With the Vince Lombardi Trophy barely hoisted in the Crescent City, crystal ball-gazers already looking ahead to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas may likely see the black and gold colors of New Orleans and the blue and white of Indianapolis squaring off under Jerry Jones’ infamous HD screen high above the field at Cowboys Stadium in 2011, in a repeat of this year’s NFL title game.
The recently completed 2009 season will be remembered for more than New Orleans’ first Super Bowl crown. Branded into the brain was the rapid rise of the New York Jets under first-year head coach Rex Ryan, who improbably took a moderately talented Jets team and revamped its defense into the league’s best, not to mention courageously placing his offense into the hands of rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who surpassed everyone’s expectations, at times looking like a seasoned signal-caller; there was Tom Brady’s comeback but the Pats ultimate failure in the playoffs; Cincinnati’s out-of-nowhere rise to topple incumbent Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh as king of the AFC North; Minnesota’s great run behind an ageless quarterback; the Tennessee Titans impressive turnaround with Vince Young at quarterback.
Fans of the kicking game almost witnessed a monumental feat, when Oakland punter Shane Lechler’s season punting average (51.1) came within four-tenths of a yard of besting the legendary Sammy Baugh’s hard-to-believe, 70-year-old NFL punting record (51.4) for season average. I rank Baugh’s mark among the three greatest records in NFL history. Imagine the advantage of today’s punters, kicking for the most part in climate-controlled facilities with year-round training and conditioning. Baugh, on the other hand, withstood temperamental outdoor conditions every game and didn’t kick a ball as aerodynamically designed as today’s prolate spheroid, in what amounted to a seasonal job in 1940. The other two marks I rank with Baugh’s standard are Ernie Nevers’ single-game scoring mark (40 points, set 81 years ago!) and Norm Van Brocklin’s single-game passing yardage record of 554, set 59 years ago, in 1951. The Dutchman’s mark is nearly incomprehensible when placed against the non-stop passing game that football has evolved to since the early 1950s. Those three records are the NFL’s Holy Grail, venerable achievements all.
Dallas and Green Bay should contend mightily in 2010 and it would be difficult to pick between the two as a possible successor to Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game, in the likelihood that Brett Favre joins Arizona’s Kurt Warner into retirement. Should Favre return, look for a great three-way battle for the right to fight the Saints in the National Football Conference.
In addition to Indianapolis and New York, AFC pretenders certainly will include San Diego, if it can rebuild its once unmatchable running game; Cincinnati, with its Cinderella 2009 season a step-stone to consistency; a rebounding New England Patriots team, with head coach Bill Belichick now heading up the defense, and the sleeping-giant Houston Texans, who just might break all the way through.
If one moment from 2009 lingers with me through the spring and early summer, it will be the image of Brett Favre being helped off the Superdome turf in the third quarter of the NFC Championship Game, the target of a Saints’ beat-down. It would be a prophetic metaphor for the team, a harbinger of more unraveling to come: the inexplicable 12-man huddle penalty that took Minnesota out of field goal range with :19 left, followed by Favre’s game-ending and possibly career-ending interception on the very next play that sealed the Vikings’ fate. Kickoff 2010? It can’t be that far away.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at: alanross_sports@yahoo.com
© Sportland 2010
(NOTE: This concludes 2009 NFL coverage. Over the Ball will return the first week in September 2010.)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
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