Are You Ready for Some Football

[joncha]

Seattle shall fumble their way to the Superbowl

[SlowwHand]

Which of the four NFC teams left has the best chance at winning the Super Bowl?
Chicago Bears
Seattle Seahawks
New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles

https://www.nfl.com

[SlowwHand]

Spoiler:

49%
New Orleans Saints


23%
Philadelphia Eagles


22%
Chicago Bears


6%
Seattle Seahawks

Total Votes: 99801

[Dis]

haha, no one likes the Bears.

[-Jrabbit]

That's cool. I've got:
Chicago
New Orleans
New England
Baltimore

[-Jrabbit]

Interesting note:

The Panthers and Redskins are the only two teams currently over the salary cap.

The cap's unprecendented growth will make being fiscally responsibile much less important in the next few years. In past years, there was often ten or more teams, some $10 million or more over the cap. Carolina and Washington are barely over.

Source: Charlotte Observer

[Darsnan]

Bill Walsh interview

Although I've hated the Niners forever, why I've always respected Walsh and the way he ran his teams. Good to see he's feeling better, even if its only for a little while.

Silver: It's good to see you.

Walsh: Yeah, trust me, it's good to be here. Four weeks ago I was in really, really bad shape. I went about a month where the only thing I could eat was crackers, and my body couldn't fight off any infections: My face was all swollen in two places, and the doctors were extremely concerned. But I've been going to the hospital three days a week and getting blood transfusions, and I'm doing a lot better. I've got hope, now. And I should find out very soon if my blood levels are what they want them to be or if they've slipped back. That would be ironic if I got sick again, because I've just gotten a taste of normal life for about four days, now. So, God, if I sink back, how many times do I have to go through it? Boy.

Silver: How long have you been dealing with the leukemia?

Walsh: Five months, actively. Before that there was some activity, but nothing that kept me off the streets. Before that they were treating anemia. Then my blood levels got so low that they thought they'd do a bone-marrow test, and that's when all hell broke loose. I wasn't producing anything. I took chemotherapy twice, and the medication was making me so sick. I don't even know if I was getting better or not. How can you tell? But my blood tests are improving. They really are.

Silver: Eddie DeBartolo got on a plane to come visit you. Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, and on and on -- how does all of that support make you feel?

Walsh: It's very gratifying. At one point I needed every phone call I could get. But I wasn't able to answer them. You get so disabled, physically. The phone could be right there, but I wouldn't even bother to answer it or call.
Silver:: Of all the people who've called and come to see you, who was the most surprising?

Walsh: Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger came over to the house a few weeks ago and spent an hour, hour and a half. I'd met him before. He came over and it was just me, him and my wife was there for part of it. We just talked about everything. He's totally down to earth. And Dianne Feinstein was coming down two weeks ago, but there are a lot of things happening in Washington.

Silver: She was Mayor Feinstein when you brought the City its first-ever championship in a major pro sport. And the Cowboys, who'd knocked the 49ers out of the playoffs three years in a row in the early '70s, were the team you had to overcome. You know tomorrow (Wednesday) is the 25th anniversary of The Catch?

Walsh: Twenty-five years. Geez. It's a pretty vivid memory.

Silver: What comes flooding back?

Walsh: Well, I really take great pride in that drive we made to score that touchdown. Because we'd had all the breaks go against us in the game: Pass-interference penalties and things that were questionable. Some questionable things occurred. And I was really taken aback when I saw the TV replay; one of the key officials who made calls was standing next to [Cowboys vice president of player personnel] Gil Brandt -- joking with Gil Brandt during a timeout. The two of them were talking and joking back and forth right on the sideline, and Gil was actually standing on the field. And when I saw that later, I just cringed.

The fact that we could somehow win that game was remarkable. And that was the one where Ronnie Lott slowed down to intercept a pass and they called him for pass interference. There were bizarre calls. And we overcame all of that. But that drive was beautifully executed, and I take great pride in it. The last play took us right to the limit of our resources. Wow.

Silver: You were leaning on (veteran halfback) Lenvil Elliott, which is pretty amazing. Twenty-nine other coaches, I'm sure, thought he was done.

Walsh: Yeah, well, I had worked with Lenvil in Cincinnati. I knew he wouldn't fumble. I knew he'd run smart. And I knew he'd keep his poise. He did all of that.

Silver: That was probably a year before you thought you'd be that good. Eventually you had stud halfbacks like Wendell Tyler, Joe Cribbs, Roger Craig.

Walsh: Yeah, we didn't field a real strong running back group that year. Wow. God. Earl Cooper could catch the ball well, but compared to Dallas -- Dorsett and all those guys... they had a great team.

Silver: You had beaten the Cowboys badly (45-14) in the regular season, but you knew you were gonna get ...

Walsh: The real Dallas team. After we beat 'em the first time, people said, "You haven't played the real Dallas team yet." We said, "Oh, really? Well, who were they?" But, oh no, we knew. We moved the ball well. We out-statted them, dramatically. But there were some calls and some things that occurred.

That was the game -- to tell you about the talents of Joe Montana -- we ran a play that left him alone against [6-8 defensive end] Too Tall Jones. We ran a fake sweep where we pulled the guards and ran the backs to the left and the tackle blocked down. And Joe came off by himself with Too Tall Jones unblocked. Because when we did that, their weak safety went over and covered the tight end, and to stop the sweep the strong safety would come up.

So the only way we could sell it was not block Too Tall Jones. He wouldn't be blocked! And we just left him up to Joe. I said, 'It's up to you; it's one-on-one. You've got to avoid this guy.' And he avoided him and threw a beautiful, 35-yard pass to Dwight Clark. That shows you how great Joe was. He could do those kinds of things, against one of the best players in the league. He was amazing.
Silver: After The Catch, they came pretty darn close to scoring a touchdown when Drew Pearson broke free over the middle (and rookie cornerback Eric Wright tackled him by the shoulder pads near midfield.)

Walsh: Yeah. They made a play. That's why you didn't see me celebrating after The Catch. Cause I knew them and their capabilities. There was plenty of time to kick a field goal.

Silver: On the next play, did you see the fumble (caused by Lawrence Pillers on a sack of Danny White, and recovered by the 49ers' Jim Stuckey)?

Walsh: I saw the ball drop. And it's a good thing it did. I don't know what yard line they were on, but they weren't that far off.

Silver: Back to the official talking to Brandt: I think about the '83 NFC Championship game, with those two insane calls on Wright (pass interference) and Lott (defensive holding) that led to the Redskins' winning field goal. In those early years -- really, until you got your second Super Bowl -- did you feel that there was some sense of the establishment working against you?

Walsh: Well, you're always just a touch paranoid about the West Coast and about a team that's come from out of nowhere, so to speak, and isn't one of the established powers. Everybody becomes a little paranoid about that. Nobody was really out to get us. But the facts are the facts. We weren't getting the breaks, that's for sure. I mean, that Washington game -- can you believe that?

Silver: No. A 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter wasted.

Walsh: And the crowd had a lot to do with it. The pressure was on the officials. Washington was supposed to have a great team... what were we doing there type of thing. No question about it.

Silver: After you guys crushed the Cowboys in the '81 regular season, Howard Cosell didn't put you on the 'Halftime Highlights' that Monday night. You got mad, publicly. Were you really mad, or just trying to fire up the guys?

Walsh: Well, we were sort of a Cinderella team, in a sense. And to beat Dallas by that score, and have no highlights -- because Dallas was on [Monday Night Football] the next week! I don't think there was any question that a huge bias was there. We weren't even mentioned in the highlights or anything.

Silver: That's when Halftime Highlights was everything.

Walsh: And then I said something and Howard Cosell took it personally. Then I ran into him at the league meetings, and he just vociferously attacked me in front of 100 people at a big dinner party. He just attacked me.

Silver: He was probably drunk.

Walsh: Well, who knows? I couldn't say a word. I didn't say a word. All I said was, when it was all through, "Why don't we have dinner some night?" So when he did a game at our place the next year, he and I went out to dinner at one of the better restaurants in the City.

Silver: Did it go OK?

Walsh: It went fine. It went great. The martinis flowed. I knew I couldn't come near staying up with him. So from that point on we had a real good relationship.

Silver: Have you watched much football lately?

Walsh: Too much, because I've spent hours and hours in the hospital. That, and the People's Court. You get invested in the outcome, and then the judge says, "You are ordered to pay $212!"

Silver: What are your thoughts on the 49ers?

Walsh: Well, there's no question they're organized now. And they play well. They play hard. They execute. They're focused. And my hat's off to Mike Nolan. I think he's done an excellent job. How will they do in the future? Well, they've got as good a chance as anyone to win their division next year. Right now I'd personally favor them to win the division. That [Frank] Gore is outstanding. In the second half he just wears you out. He is something. And if the 49ers are ahead in the second half, look out, cause they'll keep the lead.

Silver: When you watch football now, a lot of it still must seem very familiar. In the playoffs you've still got (former assistant) Mike Holmgren and (former 49ers player) Tony Dungy, and Brian Billick, who worked for you as an assistant PR man. And Jeff Garcia, who you brought to the 49ers when you went back to run the personnel department.

Walsh: Well, I really enjoy watching Garcia play. I really do. But all the coaches, Andy Reid -- I can see plays that we used, that he's using. Not all of them, of course. But there're things that these guys are doing that we did. And every time I see the gameplan sheet in the coach's hand -- that all started basically with us. The scripting [of the first 15 plays] and all that. So you take a lot of pride in it. But there are some wonderful coaches out there now. I look at them play and I say, "Why didn't I do that? Why didn't I try that?" Because they're doing things that I wish I had done.

Silver: Did you get to see the Fiesta Bowl?

Walsh: Yeah. Was that an epic? Ohhhhh. I mean, they [Boise State] have impacted the whole country. I've seen coaches in the NFL, in these playoffs, trying things they wouldn't have tried before. I'm not gonna say they worked, either. But they tried 'em. And years from now, that's going to be one of those games that everyone remembers.

Silver: Right, sort of like that game 25 years ago. The first time you saw that TV commercial where they run that computer-altered footage of Dwight dropping The Catch...

Walsh: Oh yeah. Woooo-hooo-hooo. What? Wait a minute! Boy, they did a good job with that.

Link

[Darsnan]

My Lombardi and 'Poly picks

Ravens
Saints
Chicago
San Diego


D

[SlowwHand]

I like to vote on anything I'm given the opportunity.

https://www.nfl.com

Which of the four AFC teams left has the best chance at winning the Super Bowl?
Baltimore Ravens
Indianapolis Colts
San Diego Chargers
New England Patriots

Spoiler:

Which of the four AFC teams left has the best chance at winning the Super Bowl?
47%
San Diego Chargers


23%
Baltimore Ravens


19%
New England Patriots


11%
Indianapolis Colts

Total Votes: 66961

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wow... I didn't realize the "Catch" was designed to let Too Tall Jones go! What a play call... (in order to get everything else going the right way).

[-Jrabbit]

That is a balls-out play design, with bigger balls to actually call it with the game on the line.

[OzzyKP]

meh, I'll just vote for all the favorites:

Ravens
Saints
Chicago
San Diego

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
That is a balls-out play design, with bigger balls to actually call it with the game on the line.

That's why he's nicknamed "The Genius"

[SlowwHand]

Colts
Saints
Chicago
San Diego

[Imran Siddiqui]

Baltimore
New Orleans
Chicago
San Diego

Yep... all favs again . Though one usually loses this weekend.