thependulumswings

Today concludes our Super Bowl series of posts.   We’ve examined good and bad, winning and losing, and coaching and quarterbacking.  We have a few random thoughts to share and speculate upon prior to the big game.  You can think of them as Ten Piece Nuggets (and get three free) just presented differently.

Two Head Coaches

Two head coaches that made the short list, but not the final list in our top five countdown were Chuck Noll and Vince Lombardi.  Noll went 4-0 in SB’s while Lombardi won the first two SB’s and three NFL championships prior to their being a “Super Bowl.”   But a deeper dive versus Gibbs, Walsh, Landry, Shula, and Belichick exposed just a few shortcomings.

1.  Noll won four Super Bowls in a six-year window and went to and deep into the playoffs eight straight years.  Slice that however you wish and its darn impressive.

Did he benefit greatly by a Steeler organization that had multiple home run drafts back to back to back?  Pitt’s first round  pick in Noll’s year one was Joe Greene, who went on to become a perennial All-Pro and anchor the defensive line. During the next few years, the Steelers drafted quarterback Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana Tech) and running back Franco Harris (Penn State) as round one picks. In the 1974 draft, the Steelers achieved a level of drafting success never seen before or since, when they selected four future Hall of Fame players with their first five picks: wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, middle linebacker Jack Lambert, and center Mike Webster. To this day, no other draft by any team has included more than two future Hall of Famers. Back then coaches didn’t have the draft day influence that they have today.  Did Noll make Stallworth, Swann, Bradshaw, Greene, Ham, Harris, and Webster?  Or was it vice versa?

His career win percentage was 57%, good, but shy of real good.  His last twelve years at the helm show 93 victories and 91 defeats and only two playoff victories.

2.  Lombardi was so good that his legend is forever cemented into NFL lore.  They named the Super Bowl trophy after him.  His teams won the first two Super Bowls played.  In nine cold Green Bay years he won 96, lost 34, and tied 6.  His playoff record is a great 9-1.  The team he took over had finished 1958 at a league worst 1-10-1.  His first year of meticulous prep, attention to detail, and demand for excellence turned them into a 7-5 club.  As a side note, there was no free agency back then.

The famous Packer Sweep, a real play innovation of its time, was diagrammed many times over on the chalk board and ran even more in practice.  “You cannot stop perfection.”

Unfortunately his health gave way at an early age curtailing his career and limiting his lifetime statistics when measured against others.  But in a shorter window than others had, none were better at winning nor getting more out of his players.

Four Thoughts

1.  The NFL is getting worked over for the blown non calls and incorrect calls in the two Conference Championship Games.  And, the abuse is well deserved.  Complicated rules, additional rules, and incessant video replay are bad enough.  Add to that fact that the NFL hand-picked the two crews that worked the two games and missed or made a handful of game changing bad calls and you have what you have-a mess.

2.  Speaking of a mess, what the hell happened in Pittsburgh?  Arguably the game’s best WR and a great QB cannot even practice together suddenly.  Pittsburgh’s front office puts up with little to nothing.  Ask Le’Veon Bell if you need proof.  If Antonio Brown hasn’t posted his home on Zillow yet one wonders what he is waiting for.

3.  The NFL hype machine(one of the best in the world) will go dark for a week after the Super Bowl, then will start pumping the NFL Combine held annually in Indianapolis.  How long is it before they start shopping the event to other cities like they did the draft?  Tickets, tickets, who needs tickets?

4.  If you haven’t heard, numerous New Orleans bars are showing the 2009 Saints SB victory this Sunday instead of Super Bowl LIII.  Our guess is that the turnout will be great.  Super Bowl LIII is now referred to as Super Bowl LIE in NOLA.  Laissez les bon temps roulier.

Six Bets

BBR never shies from a wager or six.  Below are some prop bets for fun and game action as well.

1.  Give us tails on the coin toss for  -105.   Why?  Why do you even ask?

2.  We’ll take the Rams scoring first for -115.  Brandin Cooks has a score to settle so to speak.

3.  Give us over 49.5 yards on the longest TD scored for -110.  See point two above.

4.  We’ll take -300 that no extra point is missed.  Though NE scares us a bit.

5.  Give us over 56.5 on the total points scored for -110.  Under has been our favorite since 12/1.  This one, however, is indoors and the carpet is warm.

6.  And, drum roll please, we like the Rams on the money line for +120.  Why?  Why not?

A Dollar

We are so confident in our bets above that we wagered a George Washington on each and every one of them.