That was then: Celebrating what was

NortheasternPJ

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2004
20,554
WHAT PART OF "I will not stand for anyone besmirching "New England, the Patriots, and We" DO YOU ALL NOT UNDERSTAND?!?!

It is a glorious time capsule from a wonderful era.
At least we're not Jaguaring.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrevDYTvX58


I think the most disturbing thing is the morning show is called " The Big Ape Morning Mess" nothing says a good morning wake up like Ape Diarrhea. '

Worst Hype / Super Bowl / Salute Your Team video probably needs its own thread
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,225
Unreal America

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,225
Unreal America
Worst Hype / Super Bowl / Salute Your Team video probably needs its own thread
I do wish the Pats had a cheesy, college-style team fight song from the early 60s. I love those things and I don't know why Billy Sullivan didn't commission someone to write one for the team back then.

The worst part of our epic run from 2001 to 2018 was the use of "This is Our House" as the TD song. Now THAT song is awful.
 

Mystic Merlin

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 21, 2007
49,539
Hartford, CT
Still better than some of the songs SB entrants use while coming out of the tunnel.

For example, the 2011 Giants used this godawful pop hit of the second ‘Written in the Stars’ as their intro song.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
48,215

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,225
Unreal America
This is the greatest thing Ive ever seen. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. The only thing that could've made this a tick better is if Billy Hicks appeared for a sax solo. I think timing wise it would've worked.
View attachment 60373
Thank you for appreciating it's greatness.

That video ran in heavy rotation on V-66 for one week in January 1986. It was the best of times.
 

trotsplits

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
669
In 1980, the Lions drafted Billy Sims and opened the season 4-0. Growing up in Michigan, this rendition of "Another One Bites the Dust" was everywhere for a few weeks. Spoiler: the Lions failed to qualify for the playoffs. My apologies for including it - I think this is.......not good, but I'll choose it over everything listed upthread.

 

Anthologos

New Member
Jun 4, 2017
115
In 1980, the Lions drafted Billy Sims and opened the season 4-0. Growing up in Michigan, this rendition of "Another One Bites the Dust" was everywhere for a few weeks. Spoiler: the Lions failed to qualify for the playoffs. My apologies for including it - I think this is.......not good, but I'll choose it over everything listed upthread.

Billy Sims was one of the stars of my strat-o-matic football game, 1983 (Gary Danielson, however, was not). I had forgotten Sims was injured the next year, ending his career. Already the Detroit record holder for rushing he would of course be eclipsed by Barry Sanders, and might be pretty much forgotten in Detroit? Hope not. He was almost always good for 4-5 yards a pop (in my games)…
 

54thMA

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2012
10,300
Westwood MA
Including a dropped TD and dropped potentially pick-6. Coulda shoulda woulda but in a different world it's a 14-0 game 5 minutes in.
Singletary grabbed Stanley Morgan's arm and broke up the pass and Don Blackmon had nothing but green in front of him when he dropped that wounded duck McMahon threw............coulda, shoulda, woulda is right.
 

trotsplits

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
669
Billy Sims was one of the stars of my strat-o-matic football game, 1983 (Gary Danielson, however, was not). I had forgotten Sims was injured the next year, ending his career. Already the Detroit record holder for rushing he would of course be eclipsed by Barry Sanders, and might be pretty much forgotten in Detroit? Hope not. He was almost always good for 4-5 yards a pop (in my games)…
Most fans in Michigan of a certain age remember Sims and put him with a considerable number of ballers (Megatron, Chris Spielman, Herman Moore, Matt Stafford, etc) who toiled for that cursed franchise. Fun fact: Sims was one of three Loins to wear #20 (Barry and Lem Barney).
 

54thMA

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2012
10,300
Westwood MA
Sweet merciful crap.

More evidence of how irrelevant the Pats were. That "song" name checks Buffalo, New York and Pittsburgh. Not us.
I hope MC Hammer got paid by the Dolphins for allowing them to use and then butcher his equally crappy song.
 

Anthologos

New Member
Jun 4, 2017
115
Most fans in Michigan of a certain age remember Sims and put him with a considerable number of ballers (Megatron, Chris Spielman, Herman Moore, Matt Stafford, etc) who toiled for that cursed franchise. Fun fact: Sims was one of three Loins to wear #20 (Barry and Lem Barney).
okay that’s great to hear. I was of the age when I had favorite players more than a favourite team, and he was up there for me, with Payton, among backs.

Detroit always seemed to have one or two superstars…and a bunch of guys who were out of position. So many 1-4 starts to the season… :(
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
20,229
Singletary grabbed Stanley Morgan's arm and broke up the pass and Don Blackmon had nothing but green in front of him when he dropped that wounded duck McMahon threw............coulda, shoulda, woulda is right.
And all that happened after Lin Dawson tore his ACL on the first Pats play from scrimmage, resulting in his missing a likely TD pass. Dawson would miss the entire following season and was never close to the same.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
26,844
Yeah, you'd THINK that that Pats team would be able to at least give Chicago a game. Excellent offensive line, anchored by the GOAT left guard and a really good left tackle. Two very good RBs, and you'd think they could at least run on Chicago. And the Pats' defense that year was very good. #6 in points allowed, #7 in yards allowed. So you'd think they could have at least kept them in the game.

But man, that was an absolute tidal wave that swept over them. And those were the days when Super Bowls were usually lopsided. Some real blowouts in those days.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
55,502
Funny thing about that game is the Patriots set a record for quickest score ever in a Super Bowl. Not sure it still stands.
 

Rudy's Curve

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2006
2,440
Yeah, you'd THINK that that Pats team would be able to at least give Chicago a game. Excellent offensive line, anchored by the GOAT left guard and a really good left tackle. Two very good RBs, and you'd think they could at least run on Chicago. And the Pats' defense that year was very good. #6 in points allowed, #7 in yards allowed. So you'd think they could have at least kept them in the game.

But man, that was an absolute tidal wave that swept over them. And those were the days when Super Bowls were usually lopsided. Some real blowouts in those days.
On the other hand, the '85 Bears are indisputably one of the five best teams of all-time so it wasn't all that shocking. The Pats' first two SB teams weren't juggernauts, but they had the misfortune of running into historically great teams.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
40,128
Hingham, MA
On the other hand, the '85 Bears are indisputably one of the five best teams of all-time so it wasn't all that shocking. The Pats' first two SB teams weren't juggernauts, but they had the misfortune of running into historically great teams.
Well said. Those '96 Packers were great.
 

Anthologos

New Member
Jun 4, 2017
115
not too many people ran on the bears in 85. The few that had success in the box score, like the redskins early that year, piled up yardage at times but made little headway as far as scoring. Chicago was so aggressive and relentless they forced turnovers and got sacks at an alarming rate. And these were the years when running was the main event. Even in the Miami game, Marino didn’t have what you’d consider a great stat line even by 2003 standards, and CB was really their only thing resembling a weakness (and maybe FS)…

The Pats rushed for 7 yards. It was just a disaster. Not surprising in a way, if you compare it to the game from earlier that year…a similar tho less catastrophic beatdown. But I recall being so excited after the Miami game…

[As an aside, iirc Ryan wanted Ditka to draft a CB that spring, and instead he got the Fridge. Which pissed him off. I’m not sure who he would have wanted tho…it was a pretty weak year for CBs. I guess they could have leapt ahead of the Rams and drafted Jerry Gray, who had a very good career. They did Reggie Phillips in a mid round, whose career highlight was his interception of Grogan in the super bowl. Their only other draft pick that did anything was Kevin Butler.]
 

Ferm Sheller

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2007
22,580
Devin Hester’s KR TD to open the Colts-Bears SB, too.
Yes, it depends on how you look at it. The Manning safety is fastest in terms of time elapsed (12 seconds) but it came on the game's second play. Hester scored on the first play but it took him 14 seconds to do it.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,225
Unreal America
Yeah, you'd THINK that that Pats team would be able to at least give Chicago a game. Excellent offensive line, anchored by the GOAT left guard and a really good left tackle. Two very good RBs, and you'd think they could at least run on Chicago. And the Pats' defense that year was very good. #6 in points allowed, #7 in yards allowed. So you'd think they could have at least kept them in the game.

But man, that was an absolute tidal wave that swept over them. And those were the days when Super Bowls were usually lopsided. Some real blowouts in those days.
Ray Berry thought he could outsmart Ditka/Ryan and beat them with the pass early on. The first 6 Pats offensive plays were pass calls. 5 incompletions and a sack. This from a team that threw 12 passes total in the AFC champ game (and ran FIFTY NINE times).

The team that attempted 42 passes total in three playoff games thought Tony Eason could carve up the Bears through the air. Mind boggling.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
26,844
Ray Berry thought he could outsmart Ditka/Ryan and beat them with the pass early on. The first 6 Pats offensive plays were pass calls. 5 incompletions and a sack. This from a team that threw 12 passes total in the AFC champ game (and ran FIFTY NINE times).

The team that attempted 42 passes total in three playoff games thought Tony Eason could carve up the Bears through the air. Mind boggling.
Well, I mean, Dan Marino did earlier in the seasons, so why not Eason?
 

trotsplits

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
669
Ray Berry thought he could outsmart Ditka/Ryan and beat them with the pass early on. The first 6 Pats offensive plays were pass calls. 5 incompletions and a sack. This from a team that threw 12 passes total in the AFC champ game (and ran FIFTY NINE times).

The team that attempted 42 passes total in three playoff games thought Tony Eason could carve up the Bears through the air. Mind boggling.
The 46 was an 8-man box that played over the OL guards. CB's were isolated in single coverage with a FS up high. The SS walked around the LoS depending on the gap. It was designed to stop an 80's style 2-back run-oriented offense. Miami was successful against it in '85 because - according to Marino - "we spread them out a little" (I think that was what he said in the 30 for 30). I'm not saying the Pats were trying to Marino the Bears, but rather that a running attack would have also failed miserably.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
28,225
Unreal America
The 46 was an 8-man box that played over the OL guards. CB's were isolated in single coverage with a FS up high. The SS walked around the LoS depending on the gap. It was designed to stop an 80's style 2-back run-oriented offense. Miami was successful against it in '85 because - according to Marino - "we spread them out a little" (I think that was what he said in the 30 for 30). I'm not saying the Pats were trying to Marino the Bears, but rather that a running attack would have also failed miserably.
I get it. The Pats were going to lose regardless of what they tried. It just always struck me as odd that they didn't at least try to establish the run, since that was entirely what their offense was predicated on. Eason's passing lines heading into that game were 8-15, 12-16, 7-14 and 10-12.
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
26,844
Rushing offense, 1985 season:

Bears: #1 in yards per game (172.6), #5 in yards per attempt (4.5)
Patriots: #6 in yards per game (145.7), #12 in yards per attempt (4.1)

Rushing defense, 1985 season:

Bears: #1 in yards per game (82.4), #7 in yards per attempt (3.7)
Patriots: #6 in yards per game (103.4), #4 in yards per attempt (3.6)

The Pats' rush defense was almost as good as the Bears' that year.

Rushing in the Super Bowl:

Bears: 49 rushes, 167 yds (3.4 y/a)
Patriots: 11 rushes, 7 yds (0.6 y/a)

The Pats' rush defense actually held the Bears' rushing to below their season averages. The Bears' rush defense completely smothered the Patriots' running game.