SWC75
Bored Historian
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I’m always surfing U-Tube for some vintage sports highlights, especially football highlights. This is a recently posted 25 minute highlight film of the New York Giant’s 1956 championship game win over the Chicago Bears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg3AAwkIVho
That was the first of six NFL championship games the Giants would appear in in eight years and the only one they won. But boy, did they win it, 47-7! The two teams had played to a 17-17 tie on the same field a month before, a game tied on the final play by the greatest catch in NFL history, (at least BT: before Tyree), by Harlon Hill. It was a full-extension, over the shoulder catch of a long bomb made just before Hill and the ball hit the ground. But the title game was a very different story. It was the second “sneaker game”. In 1934 the Giants had beaten an undefeated Bear team in the title game because the field, (the Polo grounds then), was frozen and the Giants had arranged to have sneakers delivered to them. They arrived at halftime and the Giants turned a 3-13 game into a 30-13 win. Now they were in Yankee s stadium but the field was just as frozen and the bears were still skating around on cleats while the Giants were running around on sneakers.
U-Tube also has a highlight film of the 1957 championship game, another big blow-out in which the Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, (and their rookie sensation from Syracuse, Jim Brown), 59-14:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFQPJtmhEaQ
This got me to wonder why, after along season, a championship game between presumably the two best teams in the sport, can produce such a one-sided score. I decided to look up all the NFL, AAFC and AFL championships games and Super Bowls that were won by 30 points or more to see if the box scores could reveal any pattern. (The source is Profootballreference.com).
We’ll start with the most famous one of all:
1940 Chicago Bears 73 Washington Redskins 0 (The Redskins had beaten the bears during the regular season, ironically 7-3, had the better record, were at home and favored)
First Downs: 17-17 Total Yardage: 519-231 Rushing: 381-5 Passing: 138-226 Turnovers: 1-9
1948 Cleveland Browns 49 Buffalo Bills 7 (This was an AAFC game: yes they had a team called the Buffalo Bills)
First Downs: 20-13 Total Yardage: 333-167 Rushing: 215-63 Passing: 118-104 Turnovers: 4-8
1954 Cleveland Browns 56 Detroit Lions 10 (The Lions had beaten the Browns for the title in both 1952, 17-7 and 1953 17-16 and this was the Brown’s revenge.)
First Downs: 17-16 Total Yardage: 303-331 Rushing: 140-152 Passing: 163-179 Turnovers: 4-9
1956 New York Giants 47 Chicago Bears 7
First Downs: 16-19 Total Yardage: 348-270 Rushing: 126-67 Passing: 228-237 Turnovers: 2-3
1957 Detroit Lions 59 Cleveland Browns 14 (The Lions get revenge for the revenge.)
First Downs: 22-17 Total Yardage: 438-313 Rushing: 142-218 Passing: 296-112 Turnovers: 1-6
1961 Green Bay Packers 37 New York Giants 0 (The first championship game I ever watched.)
First Downs: 19-6 Total Yardage: 345-130 Rushing: 181-31 Passing: 164-119 Turnovers: 0-5
1963 San Diego Chargers 51 Boston Patriots 10 (for the AFL championship)
First Downs: 21-14 Total Yardage: 610-261 Rushing: 318-75 Passing: 305-228 Turnovers: 1-2
1985 Chicago Bears 46 New England Patriots 10 (There had been some one-sided Super Bowls but this was the first 30 point margin)
First Downs: 23-12 Total Yardage: 423-184 Rushing: 167-7 Passing: 256-177 Turnovers: 2-6
1987 Washington Redskins 42 Denver Broncos 10
First Downs: 25-18 Total Yardage: 620-327 Rushing: 280-97 Passing: 322-230 Turnovers: 1-3
1989 San Francisco 49ers 55 Denver Broncos 10
First Downs: 28-12 Total Yardage: 461-167 Rushing: 144-64 Passing: 317-136 Turnovers: 0-4
1992 Dallas Cowboys 52 Buffalo Bills 17
First Downs: 20-22 Total Yardage: 408-362 Rushing: 137-108 Passing: 273-254 Turnovers: 1-9
The average stats for these 11 “super blow-outs”:
First Downs: 21-15 Total Yardage: 437-249 Rushing: 203-80 Passing: 235-184 Turnovers: 2-6 Average score: 52-9.
Here are the cumulative quarter by quarter scores:
1st Quarter 133-33
2nd Quarter 177-27
3rd Quarter 129-28
4th Quarter 128-7
Comments: There doesn’t seem to be any particular quarter in which these games get out of hand, although the second quarter is the best for the winners. The most obvious cause of the one-sided scores is turnovers. Three of the losing teams had 9 of them and another had 8. But the 1956 Bears and 1963 Patriots were both only -1 in turnover margin. But there can be other big plays that have a similar impact to turnovers: blocked kicks, big kick returns and the Bears trying for it on fourth down from their 43 when it was only 0-10 vs. the Giants and not making it.
Moving the chains doesn't count for much: the 1940 Redskins were 17-17 with the Bears for first downs and 1992 Bills had two more than the Cowboys, 22-20.
Some of these teams really blew by their opponent: the 1940 Bears, the 1963 Chargers, the 1987 Redskins. But the 1954 Browns were out-run and outpassed and out-gained by the Lions. They actually gained more yards in losing 14-59 in 1957 than they did in winning 56-10 in 1954. The big thing is when you do things and how well do you take advantage of opportunities. If you can bunch your yardage up into a series of scoring drives vs. getting a few first downs each time and do well in the “red zone”, you will score a lot. Marching up and down between the 20’s wont’ help you. If the other team had only 2-3 turnovers but they all seemed to come one after another and you score each time, you can blow a game open.
Finally a team way behind may roll up the yardage through the air but it may not be enough to get them back in the game. The ground game is a better measure of what’s going on in the trenches. Only 3 of the 11 losers rushed for 100 yards but every winning team did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg3AAwkIVho
That was the first of six NFL championship games the Giants would appear in in eight years and the only one they won. But boy, did they win it, 47-7! The two teams had played to a 17-17 tie on the same field a month before, a game tied on the final play by the greatest catch in NFL history, (at least BT: before Tyree), by Harlon Hill. It was a full-extension, over the shoulder catch of a long bomb made just before Hill and the ball hit the ground. But the title game was a very different story. It was the second “sneaker game”. In 1934 the Giants had beaten an undefeated Bear team in the title game because the field, (the Polo grounds then), was frozen and the Giants had arranged to have sneakers delivered to them. They arrived at halftime and the Giants turned a 3-13 game into a 30-13 win. Now they were in Yankee s stadium but the field was just as frozen and the bears were still skating around on cleats while the Giants were running around on sneakers.
U-Tube also has a highlight film of the 1957 championship game, another big blow-out in which the Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, (and their rookie sensation from Syracuse, Jim Brown), 59-14:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFQPJtmhEaQ
This got me to wonder why, after along season, a championship game between presumably the two best teams in the sport, can produce such a one-sided score. I decided to look up all the NFL, AAFC and AFL championships games and Super Bowls that were won by 30 points or more to see if the box scores could reveal any pattern. (The source is Profootballreference.com).
We’ll start with the most famous one of all:
1940 Chicago Bears 73 Washington Redskins 0 (The Redskins had beaten the bears during the regular season, ironically 7-3, had the better record, were at home and favored)
First Downs: 17-17 Total Yardage: 519-231 Rushing: 381-5 Passing: 138-226 Turnovers: 1-9
1948 Cleveland Browns 49 Buffalo Bills 7 (This was an AAFC game: yes they had a team called the Buffalo Bills)
First Downs: 20-13 Total Yardage: 333-167 Rushing: 215-63 Passing: 118-104 Turnovers: 4-8
1954 Cleveland Browns 56 Detroit Lions 10 (The Lions had beaten the Browns for the title in both 1952, 17-7 and 1953 17-16 and this was the Brown’s revenge.)
First Downs: 17-16 Total Yardage: 303-331 Rushing: 140-152 Passing: 163-179 Turnovers: 4-9
1956 New York Giants 47 Chicago Bears 7
First Downs: 16-19 Total Yardage: 348-270 Rushing: 126-67 Passing: 228-237 Turnovers: 2-3
1957 Detroit Lions 59 Cleveland Browns 14 (The Lions get revenge for the revenge.)
First Downs: 22-17 Total Yardage: 438-313 Rushing: 142-218 Passing: 296-112 Turnovers: 1-6
1961 Green Bay Packers 37 New York Giants 0 (The first championship game I ever watched.)
First Downs: 19-6 Total Yardage: 345-130 Rushing: 181-31 Passing: 164-119 Turnovers: 0-5
1963 San Diego Chargers 51 Boston Patriots 10 (for the AFL championship)
First Downs: 21-14 Total Yardage: 610-261 Rushing: 318-75 Passing: 305-228 Turnovers: 1-2
1985 Chicago Bears 46 New England Patriots 10 (There had been some one-sided Super Bowls but this was the first 30 point margin)
First Downs: 23-12 Total Yardage: 423-184 Rushing: 167-7 Passing: 256-177 Turnovers: 2-6
1987 Washington Redskins 42 Denver Broncos 10
First Downs: 25-18 Total Yardage: 620-327 Rushing: 280-97 Passing: 322-230 Turnovers: 1-3
1989 San Francisco 49ers 55 Denver Broncos 10
First Downs: 28-12 Total Yardage: 461-167 Rushing: 144-64 Passing: 317-136 Turnovers: 0-4
1992 Dallas Cowboys 52 Buffalo Bills 17
First Downs: 20-22 Total Yardage: 408-362 Rushing: 137-108 Passing: 273-254 Turnovers: 1-9
The average stats for these 11 “super blow-outs”:
First Downs: 21-15 Total Yardage: 437-249 Rushing: 203-80 Passing: 235-184 Turnovers: 2-6 Average score: 52-9.
Here are the cumulative quarter by quarter scores:
1st Quarter 133-33
2nd Quarter 177-27
3rd Quarter 129-28
4th Quarter 128-7
Comments: There doesn’t seem to be any particular quarter in which these games get out of hand, although the second quarter is the best for the winners. The most obvious cause of the one-sided scores is turnovers. Three of the losing teams had 9 of them and another had 8. But the 1956 Bears and 1963 Patriots were both only -1 in turnover margin. But there can be other big plays that have a similar impact to turnovers: blocked kicks, big kick returns and the Bears trying for it on fourth down from their 43 when it was only 0-10 vs. the Giants and not making it.
Moving the chains doesn't count for much: the 1940 Redskins were 17-17 with the Bears for first downs and 1992 Bills had two more than the Cowboys, 22-20.
Some of these teams really blew by their opponent: the 1940 Bears, the 1963 Chargers, the 1987 Redskins. But the 1954 Browns were out-run and outpassed and out-gained by the Lions. They actually gained more yards in losing 14-59 in 1957 than they did in winning 56-10 in 1954. The big thing is when you do things and how well do you take advantage of opportunities. If you can bunch your yardage up into a series of scoring drives vs. getting a few first downs each time and do well in the “red zone”, you will score a lot. Marching up and down between the 20’s wont’ help you. If the other team had only 2-3 turnovers but they all seemed to come one after another and you score each time, you can blow a game open.
Finally a team way behind may roll up the yardage through the air but it may not be enough to get them back in the game. The ground game is a better measure of what’s going on in the trenches. Only 3 of the 11 losers rushed for 100 yards but every winning team did.
