It never is the right call.
Franchise QB tops everything in the NFL.
I'm still pissed off about it...Partly due to the fact that I was at BC and saw Matt Ryan from the front row at the 40 yard line each home game...Knew then he would be a stud in the league.
Also, check the trajectory of the Falcons vs the Dolphins...They make the playoffs...We define mediocrity.
Too many people on this site are content with mediocrity.
I loved the comment that Parcells' two Super Bowl wins were lucky. Seriously, nobody bothered to challenge that? Beyond pathetic. It's a priceless butchering of history. We hate Parcells so we are determined to rewrite his career.
The NFC was full of land mines in that era. Stacked franchises, pre salary cap. You had to be a monster team to merely get to the conference championship game, let alone win two more games. The Giants admirably climbed the ladder, winning a wild card game in both 1984 and 1985 before losing soundly on the road against two of the awesome teams in NFL history, the 1984 49ers and 1985 Bears. But they had battled defensively in those two losses, and by 1986 it was their turn. New York embarrassed the 49ers 49-3 in the divisional playoffs, the worst loss of Montana and Walsh's career. They shut out Joe Gibbs when he was in the prime of his first stint with the Redskins, 17-0. Then the Giants overcame an inspired first half by Elway to rout the Broncos in the second half, for a 39-20 final.
So that's a playoff tally of 105-23, no game closer than 17 points.
Yep, looks lucky to me. That's the way I remember it, as I cashed those tickets.
BTW, Caesar's Palace had a monumental screw up on the eve of that 1986 Giants/Redskins game. Somehow they goofed and put the money line in the box where the -110 juice should have been in the computer. The spread was supposed to be -7.5 with -110 juice on both sides, like any normal game. But at Caesar's Palace for a few hours it was Giants -7.5 -340 and Redskins +7.5 +280. They were giving you the money line (straight up) price of +280 on the Redskins, along with the +7.5 points. One guy discovered it and mentioned it to us. Naturally, we loaded up on the Redskins +7.5 +280 and then scalped the heck out of it. There were some joints at -7 flat so we were taking +7.5 +280 and giving -7 -110. Caesar's finally figured it out but they were stuck. I don't know what they would have done if the Redskins covered but they ended up raking in all the cash because all that extra money on the Redskins went down the toilet. That's just one of hundreds of gaffes I've seen at Nevada sportsbooks so it's always a treat when posters on this site or elsewhere want to pretend the sportsbooks have inside info, or some type of magical knowledge. They have power ratings and most of the time they put the related numbers on the board without botching it.
I was paying attention in 1986 to the point I remember the details 26 years later. It didn't occur to me I should be looking for reasons to declare Parcells lucky. Oh yeah, Jerry Rice dropped a long touchdown in the opening minutes of the playoff opener. Make that 49-10.
In 1990 the Giants were so extraordinarily fortunate they lost their starting quarterback late in the regular season. Had to travel to the 2-time defending champion 49ers in the NFL title game. After shutting down that great offense and winning via a late gutsy drive and field goal, the Giants were 7.5 point underdogs in the Super Bowl. Instead of getting into the intended shoot out with their backup quarterback, the Giants somehow fluked more than 40 minutes of possession against the Bills. One lucky first down run after another by Ottis Anderson.
There were betting odds on the last second field goal, BTW. Not odds on the board but sharp guys were dealing it among themselves, just like always. It was less than 50/50. Given the situation it had to be less than 50/50. I remember wanting to bet the No but I couldn't get the price I wanted. But nowadays I guess we're supposed to backfit and believe that kick was a cinch.
If those two seasons and teams were identical other than Dolphins as champs and not the Giants, we would herald them as legendary. Instead, they're lucky.
I loved the comment that Parcells' two Super Bowl wins were lucky. Seriously, nobody bothered to challenge that? Beyond pathetic. It's a priceless butchering of history. We hate Parcells so we are determined to rewrite his career.
The NFC was full of land mines in that era. Stacked franchises, pre salary cap. You had to be a monster team to merely get to the conference championship game, let alone win two more games. The Giants admirably climbed the ladder, winning a wild card game in both 1984 and 1985 before losing soundly on the road against two of the awesome teams in NFL history, the 1984 49ers and 1985 Bears. But they had battled defensively in those two losses, and by 1986 it was their turn. New York embarrassed the 49ers 49-3 in the divisional playoffs, the worst loss of Montana and Walsh's career. They shut out Joe Gibbs when he was in the prime of his first stint with the Redskins, 17-0. Then the Giants overcame an inspired first half by Elway to rout the Broncos in the second half, for a 39-20 final.
So that's a playoff tally of 105-23, no game closer than 17 points.
Yep, looks lucky to me. That's the way I remember it, as I cashed those tickets.
BTW, Caesar's Palace had a monumental screw up on the eve of that 1986 Giants/Redskins game. Somehow they goofed and put the money line in the box where the -110 juice should have been in the computer. The spread was supposed to be -7.5 with -110 juice on both sides, like any normal game. But at Caesar's Palace for a few hours it was Giants -7.5 -340 and Redskins +7.5 +280. They were giving you the money line (straight up) price of +280 on the Redskins, along with the +7.5 points. One guy discovered it and mentioned it to us. Naturally, we loaded up on the Redskins +7.5 +280 and then scalped the heck out of it. There were some joints at -7 flat so we were taking +7.5 +280 and giving -7 -110. Caesar's finally figured it out but they were stuck. I don't know what they would have done if the Redskins covered but they ended up raking in all the cash because all that extra money on the Redskins went down the toilet. That's just one of hundreds of gaffes I've seen at Nevada sportsbooks so it's always a treat when posters on this site or elsewhere want to pretend the sportsbooks have inside info, or some type of magical knowledge. They have power ratings and most of the time they put the related numbers on the board without botching it.
I was paying attention in 1986 to the point I remember the details 26 years later. It didn't occur to me I should be looking for reasons to declare Parcells lucky. Oh yeah, Jerry Rice dropped a long touchdown in the opening minutes of the playoff opener. Make that 49-10.
In 1990 the Giants were so extraordinarily fortunate they lost their starting quarterback late in the regular season. Had to travel to the 2-time defending champion 49ers in the NFC title game. After shutting down that great offense and winning via a late gutsy drive and field goal, the Giants were 7.5 point underdogs in the Super Bowl. Instead of getting into the intended shoot out with their backup quarterback, the Giants somehow fluked more than 40 minutes of possession against the Bills. One lucky first down run after another by Ottis Anderson.
There were betting odds on the last second field goal, BTW. Not odds on the board but sharp guys were dealing it among themselves, just like always. It was less than 50/50. Given the situation it had to be less than 50/50. I remember wanting to bet the No but I couldn't get the price I wanted. But nowadays I guess we're supposed to backfit and believe that kick was a cinch.
If those two seasons and teams were identical other than Dolphins as champs and not the Giants, we would herald them as legendary. Instead, they're lucky.
