I have recently watched the Don Shula episode on one of the networks and I watched the undefeated season and I learned something interesting. First , when we were successful in the 70's we had three great running backs and two good tight ends and more importantly we had good starting qb and we had two good backups . since the The Tuna and His helpers came here we seem to settle for less when drafting and when keeping players. when we had Csonka, Kick , and Morris we had a good rotation. when we had Tony Nathan ,Woody Bennett and Delvin Williams and one other back we had some success. when we had Ricky , Ronnie and Polight in there blocking we had some success, unfortunately we had some crappy coaches over the last ten years.. right now we have a good nucleus of wide receivers and tight ends . but we need to draft another QB and another running back would help us a lot. another thing that I learned was that we were good at occasionally drafting these positions for attrition and depth . So it looks like in order to get back to the play offs I think we need to add more athletic running backs .
true in the 70s, to win in this league constantly now, you need a passing game though and you have to stop the pass, thats the blueprint now
For twelve years now, the Fins have been in a building cycle. It's almost impossible to draft for the future when you still have gaping holes right now, so our philosophies will change over the next few years. Right now, we need another young QB and we could use some depth in the secondary and the O Line, but our needs are nowhere close to what they were just a few years ago. In fact, the only reason those 70's teams got a guy like Morris is because they had already dominated for several seasons. Like us, their defense was ridiculously good and they didn't have to put up 40 a game to get the win. When you're in that kind of position, you can use the draft to gamble on high potential prospects and give them time in the system to develop...but you have to have a solid core in place first. That's why NE is the dynasty that it is....they don't need their draft picks to contribute today.
It's about balance. While you can look at the playoff seedings and see that the top teams are very pass heavy, the teams that have a good passing game and a balanced rushing attack (plus a good defense) will be the ones to advance. -that's why Tom Brady + a running game is almost unbeatable, but without one, it's much easier -that's why P Manning is beatable this year. no running backs worth a damn -same for A Rodgers, the threat of E Lacy helps having said that, if you want to make the playoffs, the formula of really good QB + defense is a better one than RB + defense
Trying to compare teams of the 1970s to the modern era isnt practice. Putting aside the rule changes for a moment. There was also only 26 teams, 17 draft rounds and no free agency. The talent pool today is thinner and with free agency and the salary cap have made it more difficult to overload a team with talent
We had a very good passing game (EFFECTIVE) in the early 70's. I wish wr had Paul Warfield #42 now.....Wow.....
Agreed. When you do pass you have to be effective. I was just sAying you can be a run first team. And warfield was amazing
There will never be another team like that. They were passionate about the game and they were a "team". And their never be another Shula!
Keep in mind as well, Shula was blessed with HoF quality offensive linemen from Langer to Webb, it has been a LONG time since we have had such consistency in even a single player for very long. In that sense comparing Shula to Parcells is such a no brainer.
Honestly, after shula I think parcells was the second best coach I've seen. Bill walsh, joe gibbs and belichik are probably better football minds but parcells and shula were the best psychological coaches I have ever seen. They could motivate anyone and they could outfox you intragame if you were the opposing coach. What sperates shula from all other coaches is he could motivate and innovate. All other coaches fall into one category or the other
Can't believe how seriously people seem to be taking this thread. I'm speechless. I am without speech. Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4
Don't think a time machine would work for throwbacks like Csonka. He would let loose on some quote he thought was inspiring to the media, like,"you better ram that helmet up my *** cause I'm going to the end zone"; they would immediately respond by labeling him as homophobically insensitive...Goodell would suspend him for conduct detrimental to potential revenue stream. Chi chi's restaraunt stock would plummet. Mass hysteria
hell I wish we had Gadsden and McDuffie but I love Warfield by the way does anyone know where I can find a Marv Fleming and a Chris Chambers photo in aqua jerseys ?