WEEK 15 CRYSTAL BALL - WEEKEND: Remembering an Iconic NFL Coach
WEEK 15 CRYSTAL BALL - WEEKEND: Remembering an Iconic NFL Coach
My friends, THE GURU is thinking of four words entering the football weekend:
The Future is Now
No, I’m not waxing poetic about the metaverse or considering a trip to another galaxy. They’ve got weight limits, are too expensive for my taste and, besides, I’ve heard the chow is questionable in both locales AND they only serve IPAs on tap1.
Instead, as My Beloved Commies (4-9, 3-4 away) visiting the Rams (6-7, 3-3 home), I’m thinking of George Allen, the Hall of Fame coach who led both franchises and lived by that phrase throughout his coaching career. Forget rookies and the indiscretions of youth. He preferred veteran players for their savvy and attention to detail, never mind if they were a step slow or a little paunchy around the midsection.
Given that description, you’d think that THE CHIEF would be a big fan of Allen’s work and you’d be correct. He returned the Redskins to relevance, took them to their first Super Bowl during the 1972 season, gave my pops a sense of pride. And he’s never forgotten it.
A few of my favorite facts about old George:
He favored milk and ice cream for meals because chewing “was a distraction” that would take him away from football. (Hmm. If I weren’t so darn addicted to chewing, maybe my butt wouldn’t look like 100 pounds of bubble gum.)
The man took spying in football to the next level, so frightening the Cowboys that Tom Landry & Co. rented most of the hotel near the Dallas practice facility for security’s sake.
He liked to trade draft selections so much that he inadvertently traded the same pick twice. And he pulled that move on two occasions!
Those transactions always brought Allen veterans as “The Future is Now” became his overarching philosophy. In fact, he brought in so many vets when he was coaching in DC from 1971-77 that his team was christened “The Over the Hill Gang,” and that didn’t bother Allen one bit. In fact, numerous players he traded for while leading Washington were guys that he coached while with the Rams from 1966-70.
Unfortunately, with no free agency in the 1960s and 1970s, Allen had to acquire those experienced players via the aforementioned trade route, which meant mortgaging his team’s future by dealing draft picks.
In fact, he traded so much that Washington didn’t have a first-round pick in the 1970s. That’s right: the team went an entire decade without selecting a player in the opening round of the draft. But it goes even further than that.
During Allen’s tenure with the Redskins, the team’s highest selection was second-round pick Cotton Speyrer2 in 1971 and Allen promptly traded the young receiver to the Colts, throwing in a 1973 first-round choice for good measure. In return, Allen got a pair of ninth-round picks3 and wide receiver Roy Jefferson, who became a star.
His next highest draft choice in DC: a fourth-round selection in 1977. Otherwise, Allen never picked earlier than the fifth round for the Skins and, in that Super Bowl season of 1972, his first choice was actually in the eighth round.
In today’s game, with the salary cap and free agency, it’d be nearly impossible to win consistently without high draft picks, but Allen made it work in his 12 years as an NFL head coach. In the regular season, he posted a winning percentage (.712) that is topped only by Guy Chamberlin (.784), John Madden (.759) and Vince Lombardi (.738). And Allen and St. Vince share the distinction of being the only men to coach a decade or longer without recording a losing season.4
The key to Allen’s success: an obsessive attention to detail. Everything was organized down to the second, like one of my tailgates. He scripted practices. He ran training camps with precision that would make Patton blush. And he was the first coach to recognize the importance of special teams, naming a youngster by the name of Dick Vermeil the NFL’s first specials-specific coach in 1969 with the Rams.
If Allen were with us today - he died in 1990 - he’d surely be a fan of current LA head coach Sean McVay, he of the well-chronicled football tunnel-vision. He’d also likely make note of the tremendous coaching job that the 37-year-old gym rat is doing with a Rams team that wasn’t expected to make any noise this season.
On the other sideline, things are typically somber in DC with My Beloved Commies headed for their seventh straight non-winning season, their 19th such campaign this century. That’s tough to take but, hey, I’ve been numb for a solid decade and a half. In fact, grab the closest knitting needle and jam it into my torso. I won’t feel a thing.
I’d love to see my guys rise up and wouldn’t be surprised if Slingin’ Sammy Howell has a strong Sunday afternoon but, in the end, it’ll be too much LA. Kickoff is set for 4:05 pm ET on Fox and I’m going Rams, 35-25.
Before we look at the rest of the games, let’s level set for a moment. With the Raiders win on Thursday night, the season mark stands at 128-76 (.627). Here we go…
SATURDAY
We’ve got three games today, all on the NFL Network and, serendipitously, each contest matches teams with winning records. FYI that all times below are Eastern because, well, that’s the only time zone that matters.5
At 1 pm, the Vikings (7-6, 5-2 away) visit the Bengals (7-6, 4-3 home) and I’m going with the hosts because they’re at home, and I don’t yet trust a Nick Mullens-led team in a big spot. The kid can play, surely, and he has Justin Jefferson back from injury, but this is tough. Cats by seven…
…at 4:30 pm, I’m going with the Steelers (7-6, 3-2 away) at the Colts (7-6, 2-4 home) for one reason that I’ll express in three words: Michael Pettaway Tomlin. Historically, his teams play big when it is least expected and, heck, they’re certainly not expected to play well today…
…finally, at 8:15 pm, I’ll take another visitor, the Broncos (7-6, 3-3 away) over the Lions (9-4, 4-2 home). Listen, Dee-troit is having a wonderful year and has a shot at matching the franchise’s record of 12 wins in a single season, a mark set by Barry Sanders-led squad in 1991. That’s the good news.
Unfortunately, a look at the past five games shows that this is not a football team that is peaking. Indeed, while they’ve gone 3-2 over that stretch the wins have been narrow (over the Chargers, Bears and Saints) and the losses have been to teams with losing records (Green Bay and those same Bears).
As the streaking Broncos roll into town - don’t get too excited, ladies: I’m talking football here - the Lions need a win given what they face in the season’s final three weeks: at Minnesota, at Dallas, Minnesota at home. And wouldn’t Dan Campbell like to get that “W” against his former coach Sean Payton, a ma6n whose Saints franchise reportedly didn’t award Campbell a Super Bowl ring after the 2009 season?
That said, Campbell owes much of his career to Payton and acknowledges at much. He played for Payton in three different cities - New York, Dallas and New Orleans - and then spent five years under him as an assistant coach. Then, in his introductory press conference with the Lions, Campbell thanked Payton for the influence he’s had on his coaching career. So, no grudge there.
My gut says “Denver” but that could be my desire for enchiladas talking. It’s nearly lunchtime and, when I was a young man living in the Mile High City, I was bitten by the Mexican food bug and the itch remains. I’d love to say “Lions” but just can’t do it. Broncos by three.
1 PM - FOX
Take the home team when the Bears (5-8, 2-5 away) visit the Browns (8-5, 6-1 home). Cleveland QB Joe Flacco is one of the best stories in football and, if you’ve got a few minutes, please read this outstanding piece from Go Long about the Delaware alum…
…I’ll take the Chiefs (8-5, 4-2 away) to bounce back at the Patriots (3-10, 1-6 home). Andy Reid with his back to the wall is a sight to behold. No, I mean it, literally. Reid can make a wall look as small as he did his fellow Punt, Pass and Kick competitors in the 1970s…
…in other action, I see the Giants (5-8, 2-5 away) falling at the Saints (6-7, 3-3 home) and the Falcons (6-7, 2-4 away) blowing away the host Panthers (1-12, 1-4 home).
1 PM - CBS
The Bucs (6-7, 3-4 away) lose at Green Bay (6-7, 4-2 home) as the Packers continue to make the NFC North race interesting. Maybe Matt LaFleur can coach after all, eh?…
…the Texans (7-6, 2-4 away) lose to the homestanding Titans (5-8, 4-2 home). No CJ Stroud spells serious trouble for Houston…
…the visiting Jets (5-8, 2-3 away) go down swinging to the Dolphins (9-4, 5-1 home). Was last week’s performance a breakout game for Zach Wilson? What I wouldn’t give to see an old school New York-Miami shootout with a receiver like Wesley Walker snagging a few TD passes.
4:05 PM - CBS
I love the Niners (10-3, 5-2 away) at the Cardinals (3-10, 2-4 home). San Fran is in a groove, and I don’t see any major hiccups over the next few weeks.
4:25 PM - FOX
In a truly against-the-grain upset special, the Cowboys (10-3, 3-3 away) lose at the Bills (7-6, 5-2 home). I’m swimming against the tide here but, hey, Buffalo is no treat in December whether you’re an opposing team or a local citizen.
8:20 PM - NBC
Take the Ravens (10-3, 5-1 away) at the Jaguars (8-5, 3-4 home) as they march towards another AFC North crown. Baltimore by four.
MONDAY, 8:15 PM - ABC, ESPN
In the final game of the weekend, I think the Eagles (10-3, 5-2 away) losing streak continues against the Seahawks (6-7, 4-2 home).
I still believe Philadelphia is a top-three team in the NFC, but Jalen Hurts is sick and cornerback Darius Slay is out. Throw in the fact that Seattle is a tough place to play, Pete Carroll knows how to win late-season games and Geno Smith is returning at QB and I like Seattle, even if Birds coach Nick Sirianni is a bulldog when backed into a corner.
This one will be tighter than a pair of my gym shorts but, even with a number of key Seahawks hurt, I’m calling it Seattle by three.
That’s all for this week, folks! Enjoy the games and God bless!
I’m a lager man which is to say that I like an easy-drinking brew that will keep me light(er) on my feet. Most of my pals who prefer IPAs usually can’t walk a straight line after two cold ones and what fun is that?
A kid named “Cotton” from Texas? You don’t say. Actually, turns out it was actually a nickname because the young man was born with white hair. And you know that I love me some white hair.
Back then, the draft was longer than Gardner Minshew’s mustache with the final selections often being guys that didn’t know what a football was. Seriously, dudes were sometimes picked based upon what was written about them in magazines as scouting wasn’t the blend of art and science that it is today.
The draft began as a nine-round affair in 1936 and ballooned to 32 rounds during World War II when many of our guys were laying the wood to Hitler. It was gradually reduced to 17 rounds by 1967, cut to 12 rounds a decade later and changed to eight rounds in 1993. A year later, the league settled on the current seven-round format though, with the truckload of compensatory picks awarded each season - there were 35 choices in 2023 - it is more like eight rounds worth of picks.
To top it off, Allen tacked on two successful years as a head coach in the United States Football League in 1983-84, with the Chicago Blitz and Arizona Wranglers, respectively. He took both teams to the postseason and the Wranglers advanced all the way to the title game, losing to Jim Mora’s Philadelphia Stars.
Actually, that’s a horribly provincial statement and also not true. The only time zone that matters is the one that THE GURU is in at any given time.
Courtesy, NFL Network, which had an excellent interview with Campbell prior to tonight’s game.