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theharddeck · 1 year

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your love is the love i need || chapter 3/4

pairing: javy machado x femme reader (no y/n), callsign Cross

summary: Mrs. Machado is on a plane home, so there's no need to keep pretending...but it's awful tempting when you wake up in bed with someone you've been in love with for months.

warnings: 18+, minors please DNI – the smut starts here, folks. it's not PiV not yet but come back for ch5, but there's mutual masturbation, swearing like you'd not believe, and questionable sanitary decisions who am i

length: 3.8k

A/N: *appears after four months with 1.8k words of smut* thank you to everyone who reached out to check on this fic, who asked for updates, and who encouraged my lunacy. so excited to continue to tell their story!

chapter one / chapter two

Monday Morning

You woke up slowly, the sun shining through your blinds, and your arms wrapped around a sleeping Javy Machado.

You lay still for a second, cataloging the moment.

You’d both shifted in your sleep; Javy had rolled over and you’d followed him, your chest against his back and your nose pressed into the nape of his neck. You didn’t think of yourself as a big spoon, and you’d bet anything that Javy wouldn’t publicly admit to being the little spoon, but it felt so comfortable this way, to be wrapped around him, holding him.

You knew he was a heavy sleeper, from the time he’d fallen asleep in one of the common rooms, and Bob and Fanboy had started stacking things on top of him, to see how long it’d take him to wake up (four coffee mugs, two couch cushions, nine folded flight suits, six F/A-18 manuals, a carefully balanced Halo, and it’d been one of the coffee mugs falling to the floor and shattering that’d done the trick).

But you still held your breath when you pulled away from him, hoping he wouldn’t wake. When he didn’t stir, you propped yourself up on your elbow, looking down at him.

He really was just so beautiful.

Curled on his side, he looked sweeter than normal, but sleep had done nothing to diminish his handsomeness. He nuzzled deeper into one of your silk pillowcases, an endearing gesture that had you wishing you didn’t have drills in a couple hours. He still didn’t wake, but he did mumble something when the bed shifted, and you kept your steps light as you walked out of the room.

No need to wake him until it was necessary.

You ran through an abbreviated morning routine in the bathroom, before padding though the house to look for some tea. The sun shone in a slender patch through the morning shadows in your small kitchen, and you hefted yourself onto the countertop into that sliver of light, humming contentedly as you felt the warm rays over your skin. The kettle was within arms reach, as were the cinnamon rolls and your ipad, and you opened the sticky pastries as you flipped through your apps until you found the New York Crossword puzzle.

You were a couple bites into your second cinnamon roll when you heard the floors creaking in the hallway, getting louder.

“What’s an eight letter word for Roger the Dodger?” you asked, not looking up.

“God, I hate that I know this,” Javy mumbled to himself, from the door, before he sighed dramatically. “It’s Staubach.”

You typed the name in, your eyes widening when it completed the row. “Didn’t know you were a football guy.”

“I’m not,” he still sounded somewhat chagrined, “Jake idolizes the man more than Cyclone.”

You looked up at him, prepared to make some quick quip, but as you took in the sight of Javy standing in your doorway, eyes still sleepy, body still lax, you genuinely forgot words.

He looked like a dream.

The tshirt he’d slept in was wrinkled, and he rested a shoulder against the doorframe, slouching slightly. He looked comfortable, he looked like it was normal for him to be in a tshirt and boxers in your kitchen, first thing in the morning, fresh-faced and almost-smiling at you.

After everything in the last two days, after spending the night with the man, you knew you had nothing to feel bashful over, but it was still a lot to process—the reality of Javy being here, like this.

“Hi,” you said, stupidly.

“Hey,” he said, and his lips spread in a smile. The sun on your skin seemed cooler, like it was a lesser force than the light of his smile, and you shifted in your seat, brushing at your mouth with the back of your hand, hoping you didn’t have frosting all over your face.

“Want one?” you offered, gesturing to the pyrex of cinnamon rolls.

“Sure,” Javy shrugged, pushing away from the door.

You didn’t think you could look at him, barefoot in your kitchen and walking slowly towards you, without combusting, so you nudged the cinnamon rolls closer to him, and looked back at the crossword.

In your peripherals, you saw Javy pull a roll out of the dish, and start unwinding it with his fingers. His shoulder was practically leaned against yours, and he seemed content with the silence, so you went back to your crossword. You could feel his attention on the screen, but you didn’t mind, and the sun felt nice against your skin as it crept higher in the sky.

“Hmph,” Javy went to say something before he remembered his mouth was full of frosting, chewing aggressively for a second or two until he was clear. “This isn’t fair.”

You looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “What isn’t?”

Javy frowned down at the last bit of cinnamon roll in his hands, before popping it into his mouth with a shrug. “Too good of a morning,” he said, like that made any sense at all.

When you didn’t react to that, Javy looked up at you, like he was waiting. He also was licking frosting off his fingers, like that was casual, and you shook your head, letting him know you needed more context.

“Just like,” he started, his tongue ghosting over his thumb, “waking up in your house, that smells like cinnamon because you made cinnamon rolls after you met my mom yesterday, before we made out and, you know, cuddled to sleep…I don’t know, it just sounds fake. Like, too good.”

You pressed your lips together, but you knew it wouldn’t hide your smile.

“Now what?” Javy asked, and you shook your head.

How did you say hey you’re too pretty to be real and also say things like that and also look like THIS with pillow marks on his face or wasn’t standing barefoot in your kitchen with frosting on his fingers?

So you leaned forward on the counter and kissed him, pressed your lips to his and licked the frosting off his tongue. And maybe you got what he was saying, because it wasn’t fair, it was too good, now that you knew how Javy tasted like first thing in the morning.

Javy pulled a long breath in through his nose, his shoulders rising as he pushed away from where he’d been leaning on the counter to stand in front of you. One of his hands ghosted over your knees, now digging into his stomach, and you parted them, so he could stand closer to you. It was kind of like that first night on your stoop, where the steps had given you extra height you didn’t have normally, but this time Javy was physically between your legs, and you decided that was nice too. His other hand was on the back of your neck, his thumb stroking up your jaw as he cradled your head with the rest of his hand.

“Why isn’t the weekend longer?” Javy mumbled between kisses, his words lingering between your lips. The momentary separation caused by his words gave you an excuse to kiss the corner of his mouth, then down his jawline.

“It should definitely be longer,” you whispered back, your tongue teasing down his neck, and Javy leaned more heavily into you. You peppered his neck with light kisses, knowing the last thing either of you needed was to leave him with marks, but too enchanted by the way his breathing quickened to stop.

“Fuck,” Javy gritted, the words punched out of him when your lips grazed over his pulse point in his throat. God, you liked the sound of that, his surprise and his desire, his gorgeous voice gone rough. You hummed in response, and at the vibrations, Javy’s hand tightened on the back of your neck, and you knew you were playing with fire, but you wanted to hear more of it.

“And if the weekend were longer,” you asked, pressing your lips to the place where his pulse was racing, not at all surprised that your own voice sounded breathless, “what would we do about it?”

Javy laughed, something darker than a chuckle, and he pulled back to capture your mouth with his again. There was something urgent in this kiss, hungrier than before, and you felt yourself pulling closer to the edge of the counter, closer to him.

You felt warm all over, felt heat pooling low in your stomach, felt your body reacting faster than it had any right to. You didn’t know if Javy could taste your desperation on your kiss, but you pressed closer to him, and he made a low sound in his throat, like he approved.

But then he pulled back, resting his forehead against yours. His thumb stroked up your neck, his other hand still settled on your knee, and he pulled in a deep breath through his nose.

“You’re not playing fair,” he said, but he sounded more awed than upset.

You blinked your eyes open, your skin heating when you realized he was watching you already.

“We’ve an hour before we have to be on base,” you whispered, not an excuse, but an offer. Your skin still felt so hot, and you could feel your pulse pounding in your fingertips, in your core.

Javy groaned, his eyes fluttering shut and you felt him shake his head from the way his forehead moved against yours.

“Baby, you know an hour’s not enough for what I want to do with you.”

You shivered, either from the deep timbre of his voice, the serious meaning his words held, or the sweet way he’d said ‘with’ instead of ‘to’.

“Well now you’re not being fair,” you muttered, and you could hear something like a pout on your voice, but it wasn’t your fault. Not when Javy was giving you ideas for over-an-hour activities for the two of you.

He laughed again, warmer this time, and pulled you to him again. This kiss was chaste, comfortable, the kind of easy like you knew there was a next time. And as much as you wanted to sink into it, you knew he was right.

“Let me take you to dinner,” he said, and the implicit “first” wasn’t lost on either of you. “Better, I can make you dinner.”

Your eyes narrowed, and you were dangerously close to asking him to pinch you, to make sure you were still awake.

“You can make me dinner, Coyote,” you accepted, keeping your voice light, since he was apparently determined to be a gentleman this morning.

Of course, using his callsign had Javy’s head dropping to your shoulder, and another half-hearted groan escaping out of him.

“’m trying to be a good person, here,” he said into your shoulder, and you patted his chest lightly, consolingly.

“One of us has to be,” you muttered, and he huffed into your sweatshirt. “Alright, let me down.”

He stilled, almost imperceptibly, but you got the feeling he’d gone from nuzzling into your sweatshirt to hiding in it.

“Give me a sec,” he mumbled, shifting his hips slightly. The motion drew your eyes downward between the two of you and—ah.

You shouldn’t be surprised.

Javy was tall, it was early in the morning, boxers were thin material...but the sight of his impressive erection brought back the heat of your make out session, and then it was your turn to shift on the counter. It wasn’t even entirely lascivious, it was just nice to know you were wanted, that there was physical proof of it.

“Sorry,” Javy’s voice was still muffled in your sweatshirt, as he mistook your arousal for discomfort. “I’ve just been thinking about this for so long.”

He trailed off, and you thought quickly about the time left in the morning, how you both needed to be focused at work today, and if there was a way to compromise–take the edge off, so to speak, without leading further down distraction. And you thought of how he’d barely touched you this morning, but his voice and the way he moved were dizzying enough, and your hand that’d been on his chest wound up to rest along the side of his face. He turned into your hand, a small gesture that made your heart flutter, and your decision solidified.

“Do me a favor?” you asked quietly, and you felt when Javy nodded. “Sit at the table?”

Javy lifted up from your shoulder, confused, but when you smiled at him, he moved to do as you asked.

You didn’t close your legs, still spread from where he’d stood between them, but you covered the cinnamon rolls and pushed your ipad away from you. You watched him cross the small width of your kitchen, settling into the chair facing you. His legs were somewhat spread still, and you knew you could do this.

“What have you thought of,” you asked, nervousness and anticipation mixing in your voice, “when you thought of this?”

For a moment, Javy was still, confused, and then his eyes fell to where your hand was running along the hem of your pajama shorts. He let out his breath slowly, and then his chin lifted as he sat back in the chair. He pushed his shoulders back as he settled, preening, his feet flat on the floor, and his eyes watched you intently.

“You want me to talk you through it?” he asked, his voice somehow even deeper, and it was like you could feel it washing over you.

You nodded, not trusting your voice to come out steady, and were rewarded by a gorgeous, slow smile spreading across the face of the man at your kitchen table.

“Yeah, I can do that, honey,” he said, his voice soft enough to make you hold your breath, desperate to catch every word. He looked at you for a long moment, his gaze heavy, like he was committing this sight to memory, and you got the feeling it wasn’t going to be as simple as him telling you his fantasies.

Namely because he was going to be the one giving directions.

“Pet yourself,” Javy said, voice steady and deep, “over your shorts.”

You couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped you when you did as he asked, your hand sliding between your legs. The contact was muted through the cotton, but your body still reacted to it, or maybe just to the fact that it was Javy who’d asked.

You stroked your hand between your legs, feeling your arousal building, feeling the slide of your hand shift as your body warmed to your touch.

“That’s it,” Javy breathed. “Press down, just like that…fuck, honey.”

He broke off, and you looked up at him, to find him pressing a hand over himself. Your legs twitched, and you felt your fingers grow wet, as your arousal soaked through the thin material of your shorts.

“You’re wet for me, already,” Javy said, his voice awed. “I can see it from here, baby, damn. Damn, I wish those were my fingers between your pretty thighs.”

You whimpered again at the curses falling past Javy’s lips, after all his restraint and chivalry. He sounded so good, he sounded like he had it as bad for you as you did for him.

“This isn’t what I thought about,” he said, his voice low, answering your question. “Because when I thought about it, I’d be right there, between your legs. It would be me feeling you soak through your panties. I could touch you, smell you, taste you, whatever I wanted, and you’d be looking at me–fuck, just like that, honey.”

His words were heady, and you could see the way he meant them. His eyes were intense and you looked away, your touch now feeling more like a tease than a beginning.

“Need more, Jay,” you managed, your voice shaking. “Please.”

“Anything, honey,” Javy said immediately, “anything. Bet you don’t know you could have anything if you asked like that, looking like this. I always imagined–okay, slide your hand into your panties, now, you can touch yourself.”

As you drew your hand back up to your waist, Javy kept pressing down on his dick through his boxers. It looked uncomfortable, but he was so focused on you, that you didn’t push him, not yet.

At the first brush of your fingers over your clit, you sighed in relief, and Javy groaned.

“You sound so pretty, baby, fuck. Just like I imagined, so sweet. Does that feel good? Your fingers on your pussy, for me?”

You nodded, feeling feverish.

“So good, Javy,” you gasped, your fingers finding a familiar rhythm. “I’m so wet, I feel—fuck, it feels so good.”

Javy’s hips jerked up, and you licked your lips, knowing what you needed.

“Let me see you,” you asked, your voice bordering on a whine.

His head fell back as your request registered, his hips rising of their own accord again.

“You’re gonna kill me,” he said to the ceiling, but then he shifted his hips to slide his boxers down to his knees, and pulling his hard dick out.

You moaned, a wanton sound that seemed to echo around the quiet kitchen, but fuck, look at him. Proportions were one thing, but he was so thick, and when he wrapped his big hand around himself, you shivered imagining how your hand would look in comparison. You watched a tremor work across his chest as Javy pulled his hand over himself, and your thighs spread wider of their own accord.

“Fuck, honey, how you’re looking at me right now…” Javy’s words pulled your eyes back to his, and you knew what he meant.

His eyes were dark, so intense, focused on you and you could feel his desire for you, palpable. His jaw clenched as he stroked himself, and you wondered absently if you could come just from the sight of him.

Then you realized his hips were moving.

It was subtle, just the flex in his thighs, but you could see a steady motion he was trying to disguise as he pumped into his hand, and you felt it in your core. Your own hips were shifting, then, pressing into the circling motion of your fingers in time with Javy’s movements.

“Are you moving with me, baby?” Javy asked, his voice rough. “Fuck, it should be me; I want you on my fingers, on my thighs; God, honey, the way you move–”

You whimpered at his words, working your hand faster.

“I want that so bad, Jay,” you managed. “You’d make me feel so good.”

“So fucking good,” Javy said, like a promise. “Can you slide a finger in, honey, feel how tight you are.”

You did as he asked, moaning as you clenched down on the intrusion, your hips still rocking. Your body adjusted, and it was good but then you looked over at Javy. His thick cock, a pearl of precum appearing at the tip of it, the hefty width of it, fucking steadily into his hand…his broad hand, wide fingers, also so thick…and the your hand felt small, felt insufficient, and you whimpered, shaking your head.

“’s not enough,” you whined, your voice sounding pitiful, wanton, and Javy groaned across the room. That sound was the most beautiful thing you’d heard, masculine and needy and perfect, and you added another finger, like that would satisfy the ache in your core.

“Did you add another one, honey?” Javy asked tightly. “You need my hands, don’t you, need me to make you feel full? Fuck, baby, you’d take me so well, I know it.”

You fought the irrational need to cry; you wanted that too, wanted it desperately. But you thrust your fingers into yourself, let Javy’s beautiful voice wash over you, and it could be enough.

His chest was rising and falling quickly as his breathing got more labored, and you felt like you were coming out of your skin; you’d give anything to feel his panting breath over your skin, his chest heaving as he worked both of you higher. That hand around his leaking cock, how it would feel over your pussy, playing with your breasts, on your throat–

“You’re doing so good for me, baby,” Javy groaned, his eyes glued to where your wrist emerged from the hem of your shorts. “Those whimpers are killing me, shit, you sound so good. Can’t wait to hear how you’ll sound on my dick, when it’s so fucking deep in that pussy.”

You moaned, you felt so taught, like everything was hanging on Javy’s words, on how good you were doing for him, on how much he wanted you. Your hand was aching, and this was so much sooner than you expected, but you felt your toes curl and your thighs started to tremble as Javy’s thrusts into his hand sped up.

“I’m so close, Jay,” you cried, your head falling back and your hips starting to lose their rhythm, and Javy groaned at whatever he saw when he looked at you.

“Fucking beautiful, honey, you’re so gorgeous. Let me see it, please, come for me. Come for me like you’re going to tonight, after I’ve fed you and fucked you, after we’ve spent all day imagining my dick so deep in that pussy, after I get to taste those moans off your lips, come on, honey–”

Your fingers pressed deep into your cunt and the promise and pleading of Javy’s words with the steady thrust of his hips sent you over the edge. Your back arched and your orgasm screamed through you, summoned by Javy’s gorgeous voice and his thick fingers and he hadn’t even touched you but you felt him, you felt that it was for him, and you came hard, the world blurring as Javy praised you from across the room.

“Oh, fuck, baby, that’s it. So good,” he was panting, but you could hear his pride like a caress. “You did so good. Fuck, you’re gonna make me cum, honey, you’re just so pretty like this, fuck–”

Javy cut off and you opened your eyes to see his hips still as he thrust into his palm, and then ribbons of cum spurted over the front of his tshirt.

You clenched down on your fingers, still slowly soothing yourself, your emptiness magnified with the sight of him finding his release. God, he was so beautiful.

His chest heaving, his strong thighs flexed, his brow tense and his eyelashes fluttering, he looked like a work of art, like something divine. His jaw loosened as he finished, his lips parting and a soft sound of satisfaction eased out of him and you felt it settle under your skin.

The kitchen was quiet, the air thick with pleasure and relief and so much unsaid, and your eyes drifted shut, still trying to catch your breath. When Javy laughed again, it was musical, light and sweet. And when you looked over at him again, he wore the softest smile on his face, a million kind things in his eyes as he looked at you.

“Shit, Cross,” he sighed, laughter in his voice. “How are we supposed to make it through the day, now?”

You smiled back, tired and sated, with no idea in hell.

taglist (folks who always humor me, folks who reblogged the last chapter, or folks who sent asks to be tagged): @laracrofted @mxgyver @callsign-fangirl @bradshawsbitch @ninaxwaffles @blowmymbackout @daggerspare-standingby @javihoney @sebsxphia @princessphilly @roosterforme @maddiemunson333 @vallyb @hearttohearteyes @bioodforbiood @gretagerwigsmuse @rae-gar-targaryen @hangmanbrainrot @beyondthesefourwalls @mandylove1000 @blckgrl-sunflower

#javy coyote machado #javy machado #coyote smut #javy machado x reader #coyote x reader #i should very much post this in the morning but i'm not #so i hope someone in another timezone is up and can see it #and that y'all like it omg #i'm just so in love with Javy it's a problem

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pnesterova · 1 year

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Swiss valley video&text

Video Text Lauterbrunnen Valley, with its vertical sides and flat bottom, is U-shaped, a textbook example of a glacier-shaped valley. While the main town, also called Lauterbrunnen, sits on the valley floor, neighboring towns hang on cliffs high above. “Lauterbrunnen” means “loud waters” – an apt name. Waterfalls plummet from cliffs all along the valley. Staubach Falls – one of the highest in…

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emblem-333 · 5 years

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The Third Bronze Medal Game

Super Bowl VII

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Dallas Cowboys

What changes: Don Shula does not give the reins back to Bob Griese and sticks with Earl Morrall. The Dolphins offense continues to struggle against the Steel Curtain and fall 17-10, thus ending their perfect season. Another alternative for Pittsburgh is what-if Terry Bradshaw wasn’t knocked out of the game with a concussion?

For Dallas, Tom Landry turns away from Roger Staubach after his heroics versus the 49ers erased a fifteen-point deficit. Craig Morton held the job as starter even after the ‘71 Super Bowl season because he didn’t break away from the designed plays. Roger was a loose cannon and at times could not be trusted. In his two games against division rival Washington, Morton compiled a respectable for the time, 21 of 44 passing, 235 yards, two touchdowns and the same number of interceptions, and a rushing touchdown. Dallas also averaged 27 points in two games against the NFC’s best defense.

The Morton-Staubach controversy is one of those quandaries at the time you could’ve seen yourself on either side. With the hindsight of history, Staubach obviously is far and away the superior option. Except, even after his Super Bowl winning stint as Dallas’ starter, the reliability of Morton, the known quantity enticed Landry more than the high ceiling of Staubach. Morton was a carbon copy of previous Cowboys great Don Meredith. No really! Look at their statistical outputs:

Craig Morton ‘69, ‘70, ‘72

(Morton started just four games in 1971 before Staubach usurped him)

Win/Loss: 28-9-1

Yards: 6,834

TDs: 51

INTs: 42

Cmp%: 53.07%

Attempts: 846

Completions: 449

Don Meredith ‘66-‘68

Win/Loss: 27-9-1

Yards: 7,139

TDs: 61

INTs: 40

Cmp%: 52.4

Attempts: 908

Completions: 476

In ‘71, the ten-games Staubach spent as starter he threw the ball just 211 times. His throws were brilliant, long range and electrifying contrasted with the methodic Morton. But to put into context how little trust Landry had in Staubach, Colin Kaepernick in the 7 regular season games he took over for Alex Smith in 2012 he attempted 218 passes.

The Cowboys never fancied themselves a team who did their damage in the air anyhow. The speedy backfield tandem of Calvin Hill (1,400) and Walt Garrison (1,174) accumulated 2,574 yards from scrimmage combined. More yards than Miami’s Larry Csonka (1,165) and Mercury Morris (1,168) mark of 2,333.

Staubach laid the biggest - maybe his only - egg of his career against Washington in the NFC Title Game. George Allen’s “Over The Hill Gang” mercilessly punished Roger sacking him three times, Dallas offense completing just 8 first downs. Washington would go on to be Miami’s final victim in their 17-0 season in the subsequent Super Bowl.

Dallas arguably, with Morton win against Washington and we have a rematch of the previous year’s championship game. Staubach needed the setbacks of ‘72 and ‘73 as learning curves. Morton, however, was already experienced enough.

For Pittsburgh, it was the first year of the Steel Curtain reshaping the identity the Steelers had of being a bunch of bottom-dwellers. Chuck Noll was hired in 1969 the Steelers from their inception in 1933 up until that point made the playoffs just once, in 1947. Noll inherits the worst team in the NFL. Many fans wanted a quarterback heading into the ‘69 draft where Pittsburgh occupied the fourth pick. Cincinnati product Greg Cook was tagged by many as a Steeler in waiting. Instead, Noll opted not for a quick fix and selected linebacker from North Texas Joe Greene. Fans were irate. Greg Cook is a story for another day. For the sake of brevity, Cook was described by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh as the greatest quarterback he’s ever seen. This is the man who worked with Joe Montana. Cook dazzled in his rookie campaign leading the NFL in passing. Playing the second half of the ‘69 season with a partially torn rotator cuff, Cook only played one more game after his rookie year before Paul Brown told him to “get on with your life.” Perhaps if Kansas City Chiefs defenseman Jim Lynch hadn’t tackled Cook his bust would be in Canton, Ohio today.

Greene is the first player drafted in the formation of the Steel Curtain. Mel Blount, Mike Wagner, and Jack Ham followed. In 1972, only Miami’s “No Name Defense” held opponents to fewer points and by the slim margin of 4. The Steelers created an aura of being a team of destiny after their miraculous last play victory over the Oakland Raiders, dubbed “The Immaculate Reception.” Heading into the forth and final period, the Steelers lead Miami 10-7 and were a quarter away from the Super Bowl. Bradshaw had left the contest giving control to Terry Hanratty, he completed and attempted the same as Bradshaw, 5 of 10, but for fewer yards, 57 to the Blond Bomber’s 80. Bradshaw did throw a touchdown, though he also tossed two interceptions. Hanratty put Pittsburgh’s kicker Roy Gerela had his attempt blocked, the score stayed 14-10.

Shula pulled the struggling Morrall and Griese lead the Dolphins downfield, thanks to a 52-yard completion to deep threat Paul Warfield set the stage for one of Jim Kiick’s touchdowns putting them back in the driver's seat. Bradshaw heroically returned in an attempt to resurface the fledgling Steelers. Down 21-10, Bradshaw completed four consecutive passes for 71-yards, hitting Al Young (who doesn’t have a Wikipedia page) for the touchdown. The ensuing Dolphins possession ended in a punt. Life was back in the Three Rivers crowd. Perhaps they really are a team of destiny.

Turns out, there’s no such thing. Bradshaw threw back to back costly interceptions icing the game for Miami.

The loss wouldn’t be the only thing weighing heavily in the hearts of Steelers fans. Later that day, Pirates all-time great Roberto Clemente in the prime of his life and career perished in a plain crash in route to Nicaragua. Through all the despair hope remained on the horizon. But outside of 1976, I’d say this is the one Pittsburgh fans who were fortunate to live through their era of dominance wish they hadn’t left on the table.

So what-if they haven’t? What-if we had a Steelers vs Cowboys Super Bowl three-years before we actually got it?

The makeup of both these teams are different, for one. There is no Lynn Swann or John Stallworth to throw to. Ron Shanklin was Pittsburgh’s leading receiver with 38 catches. Frank Lewis lead the wideouts in touchdowns with 5. Though unglamorous, the Steelers offense got the job done thanks to thousand yard rusher rookie Franco Harris.

The Cowboys most prominent receivers were their aforementioned running backs. Ron Sellers lead the wideouts with 37 receptions. Veteran stalwart Mike Ditka was at the end of his rope and only caught 17. 1972 was his final year in the NFL.

Dallas on defense were lead by Pro Bowlers Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, and free safety Cornell Green. These two teams met earlier in the season back in October, a game Dallas won 17-13 thanks to Landry’s trickery. Calvin Hill threw to Sellers for a 55-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score. The Steelers offense did much of nothing that day. Excluding the 55-yard play, the Cowboys didn’t do much better.

The contest starts slowly, as expected. Neither defense budges one iota. Flashbacks to Super Bowl V replay in Landry’s mind as he watches Morton wear black and gold. The Cowboys offensive line can’t maintain themselves in the face of the Steel Curtain. The Cowboys are scoreless at the end of the first half of play.

Pittsburgh fares better. Bradshaw marches his team up the field twice for two Gerela short range field goals and right before the end of the first half, Harris punches it in from the 5-yard line to give his team a commanding 13-0 lead. Landry contemplates handing the reins back to Staubach. His stinginess wins out this time and he sticks with Morton.

His faith in his quarterback is rewarded when Morton hits Sellers for a 15-yard pass to give the Cowboys six-points. After a Steelers three-and-out, Morton picks up right where he left off. On a 3rd & 10 at the Steelers 38, Morton hits the aging Ditka for a 13-yard gain. Two plays later, riding high off the momentum, Morton again Hits Sellers for surrounded by Steeler defenders for a 14-yard gain. Hill accepts the handoff a play later in red zone territory and passes the goal line. A Toni Fritsch extra-point gives Dallas their first lead 14-13.

In desperate need of answers the Steelers are left puzzled as another three-and-out gives the ball right back to the surging Cowboys who waste no time in trying to deliver the decisive blow. The red hot Morton manages to hit Sellers for 22-yards positioning Dallas well in Pittsburgh territory. At the Steelers 15, it was all or nothing at this point for both sides. Landry knew the next few play calls would define this game. Garrison is stuffed on back to back rushes, and Morton finds little options rolling out before being tackled for a gain of just two. Fritsch manages to extend Dallas’ lead 17-13 meaning Pittsburgh would have to drive the length of the field in order to squeak out a win.

Accepting the ball with 6:18 left, the Steelers again go three-and-out. Angst defines the best of the Steeler sideline. On forth & 12 the length is too long to contemplate going for it. Noll elects to punt in hopes Dallas fails to both take time off the clock and score. Garrison gets the ball and runs up for twelve-yards near midfield. The Cowboys look ready to silence every demon they’ve ever conjured through past playoff failures. Instead, they come right back. Morton’s intended pass to Sellers is picked off by defensive end Dwight White, and just like that, the Steelers get the ball back with prime field position to boot.

Marching to Dallas’ fifteen, the pocket collapses on Bradshaw forcing him to scramble. He scurries for the score diving at the last second before Super Bowl V MVP Chuck Howley could stop him. The Steelers regain the lead for which they wouldn’t relinquish this time and capture their first world title.

2nd

PIT - Roy Gerela FG 37 yd

PIT - Roy Gerela FG 38 yd

PIT - Franco Harris 5-yd run TD

3rd

DAL - Ron Sellers 14 yd pass from Morton TD

4th

DAL - Calvin Hill 4 yd run TD

DAL - Toni Fritsch FG 32 yd

PIT - Bradshaw 15 yd run TD

Pittsburgh 20-17

Morton - 16-26, 176 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT

Bradshaw - 15-20, 186 yds, 1 rush TD *Super Bowl MVP*

Pittsburgh: 286 total yards

Dallas: 283 total yards

In what would turn out to be Morton’s last stand as QB for the Lone Star team, Landry learned to make his peace with the rowdy Staubach and gave him full autonomy of the offense the following season and wouldn’t live to regret it. Meanwhile, jubilation overcomes the Steelers who scurry on the field embracing any person within arms reach. From the laughingstock of the NFL to becoming the envy of all, Pittsburgh overcame all of the odds mounting three straight come from behind victories en route to their championship.

#free coinage of silver #bronze #bronze medal game #alternate history #super bowl VII #Miami Dolphins #Dallas Cowboys #Pittsburgh Steelers

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watchingthesuperbowl · 6 years

Text

Notes taken during Super Bowl LII

KITTEN AND PUPPY BOWLS

Is this the first-ever Kitten Bowl to go to overtime? Tied at 28. Feline Manning throws deep. Macaroni grabs it in the end zone. Touchdown! 34-28 Panthers, final score.

I've never thought much of Feline Manning in the regular season, but you can't argue with his results in the Kitten Bowl.

There's a new Puppy Bowl stadium? This is embarrassing. The taxpayers are getting fleeced again.

OH HELL YES. THE REFEREE AT PUPPY BOWL IS A SLOTH.

Update: Puppy Bowl is tied at 14 after a quarter. It's anybody's game.

Dammit. Should have called it a pupdate.

Puppy Bowl is 24-21 in the second quarter. It's quickly becoming apparent that dogs can't play defense.

Pupdate: Fluff 28, Ruff 24. Presumably, we're deep into the second quarter.

Now it's 31-28 Ruff. Still in the second quarter. I'm sure Puppy Bowl XIV is on track to destroy the all-time record for total points scored in a single game.

Last second touchdown! Fluff pulls off a 52-47 win over Ruff!

PREGAME

Okay, I've got a beer, dinner is on its way, and I'm settling in to finish this project. The only reason I've finished this is that I'm a stubborn SOB. This hasn't been fun for about 6-7 months now.

A feature about Tom Brady's mom. She had cancer in 2016 and was only able to be at one of his games, Super Bowl LI. A nice story.

Oh, cool, now Dan Patrick asked Brady when he knew he could be great. It's no longer a heartwarming story about his mom, now it's about slurping on Brady.

Patrick comparing Brady to Michael Jordan. Brady says he doesn't think about that very often. Could never be compared to his childhood heroes.

Brady has no idea how he'll fill the void when he retires. Maybe coach his kids. He's happy his kids are old enough to see him play. His son didn't pick him in fantasy football. Took Cam Newton instead.

You know what NBC should do more of? Talk about Tom Brady. I wonder where they rank him on the all-time list.

Now it's a feature about the Eagles defense. Not a ton of big names, says Chris Long, but they have a bunch of good players.

And then they end it with more about Tom Brady. Good. More of that, please. I never get sick of it.

One thing I've noticed, in watching all these Super Bowls, is that the team with the better defense wins more often than you'd expect. If one team is offense-reliant and the other is defense-reliant, the defensive team wins a bunch of games. That would be the Eagles here.

Rodney Harrison: Patriots will run short passes and screen passes to avoid the Eagle pass rush.

Commercials. Zelle. Applebees has a quesadilla burger. George Washington crossing the Delaware Turnpike for Geico. Turbotax. Promo for a new NBC series, Good Girls. It's not about puppers, unfortunately. Promo for the Olympics.

NBC bumps in with a bunch of sound bites from Eagles and Patriots fans. The Patriots remain the worst. I hope this old guy gets to see an Eagles championship.

Rodney Harrison: Tom Brady gave me a hug, told me he loves me, and gave me a little wink. I've seen that wink before. That means he's going to have a big game.

Dungy and John Harbaugh talk about how loose and calm the Eagles seem. Harrison says the Patriots need to come out and start fast. Can't fall behind the Eagles like they did last year against Atlanta.

Harrison picks the Patriots. Harbaugh picks the Eagles, says they'll hold New England under 24. Dungy picks the Eagles, says he's fallen in love with Nick Foles. Dan Patrick doesn't pick anybody. It's good to be the host.

Commercials: HQ trivia. You can watch the game in Spanish on Universo. Local ad for Tim Hortons. Local ad for Columbus Cyberknife prostate cancer treatment. State Farm insurance. State of Ohio PSA saying you shouldn't drive drunk. YoutubeTV. The commercial for Youtube TV includes a bunch of NBC programming.

Time for the "Youtube TV kickoff show". Starts with a Carrie Underwood song. Great. This is where I need a fast forward button.

There's a rap breakdown in the middle of this Underwood song. They show Super Bowl legends including Roger Staubach during that part of the song. Staubach has been one of my absolute favorite players to watch in these Super Bowls, but he is the least "hip hop" person on earth.

Al Michaels: This is a league built for parity and the Patriots are on the cusp of their sixth championship in 17 years. Eagles have a history of success, but have never won a Super Bowl.

Cris Collinsworth: Everybody knows Tom Brady, but not Nick Foles. But Foles is capable of having a tremendous game. Had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history in 2013. Chip Kelly says you're welcome.

Commercials: A really long commercial for Mass Mutual that involves people singing a Pretenders song. Red Sparrow.

Eagles walk out to the field. NBC runs a montage of their players introducing themselves. "Donnie Bag of Bones Jones" is the punter.

Patriots now. "Chris Hogan, Penn State lacrosse." I wouldn't want to be associated with their football program either. (Also, he didn't play football in college.)

It's very clear very early who the fans in the stadium want to win. The Patriots are loudly booed as they take the field.

Commercials: Kraft, US Bank, Mercedes Benz, Terrell Owens for Pizza Hut, Winter Olympics Promo.

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. J.J. Watt, unsurprisingly. He did a ton of work to raise money for hurricane relief after Houston got leveled.

America The Beautiful. Leslie Odom Jr. I genuinely have no clue who this person is. He can sing, though. He nails it.

It turns out Leslie Odom Jr. played Aaron Burr in Hamilton. This would explain why I don't know who he is.

The Star Spangled Banner. Pink. She also nails it.

Commercials. I spaced out and may have missed one. The Quiet Place. Lionel Richie for TD Ameritrade. Big Mac.

Michaels: What's the most likely way the Eagles win this game? Collinsworth: The offensive line and defensive line. They need to be able to run the ball and they need to be able to pressure Brady without blitzing him. It's hard to imagine that this game could come down to anything other than Tom Brady.

Coin toss: Medal of Honor winners. Very cool. Herschel "Woody" Williams will toss the coin. Won the Medal of Honor for valor at the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

The referee called him Willie Williams. Oof.

Now he called him Corporal Wilson.

Eagles call tails. It's heads. Patriots defer, Eagles will receive.

Michele Tafoya: Eagles coach Doug Pederson told Nick Foles "You're not Tom Brady. Be Nick."

Commercials. I spaced out again. Is there a new Jurassic Park movie? There was a thing for that. Also YouTube TV.

NBC bumps in from commercial with a bunch of sound bites from past Super Bowl heroes. Staubach, Namath, Hines Ward.

FIRST QUARTER

Okay, kickoff time

Line-drive kickoff. Clement takes it out to the 25.

First play, pass right to Agholor. 5 yard gain.

Agholor for 2 more yards on second down. Michaels says Foles completed 15 passes in a row at the end of the NFC championship game. It's 17 in a row now.

18 in a row. Foles buys time on third down and hits Alshon Jeffery for 15 yards or so.

Well, there's an incomplete pass. Torrey Smith can't come up with the ball on a 2nd and 12 downfield pass.

Smith more than makes up for the incompletion - goes up the ladder to make a 15 yard catch on 3rd and 12. Eagles approaching field goal range.

Eagles running a bunch of "RPO" plays. (Run-pass option.) Ajayi runs for six on first down. Next play is a screen pass to Corey Clement. Takes it to the New England 5. The Patriots were blitzing and got burned. First and goal.

2nd and goal from the 2. False start on tight end Zach Ertz. Ouch. Offensive penalties inside the 5 are brutal.

Yep, that false start penalty was a killer. After incomplete passes on second down and third down, the Eagles will attempt a field goal.

Got it. A chip shot field goal ends a 14-play game opening drive. 3-0 Eagles. NBC bumps out to commercial with "The Underdog" by Spoon, which is cool.

Commercials: Toyota supports the Paralympics. Sprint has a Westworld parody

Eagles kick off. It's a touchback. Then more commercials.

Commercials: Solo, a Star Wars story. With Donald Glover! Nothing brings it down quite like Dr. Oz in the next commercial. Ugh. Go away. Turkish Airlines. He is Turkish, so there's that. Promo for a new show called Rise. Looks like a musical. Great.

Stop me if you've heard this before. Brady completes a short, outside pass to James White for a first down. 15 yards. Next play is a pass to James White. Because all he does is catch passes in the Super Bowl. That play's wiped out after a 12 men on the field penalty on the defense.

Brady to Chris Hogan underneath, coming across the middle, for a gain of 28. They're inside the Philadelphia 30. Next play is an end around to Hogan for four yards.

Brady to Gronkowski coming across the middle. Another completion, another first down at the 14.

Oh, hey, it's a completion to James White. Gains six yards, down to the 8.

NBC is using a white line to mark the line of scrimmage which is horrible and I hate it. I can't tell which is the line of scrimmage and which is the 10 yard line. Brady throws behind Gronk on third down and the Patriots settle for a Gostkowski field goal attempt.

Yup. 26 yard field goal for Gostkowski. 3-3, late first quarter.

Commercials: Bud Light with a Dilly Dilly ad that I've seen before. M&Ms. The red M&M turns into Danny Devito, who walks down the streets of New York asking if people want to eat him. Promo for the halftime show. Justin Timberlake. Winter Olympics promo.

Kenjon Barner with a decent kickoff return. Kenjon is my dude. Thrilled that he's had an NFL career. Incredibly cool guy.

Big, big run for another Duck, LaGarrette Blount. 36 yard rumble into New England territory. Collinsworth says the Patriots asked Blount to take a pay cut, he said no, and went to the Eagles.

TOUCHDOWN! Foles deep to Alshon Jeffery, who makes an incredible grab in the end zone.

Ugh, they blew the extra point. 9-3 Eagles.

A good article about Barner. He studied, among other things, ballet dancing at Oregon.

Commercials: Ram trucks, Wendy's. Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

HEY, JEFFERY. NICE CATCH, JEFFERY.

youtube

Commercials: A Hulu show from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams. Heroes Arena mobile game. Olympics promo.

The Patriots look very human at this point. Which, yeah, it's the first quarter of the Super Bowl. Gronk false start, Brady overshoots Hogan, and it's 3rd and 7.

Hey, you guys? You might want to cover Danny Amendola. Amendola is wide open deep and Brady hits him. First down at the Philadelphia 29.

Collinsworth: Eagles defense led the league in highest percentage of threes-and-out in the regular season, but they're struggling with New England's fast-paced offense.

First quarter ends. Philadelphia 9, New England 3.

Commercials: Peter Dinklage for Doritos. Morgan Freeman for Mountain Dew Ice. Both are lip-synching rap songs. David Harbour for Tide. Skyscraper starring Dwayne Johnson.

289 yards of total offense in the first quarter between the two teams.

SECOND QUARTER

Third down, Brandin Cooks on a jet sweep. Tries to jump over a tackler but can't get that done.

New England botches a field goal attempt. Holder drops the ball, Gostkowski has to stop, then start, then drills it into the left upright. Big break for Philadelphia.

Foles with a nice move to avoid a sack on third and long. Probably could run for a first down but throws to Ertz. Incomplete. Donnie Bag of Bones Jones to punt.

Fair catch at the 37.

Commercials: Another Dilly Dilly ad for Bud Light. ETrade. A movie. I was looking away. Mission Impossible? Is there one of those? Olympics promo. After the game, "This is Us".

Brady to Cooks downfield for 23. Gets absolutely annihilated by Malcolm Jenkins and he's not moving. There was a bit of helmet-to-helmet contact. Commercial time.

Commercials: Rocket Mortgage. Avocados from Mexico. The Cloverfield Paradox.

We're back from commercial. Cooks has been taken to the locker room. There was no penalty on the hit because he was a runner and not defenseless.

Third down, the Patriots run a reverse/throwback play, a pass to Tom Brady. Incomplete - Brady dropped the ball. They go for it on 4th and 5 from the 35. Incomplete pass. Turnover on downs.

Commercials. Diet Coke with Mango, Jeep, Tide, WeatherTech. Halftime show promo.

Michaels: Patriots DB Malcolm Butler has played zero defensive snaps today. The team says it's "a coach's decision".

Foles downfield to Zach Ertz, First down at the New England 43.

Great throw and catch from Foles to Jeffery downfield. 22 yard gain.

Next play, LaGarrette Blount! Blows through the defense for a 21 yard touchdown. 15-3 Eagles. They go for two, which I absolutely hate. Incomplete pass. It's still 15-3.

Commercials: Pringles. Febreze. Chris Pratt for Michelob Ultra.

Anyway, back to the "going for two" thing. I wouldn't do it until I absolutely had to. The second quarter is not that time.

NBC graphic: Most championships by a coach/QB combo: Belichick-Brady and Lombardi-Starr are tied with five.

Cutaways: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Mike Trout, who Al Michaels calls a California Angel. Missed it by a couple decades, Al.

Big play from Brady to Burkhead. A screen pass - he nearly breaks it for a touchdown. Gets it to the Eagles' 29.

Third and 8, the Eagles completely blow up a screen pass with backfield penetration. Brady throws it away. Gostkowski kicks a 45 yard field goal. 15-6. And that's why you kick the extra point. A ten point lead is so much better than a nine-point lead.

Um, hello? The screen has gone black. I don't know what just happened. No commercials. They go back to the stadium after 10-15 seconds.

Tafoya: Brandin Cooks will not return. He has a "head injury". Patriots now have a total of three wide receivers available.

Michaels: Foles nearly retired when he was released by the Rams. Decided there was only one coach he'd play for, Andy Reid of the Chiefs. Reid wanted him.

Collinsworth: I love what Nick Foles is doing. When the Patriots blitz, he's throwing the ball to the area vacated by the blitzer.

Big run from Ajayi on third and 4. Inside handoff, looks like he's in trouble, and he bursts through the hole to the New England 43.

Huge break for the Patriots. Alshon Jeffery makes a one-handed catch downfield inside the 10 but the ball squirts loose, hits him on the other hand, and bounces to a New England defensive back for an interception.

Commercials: Squarespace, Dodge Ram uses a Martin Luther King speech to sell trucks, which is unbelievably gross.

Gross.

Brady deep to Chris Hogan inside the 30. Next play, James White breaks about eight thousand tackles on a 26 yard touchdown run. Patriots doing Patriots things right before the half.

Gostkowski blows the extra point. 15-12 Eagles as we hit the two minute warning.

Nope.

Huge play for the Eagles on third and 3. Corey Clement runs a swing route down the right sideline and Foles lofts it to him for a 55 yard gain inside the 10.

Next play, Clement powers up the middle to the 2. Nice power run from a third-down back. Clement again on second down. Up the middle again, gets to the 1. Patriots call timeout. 0:40 left.

Good lord, Alshon Jeffery got tackled in the end zone before the ball got there. Incomplete pass. They'll line up to go for it on fourth and goal.

Timeout, Eagles. They want to think about this. The offense is back on the field.

OH WOW. OH WOW.

Direct snap to Clement, flips it to Trey Burton, who throws to a wide-open Foles in the end zone. Touchdown. 22-12 Eagles with 0:34 left in the half.

Once again, Al Michaels says Mike Trout plays for the California Angels.

Patriots have the ball at midfield with 0:03 left. They're lining up for a Hail Mary.

They don't run a Hail Mary. They throw a swing pass to Amendola, who gains 20 yards as the half ends.

At halftime: Philadelphia 22, New England 12

Eagles coach Doug Pederson on the fourth down call at the 1: Our guys marched downfield and I wasn't going to let them get stopped at the one.

HALFTIME

There are commercials happening, but I'm going to grab a snack and a drink. It's a local break anyway.

Commercials: "Unsolved" on USA Network. Pepsi.

Halftime show. Justin Timberlake. Opens with an unbelievably cool laser show under the stage. Now he's coming upstairs into the stadium. Not sure what's with the wardrobe choice. A black leather jacket with fringe and a bandana tied around his neck.

Justin Timberlake isn't my thing musically, but this has been a good halftime show. Better than the Coldplay/Beyonce thing. Better than the Black Eyed Peas. He seems to be changing stages for every new song.

Timberlake doing a "duet" with Prince, which is something Prince was pretty adamant about opposing when he was alive.

Mental note: Make a GIF of the saxophone guy Timberlake walked by just now.

I remembered. Look at sax guy on the left. He's the new Left Shark.

Okay, halftime show over. It was good. Not the best I've ever seen, but solid.

Commercials: A "Jack Ryan" series on Amazon, which seems like exactly the sort of show you'd make if you didn't want me to watch it. Verizon.

Dan Patrick: This is the first game in NFL history to be 22-12 at halftime.

Commercials: Promo for The Voice. Spectrum cable. Giant Eagle. This is obviously a local break. PSA about drinking and driving.

This is the first Super Bowl in history where both QBs were over 200 yards passing in the first half.

Tafoya: Asked Belichick why Butler wasn't playing. He said he makes decisions to give his team the best chance to win. Belichick says they need to do everything better in the second half.

THIRD QUARTER

First play of the second half, Brady misses a wide open Gronk.

They connect on the second play of the half. 25 yard completion downfield to the 50. Next play, Brady to Gronkowski again. 24 yards this time, to the Philadelphia 26.

3rd and 6, Gronkowski again. First and goal at the 8.

It's all Gronk, all the time. Brady zips it to Gronkowski in the end zone on second and goal. 22-18, pending the extra point.

This is not optimal defensive positioning.

Got it this time. 22-19 Eagles. Brady up to 344 yards passing with more than 12 minutes left in the third quarter.

Commercials. Anheuser Busch. Turbotax.

My dude.

Eagles called for a block in the back on the kickoff return. They'll start this drive inside their 20.

Third and 6, Eagles trying to avoid a three-and-out. Agholor with a catch underneath, breaks a tackle to pick up the first down.

A couple of nice runs from Blount and they're into New England territory.

Collinsworth suspects something's up with Jay Ajayi and maybe it is, but Blount has been great.

Ajayi looked okay on that run. Gains 9 on 2nd and 10 and gets to the New England 40.

3rd and 1, Foles to Ertz down the sideline. Gets to the Patriots' 26.

3rd and 6, Foles throws into the end zone. What. a. throw. Corey Clement double covered and the ball is perfect. Looks like Clement bobbled the ball. It's under review as NBC goes to commercial.

Commercials: Jeep. Westworld on HBO. Turbotax.

Ruling on the field stands. Touchdown. It was a close call. Collinsworth is flabbergasted. I don't know what a catch is anymore, to be frank, but I've seen worse calls than that. Extra point is good. 29-19 Eagles.

Commercials: Kia. Blacture.com. Eli Manning mumbling incoherently for something or other. Olympics promo.

Eagles called for defensive holding. Gronk sold it well.

2nd and 8, Dion Lewis up the middle for 6. 3rd and 2 from the Eagles 45.

Brady downfield to Amendola on third and 1. Amendola to the 26 yard line. Next play, Brady to Hogan, who falls into the end zone. Got it. Touchdown. 29-25 with the extra point to come.

Extra point is good.

Commercials: Avengers. T-Mobile. Jesus Christ Superstar promo.

Cutaways: Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, Floyd Mayweather, Jimmy Fallon, Bradley Cooper.

Commercials: Toyota. Wix. Kraft. The Today Show.

Brady is 19-32 for 404 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT.

First play of the next drive, Folds downfield to Agholor. First down near midfield. Next play, Foles to Torrey Smith. 18 yard gain.

Jet sweep to Agholor for 9 on 2nd and 8. First down inside the New England 25.

NBC graphic: The two teams have combined for 955 total yards, the most in Super Bowl history. And it's still the third quarter.

Third quarter ends. The Eagles have a 3rd and 3 from the New England 15 yard line.

After three quarters: Philadelphia 29, New England 26

Commercials: NFL promo. ADT. Ohio Northern University. Obviously this is a local break. State Farm.

FOURTH QUARTER

Patriots blow up a swing pass to Agholor on third down. Eagles will presumably attempt a field goal after a loss of 8.

Jake Elliott drills a 42 yard field goal. Sets the record for the longest field goal kicked by a rookie in the Super Bowl. 32-26 Eagles. AND THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T GO FOR TWO IN THE SECOND QUARTER.

Commercials: Monster headphones. Michelob Ultra. Groupon.

It's a Rex Burkhead kind of drive for New England. Burkhead run for 5, then Burkhead for 9, then Burkhead for 4.

3rd and 3 for the Patriots. It's clear from motion that the defense is in man coverage, so Brady throws to Amendola. Because that's what he does in man coverage. First down. Next play is a pass downfield to Amendola. First down at the Philadelphia 20.

Hey, have I mentioned HOW BAD AN IDEA IT IS TO GO FOR TWO IN THE SECOND QUARTER?

Swing pass to Amendola for 9. Second and 1 inside the 10.

James White up the middle. First and goal at the Eagles' 3.

Brady is up to 453 yards passing. Throws incomplete on first and goal. Gronk. Brady into the end zone for his big tight end. It's tied at 32, which Michaels describes as the Patriots' first lead of the game.

Brady is now up to 457 yards and 3 TD.

Extra point is good. 33-32 Patriots.

Commercial: Amazon Alexa.

"So I said to myself 'We need that point. We have to get it back. We need to go for two.'"

2nd and 6, Foles throws deep to Smith on a one-on-one jump ball. It falls incomplete. Weird play. It's a huge third down here.

HUGE PLAY. Foles to Ertz for 7 on 3rd and 6. Nice throw.

Clock under 7:00 as Foles throws to Clement. Seven yard gain on 2nd and 8. It's third and 1.

Eagles throw on third and 1. Ugh. It's a swing pass and it's stuffed. Pederson will go for it on 4th and 1.

WHEW. They threw the ball and picked it up. Foles to Ertz for 2. Clock below 5:00. Eagles near midfield.

Philadelphia uses a timeout with 4:52 left in regulation. They have two left.

Commercials: Coke. Peyton Manning for Universal Parks and Resorts. The World Cup on Telemundo.

Nice play by Agholor. Foles escapes the pocket and hits Agholor on the run at the sticks. First down. 3:30 and counting. First and 10 from the New England 43.

Agholor again! Foles zips it to him across the middle. There was a tiny window to complete that pass and he did it. First down inside the 25. The clock is about to become a factor here - the Eagles are likely to take the lead, barring a turnover. The question is how much time Brady will have and how many points he'll need.

Foles is up over 350 yards now. It's pretty obvious that the winning quarterback is going to be the MVP.

1,081 total yards tonight. The most in any NFL postseason game, ever.

Foles to Agholor for 10 yards to the Patriots' 14. Forced out of bounds.

Ajayi for three yards up the middle. Patriots burn their second timeout with 2:30 remaining in regulation. It'll be 2nd and 7.

Incomplete pass on second and 7. Third and 7 here. 2:25 left. Brady's going to have some time, it looks like. If they can get 8 yards on this play, that would be perfect.

TOUCHDOWN! I think. Yeah, that's a touchdown. He had the ball, took a few steps, and dove into the end zone. Ertz took three steps before the ball hit the ground. It seems obvious that this is a touchdown. Collinsworth thinks they have to overturn it. I think he's insane.

I don't see how this is a close call. He caught the ball, started running, dove, got over the goal line, and then the ball popped loose. How is this a question?

What is Collinsworth smoking?

Yeah, they call it a touchdown. That was an easy one, I think. Collinsworth is silent.

Eagles up 38-33. They'll go for two.

Nope. Incomplete pass. AND THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T GO FOR TWO IN THE SECOND QUARTER. DAMMIT.

Brady has 2:21 to put together a touchdown drive.

Collinsworth is still talking about this?

Michaels: In all five Super Bowls Brady has won, he has come back to win them.

Brady to Gronk for 8. 2:16.

BRADY FUMBLES! HOLY CRAP! EAGLES RECOVER.

The game isn't over, but it's damn close. Start chilling nem bottles of champagne.

We reach the two-minute warning with 1:56 left. It'll be third and 5 from the New England 26. They'll run the ball, get the clock down to 1:20 or so, then either kick a field goal (if they don't pick up the first down) or take a knee (if they do).

Blount stuffed on third down. Clock will be down to 1:10 before the field goal attempt. Eagles take a timeout with 70 seconds left.

46 yard field goal, dead center from Jake Elliott. Eagles up 41-33 with 1:05 left. Hell of a clutch kick by a rookie.

Patriots try to run a trick play on the return, but Burkhead is stuffed at the 9. Brady needs to go 91 yards in 58 seconds.

1st and 10, incomplete to Hogan.

2nd and 10, incomplete to White. 0:48 left.

3rd and 10, Brady under pressure in his own end zone, gets the throw off. Incomplete. It's 4th and 10. Now or never.

Complete to Amendola for 12 yards. They spike it with 26 seconds left. They still need 78 yards.

Brady to Gronk. Gets out of bounds at his own 33. 0:20 left.

Brady to Gronk for another 16, gets out of bounds. Near midfield. 0:13 left.

Eagles take their final timeout to talk this over.

Incomplete pass on first down. 0:09 left.

Next play, Brady buys time, chucks it deep, and it falls incomplete in the end zone as time expires.

THE EAGLES HAVE WON THE SUPER BOWL.

THIS ONE'S FOR PHILLY BOY ROY.

Final score: Philadelphia 41, New England 33. Nem Eagles got it done.

POSTGAME

Commercials: Scientology.

Yes, I’m curious. Where’s Shelly Miscavige? Why has nobody seen her in public in more than a decade?

Tom Brady threw for 505 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. And lost.

Brandon Graham: We are the world champions because we worked our butts off.

The Patriots punted zero times. And lost.

Collinsworth: Nick Foles was unbelievable tonight.

Trophy presentation. Darrell Green carries the Lombardi Trophy to the stage. Weird that they'd have an NFC East great who didn't play for Phiadelphia do this. Apparently he had a big game in Super Bowl XXVI. I contend that game never happened, which is a shame because the Bills were supposed to be in it.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie: For Eagles fans everywhere, this is for them. This is the most unique, together, group of men I've ever been around. An incredible group of men, players and coaches. Attempts to dedicate the win. Dan Patrick blows through that, but Lurie somehow gets the microphone from him and dedicates this championship to Eagles fans around the world and especially to his mom and dad.

Doug Pederson thanks Jesus. Praises his players. Has the best players in the world, loves the coaching staff and the owner. Has the best fans in the world.

Pederson: Wanted to stay aggressive with Foles. That was the plan coming in.

Ertz: No doubt that it was a touchdown. No telling what would have happened in the city of Philadelphia if it had been overturned.

Nick Foles is the MVP. Jokingly says it was just another game. His infant daughter tries to grab the microphone. Foles says he's very blessed.

Commercials: Motorola with Amazon Alexa. H&R Block. Discover Card. McDonalds. Eagles championship gear at NFLShop dot com. Xfinity.

Dungy: Foles made big plays all night, but when he needed a touchdown, he went to Ertz.

Harrison: Said Graham would make a difference on defense for the Eagles, and he made the big play late in the fourth quarter.

Bill Belichick: I obviously didn't do a good enough job coaching. We missed a lot of opportunities in the first half. Not good enough on defense. Not good enough in the kicking game.

Harrison: If the Patriots are going to come back to this game, they'll need to improve that defense. Just not enough athletes.

Dungy: Foles knows this is Carson Wentz's team, but was ready to go tonight.

Michaels and Collinsworth awkwardly fist bump.

#nfl #football #super bowl #super bowl lii #new england #new england patriots #patriots #philadelphia eagles #philadelphia #eagles

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thecollegefootballguy · 4 years

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The Real Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy

Hey everybody, I’m continuing on with this series taking a look at three-way rivalry games and how things would have gone if they’d had been played from the beginning.

If you want to check out my post on the Florida Cup, click this link.

The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is perhaps the best known of the FBS trophies that are fought over by more than one team. Unlike the Florida Cup, it’s actually played for every season and many fans follow the Service Academies either as a curiosity or because they served. It helps that the final game of the regular season is always Army-Navy, which sometimes decides the trophy itself.

This will be a much easier prospect than reconstituting the Florida Cup out of whole cloth. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy was first presented in 1972 in an effort to get Army and Navy to play Air Force every season, so there isn’t too much prehistory other than the preceding decade or so. For the most part I won’t be tinkering with the standings too much, which wasn’t the case with my essay on the Florida Cup, where I had to use their parameters to synthesize the results of several decades of football.

Instead we’ll be celebrating the Trophy and the rivalries that have built up between the Service Academies, which are by far the most unique college football programs at the D-I level.

The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy doesn’t follow the same rules as the Florida Cup, and makes an allowance for three-way ties, which is to give the trophy to the defending champions.

Just to make things a bit more interesting than reading the scores, which you can do on Wikipedia, I’ll be starting count from the first time Air Force played either of the Service Academies.

A bit of backstory

The football history between the Service Academies dates back to the deep and misty past, when the game was more or less a regional sport practiced by prestigious Northeastern universities. The United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy had played football going back to 1890, and by the turn of the century it was a big deal.

Army-Navy was up there with Harvard-Yale as one of the most important college football games of the era. The Army-Navy Game was regularly played at storied venues such as New York’s Polo Grounds to wild crowds, though it’s most often played in Philadelphia, the biggest major city roughly equidistant to West Point and Annapolis.

Army and Navy both claimed national championships in the first half of the 1900′s, and both schools would get huge boosts in talent during the World Wars. Army’s WWII squads were cited as one of the best in football history because they had a virtual monopoly on the best players of the era.

Just as these football programs were falling off from national relevance in the decade after WWII, the United State Air Force Academy opened its doors in 1954. The Air Force had previously operated under the jurisdiction of the Army, but were finally spun off into their own branch of the Armed Services at this time. And they would play football.

Air Force fielded a team in their second year in existence, playing the freshman squads of nearby universities. Just a few seasons later they were playing major University Division opponents, and winning. In 1958, the Air Force Falcons went 9-0-2, finishing the year with a #6 ranking in the AP Poll, a tie with #2 Iowa in the regular season, and a tie with #10 TCU in the Cotton Bowl. The next year, they finally played their first game against another Service Academy.

Air Force Joins the Fight: 1959-1971

In 1959, Air Force met Army at Yankee Stadium and played the Cadets to a 13-13 tie. Perhaps fittingly, the Army-Navy Game would then decide the (still hypothetical) Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. The Midshipmen ended up pounding Army 43-12 in head coach Wayne Hardin’s first season.

Hardin would be the coach during Navy’s last real peak as a major player in college football thanks to players like Heisman winners Roger Staubach and Joe Bellino. The Midshipmen made the Orange Bowl following the 1960 season, and the Cotton in ‘63. They’d have won the national championship had they beaten Texas.

For the next several seasons, the Middies would dominate Army as well as Air Force in the few years they’d bother to play the Falcons. Navy’s first game against AFA was a 35-3 victory in 1960, they wouldn’t play again until 1966 and Air Force wouldn’t beat the Midshipmen until 1968.

Air Force and Army didn’t quite have the same success as Navy in the early to mid-60′s. After the Falcons’ breakout season in 1958, the first year under head coach Ben Martin, they spent the rest of the decade treading water, mostly aiming for a .500 record.

The Cadets weren’t all that bad in the 1960′s, usually doing better than .500, but their time as a truly nationally relevant program was already behind them. They experienced winning seasons under head coaches Dale Hall, Paul Dietzel, and Tom Cahill in that decade, but never did any better than 8-2 with no Top 25 finishes.

Wayne Hardin left Navy after the 1964 season, his first losing record with the Midshipmen. He was replaced by less capable men and Navy spent the rest of the decade with Army and Air Force, towards the middle of the pack among the football independents rarely impacting the national scene.

Commander-in-Chief Record Navy: 7 Air Force: 5 Army: 1

Navy christens our new Commander-in-Chief era with five straight wins, which mostly come by virtue of beating Army. They’d likely have smoked Air Force had they played, but for the most part the Midshipmen ignored the Falcons. Army wrested control of the Trophy in 1964 by finally beating their archrivals.

From 1965 to 1971, Air Force would rotate playing Army and Navy. The Falcons would play the Cadets in odd years and Middies in even. During this period, they managed to get the better of their peers more often than not. They won their first Trophy in 1965 and would end up defending it four of the next six years.

The first two ties in the standings came in 1966 and 1968. By rule, the Trophy remains with the defending champion, so Air Force and Navy respectively get one trophy defense.

The *real* Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy was created for the 1972 season, which was to help ensure that Army and Navy would play the Falcons every year, which has been the case ever since.

Thalassocracy: 1972-1981

The first decade of the real Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy ended up being dominated by Navy. George Welsh took over the program in 1973 and turned the Midshipmen into the strongest of the three D-I Service Academies. The mid-70′s weren’t exactly strong, but by the late 70′s Navy was again occasionally in the Top 25. The Middies made and won the Holiday Bowl against BYU in 1978 on the back of a 9-3 record. From 1978 to 1981, Navy went 31-15-1 with three bowl appearances.

Air Force actually started the decade strong, making the 1971 Sugar Bowl and a Final #16 ranking in the AP. But the Falcons would begin to struggle by the mid-70′s. Longtime head coach Ben Martin retired following the 1977 season after four consecutive losing campaigns. Martin had coached Air Force through 20 of their 23 seasons.

Martin was replaced by Bill Parcells, who bolted for the NFL after one (bad) season. Ken Hatfield took over the Falcons in 1979, and began to rebuild what had by now become the weakest of the three Service Academies. Air Force also joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1980. It was harder being a football independent in far flung Colorado Springs, as most of their peers were scattered along the Eastern Seaboard. Being in a conference simply made more sense. The Falcons were the first of the Service Academies to give up their prized independence.

Army didn’t do a whole lot in the 1970′s. Under Homer Jones, Lou Saban for a year (right after he left Miami), and Ed Cavanaugh, they spent most of the decade fighting for a .500 record and didn’t reach it for the most part. The Cadets still managed to beat Air Force more often than not. As a result, in the two years that Army did managed to beat Navy during this span, they ended up winning the Trophy.

Commander-in-Chief Record Navy: 15 Air Force: 5 Army: 3

Sometimes it doesn’t take being great, you just have to be better than the rest. That’s more or less how Navy ends up with a decade of controlling the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. The Midshipmen had a couple of good seasons that got them even in the rankings and a few bowls, but for the most part they dominated the series because Army and Air Force were no good.

It also has to be said that Navy got pretty lucky. There were three ties in the decade between ‘72 and ‘81, and the Midshipmen happened to be the previous holders each year, so they were able to retain possession. Up to this point, Navy has retained possession 4 out of 5 times when there was a tie in the standings.

Air Superiority: 1982-2002

Ken Hatfield proved to be a very capable coach. It took him three years to get all of his pieces in order, but by 1982 the Falcons were ready to sway the balance of power among the Academies. Air Force went 7-5, and then beat Vanderbilt in the Hall of Fame Classic to ensure their first 8 win season since 1970. It was also their first time beating Army and Navy in the same year since 1971, snapping their long losing streak for the three-way Trophy.

Hatfield’s Falcons outdid themselves the next year, going 10-2 with a win over Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl and a #13 ranking in the AP Poll, their highest since Ben Martin’s first season in 1958. It was good enough for Hatfield to snag the Arkansas job.

Hatfield was replaced by former-OC Fisher DeBerry, who had clearly been taking notes on how to win in Colorado Springs. Air Force continued to rise, going 8-4 with another Independence Bowl win in DeBerry’s first season at the helm. 1985 was the apex. The Falcons raced out to a 10-0 start, which included a solid win over #15 Notre Dame. Air Force climbed up to #4 in the polls before a heartbreaking loss to #16 BYU in Provo ended their national championship aspirations. The Falcons ended the year 5th in the Coaches Poll and 8th in the AP. It was the last time that a Service Academy had any real shot of claiming a national championship. It was a new high water mark for Air Force, who also added their first ever conference championship to their trophy case.

Air Force would continue to be a force in the WAC for the rest of DeBerry’s long tenure. The Falcons made bowls in 5 of 6 seasons from 1987 to 1992, including four straight appearances in the Liberty Bowl. The Falcons claimed their second ever WAC title in 1995, and made an appearance in the Copper Bowl. In 1997, Air Force managed a 10-3 record, but in a diluted WAC they didn’t move the needle nationally. The next season, the Falcons went 12-1 again. With a win over BYU in the short-lived WAC Championship Game, they earned their first ever outright conference title, and beat Washington in the Oahu Bowl to finish 13th and 10th in the AP and Coaches Polls respectively.

Air Force’s WAC title in 1998 would end up being their last season in that storied league. The Falcons became a founding member of the Mountain West Conference the next year, and have remained members ever since.

Like ships passing in the night, just when Air Force began to play well, Navy began to lose steam. George Welsh left for Virginia after the 1981 season and became the most successful coach in UVA history after a 20 year career. The Midshipmen were rather mediocre during Gary Tranquill’s four years in Annapolis, but they really began to fall off after that.

Navy spent a decade in the wilderness from the mid-80′s to the mid-90′s. They lost 11 straight to Air Force and mostly ceded the end of season rivalry back to Army. Charlie Weatherbie was hired in 1995, and temporarily turned around the Middies’ fortunes. Navy went 9-3 in 1996, it was their first winning record in 14 years and their best record since 1978.

Weatherbie’s success didn’t last, after a 7-4 campaign the next year, the Midshipmen slid back into irrelevance. Weatherbie was relieved of duty midway through 2001 after going 9-32 in his last three and a half seasons.

Under head coach Jim Young, Army cruised through most of the 1980′s. The Cadets had winning records in six of seven years from 1984 to 1990. They went 8-3-1 in ‘84 with a win in the Cherry Bowl over Michigan State. The following season, Army went 9-3 with a Peach Bowl victory against Illinois. In 1988, the Cadets managed another 9-3 record, this time losing by one point to Alabama in the Sun Bowl. When Young retired after the 1990 season, he was the final coach at West Point to leave the job with a winning record.

Bob Sutton somewhat successfully guided the Cadets through the 90′s. Army was usually around a .500 record with the exception of 1996, when they stormed to a 10-1 regular season before losing to Auburn by a field goal in the Independence Bowl. The Cadets joined Conference-USA in 1998, becoming the second Service Academy to give up football independence. They immediately began to play worse, earning consecutive 3-8 records before Sutton left.

Commander-in-Chief Record Air Force: 22 Navy: 15 Army: 7

It should go without saying that Air Force absolutely dominated the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy during this time.

Army managed to match the Falcons in the 80′s for the most part, but after Jim Young’s retirement, Air Force really began to pull ahead of its brother Academies. In 1995, the Falcons passed Navy for the most Trophy wins. Army got the better of the Midshipmen in this era, but Air Force really dominated the Midshipmen, winning all but two games in the 21 year span.

The Falcons did most of their winning without any aid. There was only one three-way tie among the Academies in this era, which naturally went to the Falcons because they held the Trophy almost the entire time. From 1989 to 2002, the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy only left Colorado Springs for one year, following Army’s breakout 1996 campaign.

Naval Supremacy: 2003-2009

Paul Johnson was hired by Navy in 2002 to replace the ousted Charlie Weatherbie. Johnson was the best coach in Division I-AA, having led Georgia Southern for the previous five seasons. He guided the Eagles to a 62-10 record in that span and two national championships. It only took him a year to get his flexbone offense running in Annapolis.

From 2003 to 2007, the Midshipmen went 8-4 or better every season and went undefeated against Air Force and Army, completely reversing the trend of the last two decades. Navy’s 10-2 record in 2004 earned them the #24 spot in the final rankings, their first end of season ranking in the Coaches Poll since 1978, and first in the AP since 1963.

In 2007, the Middies beat Notre Dame for the first time in 43 years, a painful streak that predated the advent of the real life Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Paul Johnson had beaten all 3 of Navy’s main rivals for the first time since 1960. Johnson accepted the Georgia Tech job following another 8-4 finish, and was replaced by disciple Ken Niumatalolo.

Under Niumatalolo, the Midshipmen picked up right where they left off with Johnson. They’ve easily been the most consistent of the Service Academies in the new millennium.

Air Force continued to roll through the early 2000′s, but once again, when Navy began rising the Falcons began to drop out of the sky. From 2004 to 2006, Air Force suffered three consecutive losing seasons, one more than they’d suffered under DeBerry’s entire tenure up to that point. DeBerry retired after the ‘06 season and was replaced by Troy Calhoun.

Calhoun was immediately successful in Colorado Springs, and Air Force won 8 or more games in his first four seasons. The Falcons didn’t immediately start beating Navy, but that would come soon enough.

Meanwhile, Army hit rock bottom. The newly renamed Black Knights hired Todd Berry away from Illinois State in 2000 but just never got any kind of momentum going. Berry’s disappointing tenure lasted three and a half seasons and ended with a mid-season sacking after accruing a horrific 5-35 record.

Bobby Ross was brought in for the 2004 season, but even the veteran coach who’d won a national championship at Georgia Tech wasn’t able to turn things around. Army left Conference-USA after the ‘04 season but it didn’t change the quality of the team. Ross retired after 2006, managing only 9 wins in 3 seasons. Stan Brock’s two seasons with consecutive 3-9 records are best forgotten.

Commander-in-Chief Record Air Force: 22 Navy: 22 Army: 7

Navy’s 7 consecutive wins over both Army and Air Force between 2003 and 2009 pulled them back even with Air Force in our tally. Army managed only one win against either team in this span over an equally hapless Falcons team in 2004.

The Black Knights are more or less out of the running to really ever take control of the all-time series for the Trophy unless a momentous shift in the Service Academy universe happens.

Funny little side note: all three schools got new head coaches in 2007. Two of them worked out, one very much didn’t.

(Relative) Parity: 2010-2019

Troy Calhoun and Ken Niumatalolo have done amazing jobs keeping the programs they inherited strong, and Air Force and Navy began trading off wins for most of the 2010′s. The Falcons took advantage of a slight dip by the Midshipmen in 2011, and then Navy returned the favor when Air Force suffered a few mediocre seasons in 2012 and 2013.

For the first time since the mid-80′s, two of the Service Academies were playing good football, the odd one out being Army. The Black Knights spent most of the decade wandering through the desert, and have been complete non-factor in the three way rivalry other than an upset over Air Force in 2012.

Rich Ellerson was hired in 2009 after guiding Cal Poly to two FCS Playoff berths. Ellerson managed to briefly turn things around in 2010, leading Army to their first bowl since 1996, though they didn’t beat either Air Force or Navy. The Black Knights couldn’t build on their first winning season in nearly 20 years, and Ellerson was fired in 2013 after going 8-28 in his final three seasons.

Army took a page from their rivals and hired another Georgia Southern head coach when they drew Jeff Monken away from the FCS. Monken took two seasons to get his ducks in a row before taking the Black Knights to the postseason once again. Army finished 8-5 in 2016, which included a momentous 21-17 win over Navy, snapping a 14 game losing streak, easily the longest in their historic rivalry. Air Force had already won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, but that would change the following year.

In 2017, the Black Knights reclaimed the Trophy and finished the year 10-3. In 2018, they went 11-2, and finished with an 11-2 record and an incredible 70-14 crushing of Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl. Their final #19 ranking in the AP Poll was their highest since 1958, the illustrious Earl Blaik’s last season at West Point. Army was able to defend the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the first time ever. The Black Knights weren’t able to make it a three-peat, but hey, baby steps.

Commander-in-Chief Record Air Force: 26 Navy: 26 Army: 9

With Navy’s victory in 2019, the Midshipmen again pull even with Air Force atop the all-time standings. Army still isn’t out of the single digits, but they’re close. Air Force and Navy obviously still did most of the heavy lifting in this past decade, but the Black Knights are at least making things interesting.

For the first time since at least the mid-1970′s, there is relative parity between the Service Academies. It’s hard to imagine that all three can maintain success in the long run. Winning at a Service Academy is like walking a tightrope. It has such unique recruiting challenges and quirks, it’s a miracle that Air Force and Navy have been as good as they have for this long. With Army joining the mix there’s likely to be a drop off by another, since all of these programs recruit from the same small pool of talent.

No matter what it’s always fun to watch their offbeat, old-school brand of football and occasionally see them knock off a big boy team. I wish them all the best moving forward.

Postscript: 1890-1959 and extras

I feel compelled to mention the real all-time standings for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy before I do anything else. Unlike the Florida Cup, it was begun at the most logical point in the three-way series and has been consistently given out each year.

“Real” Commander-in-Chief Record (Since 1972) Air Force: 20 Navy: 16 Army: 8

Air Force leads the series since 1972 because Navy’s relatively successful years in the 1960′s aren’t counted.

1959-2019 No Ties Air Force: 24 Navy: 22 Army: 9

Navy was the greatest beneficiary of ties in the series, retaining the Trophy 4 out of the 6 times it happened. Without the ties going to the Midshipmen, Air Force has a slight lead in the all-time series.

Everything (1890-2019) Navy: 50 Army: 44 Air Force: 26

Army outplayed Navy on the field during the early days of the rivalry before Air Force came onto the scene. It goes a long way to rectify the great disparity between the Black Knights and their other two rivals. Navy holds the edge in the all-time series, but Army is only 6 wins behind. Air Force, naturally, is far behind seeing as how the Falcons didn’t wouldn’t even found their school for 65 years after Army and Navy began playing football.

1890-2019 no ties Navy: 46 Army: 39 Air Force: 24

Army was the major beneficiary of the no-ties rule if you count back before 1958. The Black Knights (the Cadets at the time) managed to secure the trophy in all five of the times that Army and Navy tied, having won the previous year in every instance.

Without ties, Navy still leads, but the gap has grown by one game between the Midshipmen and the Black Knights.

Thanks for reading. I have a few more of these to explore. They take a while to make so thanks for being patient.

-thecfbguy

#college football #Air Force Falcons #Army Black Knights #Navy Midshipmen

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wsmith215 · 4 years

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TV pioneer Phyllis George, co-host of ‘The NFL Today,’ dies at 70

Phyllis George, the former Miss America who became a female sportscasting pioneer on CBS’ “The NFL Today” and served as the first lady of Kentucky, has died. She was 70.

A family spokeswoman said George died Thursday at a Lexington, Kentucky, hospital after a long fight with a blood disorder.

Her children, Lincoln Tyler George Brown and CNN White House correspondent Pamela Ashley Brown, remembered George as “the most incredible mother we could ever ask for.”

“For many, Mom was known by her incredible accomplishments as the pioneering female sportscaster, 50th Miss America and first lady,” they said in a joint statement. “But this was all before we were born and never how we viewed Mom. To us, she was the most incredible mother we could ever ask for, and it is all of the defining qualities the public never saw, especially against the winds of adversity, that symbolize how extraordinary she is more than anything else. The beauty so many recognized on the outside was a mere fraction of her internal beauty, only to be outdone by an unwavering spirit that allowed her to persevere against all the odds.”

Miss America in 1971, George joined Brent Musburger and Irv Cross in 1975 on “The NFL Today.” Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder later was added to the cast.

“Phyllis George was special. Her smile lit up millions of homes for the NFL Today,” Musburger tweeted. “Phyllis didn’t receive nearly enough credit for opening the sports broadcasting door for the dozens of talented women who took her lead and soared.”

Each Sunday afternoon, “The NFL Today” aired three live versions of the half-hour pregame show — one at 12:30 p.m. ET for the East, another at 1:30 ET for Midwest stations and again at 3:30 ET for the West Coast — in addition to brief halftime breaks during the long afternoon. Until then, pregame shows had little cachet; it was the postgame program with highlights from the Sunday games that held sway.

“The CBS Sports family is deeply saddened by the passing of Phyllis George, an icon in the sports broadcasting industry who contributed greatly to the rich history and tradition of CBS Sports,” Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, said in a statement. “Phyllis was not only a key member of a show that remains the gold standard of NFL pregame shows, the NFL Today with Brent, Irv and ‘The Greek,’ but also a pioneer for all women in broadcasting.”

Phyllis George served as a co-host of CBS’ “The NFL Today” — alongside Brent Musburger, right, Irv Cross and, later, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder — from 1975 until 1984. Richard Lee/NY Daily News via Getty Images

“In my gut, I thought Phyllis was pretty special,” the late Bob Wussler, who hired George at CBS, once told USA Today. “I thought there was a role for her, as somebody who could talk to guys who knew something about sports.”

But George said she was bombarded with hate mail.

“When you’re the first, you’re a pioneer,” George told USA Today in 1999. “I felt they didn’t know who Phyllis George was. They played me up as a former Miss America, a sex symbol. I can’t help how I look, but below the surface, I was a hard-working woman. If I hadn’t made that work, women eventually would have come into sportscasting, but it would have taken them longer.”

George spent three seasons on the live pregame show, returned in 1980 and left in 1983, winning plaudits for the warmth of her interviews with star athletes. She also covered horse racing, including the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, hosted the entertainment show “People” and co-anchored the “CBS Morning News.”

She was briefly married to Hollywood producer Robert Evans in the mid-1970s and to John Y. Brown Jr. from 1979 to 1998. Brown owned Kentucky Fried Chicken and the NBA’s Boston Celtics and served as the governor of Kentucky.

“Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky,” Brown told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “We had a great partnership. I think we enjoyed every single day.”

From Denton, Texas, George attended the University of North Texas for three years then went to TCU after earning a scholarship as Miss Texas in 1970.

In her 2002 memoir, George wrote that a male friend told her sportscasting wouldn’t work because it was a man’s job. George even acknowledged knowing nothing about the industry and having no experience or another female mentor to follow.

None of it stopped her.

George was a friend of Minister Norman Vincent Peale and a devout believer in his best-selling philosophy of positive thinking. George credited that approach for launching a defining career she didn’t expect — one that saw her range into an astonishing variety of ventures and roles, in media, the film industry, food and beauty products and as the glamorous first lady of the Bluegrass State.

“Saying yes to yourself opens up opportunities that can take you anywhere,” George wrote. “Having a mentor in your life who says yes to you is also key. Appreciate your mentors when you’re starting out. And later, always give credit to the people who were there with you at the beginning.”

ESPN sportscaster Hannah Storm remembered George as “the ultimate trailblazer” who inspired other women by showing that careers in sportscasting could be within their grasp.

“A lot of times when you’re dreaming of something as a career option, you have to see it in order to believe it,” she said. “And someone has to be first, and that was Phyllis.”

Rest In Peace Phyllis George 🙏🏻. A true pioneer who approached her job with enthusiasm, empathy and humour. She was herself-charming and funny ..helped her audiences connect with some of the great sports figures of the day. Condolences to her family & all who loved her. ❤️

— Hannah Storm (@HannahStormESPN) May 16, 2020

Neal Pilson, a former president of CBS Sports, called George’s hiring as part of “The NFL Today” team a “groundbreaking decision” that “changed the face of sports television.”

“She had an openness and enthusiasm that made her a valuable contributor,” Pilson said. “She didn’t claim to know a tremendous amount about sports, but she knew about people, which is why her interviews resonated. She could do the best interviews with athletes and family members. She was a warm person, and that came through on the set and in the interviews.”

George conducted one-on-one interviews with star athletes such as NFL greats Joe Namath and Roger Staubach.

“People were uncomfortable with the idea of seeing a woman on TV talking about sports in a prominent role,” Storm said. “But someone has to go first. I give her so much respect for truly her courage. She had to put herself out there. Phyllis George did something out of the norm. And I’m forever grateful for her leading the way.”

George wasn’t the first, but she made her entrance around the time that other women were getting their starts reporting on sports too.

Jane Chastain was hired at CBS in 1974 and became the first female announcer on an NFL telecast that fall.

Lesley Visser became the first female NFL beat writer during a 14-year career at The Boston Globe that started in 1974. She later worked on “The NFL Today,” as well as with ABC and ESPN, becoming the first woman assigned to Monday Night Football in 1998.

Visser said George “always made you feel important and warm. I never heard her talk about anyone in a negative way. She made everything look so easy. She had a magnetic personality.”

The industry discovered George after she co-hosted “Candid Camera” and the Miss America pageant. She received a 13-week option from CBS in 1974 without a defined role. A popular interview with reluctant Celtics star Dave Cowens soon earned her a three-year deal and paved the way to her breakthrough role the next year on “The NFL Today.”

George moved on to co-host the “CBS Morning News” in 1985 but quit after less than eight months. Among the people she interviewed was former first lady Nancy Reagan. She later interviewed President Bill Clinton, in 1994, as part of her own prime-time talk show.

She was regularly taken to task by critics who charged that she didn’t know sports and didn’t know news.

“[Being Miss America] has been a help and a hindrance,” George once told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s been a help in that it’s opened doors. It’s been a hindrance in that people immediately said ‘BQ’ — you know, beauty queen. And you had to prove yourself more than the next person.”

George cited Emmys garnered by “The NFL Today” as evidence that she mastered the sports interview.

“I kept showing up, and they kept saying, ‘Hey, maybe she’s here to stay,'” George said. “Then we won a couple of Emmys for ‘The NFL Today’ show.”

ESPN’s Beth Mowins, who in 2017 became the first woman to call a regular-season NFL game since Gayle Sierens called one in 1987, said seeing George on “The NFL Today” provided Mowins’ “aha” moment.

“There was a woman talking about football,” Mowins told TheFootballGirl.com. “That’s what I was drawn to. I like sports and like to talk, so the two blended together perfectly.”

As a businesswoman, George founded Chicken By George, an eight-item line of fresh, marinated, chicken-breast entrees, and sold it two years later to Geo. A. Hormel & Co. She created Phyllis George Beauty in 2003. The cosmetic and skincare product line was sold through a TV home-shopping network.

She wrote several books and had roles in a pair of Hollywood comedy films.

“Phyllis is a pioneer. Her range is what impresses me the most,” former Kentucky and Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, now at Iona, wrote in the foreword to George’s memoir, “Never Say Never: Ten lessons to turn you can’t into YES I CAN.”

“She entered a highly competitive pageant and emerged as Miss America,” Pitino wrote. “She became the first national female sports broadcaster. She flourished in the limelight as First Lady in the state of Kentucky. She’s been successful in business. And she is a respected humanitarian. Each step along the way, she embraced the mission at hand.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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The post TV pioneer Phyllis George, co-host of ‘The NFL Today,’ dies at 70 appeared first on The Bleak Report.

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junker-town · 4 years

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How likely is it the Chiefs or 49ers make it back to the Super Bowl?

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Odds are we’ll get two new teams for Super Bowl 55.

With 32 teams and a talent-leveling salary cap, it’s incredibly difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champion. Since 1990, only three teams — the 1992-92 Cowboys, the 1997-98 Broncos, and the 2003-04 Patriots — have been able to defend their grasp on the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

That sets a lofty precedent for Chiefs quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes to follow. The last three starting QBs to attend back-to-back championship parades have been three absolute stars (Troy Aikman, John Elway, and Tom Brady).

That leaves a clear goal for Kansas City in 2020: elevate its quarterback from great to legendary. Mahomes is already the youngest player in league history to have won both a regular-season and Super Bowl MVP. The only fitting encore may be to do both in the same season. Only Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Steve Young, and Kurt Warner — all of them Hall of Famers — have been able to pull that off.

To do so, he’ll have to buck recent trends. In the last decade, only two teams have made a return appearance the season after winning the Super Bowl. Neither could get over that hump to reel in a second straight championship.

The Chiefs will be looking to avoid the Super Bowl hangover that ended the Broncos’, Ravens’, and Giants’ title defenses before the playoffs even began. Their stable quarterback situation should give them an excellent head start on the road to a title defense.

That Super Bowl 54 loss is bad news for the 49ers

In the 54 years of the Super Bowl, only three teams have gone from losing on the game’s biggest stage to winning one season later. New England was able to do it just over a year ago, but you’d have to go back to the early 1970s to find the other two teams to accomplish that feat:

1970-71 Cowboys, Super Bowls V and VI

1971-72 Dolphins, Super Bowls VI and VII

2017-18 Patriots, Super Bowls 52 and 53

The Cowboys fell to the Colts in Super Bowl V, and a year later, Roger Staubach led Dallas to a win over the Dolphins. Those Dolphins then won Super Bowl VII against Washington in January 1973. New England made it to three straight Super Bowls after the 2016-18 seasons (and four in a five-year span). The Patriots beat the Falcons with the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history to cap 2016, then couldn’t find that extra gear in another thriller — a 41-33 loss to the Eagles the following February. Brady avenged that loss by dispatching the Rams in a snoozer the next year.

Getting back to the Super Bowl and losing for a second straight season is equally rare. Only three franchises have ever had that ignominious honor.

1973-74 Vikings, Super Bowls VIII and IX

1986-87 Broncos, Super Bowls XXI and XXII

1990-93 Bills, Super Bowls XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII

It’s clear that, with a few exceptions, teams that get to Super Bowl Sunday and fail to reach the mountaintop typically don’t improve on that finish the following season. How do they turn out instead? Here’s a look at every Super Bowl loser from the past 10 years and how they dealt with the frustration of coming so achingly close to a world title.

The Niners probably won’t fall off a cliff next season — only the Panthers plummeted below .500 after winning their conference championship — but the odds of a February date in Tampa next year aren’t great. Only one of the last 10 Super Bowl losers have even returned to the big game the following year.

On the plus side, Super Bowl losers actually have a higher rate of playoff appearances this past decade than the winners — 80 percent vs. 70 percent. Last year’s losers, the Rams, may be a cautionary tale.

Like San Francisco, LA was an NFC West team that rode an offense with a shaky, but high-profile quarterback and a stout pass rush to the Super Bowl. Even with an improved defense that jumped from 17th to ninth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA efficiency rating, Jared Goff’s regression gave way to a 9-7 season in which the Rams were eliminated from the playoff race before Week 17. If Jimmy Garoppolo faces similar struggles, the Niners could fade from the NFC’s elite.

At only 24 years old, Mahomes will have plenty of opportunities to earn another world championship, even if a repeat title is a tough task. History suggests he probably won’t make it back to Super Bowl 55, but that it’s not an impossible destination. The outlook is a little more grim in San Francisco, though the 49ers are similarly capable of escaping recent trends.

Both teams will have a full offseason to manage their rosters and steel themselves for a return trip to Florida next February. But so will the league’s 30 other teams, and they’ve all set their targets on the reigning kings of the AFC and NFC.

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iquotation · 7 years

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Top 100 Inspirational Quotes

Inspirational quotes and motivational quotes have the power to get us through a bad week, and can even give us the courage to pursue our life’s dreams. Here are 100 inspirational quotes: 1. Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being. –Kevin Kruse 2. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill 3. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein 4. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost 5. I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale 6. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky 7. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan 8. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. –Amelia Earhart 9. Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. –Babe Ruth 10. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone 11. We must balance conspicuous consumption with conscious capitalism. –Kevin Kruse 12. Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. –John Lennon 13. We become what we think about. –Earl Nightingale 14.Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –Mark Twain 15.Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. –Charles Swindoll 16. The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. –Alice Walker 17. The mind is everything. What you think you become. –Buddha 18. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb 19. An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates 20. Eighty percent of success is showing up. –Woody Allen 21. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs 22. Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi 23. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey 24. Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. –Pablo Picasso 25. You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. –Christopher Columbus 26. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. –Maya Angelou 27. Either you run the day, or the day runs you. –Jim Rohn 28. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. –Henry Ford 29. The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. –Mark Twain 30. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 31. The best revenge is massive success. –Frank Sinatra 32. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily. –Zig Ziglar 33. Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. –Anais Nin 34. If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. –Vincent Van Gogh 35. There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle 36. Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. –Jesus 37. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. –Ralph Waldo Emerson 38. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. –Henry David Thoreau 39. When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me. –Erma Bombeck 40. Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him. –Booker T. Washington 41. Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart. – Ancient Indian Proverb 42. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. –Theodore Roosevelt 43. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. –George Addair 44. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. –Plato 45. Teach thy tongue to say, “I do not know,” and thous shalt progress. –Maimonides 46. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. –Arthur Ashe 47. When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. –John Lennon 48. Fall seven times and stand up eight. –Japanese Proverb 49. When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. –Helen Keller 50. Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see. –Confucius 51. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. –Anne Frank 52. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. –Lao Tzu 53. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. –Maya Angelou 54. Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions. –Dalai Lama 55. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. –Sheryl Sandberg 56. First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. –Aristotle 57. If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. –Latin Proverb 58. You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground. –Unknown 59. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. –Marie Curie 60. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. –Les Brown 61. Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. –Joshua J. Marine 62. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington 63. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. –Leonardo da Vinci 64. Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. –Jamie Paolinetti 65. You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame. –Erica Jong 66. What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. –Bob Dylan 67. I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. –Benjamin Franklin 68. In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. –Bill Cosby 69. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein 70. The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it. –Chinese Proverb 71. There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. –Roger Staubach 72. It is never too late to be what you might have been. –George Eliot 73. You become what you believe. –Oprah Winfrey 74. I would rather die of passion than of boredom. –Vincent van Gogh 75. A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. –Unknown 76. It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings. –Ann Landers 77. If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money. –Abigail Van Buren 78. Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. –Farrah Gray 79. The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself–the invisible battles inside all of us–that’s where it’s at. –Jesse Owens 80. Education costs money. But then so does ignorance. –Sir Claus Moser 81. I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. –Rosa Parks 82. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. –Confucius 83. If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough. –Oprah Winfrey 84. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. –Dalai Lama 85. You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou 86. Dream big and dare to fail. –Norman Vaughan 87. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. –Martin Luther King Jr. 88. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. –Teddy Roosevelt 89. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. –Tony Robbins 90. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. –Gloria Steinem 91. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. –Mae Jemison 92. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. –Beverly Sills 93. Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. –Eleanor Roosevelt 94. Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. –Grandma Moses 95. The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. –Ayn Rand 96. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. –Henry Ford 97. It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. –Abraham Lincoln 98. Change your thoughts and you change your world. –Norman Vincent Peale 99. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. –Benjamin Franklin 100. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, “I’m possible!” –Audrey Hepburn 101. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. –Steve Jobs 102. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. –Zig Ziglar

#quotes #quote #quotescollection #textquotes

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bwunlimited-blog · 5 years

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Last night, our west coast office team helped with a benefit fundraiser in Twin Falls, Idaho. The response to our assistance was absolutely historical. Just as example, one of the items we helped with was a Roger Staubach Dallas Cowboys autographed helmet. The "Cost to Non Profit" was $400.00 - it sold twice for $1,750.00 !!! Most of our items received numerous bids, we were able to sell multiple items to all the bidders. Our Cancun trip for (2) sold FIVE (5) times in the Live Auction. That's fundraising success !!! As always, our company motto "Charity First" is proven once again. If we can help you, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com. . . #bwunlimitedcharityfundraising #bwunlimited #charity #charityfundraising #fundraising #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #nonprofitorganizations #auctionitems #charityauctionitems #auctionitem #liveauction #silentauction #instagood #idaho #idahocharities #idahocharity #twinfalls #twinfallsidaho (at BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtuMMn_nI3a/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n4v3uh64q23u

#bwunlimitedcharityfundraising #bwunlimited #charity #charityfundraising #fundraising #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #nonprofitorganizations #auctionitems #charityauctionitems #auctionitem #liveauction #silentauction #instagood #idaho #idahocharities #idahocharity #twinfalls #twinfallsidaho

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cookiesandcreame1983-blog · 7 years

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Quotes for Wednesday April 26,2017

Attitude quotes It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. -Epictetus If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. -Maya Angelou One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. -Henry Miller Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Whenever you fall, pick something up. -Oswald Aver Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right. -Henry Ford ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Courage quotes Life is “trying things to see if they work.” Courage Quote by Ray Bradbury The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. Quotes on Courage-Quote by Charles DuBois Let courage be your candle whenever the negativities of the world surround you with darkness. Quote by Edmond Mbiaka Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. Quotes about courage-Quote by Andre Gide Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Courage Quote by Edward Vernon Rickenbacker It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. Quotes on Courage-Quote by Alan Cohen We need to find the courage to say no to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity. Courage Quote by Barbara De Angelis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Confidence quotes Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. Confidence quotes-Quote by Peter T. Mcintyre I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. Quote by Michael Jordan One doesn’t have to be a genius to have self-confidence; rather one has to strongly believe in their ability to work tirelessly for their desire in life. Quote by Edmond Mbiaka Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it. Quote by T.S. Eliot Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy. Quote by Brian Tracy Always remember that the only acceptance that is worth seeking is your own acceptance of your positive inner-self. Quote by Edmond Mbiaka Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory. Confidence quotes-Quote by Diane Arbus You are never a failure until you accept defeat as permanent and quit trying. Quote by Napoleon Hill We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot. Quote by Eleanor Roosevelt Confidence doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a result of something… hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication. Self-confidence quotes-Quote by Roger Staubach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friendship quotes In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. “You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.” – Laurence J. Peter “Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.” – Mark Twain “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.” – William Arthur Ward When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” – Donald Miller “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin “If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.” – Maxwell Maltz “A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” – Bernard Meltzer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Love quotes For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.--Judy Garland Forgiveness is the final form of love.--Reinhold Niebuhr From all the offspring of the earth and heaven love is the most precious.--Sappho (fragment) Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love.--Mother Teresa God is known by many different names... but identified by one consistent feeling: love, love for humanity, love for our children. Love does eventually conquer hate...--Rudolph Giuliani God's grace is the oil that fills the lamp of love.--Henry W. Beecher Grace is God's love in action for those who don't deserve it.--Robert Schuller The greatest thing each of us offers the world is ourselves, not a whirlwind of activity. People all around us are starving for love. People need our company, our presence and our comfort.--Susan K. Rowland (Make Room for God: Clearing Out the Clutter) The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're alive.--O. A. Battista ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thankful quotes Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.--William Arthur Ward For today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude.--Clarence E. Hodges For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received.--Storm Jameson (Journey from the North, v.2) Give thanks for all things. All things great and small, good, bad, for all things are for a purpose.--Ann Herbstreith Giving thanks is one course from which we never graduate.--Valerie Anders The more we thank God for the blessings we receive, the more we open the way for further blessings.--Betty J. Eadie

#attitude quotes #courage quotes #confidence quotes #friendship quotes #love quotes #thankful quotes

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chrisbkk · 7 years

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Staubach Falls in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

#wonderful #amazing #travel #explore #landscape #scenery #photography #lauterbrunnen #switzerland #staubach #falls

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junker-town · 5 years

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7 NFL trends to talk about at Thanksgiving to avoid awkward conversation

Lamar Jackson is setting the NFL on fire, one year after Patrick Mahomes did.

What’s in? What’s out? What’s so last year? Here’s what’s all the rage in the NFL this season.

Thanksgiving is America’s ode to awkward conversations around the dinner table. It’s the only time of the year when you’re confronted in person with nonsense you can usually block online. There’s your uncle spewing his increasingly conspiracy theorist political views, your family friend who you call an aunt who is not an aunt trying to pedal some “organic” face cream, and your wined-up Nana telling everyone who her favorite grandchild is (it’s you, of course).

Luckily, football is there to save us when we don’t want to answer questions about our dating life or hear your cousin’s thoughts about impeachment.

If you haven’t been paying much attention to the NFL this season, it’s OK. We’re not here to judge. Maybe you’ve been busy. Maybe you got really into the CFL this year instead. Maybe you’re a Bengals fan.

It’s not too late, though. There’s still time to get caught up on the latest trends in the NFL so you can avoid turning into the “Ight Imma Head Out” SpongeBob meme and steer any discussion back to what’s happening on the football field.

The best player in the NFL is ...

Out: Tom Brady is the GOAT So last year: Patrick Mahomes is the GOAT In: Lamar Jackson is the GOAT

Yes, technically Brady is still the GOAT, but he’s lost his fastball, even if the Patriots are still the Patriots. Jackson is officially the most exciting player in the league, supplanting Mahomes and leading the red-hot Ravens to a 9-2 start.

Jackson has been every bit the dynamic force he was while winning a Heisman Trophy at Louisville — except now he’s doing it against NFL defenses. He’s beaten both teams that played in Super Bowl 53 this season, racking up eight total touchdowns (six passing, two rushing) against them in the process.

So far this season, he’s got:

more passing touchdowns than anyone in the league but Russell Wilson (they’re tied at 24)

a higher completion rate than Dak Prescott (66.9 to 66.8)

the highest QBR (82.2) and a passer rating higher than Mahomes (111.4 to 110)

more yards per attempt than Deshaun Watson (8.1 to 8.0)

more rushing yards than Le’Veon Bell OR Todd Gurley (876)

more rushing touchdowns than Leonard Fournette (five to three)

That’s pushed him to the forefront of the MVP race. He’ll still have to fend off Wilson, but if he can play at even 90 percent of his abilities over the rest of the season, he’ll make it two straight seasons when a second-year QB is named the league’s most valuable player.

The top QB from the 2016 draft is ...

Out: Carson Wentz, savior of the City of Brotherly Love So last year: Jared Goff, God’s gift to the West Coast offense In: Dak Prescott, better than Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach combined

Goff and Wentz were the first two picks in the 2016 draft and had high expectations coming into the league. For a while, it looked like they had lived up to the hype. Wentz was a legit MVP candidate in 2017 until his ACL injury put Nick Foles into the lineup — and delivered the Eagles their first Super Bowl. Goff had his strongest season yet in 2018 and got the Rams to the Super Bowl, though they came up short of a championship. Both got big new contracts in the offseason.

Yet it’s Prescott — a fourth-round pick and the eighth quarterback off the board in 2016 — who not only hasn’t struggled this year, but he keeps getting better:

JARED GOFF v. CARSON WENTZ v. DAK PRESCOTT IN THEIR LAST 16 GAMES: pic.twitter.com/IUG3AfWObI

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) November 26, 2019

Prescott currently leads the league in total passing yards and is in the top five in touchdown passes, QBR, and yards per pass. Although he doesn’t have a Super Bowl trip under his belt, he has led the Cowboys to two playoff appearances and three straight winning seasons. It looks like he could accomplish both again this season, too.

Dallas is in the driver’s seat in the NFC East, and while the Cowboys have some glaring problems (mainly, coaching), Prescott isn’t one of them. He’ll be rewarded for that soon with his own (richer) contract extension.

The way to win the Super Bowl is ...

Out: Defense wins championships, even with a caretaker QB So last year: Offense is the king In: Defense is baaaaack ... but you need a passing game

Defense is paving the way for the NFL’s elite, just like in last season’s playoffs. The two best records in the NFL currently belong to the Patriots and the 49ers, who boast the top two defenses in about every metric — scoring, yards allowed, yards per play, and defensive DVOA.

Yes, New England still has that Brady fella you’ve probably heard of, but he’s putting up underwhelming numbers. The Patriots are winning because of their boogeymen defense. It’s the same story for San Francisco, another one-loss team that is doing just fine with Jimmy Garoppolo but also doesn’t need to rely on its offense to win games.

Last year, the unstoppable offenses of the Rams and Chiefs were all the rage. Both lost to the Patriots in the postseason and since, Los Angeles has slowed down significantly while the Kansas City defense is still too terrible to make the Chiefs all that scary.

The 2019 season has shown that a powerful defense can lead the way — as long as your quarterback isn’t someone as lousy as Mitchell Trubisky.

The NFL’s laughingstock is ...

Out: The Browns, after a nearly two-decade run So last year: The Cardinals, who literally paid Sam Bradford money in 2018 In: The Bears, because they chose Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson

In 2017, the Bears traded up to No. 2 to draft Trubisky, a quarterback who only had one year of starting experience at UNC. As anyone who had watched college football that year knew, two other quarterbacks selected several picks later were the real deal. Mahomes and Watson aren’t just good young quarterbacks, either. They’re bonafides stars who should have long, productive careers.

Then there’s Trubisky, who has fallen from “adequate game manager” to maybe the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. To make matters worse, he’s squandering what should be one of the league’s dominant defenses.

It’s not just that Trubisky is bad, either. It’s that he’s really bad. The Bears have zero identity on offense and zero spark. There is very little reason to expect Trubisky, with his 5.8 yards per pass average, to ever lead them on a scoring drive and when he does, it feels like a minor miracle.

He is prime dunking-on material, and should make for some good Thanksgiving laughs. Be sure to stress the Mahomes and Watson angle at the dinner table.

Our view on the youngest NFL coach ever is ...

Out: Sean McVay is the future of NFL coaching So last year: Get used to Sean McVay, the NFL’s most innovative coach In: Oh damn, they figured out how to stop Sean McVay already?

McVay revived the Rams after taking the reins as head coach in 2017, winning a division title in his first year at the helm and then guiding his team to the Super Bowl in 2018. Barring a drastic change, his 2019 follow-up will be sending his players off for an early vacation when the playoffs roll around.

The Rams have fallen to the middle of the NFC pack as issues have cropped up on both sides of the ball. A defense anchored by All-Pros Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey has given up 45+ points multiple times this season. Jared Goff, an MVP candidate through most of 2018, did this:

Jared Goff threw zero touchdowns in the month of November

— Adam Stites (@AdamStites_) November 26, 2019

Part of McVay’s issue is attributable to injuries that have fundamentally changed the way his offensive line blocks for Todd Gurley. Without center Brian Allen or guard Joe Noteboom — tackle Rob Havenstein has missed time with a knee injury as well — LA’s simplistic zone rushing plan has struggled to create space up front. That’s allowed teams to divert attention to the Rams’ passing game and, well, that’s how you wind up with zero passing touchdowns for an entire month.

McVay’s prospects in Los Angeles may not get better anytime soon. The Rams are pressed up against the salary cap thanks to massive deals for players like Donald, Goff, Gurley, and Brandin Cooks. They don’t have much draft capital to spend on young impact players because they shipped their next two first-round picks to Jacksonville for Ramsey. It’s possible LA peaked in 2018 — and that might extend to McVay as well.

Our reaction to the NFL’s biggest goof of a coach is ...

Out: laughing at Jon Gruden in the Monday Night Football booth So last year: laughing at Jon Gruden as the Raiders coach In: giving Jon Gruden some credit

Gruden’s 2018 was a disaster, but his teardown — which sent stars Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper packing — has begun to set up a foundation in Oakland. Newly installed general manager Mike Mayock has been a valuable governor to Gruden’s hotter takes, turning the team’s 2019 draft into a handful of young stars. Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, Maxx Crosby, Foster Moreau, and Hunter Renfrow are set to be significant pieces of the team’s future.

As a result, the Raiders are a surprising piece of the AFC’s postseason puzzle, even if their 34-3 loss to the Jets (!) knocked them into a four-way tie for the conference’s final wild card spot. A strong finish could turn a team oddsmakers pegged to win six games this fall into an honest-to-goodness playoff team, and that’s validated the wild swings the coach-turned-announcer-turned-coach took in 2018.

Gruden needed to create a product fans could get excited about in time for the team’s 2020 move to Las Vegas. The Raiders aren’t a Super Bowl contender yet, but if you squint hard enough you can see how they’d get there — and that’ll be enough to move tickets in the middle of the Nevada desert.

The one NFL opinion we can all agree on is ...

Out: Jimmy Garoppolo, Patriots backup, is handsome So last year: Jimmy Garoppolo, injured 49ers QB, is handsome In: Jimmy Garoppolo, QB of the NFC-leading 49ers, is handsome

Nothing can unite a group of people together like a mutual acknowledgement that Garoppolo is handsome. We would say he’s movie star handsome, but he’s more handsome than that. Movie stars wish they could be as handsome as Garoppolo.

For anybody claiming that Garoppolo is inconsistent on the field, well, just look at his handsomeness. The guy was handsome for years behind the average-at-best-by-comparison Tom Brady. Then he came to San Francisco, won a few games handsomely, then sustained a pretty bad ACL tear which, while handsome, was very disappointing.

Now, he’s led the 49ers to a handsome 10-1 record, the best in the NFC. That lone loss came to the Seahawks, and if you were wondering if the loss was handsome:

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Obviously, it was.

So when all else fails, let Jimmy G’s handsomeness help keep the peace at Thanksgiving.

0 notes

your-dietician · 3 years

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Every NFL team's biggest do-over: Russell Wilson's Super Bowl pick, Jackie Smith's drop headline all-time list

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nfl/every-nfl-teams-biggest-do-over-russell-wilsons-super-bowl-pick-jackie-smiths-drop-headline-all-time-list/

Every NFL team's biggest do-over: Russell Wilson's Super Bowl pick, Jackie Smith's drop headline all-time list

For every thrilling pick six, last-second touchdown pass, and breathtaking run, there’s a gut-wrenching drop, a jaw-dropping turnover or a head-scratching coaching decision that has left a permanent mark on an NFL team and their fan base. Some of these moments have been forgiven over time, while others continue to haunt the franchise and the fans who witnessed the moment.

With the 2021 season just around the corner, we decided to take a look at each NFL team’s most desired do-over. As criteria for our list, we decided to identify plays where the team made the mistake as opposed to the opponent making a great play. For example, Joe Montana’s game-winning touchdown pass to Dwight Clark against the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game was more of a great play by Montana and Clark and not a breakdown by the Cowboys defense.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Arizona Cardinals: Kurt Warner’s pick six (Super Bowl XLIII)

After falling behind early, the Cardinals threatened to take the lead over the favored Steelers just before halftime. Instead of blitzing Warner, Steelers linebacker James Harrison moved back into coverage, where he stepped in front of Warner’s pass for Anquan Boldin at the goal line. Harrison then completed the longest pick six in Super Bowl history, a play that helped the Steelers defeat the Cardinals, 27-23. While there were several other plays the Cardinals likely wished they had back, Warner surely wishes he would have focused more on where Harrison — the league’s Defensive Player of the Year that season — was before firing his ill-advised pass.

Atlanta Falcons: Don’ta Hightower’s sack/forced fumble (Super Bowl LI)

If given the opportunity to do it again, then-Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan would have called a running play with the Falcons ahead 28-12 and facing a third-and-1 on the Patriots’ 36-yard line with 8:31 remaining in Super Bowl LI. Instead of giving the ball to one of his backs, Shanahan called for a pass play which resulted in Don’ta Hightower forcing a sack/forced fumble of Matt Ryan that was scooped up by Alan Branch. The Patriots made it a one-possession game two minutes later, and would go on to pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Buffalo Bills: Bruce Smith’s safety (Super Bowl XXV)

While it did not give them their desired result, the Bills had no chance but to bring out Scott Norwood to attempt a 47-yard kick (he had never made a kick of that distance on grass) with eight seconds left their 20-19 Super Bowl XXV loss. One quarter earlier, the Bills’ inability to stop Mark Ingram on a pivotal third-and-13 was more of a great play by Ingram and not a lapse in defense by the Bills. A play that sticks out just as much — if not more — than those plays was Bruce Smith’s sack of Jeff Hostetler with 8:52 remaining in the second quarter. While the sack resulted in a safety, Smith was unable to jar the football loose from Hostetler, who held on to the ball despite Bruce grabbing his right wrist. Had Bruce been able to force a fumble and either he or a teammate recovered it in the end zone, Buffalo would have led 17-3. Given how methodical the Giants offense moved in order to score points, a touchdown there may have made the difference in what was the smallest margin of victory in Super Bowl history.

Baltimore Ravens: Third and just short (2011 AFC Championship Game)

Trailing 23-20, Baltimore still had one timeout as it faced a second-and-1 on the Patriots’ 14-yard line with 27 seconds left in the AFC Championship Game. After Lee Evans dropped what would have been a sure touchdown, the Ravens attempted another pass at the same defender (Sterling Moore) that fell incomplete. Baltimore then eschewed going for the win and likely regretted its decision after Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard attempt. With the benefit of hindsight, the Ravens probably would have tried a run on third down before using their third and final timeout.

Carolina Panthers: John Kasay’s misstep (Super Bowl XXXVIII)

One of the best kickers of his era, Kasay committed a costly error when he kicked the ball out of bounds just after the Panthers had tied Super Bowl XXXVIII. With a short field to work with, Tom Brady quickly moved the Patriots into field goal range, where Adam Vinatieri booted the game-winning kick in a 32-29 win. If given the chance at a do-over, Kasay said he would have kicked the ball “right down the hash” instead of trying to pin the kickoff near the right sideline.

Cincinnati Bengals: Lewis Billups’ dropped pick (Super Bowl XXIII)

Points were at a premium in Super Bowl XXIII. The game’s first touchdown wasn’t scored until Stanford Jennings’ 93-yard kickoff return gave the Bengals a 10-3 lead at the end of the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups dropped what would have been an interception in the Bengals’ end zone. Joe Montana — who never threw an interception in 122 Super Bowl pass attempts — hit Jerry Rice for the game-tying score. Cincinnati regained the lead (at 16-13) before Montana led the 49ers on an epic game-winning drive for a 20-16 victory.

Cleveland Browns: Right Right 88 (1980 AFC divisional playoff)

While a field goal would have given them the lead, the Browns attempted a pass on second down from the Raiders’ 13-yard line with under a minute to play in their 14-12 loss in the divisional round of the 1980 playoffs. Brian Sipe, after being instructed by coach Sam Rutigliano to “throw it into Lake Erie” if his receiver wasn’t open, threw a pass to tight end Ozzie Newsome that was intercepted by Oakland defensive back Mike Davis. Despite torrid weather conditions that contributed to the Browns being unsuccessful on four previous kicks, it’s safe to say that the Browns would have tried something other than Red Right 88, the play that ended their memorable season.

Chicago Bears: Rex’s gross pick six (Super Bowl XLI)

The Bears were still very much in Super Bowl XLI with 12 minutes to play. That changed, however, when quarterback Rex Grossman threw an ill-advised pass for Muhsin Muhammad that was intercepted by Kelvin Hayden and returned for a 56-yard touchdown, the final score in the Colts’ 29-17 win. Instead of throwing to Muhammad (who caught a 22-yard pass on the previous play) in a torrential downpour, the Bears would have been better-served giving the ball in that situation to running back Thomas Jones, who rushed for 112 yards on only 15 carries.

Dallas Cowboys: Jackie Smith’s drop (Super Bowl XIII)

Dallas was on the verge of tying Super Bowl XIII near the end of the third quarter. Facing a third down at its own 10-yard line, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach found a wide open Jackie Smith in the Steelers’ end zone. Smith’s drop was the first of three massive Cowboys miscues that allowed the Steelers to take a 35-17 lead en route to a 35-31 win. Staubach, if given the chance to try his fateful pass again, said he wouldn’t have lobbed his pass to Smith, who missed his one opportunity to win a Super Bowl in what was a 16-year Hall of Fame career.

Denver Broncos: ‘Giant’ mistake (Super Bowl XXI)

Despite having Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway at his disposal, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan called consecutive running plays from the 2-yard line midway through the second quarter of Super Bowl XXI. After Giants linebacker Harry Carson nailed Gerald Willhite for no gain on second down, New York linebacker Carl Banks stuffed Sammy Winder for a 4-yard loss on third down. Ahead 10-7, the Broncos failed to extend their lead after Rich Karlis missed a 23-yard field goal, the shortest attempted miss in Super Bowl history. Karlis ended the half with another miss (this one 34 yards), as Denver was outscored 32-10 following the Giants’ goal-line stand en route to a 39-20 loss.

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Detroit Lions: Questionable fourth-down decision (2014 wild card playoff)

Anthony Hitchens’ coverage of Brandon Pettigrew late in the Lions’ 2014 wild card playoff game against the Cowboys is one of the worst non-calls in NFL playoff history. That being said, the Lions’ decision to punt on the ensuing play — they faced a fourth-and-1 on the Cowboys’ 46-yard line with 8:25 left — was one they immediately regretted after Sam Martin shanked the punt. With a short field, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo turned a 20-17 deficit into a 24-20 victory. Along with the fourth-down decision, the Lions twice settled for field goals earlier in the game when a touchdown may have put the game away.

Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren’s hiccup (Super Bowl XXXII)

The Packers had no answer for Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. Despite missing just about the entire second quarter with a migraine headache, Davis had rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on his first 29 carries. His 30th carry resulted in his third touchdown that gave Denver a 31-24 lead with 1:47 left. While the Packers had not come up with a way to stop him, coach Mike Holmgren instructed his defense to let Davis score in order to give Brett Favre and the Packers more time at the end of the game. Favre ultimately drove the Packers to Denver’s 31-yard line before firing three straight incomplete passes. While Davis likely would have scored regardless, Holmgren’s decision to make it a certainty was not viewed well by Packers fans.

Houston Texans: A missed opportunity (2019 AFC divisional playoff)

Leading 21-0 in the divisional round of their 2019 playoff game against the Chiefs, the Texans probably felt OK settling for a field goal with 10:58 remaining in the second quarter to stretch their lead to 24-0. Houston likely regretted its decision not to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Chiefs’ 13-yard line after Patrick Mahomes got the Chiefs on the scoreboard less than a minute later. Kansas City scored again shortly after Houston failed to convert on a fourth-and-4 run. Things only got worse from there, as the Chiefs scored 51 of the game’s final 58 points en route to a 51-31 win. Would a 31-0 lead have been enough to break the Chiefs’ spirit? Texans fans will never know.

Indianapolis Colts: Manning’s miscue (Super Bowl XLIV)

Three years after winning his first Super Bowl, Peyton Manning and the Colts had a chance to tie Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints after falling behind 24-17. Facing a third-and-5 at the Saints’ 31-yard line, Manning uncharacteristically locked into his receiver, Reggie Wayne, allowing Tracy Porter to step in front of Wayne en route to a 74-yard pick six that capped a 31-17 New Orleans win. It’s safe to say that Manning would like to have that pass back.

Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford’s penalty (2018 AFC Championship Game)

This one was easy. Had Ford stayed onside, Charvarius Ward’s interception of Tom Brady would have stood, giving the Chiefs the ball and a four-point lead with 54 seconds left in the 2018 AFC Championship Game. Instead, the Patriots went on to defeat the Chiefs in overtime. The Chiefs won the following Super Bowl, but they missed out possibly winning another Super Bowl during Patrick Mahomes’ first season under center.

Los Angeles Chargers: What about L.T.? (2006 AFC divisional playoff)

With the scored tied late in their 2006 divisional round playoff game against the Patriots, the Chargers inexplicably forgot about LaDainian Tomlinson, the league’s MVP during the regular season. After a 5-yard run by Tomlinson on first down, quarterback Philip Rivers then threw an incomplete pass on second down, stopping the clock. Adding insult to injury was that the Chargers wasted a timeout after the incomplete pass, which they badly needed after falling behind with 1:14 left. Instead of having the timeout, Nate Kaeding was forced to try a 54-yard field goal with eight seconds left, a kick that hooked wide to the right in a 24-21 loss.

Los Angeles Rams: Vince Ferragamo’s one mistake (Super Bowl XIV)

Vince Ferragamo, a backup who led the Rams to the Super Bowl following Pat Haden’s late-season injury, outplayed eventual game MVP Terry Bradshaw for most of Super Bowl XIV. But with the Rams trailing the Steelers 24-19 late in the game, Ferragamo made his only mistake when he forced a pass through the middle of the Steelers defense that was intercepted by Jack Lambert deep in Pittsburgh territory. Making matters worse was that Ferragamo missed a wide-open Billy Waddy, who was left uncovered on a post pattern. The Steelers put the game away on their ensuing possession and went on to win 31-19.

Jacksonville Jaguars: More pressure on Brady (2017 AFC Championship Game)

Despite not parlaying Myles Jack’s forced turnover into points, the Jaguars still held a 20-10 lead over the Patriots with less than nine minutes remaining in the 2017 AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars, however, missed a golden opportunity to increase their odds at victory after allowing Tom Brady to complete a 21-yard pass to Danny Amendola on third-and-18 from the Patriots’ 25-yard line. The Patriots ended up scoring a touchdown on the drive and would ultimately defeat the Jaguars, 24-20. If given the chance at a do-over, it’s safe to say that the Jaguars would have rushed more than four players on that crucial third-down play.

Miami Dolphins: Kim Bokamper’s missed pick six (Super Bowl XVII)

The Dolphins’ Killer B’s held Washington to just 13 points through the first three quarters of Super Bowl XVII. With a 17-13 lead, Miami nearly took control of the game after defensive end Kim Bokamper nearly caught his own deflection of Joe Theismann’s pass inside Washington’s 5-yard line. Had Bokamper hung on to the pass, he would have waltzed into the end zone while giving the Dolphins a double-digit lead. Instead, Washington scored the go-ahead touchdown on John Riggins’ iconic 42-yard run on its next possession. The Dolphins ended up losing the game 27-17.

Minnesota Vikings: Brett Favre’s faux pas (2009 NFC Championship Game)

The Vikings were on the verge of punching their Super Bowl ticket near the end of the 2009 NFC Championship Game in New Orleans. With the scored tied 28-28, the Vikings had the ball at the Saints’ 33-yard line with 19 seconds left. But after a penalty pushed them back 5 yards, quarterback Brett Favre — instead of running for several yards, calling a timeout and setting up a game-winning field goal attempt — forced an errant pass that was picked off by Tracy Porter. Minnesota never got the ball back and ultimately lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Saints in overtime 31-28.

New England Patriots: David Tyree’s helmet catch (Super Bowl XLII)

Former Giants receiver David Tyree’s catch in Super Bowl XLII was incredible, but it’s safe to say that, had this play been attempted 1,000 times, Tyree’s improbable helmet catch wouldn’t have been duplicated. Similar to Brady’s third-down completion in the 2017 AFC title game, Bill Belichick likely would have put more heat on Eli Manning (New England rushed four players) if he had the chance of a do-over. Unfortunately for him, Belichick can’t reverse history, as the 2007 Patriots go down in the books as the greatest team not to win the Super Bowl.

New Orleans Saints: Alvin! (2019 NFC Championship Game)

Alvin and the Chipmunk’s Dave never forgot about his Alvin, and Sean Payton should have given Alvin Kamara another touch late in the Saints’ 2019 NFC Championship Game matchup against the Rams. While they were victim of one of the worst missed calls in NFL history, the Saints nevertheless should have given either Kamara or Mark Ingram the ball on third-and-10 from the Rams’ 13-yard line with 1:49 left. Had the Saints run the ball, they would have forced the Rams to either call their third timeout or let 40 seconds drip off of the clock. Instead, the Saints — after temporarily taking the lead on Will Lutz’s field goal — gave the Rams just enough time to tie things up to force overtime. The Saints lost 26-23 in overtime in what was their best shot at returning to a Super Bowl with Drew Brees as their quarterback.

New York Giants: Manning’s misstep (2008 NFC divisional playoff)

Keith Hamilton’s phantom holding call (negating Jessie Armstead’s game-tying pick six) in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXXV against the Ravens was considered, but there’s nothing the Giants can/could do about a bad call. They could, however, have called a better play for Eli Manning with their season on the line in the divisional round of the 2008 playoffs. Down 20-11 and facing a fourth-and-1 on their own 44 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Giants passed on giving the ball to either Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward (who combined to rush for 138 yards on 31 carries that day) and instead had Manning lunge into the teeth of the Eagles defense. Manning was unable to convert, and the Giants’ title defense ended with a 23-11 loss to the visiting Eagles.

New York Jets: Killer B’s get the best of Rex (2010 AFC Championship Game)

The Jets rallied from 24 points down to pull to within five points of the Steelers with 3:09 left in the 2010 AFC Championship Game. After using all three of their timeouts, the Jets forced the Steelers into a third-and-6 from New York’s 40-yard line with 2:38 left. Rex Ryan’s defense was unable to stop Ben Roethlisberger, however, as Roethlisberger rolled to his right before hitting Antonio Brown, who was in single coverage against a linebacker, to ice a 24-19 victory. Ryan, whose team lost in the AFC title game for a second consecutive year, would undoubtedly try something else against Big Ben if given the opportunity.

Las Vegas/Oakland Raiders: Franco’s Immaculate Reception

The Tuck Rule play was also considered here, but similar to Keith Hamilton’s holding call, you can’t do much about a questionable call. Conversely, the odds of Jack Tatum deflecting Terry Bradshaw’s pass right to the feet of Franco Harris happening the way it did a second time is about as likely as Aaron Rodgers showing up in Green Bay anytime soon (too soon, Packers fans?). There’s also the chance that Jimmy Warren could have tackled Harris before he reached the end zone if given a do-over. Alas, John Madden’s team can’t reverse history, as the Immaculate Reception remains one of the NFL’s indelible plays.

Philadelphia Eagles: Barber closes down The Vet (2002 NFC Championship Game)

Down 20-10, the Eagles were on the verge of making it a three-point game with 3:27 left in the 2002 NFC Championship Game against the Buccaneers. After two consecutive completions to Antonio Freeman, Donovan McNabb looked his way one too many times. On first-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ 10-yard line, McNabb’s pass intended for Freeman was picked off by Rhonde Barber, who stepped in front of Freeman before racing across the field for the game-clinching score. In hindsight, McNabb probably would have thrown the ball to Duce Staley, who was open on the other side of the hash marks. The loss was the Eagles’ final game at Veterans Stadium, the franchise’s home for more than 30 years.

San Francisco 49ers: Garoppolo’s overthrow (Super Bowl LIV)

Despite two quick touchdowns by the Chiefs, the 49ers still had a chance to win Super Bowl LIV with 2:44 to go. Facing a third-and-10 on the Chiefs’ 49-yard line, Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew Emmanuel Sanders — who had managed to get behind the secondary — by several yards. Had Garoppolo not overthrown Sanders, the 49ers likely would have scored the go-ahead touchdown. Instead, Garoppolo was sacked by Frank Clark on the ensuing play. Damien Williams’ 38-yard touchdown two plays later sealed the Chiefs’ 31-20 victory.

Seattle Seahawks: The interception (Super Bowl XLIX)

This one was easy. Down 28-24 late in Super Bowl XLIX, a 33-yard-completion from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse put the Seahawks in position to win their second consecutive Super Bowl. After a 4-yard run by Marshawn Lynch got Seattle to New England’s 1-yard line with 26 seconds left, the Seahawks elected not to give the ball to Beast Mode and instead called for Wilson to throw a slant pass to Ricardo Lockette. While Lockette was initially open, rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler jumped in front of him to record arguably the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history.

Pittsburgh Steelers: The play before ‘the pick’ (Super Bowl XXX)

Neil O’Donnell’s second interception to Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown in Super Bowl XXX is largely to blame for the Steelers’ first Super Bowl loss. But had Andre Hastings not dropped O’Donnell’s pass on the previous play (he was wide open and likely would have given the Steelers a first down near midfield with about four minutes remaining), O’Donnell likely wouldn’t have made his costly mistake that turned a three-point game into a 27-17 loss. Adding insult to injury was the fact that Hastings was otherwise brilliant that day; he caught a Steelers Super Bowl record 10 passes for 98 yards while being one of the main reasons why the Steelers nearly upset the favored Cowboys.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Warner’s perfect pass (1999 NFC Championship Game)

Shaun King’s ruled incomplete pass to Bert Emanuel (it would have counted in today’s NFL) sealed the Buccaneers’ fate in their 11-6 loss to the Rams in the 1999 NFC Championship Game. But that play wouldn’t have mattered had Kurt Warner not hit Ricky Proehl for the go-ahead score with 4:50 remaining. Despite playing a near-perfect game against the “Greatest Show on Turf,” the Buccaneers’ pass rush just missed getting to Warner, whose pass just evaded the reach of cornerback Brian Kelly. Arriving just after Proehl pulled in Warner’s pass was Hall of Fame safety John Lynch, who said he replayed the play in his head countless times in the days following the game.

Tennessee Titans: 1 yard away (Super Bowl XXXIV)

Spearheaded by Steve McNair’s Houdini-like effort, the Titans clawed to the Rams’ 10-yard line with five seconds remaining in Super Bowl XXXIV. Trailing 23-16, McNair hit Kevin Dyson on a slant pass 5 yards from the end zone. While Dyson appeared to have a clear path to the goal line, Rams linebacker Mike Jones, who had been covering tight end Frank Wycheck on the near sideline, turned his head at the last second before tackling Dyson 1 yard shy of the goal line. Had Wycheck done a better acting job, there’s a chance that he could have kept Jones’ attention while helping the Titans force overtime.

Washington Football Team: An unexpected defender (Super Bowl VII)

Down 14-0, Washington was threatening to make Super Bowl VII a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. On second-and-6 from the Dolphins’ 10-yard line, Billy Kilmer found tight end Jerry Smith wide open in the back of the end zone. The problem was that Kilmer’s pass never got there as it hit the cross bar. Eventual game MVP Jake Scott picked off Kilmer on the ensuing play. And while Mike Bass did make it a 14-7 game moments later on his 49-yard fumble return, Washington was never able to close the gap on Miami, the NFL’s first and last undefeated team.

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