WEEK FOUR CRYSTAL BALL - THURSDAY: Birds of a Feather Renew Rivalry
Published continually since 1994
My friends, THE GURU is excited about tonight’s ballgame as Seattle (2-1) visits Arizona (2-1) in a battle of NFC West rivals. Sure, I look forward to every kickoff as if it is slathered in syrup, but tonight’s offering is particularly enticing because of the rivalry’s history.
These franchises have been divisional combatants since 2002 when the Cardinals emigrated from the NFC East to the NFC West1 and the Seahawks hold a 29-22-1 edge including seven straight victories. But the rivalry’s advent actually goes back to our bicentennial and the birth of the Seattle franchise.
Indeed, Cardinals-Seahawks was the first game in the Emerald City’s pro football history as St. Louis won a 30-24 thriller on September 12, 1976. Coach Don Coryell’s offense gashed the Seattle defense for 281 yards rushing behind one of the league’s premier offensive lines2, including 100-yard efforts by Jim Otis and the great Terry Metcalf, a Seattle native.
While superlatives are generally best reserved for national monument sightings and trips to Biscuitville, it’s hard to talk about Metcalf without getting excited. Quick and elusive with an uncanny knack for finding open space, he was the original Swiss Army knife, doing everything very well. Indeed, besides being a generational kick and punt returner, he also averaged 4.6 yards per carry for his career and an eye-popping 10 yards per reception, unheard of for a running back3.
And yes, he is related to Pittsburgh wide receiver D.K. Metcalf. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Terry entered the NFL as a third-round selection from Long Beach State4 in 1973 and Coryell and backfield coach Joe Gibbs immediately put their new weapon to work. He rewarded the duo with 944 scrimmage yards in 10 starts, good for 5.1 yards per touch. Yes, Metcalf was charged with nine fumbles – he coughed it up 62 times5 in six NFL seasons – but the risk turned out to be well worth the reward.
In his second season, things got even better as the Cards reached the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. He ripped it up as a runner and receiver while also becoming the first player in NFL history to average more than 30 yards per kick return and greater than 10 yards per punt runback. And, for good measure, he also added a touchdown pass to his resume while finishing second in the league MVP race to Oakland QB Ken Stabler.
A year later, in 1975, St. Lou returned to the playoffs and Metcalf set an NFL record with 2,462 all-purpose yards in 13 games, a mark that stood until San Diego’s Lionel “Little Train” James bested it in 1985, playing in 16 contests. Terry’s mark is still in the all-time top 10, by the way, 45 years later.
He was nearly as good in 1976 and St. Louis was excellent, finishing 10-46 and only missing the playoffs because the wild-card format wasn’t instituted until two years later. And the team’s banner season started, of course, with the opening win against Seattle.
As for the Seahawks, they uncovered a gem in that Week One loss as future Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent began his career with five catches for 86 yards. Two weeks later he’d take things to the next level and record the first 100-yard day of his NFL life - while scoring his first TD – in a 37-21 loss to Jim Plunkett’s 49ers.
Meanwhile, after five record-setting years in St. Louis, Metcalf bolted the Gateway City for the Great White North, doubling his salary with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and diving headlong into the metric system and poutine.
He toiled three seasons there before returning to the NFL to join his old St. Louis backfield coach Gibbs, who’d become the head coach in DC. The jack-of-all-trades Metcalf looked like his old self in the nation’s capital, catching 48 passes for a career-high 595 yards and an astounding 12.4 yards per reception.
Alas, Terry wasn’t there for Washington’s Super Bowl title a year later as his body failed him and he retired with a spine injury after just one season in the District. Still, nearly 40 years post-retirement, he continues to hold or share the following NFL all-purpose yards records:
Highest average yards per game, single season (175.9 in 1975)
Most games 150+ yards gained, season (11 in 1975)
Most games 250+ yards gained, season (3 in 1977)
Most games 200+ yards gained, season (5 in 1975)
Most games 250+ yards gained, career (7)
As if his on-field accomplishments weren’t enough, he gave the football world Eric Metcalf, his son and another terrific all-purpose player whose career yardage still ranks among the top 20 all-time, well ahead of his trendsetting father.
Eric worked for 14 years as a versatile returner, running back and wideout – most notably with Cleveland and Atlanta - and returned 10 punts for TDs, good for second all-time behind 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Devin Hester. He also snagged 104 passes for the Falcons in 1995, matched his dad with three Pro Bowl trips and, yes, added a passing TD with the Browns.
Ok, since we’re talking family, let’s address Terry’s relationship to D.K. Metcalf. Here we go:
D.K. is the son of former NFL offensive guard Terrence, who charted a path for his son at Ole Miss before spending seven years at guard for the Bears7.
Eric is a cousin of Terrence, making him DK’s first cousin once removed.
Terry is DK’s first cousin twice removed (and is the cousin of DK’s grandfather).
That’s four Metcalf men and some serious speed and strength, isn’t it? I’d love to see a footrace but, even better, would pay to watch Terrence destroy his three relatives in a buffet competition.
Didn’t know you were navigating to Ancestry.com, did you?
(Note: The Williams clan isn’t quite as impressive athletically but, hey, THE CHIEF was on the judo squad at VMI in the early 1960s. Word is that no two-by-fours were harmed though egos were reportedly bruised severely.)
As for tonight, I like the Cards at home in a tight one. Coach McDonald will have his Seattle boys ready to play but I think Arizona is sneaky good and a legit candidate to make a postseason appearance.
Catch the action at 8:15 pm ET on Amazon Prime with Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung on the mike. Call it for the hosts, 27-24.
One last note: the Week Three record was an abysmal 7-9 (.438), dropping the season mark to 26-22 (.542). Time for me to pick it up.
God bless, enjoy the game and I’ll be back to you this weekend!
No one moves around like the Cardinals, a roving band of gypsies. In fact, the modern-day Arizona ballclub was based in St. Louis in 1976, having immigrated from Chicago in 1960.
The quintet featured Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf, center Tom Banks and guard Conrad Dobler, arguably the dirtiest player that ever lived.
Putting it into perspective, Christian McCaffrey, perhaps the NFL’s best receiving threat out of the backfield over the past decade, has averaged 8.5 yards per catch for his career.
While the star’s alma mater wasn’t a football hotbed, Coryell was acting on first-hand knowledge when he hand-picked Metcalf as the runner’s LBSU squad squared off against the coach’s San Diego State teams in 1971 and 1972. Long Beach also produced future Giants head coach Jim Fassel and a few others before dropping football in 1991. One of the guys in limbo after the university cut the sport: running back Terrell Davis, who weaved his way to Georgia and eventually took his talents to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Fumbles were more plentiful back then for a host of rule-related reasons that favored the defense e.g., the ground could cause a fumble in those days and defenders were given far more freedom to play through the whistle, pile-drive ballcarriers, etc.
The Cards were particularly good on offense, Coryell’s specialty. Jim Hart was a terrific QB, Metcalf and the other ball handlers were dynamic and the aforementioned o-line was top notch.
He was also on the practice squad for the Saints and Lions but didn’t see live action.