TUESDAY TIDBITS: "When You Have the Best Pass Protection in Pro Football"

By TJ Troup 

We are approaching the mid-way point of the season, and would sure enjoy hearing from all of you with your thoughts on which teams look strong enough to earn a postseason berth? 

Are you Jets going to find a way to win enough games to get one of those berths? Which team wins the AFC North, and is there going to be a wild card team from that division? Who finishes with a winning record and wins the NFC South? 

November the 21st in my column with address the Moore/Tomlinson record, and the abysmal failure of announcers to find a copy of the record and fact book, and state what the record is for most consecutive games scoring a touchdown. 

Shall we take a journey down the historical NFL path for a look back on games played on October 29th? 

Here we go! 

Cleveland had beaten the Steelers in Pittsburgh earlier in the season, and on this October Sunday at Municipal Stadium, Marion Motley will set a standard for lugging the leather that would stay in the record books until December of 2002. 

Marion Motley

Watching the complete game film over and over again everyone you would come away realizing how well the Browns were coached, how effective the o-line of Cleveland was, and when given a chance to rumble through the Pittsburgh defense Mr. Motley was an express train (188 yards on 11 carries). Motley's 69-yard third-quarter touchdown jaunt is impressive, but so were the other ten carries for 119 yards. 

The trap plays, the powers, and his ability to keep his balance, and explode is why this man was truly one of the greats. Motley will gain 577 yards rushing on just 83 carries (6.95 a carry)in the final six games of the season to win the rushing crown. Oh, and Cleveland will win all six (they needed to). 

This past Sunday Howell of the 'Skins ... oooppss! the Commanders gained 397 yards passing against the Eagles, yet these two teams played on October 29th, 1961 and Mr. Sonny Jurgensen passed for 436 yards on 27 completions. The come-from-behind victory kept Philadelphia in the race in the eastern division by winning 27-24. 

Though Pete Retzlaff sure had a fine game it is Tommy McDonald with less than a minute remaining winning the game with an eye-popping play on a crossing route, snagging the ball, and dashing through the Redskin secondary. 

George Blanda

There are 21,000 fans at the War Memorial in Buffalo to watch the Bills take on the Oilers. George Blanda gains 464 yards on 18 completions—no folks that is not a misprint—over 30 yards a completion.  

The title of today's narrative is a quote from Blanda, and to finish the quote, "(A)nd the best end (Hennigan) you know you will beat the defense more often than not, so you just keep throwing to him and eventually you have the big six." Charlie Hennigan, in one of the greatest seasons ever for a receiver, gains 232 on 9 catches in the 28-16 win. 

There is plenty more to the saga of the 1961 Oilers than this game and just might revisit them later in the season in this column. 

Stay tuned. 

What is significant is that this is the first time two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks gain over 400 yards passing on the same day. Jurgensen and Blanda will face off just once in their careers—1970 with Sonny playing for the 'Skins, and George playing for the Raiders. 

See ya next week.