recovered, except the officials ruled him down. It’s a bit tough to tell for sure because the quality of the video isn’t great, but I’m about 95% certain that would have been reversed if they were using replay back then. The Colts finally scored their only real TD to make the real score 7-16 (48-10). With about 3:00 left in the game with the Jets ahead 16-7, the Colts had a 4th and 5 on the Jets 18, and choose to go for it rather than kick the chipshot 25-yd FG (about the same distance as a PAT today). They didn’t make it, effectively ending the game. If they kicked the FG, it would have made the score 16-10 and with all 3 timeouts left plus the 2-min warning, they would have had plenty of time to get the ball back for a game tying drive. Anyway, the Jets also missed a couple makeable FGs (41 and 46 yds), which is why I said the score could have been 48-16 rather than 48-10.
It was really weird watching both the passing offenses and defenses. I saw nothing that looked like any concepts I know offensively – it looked a lot like what you often see in youth games – just a collection of patterns with the QB charged with finding the open guy. I'm sure it was more complex than that - you don't see much of the patterns on the TV coverage, so it's tough to tell what they were running most of the time. I didn’t see either defense stemming much or trying to disguise coverages. The CBs were generally playing 10-12 yards off the wideouts. The announcers were gushing about Namath’s ability to read the complex Baltimore blitz scheme, but I saw it coming almost every time because the blitzing LBs or Safety generally were right up on the line before the snap. All the QBs missed wide open receivers on short (less than 5 yard) routes. Pretty much every pass was off a 7-step drop (sometimes 9 steps) and 1 or more hitch steps. At one point, the color analyst was raving about how complex the Colts’ coverage was because sometimes they had a safety in the flat with no deep responsibility (I guess it was revolutionary then, but our kids can play C-3 Sky). I know the defense could be a lot more physical with receivers back then, but it’s hard to imagine most college QBs today not having a field day against what I saw. I guess the offense could be a lot more physical, too – on one pass the Jets completed early, they had a slot receiver come down and blindside OLB Mike Curtis, who should have had Matt Snell in coverage, who obviously was wide open for about a 13-yd gain with Curtis on the ground. That would be OPI for us today, but I guess it was legal then.
Today, at the NFL level, we take any FG under about 45 yards for granted, but the 2 kickers in this game were a combined 3-7 (with misses from 27, 41, 41 and 46), and no one on the telecast seem to think that was unusual or a poor performance. Even the Colts successful onsides kick off near the end of the game was very simplistic and unimaginative (just kick it on the ground from your regular KO formation and hope you get it).
The rules on personal fouls/unnecessary roughness were way different then. Even though a couple got called, there would have been at least 5 more flags if that game had been played now and at least one ejection (when a Jets DB legally and cleaning pushed a Colts receiver out of bounds, one of the Colts players on the sideline had his helmet off and swung his helmet at the Jets’ player – I couldn’t believe that didn’t even get a flag). Another time, the announcers told us that two players off the screen were fighting, but there were no flags. Finally, at one point a Colts player got injured near their sideline, so instead of stopping the game and having a trainer look at him, about 5 of his teammates just grabbed him and literally dragged him off the field – it was like something out of an old war movie with the soldiers dragging their wounded buddy back into a foxhole.
Not to take anything away from what the players accomplished in their time, but I’ve never really believed the old timers when they say how much better football was in the old days. After seeing that entire game, there is little doubt in my mind that today’s players are much bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic, run far more complex schemes, understand those schemes better, and are just generally better players. I still consider Johnny Unitas one of the greatest QBs to ever play this great game, but he made mistakes in that game that I wouldn’t expect a third stringer to make in a pre-season game today (and Unitas was way better than Morrall in the game). BTW, I should mention that Namath did play really well – it would have been interesting to see him in his prime against more sophisticated defenses. And it’s not just the players and the game on the field – the officiating is 1000% better now, especially with replay. The production values of the telecast don’t even compare – camera angles, replays, graphics, stats, on-screen game info, etc. etc.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on so long, but I was really surprised by what I saw and thought some of you might enjoy my observations and it could be an interesting topic for conversation.
= stand corrected.