SuperBowlLIII

Ten Piece Nuggets-Super Bowl (A)Live

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last week our column February Made Me Shiver stated how boring the big four sports leagues are collectively in February.  One bright spot, we thought, was that at least we had the Super Bowl prior to the NFL fading into the long winter nights.  Wrong.  The NFL would have better served us if it faded to black in late January.   Today we serve you ten random leftover nuggets from the extravaganza that was not so extravagant.

  1.  The flyover was super and on time as Glady’s Knight hit the right notes and finished on cue for the flyover pilots to time their 400 mph cruise just right.
  2.  Unfortunately, then, the game started.  The Rams offense did not start however.  They became the first team ever to punt on their first seven possessions in Super Bowl history.  No wonder teams are feverishly looking for the next offensive genius like Sean McVay.
  3. In November and early December many “pundits” or “experts” spoke almost as loudly as Steven A. Smith about the new NFL.  It was a high scoring, defense be dammed, pass first league.  I wonder how many this AM will fill the airwaves talking about how defense wins championships in football?  In case you ever wondered, and we hope that you haven’t, the “A” in Steven A. is “Anthony.”
  4. The Rams could not rush the ball.  Their game total was 62 net yards or less than half of the 139 they averaged during the regular season.  For all of the talk about the Rams interior defensive line, it was New England’s DL that controlled the line of scrimmage.  Amazing really.  Patriots fans can name their defensive lineman we are sure.  Can you?
  5. Halftime was 3-0 NE.  Only SB IX played in bitter cold, some ice, and rain saw fewer points in SB history.  In that one Pittsburgh held a 2-0 lead over the Minnesota Vikings.
  6. Halftime would have been better if one of our favorite rappers Cardi B would have performed. Cardi passed up the opportunity to perform to show solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. Cardi, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, told the AP on Friday that she felt obligated to “stand behind” Kaepernick.  “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform,” she said. “But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”  Cardi did, however, accept an offer to appear in a Super Bowl commercial with Steve Carell and Lil Jon proving “stand behind” and capitalism can coexist.
  7. Rams punter Johnny Hekker tallied a 65 yard punt in the third quarter.  It was the longest punt in SB history.  If you weren’t sleeping by then that had to provide you with at least the impetus to yawn repeatedly.
  8. The Rams didn’t see the end zone the entire game.  Belichick can coach some D, can’t he? Once the run was neutered they set their sights on Goff.  He was sacked, hit, and harassed plenty.  His accuracy or lack thereof reflected that.  Only the 1971 Dolphins failed to score a touchdown in a SB game prior to last night’s somnambulist’s dream. Sure, here you go-somnambulist.
  9. Brady and Belichick’s combined age of 107 years old is the oldest qb/coach combined age for a winning team in SB history.  It feels like they have won 107 SB’s actually.  If you are a New England fan or from Bahhstun, we get that you love them.  You should.  They are the winningest combo in SB history and second place is no longer close.  If NE is not your favorite team you have to respect their unparalleled excellence.  But they aren’t likeable.  They just aren’t.  The NFL needs a new story.  They need it desperately.  They need it starting in 2019.  Paging Patrick Mahomes.
  10. Julian Edelman won a much deserved MVP trophy for his 10 catch, 141 yard performance.   No one can cover the guy.  No one. On a team that has been excellent for nearing two decades their Hall of Fame candidates are few.  Edelman might be one before he is done.  One wonders if he could run even faster if he trimmed that wooly beard of his.
  11. (Extra Point) Post game on CBS Phil Simms turn at the mic at the bloated five man desk came.   He said the game was very enjoyable, very exciting.  Phil really needs to get out more often.

Minutes after the game Vegas established Kansas City as the favorite to make Super Bowl LIV next year.  We can hope.  LIV means 54, not “live.”  Apparently SB LIII meant “not live” as well.

 

 

 

 

February Made Me Shiver

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We were singin’ bye bye January.  February made me shiver.  Kudos to Don McLean.  His no. 1 hit, American Pie, sung a long, long, time ago (1971) hit the cold nail on the frozen head.  A bit of the lyrics follow.

But February made me shiver 
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step

Those of us at BBR think McLean may have been looking at the major US sports calendar when he wrote some of those lines.  For the four biggies look rather small right about now.

The day after the MLB All Star game is the only day of the year when there is no activity in any of the four of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.  But, a day is but a day.   February is a month.  Sure there is some action, but February has to be the worst month weather wise in the US and the least interesting for the groupies like us that have an insatiable need for the action.  Thankfully February is but 28 days long most years.

Ok, ok, there is the Super Bowl for football.  But, then what?  The Combine in Indy comes to mind.  It’s a junkie fix but the supply is scarce. Where is the Walt White of football?   NCCA football,  as we digress, is dormant too.

Well, well you say, the NBA is in full swing.  And, there is the NBA All Star game. Correct, and correct.  We just don’t see too much value in watching pros go through the motions in many midseason games that don’t have much to do with post season games. The NBA’s best start to collide in playoff series in, oh, about three months from now.  The NBA All Star game you say?  Even “The Arnold” couldn’t sell it when he introed it in LA a dozen years or so ago when he uttered, “Velcome to de All Starz.”

The NHL has some high sticking, a few fist fights, and a few slap shots for us.  That’s not too bad.  Though looking at frozen ice for two hours inside after looking at frozen tundra outside for the other 22 hours make us think of a song once sang by Don McLean.  Never mind.  We just don’t see too much value in watching pros go through the motions in many midseason games/matches that don’t have much to do with post season games/matches.  Perhaps that sounds(identically) like our thoughts on the NBA?  Is it a match or a game anyway?

Well MLB teams have their pitchers and catchers report to spring training in mid to late Feb.  Hope for spring does spring eternal.  This is exciting for about 24-48 hours as you may pay attention to your favorite team’s reports for a day or two.  The problem is if you don’t live in Arizona or Florida you won’t see it live.  And if you do see it live after hopping a flight to one of those destinations you’ll soon see lots of dudes that you really don’t know, who are soon to board flights to minor league designations in towns that you hope you never hop a flight to.  Meh.

There’s always soccer, tennis, golf, and bowling.

February made me shiver.

 

Two Coaches, Four Thoughts, Six Bets, A Dollar

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

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.

 

 

Super (Bowl)Head Coach Countdown II

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday part six of our Super Bowl worst, best, first, and last series rolled on.  Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.

We continue to examine those very questions in part seven of our series.   Today we finish our attempt to answer the question “who is the best head coach to win a Super Bowl?”   Yesterday we chose Joe Gibbs at no. 5 and Bill Walsh at no. 4.  Clearly the choices are nothing but a who’s who of head coaching.  Let the subjectivity begin.

Criteria, in no particular order, that we feel is mandatory to be considered follows.

  1.  Longevity in the league– Longevity usually equates to demand for your ability.  Health reasons were considered.
  2.  Won/loss record– Bill Parcells once famously said ” at the end of the year you are what your record says you are.”
  3.  Pregame and in-game strategy– You have to have a plan of attack and you have to adjust to your opponents plan of attack.
  4.  Maximizing your team’s ability– Coaches eventually have 53 players to work with.  Did they get all that they could out of the group?
  5. Recognizing talent and using it– Coaches today have more say in personnel than yesterday.  Those that do have to obtain value (if FA cheaper than performance, if drafted better than round, if UDFA seeing something that others do not in a player).
  6. Super Bowl wins and appearances You are ultimately judged by getting your team to the biggest game of all and taking home the trophy.

We suspect that when objectivity (1,2,and 6 above) and subjectivity(3,4, and 5 above) cross paths the task of definitively ranking coaches is not possible.  When art meets science the eye and the mind don’t always agree.   Regardless, we press on.  Today we countdown nos. 3, 2, and 1.  Also, there are many who deserve mention, honorable mention at that.  But, we chose to skip those for now to further the discussion.   Let the disagreement begin.

3.  Tom Landry- The ever impeccably dressed leader Landry coached for 29 NFL seasons all with the Dallas Cowboys.  One guesses if you looked up the word “Institution” in Funk and Wagner that Tom’s picture (with his hat of course) might be next to the word.  Two hundred and fifty regular season wins, 36 playoff wins, five SB appearances, and two Lombardi Trophies makes his body of work hard to describe.

Landry coached good players and made them better.  Walt Garrison comes to mind.  He coached great players and helped them get enshrined.  Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Mel Renfro and many, many others come to mind.  His culture of out working and out thinking others created a sustainable winning expectation.  After all you were a Cowboy.   Landry encouraged the organization to look at the draft and the pool of players differently than others.  Gil Brandt his GM masterfully assembled the roster accordingly.  The Cowboys dug deep to find talent in undrafted free agency as well as lesser scouted conferences like the SWAC.

He won by strategically putting his offense, defense, and special teams in familiar spots from meticulous preparation. Landry is known as the “inventor of the 4-3 defense” as he was the first to take a lineman out and add a middle linebacker.   Landry also invented and popularized the use of keys (analyzing offensive tendencies) to determine what the offense might do.

2.  Don Shula- It’s hard to top Landry’s resume’ but Shula did.  He was an NFL head coach for 33 seasons, 26 with the Miami Dolphins and seven with the Baltimore Colts.  He won 328 games in all with an amazing 67.7 win percentage.  He too won 36 playoff games.  One Colt and five Dolphin SB appearances later gave Shula two Lombardi trophies.

Shula changed his coaching strategy as his personnel changed. His Super Bowl teams in 1971,2,3, and 1982 were keyed by a run-first offensive strategy and a dominating defense. In 1983, shortly after losing Super Bowl XVII to the Washington Redskins, the Dolphins drafted quarterback Dan Marino out of the University of Pittsburgh. Marino won the starting job halfway through the 1983 regular season, and by 1984, the Dolphins were back in the Super Bowl, due largely to Marino’s record 5,084 yards through the air.

Shula’s Miami teams were known for great offensive lines (Larry Little, Jim Langer, and Bob Kuechenberg), strong running games (Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Mercury Morris), solid quarterbacking (by Bob Griese and Earl Morrall), excellent receivers (Paul Warfield)and a defense that worked as a cohesive unit. The Dolphins were known as “The No-Name Defense”, though they had few good to great players, including MLB Nick Buoniconti.

In 1972, the Dolphins were unbeaten in the regular season, 14–0–0. They swept the playoffs and finished 17–0–0.  They remain the only team in the modern era to do so.

1.  Bill Belichick – Is there really any doubt as to who is the most successful coach of all time?  There really isn’t.  But, “most successful” and “best” may not be exactly the same.  With Belichick we think it is the same.  What is not debatable is 1) on Sunday he will be coaching in the SB for the ninth time which is three more than Shula’s six, and 2) he can put further distance in the win column between himself (five now and maybe six soon) and Chuck Noll who has four.

In 24 years as head coach (5 Cleveland and 19 New England) the irascible one has won 261 regular and 30 post season games.  That’s a 68% win percentage overall and 74% in NE alone.  Seventy four percent equates to an average season being 12-4.  There’s nothing average about that!

Belichick is a grand master at finding a opponent’s weakness and exploiting it.  A defensive side of the ball head coach with perhaps the GOAT QB in Tom Brady is the perfect combo for long term success.  This is especially true with the rules the league has put in place in the last 15 years to protect QB’s.

His coaching tree grows significantly each offseason.  Eight of his former assistants to date have become NFL head coaches.  Seven have become NCAA head coaches, one of which is Nick Saban.

But, perhaps his most significant measure of success is one that is actually hard to measure.  How good has the Patriots personnel (outside of Tom Brady, which is a big “outside of”) been during his incredible run?  Current and future Hall of Famers are few.  Their best RB has been?  WR?  LB?  DL?  You get the picture.  There have been many, many good to real good ones no doubt.  Perhaps Belichick has the key to making the whole far greater that the sum of the individual parts.

Tomorrow we briefly examine two who were strongly considered for the final five, but ultimately left out.

 

 

 

Super Bowl Head Coach Trivia Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Friday part four of our Super Bowl worst, best, first, and last series rolled on.  We offered our opinion on who the worst head coaches were to win a Super Bowl.  Gary Kubiak took home first place.  Unfortunately, first meant worst for the eight year Texan and two-year Bronco’s head coach.  After stepping away from the game in 2018 Kubiak will be back in 2019 as the OC in Minnesota.

Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.  There are outliers of course.  So, who might be those outliers?

We were going to continue to examine those very questions in part five of our series of our series.  But, today rather than examine the question “who is the best head coach to win a Super Bowl?”  we offer a fun trivia quiz about the quarterbacks and coaches in the big game.  The best coaches to ever coach in the big game heads your way tomorrow.   Enjoy the audible.  The answers are below Bill Belichick and yet another trophy hoist and to avoid the urge to peak.

  1.  Five coaches have coached in exactly four Super Bowls.  Three have lost all four.  Two of them lost all four with the same team.  Who were they?
  2. Another coach lost four but accomplished this with two teams.  Who was he and what teams did he coach?
  3. Only one coach appeared in four games and won the Vince Lombardi trophy in all four appearances.  Who is he?
  4. Bill Belichick will be coaching this Sunday for an amazing 9th time easily the most ever appearances and counting.  Who has the second most appearances?
  5. Only four coaches have won more than two Super Bowls.  Belichick is one.  Name the other three.
  6. Marv Levy, with four consecutive appearances leads that category.  Only one head coach has worked in three straight.  Who?
  7. (extra point) Twelve coaches have been to two big games.  All won at least once except one who went 0-2.  His losses were 10 years apart and he brought a different team to each.  Who?

 

 

The Answers

  1.  Marv Levy went 0-4 with the Bills in four consecutive years amazingly from 1991-4.  Bud Grant lost all with the Vikings in 1970,4,5,and 7.
  2. Dan Reeves lost three with the Broncos in 1987,8, and 1990.  He coached the Falcons in 1999 to a 34-19 loss to the Falcons.
  3. Chuck Noll led the Steel Curtain and Terry Bradshaw to four appearances and four wins in 1975,6,9, and 1980.
  4. Don Shula won two and lost four.  Joe Willie and Weeb beat his Colts in SB III.  He went on to five Dolphins appearances winning two and losing three.
  5. The previously mentioned Chuck Noll won four, sneaky Joe Gibbs won three, and the great Bill Walsh won three.
  6. If you guessed Bill Belichick we understand.  However, Don Shula lost SB VI to Tom Landry and the Cowboys, then won back to back in 1973 (the undefeated year) and 1974 over Bud Grant’s Vikings.
  7. John Fox and the Carolina Panthers lost to NE in 2004.  He took the Broncos to SB XLVIII ten years later and lost to Pete Carroll’s Seahawks  in a beat down 43-8.

 

 

Super Bowl Jumbo Shrimp.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday part three of our Super Bowl worst, best, first, and last series rolled on.  We offered our opinion on who the worst quarterbacks were to appear or lose a Super Bowl.  David Woodley took home first place.  Unfortunately, first meant worst for the former LSU hero.

Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.  There are outliers of course.  So, who might be those outliers?

We continue to examine those very questions in part three of our series.  Today we examine the question “who is the worst head coach to win a Super Bowl?”  Our take from bad to worse is below.

Our NFL only criteria includes longevity, w-l percentage, playoff appearances, playoff wins, and coaches hired that went on to great success in the league.  Like the previous quarterbacks that we have selected, we note that these are men who have risen to the very top of their profession.  So, we are calling them the worst of the best really.

This was a tough task.  Undeterred we march on.  We decided on four for very different and difficult reasons.   Drum roll please.

4.  Don McCafferty- The HC that no one remembers or heard of led the Baltimore Colts to 16-13 win of Tom Landry and the Cowboys in SB V in 1971. It was an error filled forgettable game.   It was his first year as a HC replacing Don Shula who left the Baltimore to go south to Miami.  In his third year he refused to bench Johnny Unitas and was fired as a result.  He signed on to coach the Detroit Lions in 1973.  After one year there he dropped dead of a heart attack while mowing his lawn.

3.  Brian Billick- After getting much credit as an OC at Minnesota Billick took over the HC reins for the Baltimore Ravens in 1999.  Nine years later he amassed an 80-64 regular season record.  He rode DC Marvin Lewis and Mike Nolan’s historically great defenses,

led by Ray Lewis, as his offenses were annually anemic.  This included the 4 game playoff run that culminated in the SB XXXV victory in 2001. His other eight seasons ended in three playoff berths.  His one-dimensional teams went one and one in one and one and done in the other two.  His coaching tree was solid.  Rex Ryan and Mike Singletary are two other notable ones.

2.  Weeb Ewbank- When the NY Jets and Joe Willie Namath shocked the football world-beating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts(Don Shula again) in SB III in 1969, Wilbur Charles “Weeb” Ewbank rode off on his players shoulders crew cut hair and all.  Weeb was a head coach for 20 years.  The last 11 were with the J-E-T-S.  In eight of those 11 his teams were .500 or less and in total were 71-77.  His total won loss record was one above .500 at 130-129-7.  His teams only totaled 5 playoff games.  Although in fairness to Wilbur Charles his Baltimore Colts head coaching days prior to the Jets included two one game championships when there weren’t really any playoffs. Chuck Knox and Buddy Ryan both toiled under Weeb.

1.  Gary Kubiak- In 10 NFL seasons (8 Texans, 2 Broncos) Kube’s teams appeared in the playoffs only three times.  Two Texan teams went 1-1 and done.  The 3-0 record with the SB winning Broncos and Peyton Manning was his only deep run.  His teams won 82 regular season games and lost 75.  Multiple medical maladies forced him to resign in 2016.  His coaching tree includes Mike Sherman, Wade Phillips, Ray Rhodes and a few other retreads.  He will resume coaching as OC in Minnesota in 2019.  Perhaps his head coaching days are done.

Head coaching a team to a Super Bowl triumph and being called one of the worst is an oxymoron like the phrase “jumbo shrimp.”   But they are our “only choices” for the worst of the best of the “civil war” known as the Super Bowl.

 

 

 

 

Super Bowl Blind Squirrels.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday part two of our Super Bowl worst, best, first, and last series rolled on.  We offered our opinion on who the worst quarterbacks were to win a Super Bowl.  Doug Williams took home first place.  Unfortunately first meant worst for the former Grambling St. hero.

Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.  There are outliers of course.  So, who might be those outliers?

We continue to examine those very questions in part three of our series.  Today we examine the question “who is the worst quarterback to start and lose a Super Bowl?”  Our take from bad to worse is below.

The competition for this (dis)honor is surprisingly strong.  Honorable mentions and yellow spirit ribbons go to……..

…Billy Kilmer for being the most out of shape and for throwing more ducks than fly in south Louisiana in the fall.

…Chris Chandler for lasting 17 years in the league, but having seven different teams let him walk to the next one.

…Tony Eason who threw for a measly 11k yards in 9 years in the league and getting Super Bowl shuffled and pulverized by the 1986 Chicago Bears.

The envelopes for third to worst please.

3.  Vince Ferragamo- Ferragamo gave it his all v. Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1979 before losing 31-19.  The third round pick of the Rams, Ferragamo was 27-26 as a starter throwing for 11k yards in an otherwise undistinguished career.  He threw more interceptions, 91, than touchdowns, 76.  His career passer rating of 70.1 places him 151st all-time, just a hair ahead of the one and only Joey Harrington.  Whew.

2.  Rex Grossman- Grossman and the out manned Chicago Bears lost to Indianapolis in the 2006 Super Bowl.  Peyton Manning won his first of two SB’s in an otherwise forgettable contest.  For his career he was only 25-22 as a starter that somehow lasted 10 years in the league.  He too tossed more in his time to the other team, 60, than he threw for touchdowns to his own team, 56.  His career completion percentage was 55.2%.  Given that he played until 2012 when many helpful rules and protections are afforded QB’s makes that inaccuracy hard to believe.  Whew.  He must have carried a mean clipboard.

1. David Woodley-  Woodley was an 8th round pick by the Miami Dolphins in 1980 when the league still had 12 rounds.  He played for a brief 6 years in the NFL, only two as a starter, and compiled stats befitting of an 8th rounder.   A 53 percent completion percentage, 8k total passing yards, 48 tds, and 63 picks add up to a QB rating of 65.7.  Billy Joe Tolliver is two points better.  Woodley and his Dolphins lost to Joe Theisman’s Redskins in SB XVII 27-17.  Woodley, true to his NFL form,  was 4-17 for 80 yards and an interception in that contest. Whew.  Seventy six of those yards came on one pass play.  A short three years later Woodley retired from the NFL before the NFL could retire him.

As we stated yesterday, no NFL level quarterback is actually bad.  But, how these three found their way to a Super Bowl reminds us of the proverbial blind squirrel finding a runners up Super Bowl ring.   Or, something like that.