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Cedrick Hardman |
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Jim Plunkett |
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Dan Fouts |
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Cedrick Hardman |
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Jim Plunkett |
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Dan Fouts |
By Eric Goska
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Behind the Desk: Bill Cowher (left), Nate Burleson (center) and Matt Ryan (right) were on the scene at Lambeau Field as CBS broadcast Sunday's Packers-Lions game. (photos by Eric Goska) |
The wait is over.
For six consecutive seasons, Matt LeFleur and his Packers had
opened on the road. Sunday, finally, the 45-year-old head coach kicked off a
campaign within the friendly confines of Lambeau Field as his team hosted
division rival Detroit.
In general, NFL schedule makers grant first-time head
coaches an opener at home within a year or three of their hire. But since 2019,
those charged with arranging dates, times and locations apparently overlooked
Green Bay.
While fellow NFC North coaches Dan Campbell (Lions) and Kevin
O’Connell (Vikings) began their careers at home in 2021 and 2022, respectively,
LeFleur had to sit tight. While Arthur Smith (Falcons) and Matt Rhule
(Panthers) stayed put in each of their first three seasons as head coaches,
LeFleur traveled out of state.
LeFleur’s patience paid off.
Steve Owen’s never did.
In LaFleur’s first five seasons, his Packers initiated play
at Chicago (2019, 2023), at Minnesota (2020, 2022) and at New Orleans (2021).
Last year, they flew to Brazil to get the ball rolling against the Eagles.
Logging so many miles is unique in team history. Every other
Packers head coach – from Curly Lambeau (Hagemeister Park, 1921) to Gene
Ronzani (City Stadium, 1950) to Vince Lombardi (New City Stadium, 1959) to Bart
Starr (Milwaukee County Stadium, 1975) – opened their first season at home.
Biding time as LaFleur did is rare. Only three coaches in
NFL history had to wait longer.
Owen, head coach of the New York Giants from 1931 through
1953, never opened a season at home. He spent 23 years initiating play on
foreign soil.
The other two: Roy Andrews (8 years; 1924-31) and Jim Lee Howell
(7; 1954-60).
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Fans wait in line to gain admission into Lambeau Field. |
Jim Nantz, who handled the play-by-play for the Packers-Lions matchup, noted the significance of the opener.
“They (the Packers) have not had a home opener in Week 1 since 2018,” he announced after Green Bay had scored its first touchdown. “So it’s the first time Matt LeFleur has been given that courtesy as well. And what a way to start your season with a touchdown drive ending with (Jordan) Love hitting six different targets including (Tucker) Kraft at the end for the score.”
Motivated, focused, LaFleur’s charges controlled the Lions from the outset, registering a convincing 27-13 win over the reigning NFC North Division champs.
Pass defense played a major role in the victory. Jared Goff rarely had time to get comfortable in the pocket or take a shot downfield. The Lions quarterback launched 39 throws and completed 31 for an underwhelming 225 yards. He averaged a meager 7.3 yards per completion.
One measure of Detroit’s ineffectiveness is the number of short completions it had. The majority of them – 25 to be exact – netted fewer than 10 yards each.
That’s a lot of baby steps. Only twice before have the Packers forced so many short aerial gains in one regular-season game. The Giants (Kerry Collins) fired 25 in a 34-25 loss on Jan. 6, 2002, and the Bears (Mitch Trubisky) had 26 in a 35-16 setback on Jan. 3, 2021.
Declaring a defense successful because of a near record number of short throws may seem counter-intuitive. But every one of those modest gains had the potential to morph into something more, yet Green Bay refused to allow it.
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The Packers and Lions have been tangling since the 1930s. |
Consider Jahmyr Gibbs Exhibit A. The running back – often a last resort when nothing materialized downfield – served as Goff’s top target hauling in all 10 passes thrown his way.
But – and this is a biggie – the three-year veteran only gained 31 yards on those 10 connections.
Translation: Gibbs went virtually nowhere before or after the catch.
According to Stathead at Pro Football Reference, there have been just over 1,750 instances of a player snagging 10 or more passes in a regular-season game. Only one of those double-digit dippers – Alvin Kamara of the Saints in 2023 – averaged fewer yards per catch (2.5) than Gibbs’ 3.1.
More than a third (11) of Goff’s completions went for fewer than five yards. Two wound up as negatives.
Goff’s longest hookup was a 32-yarder to tight end Sam LaPorta early in the third quarter. That, and that alone, was the Lions’ only pass play of 20 or more yards.
While the recently acquired Micah Parsons played a role in this uptick in Green Bay’s pass defense, the improvement appeared to be a team effort. The question then becomes: Can the unit duplicate its stinginess against Jayden Daniels – a younger, more elusive quarterback than Goff – and his Commandeers come Thursday.
By Eric Goska
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Don Hutson was the
NFL’s most valuable player in 1942. |
Don Hutson was a target long before the term became popular in NFL circles.
Ninety years have passed since Hutson first suited up for the Packers in the summer of 1935. Nearly 80 years have elapsed since he snagged his last reception in December of 1945.
So much has been written about the legendary end. What more can be said?
In April, I punched the following into Google: “Was Don Hutson targeted 20 times in a game?”
Here is what came back: “It is very unlikely that Don Hutson was targeted 20 times in a single game. While Hutson was a dominant receiver and a prolific scorer, modern football statistics, including targeting data, weren’t kept during his playing days in the 1930s and 1940s. Even if he had been targeted that many times, it would be an exceptionally high number compared to the norms of that era.”
Even AI (artificial intelligence) can’t cover Hutson effectively! Hutson was targeted 20 or more times not once, but twice.
Directing that many passes to one receiver in a game is rare. Stathead, the search engine available through Pro Football Reference, reveals how infrequently it occurs.
Since 1978, there have been 12,618 instances of a receiver being targeted 10 or more times in an NFL regular-season game. The number drops to 1,269 when a threshold of 15 or more is used. It becomes a trickle – 67 – when the bar is raised to 20 or more.
This downward trend exists among Green Bay receivers as well. Since 1978, the numbers have been 423 (10-plus), 43 (15-plus) and two (20-plus).
James Lofton (21) and Davante Adams (21) are the only Packers receivers to have been targeted 20 or more times in a game in the last 47 years.
It’s time to add Hutson – and one other – to that short list.
Quick pause before we dive in. Intended targets cannot be determined for all passes from the era in which Hutson played. On average, three to four throws per game cannot be assigned to a particular receiver. Therefore, the numbers noted here are minimums, as Hutson – and others – could have been targeted more often.
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Don Hutson on the move against the Rams in 1945. (Green Bay Press-Gazette photo) |
During his first five seasons (1935-1939) Hutson was targeted 10 or more times in a game on six occasions. In 1940, he enjoyed double-digit outings six times as he became the first Packer to be targeted 100 or more times in a season.
That season – 1940 – was the first in which the Packers averaged more than 25 pass attempts per game. With Cecil Isbell (150 attempts), Arnie Herber (89) and Hal Van Every (41) leading the way, Green Bay launched 283 aerials, second most behind the 362 of the Eagles.
Hutson (112 targets) was easily the Packers’ favorite. Carl Mulleneaux (37) was a distant second with Andy Uram (19) and Ray Riddick (18) the only others to exceed 15.
In order, Hutson was targeted 5, 12, 7, 13, 14, 6, 17, 9, 12, 4, and 13 times in 1940. His high-water mark of 17 came in a 14-7 loss to the Bears at Wrigley Field, a game in which he likely became the first Packer to be targeted 10 times in one half (second).
Hutson caught 45 passes in 1940, second to the 58 of the Eagles’ Don Looney. Looney, quite possibly, was targeted more than 100 times that season as well.
In 1942, Hutson hauled in an NFL record 74 receptions as the Packers, for the first time, averaged 30 pass attempts per game. The Alabama Antelope (127 targets) again was Green Bay’s top gun, with Andy Uram (35) and Lou Brock (24) a distant second and third.
By game, Hutson’s targets were: 9, 8, 5, 19, 12, 11, 16, 20, 22, 3, and 2. He was sought out 20 or more times in consecutive games in November: in a 38-7 loss to the Bears at Wrigley Field and in a 21-21 tie with the Giants in the Polo Grounds.
With five Packers passes unaccounted for in the Big Apple, Hutson’s total could have been higher than 22. Unfortunately, without a complete play-by-play we can only speculate.
When speaking of Hutson that day, reporters tended to focus on the numerous records he extended and the drought he ended.
“Playing as usual without shoulder or hip pads which hamper his speed, Hutson broke his career-long Giant jinx,” wrote Jack Smith of the New York Daily News. “He had never before scored a touchdown against them."
Hutson grabbed two.
Hutson played three more seasons after his 14-catch, 134-yard performance against the Giants. Though targeted often, he never again ventured into 20-plus territory.
One Packers player who did was Bob Mann. He tied Hutson record against the Rams in the 1951 season finale when 22 passes came his way. He snagged 11 for 123 yards.
For nearly 35 years, Hutson and Mann remained a duo without equal. Lofton joined them in a 24-10 loss to the Saints in 1986. Adams climbed aboard in an 18-16 loss to the Lions in 2015.
As noted at the outset, rare is the receiver who is targeted 20 or more times in a game. Hutson – a focal point in any game in which he played – may be the only NFL receiver to have been in the crosshairs to that extent in consecutive games.
Hutson in 1940
Hutson in 1942
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1976 Throwback Uniforms |
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1977 Bucs white jersey with red numerals |
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All yellow - called "Charger Power" |
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All navy -- called Super Chargers |
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Jason Taylor |
by Jeffrey J. Miller
I had recently written Rockin’ The Rockpile and was looking for a new project when I began reading The 50 Greatest Plays in New York Giants Football History by my friend John Maxymuk. I thoroughly enjoyed not only John’s excellent authorship but also the format. After doing a little research, I found out that the publisher, Triumph Books of Chicago, was doing a series of 50 Greatest books, which also included versions for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears.
Duly inspired, I fired off an email to Triumph’s acquisition
department informing them of my previous work and my desire to write a Buffalo
Bills version of 50 Greatest. To
my surprise, I received a positive response from Adam Motin, Development Editor
at Triumph Books, just a few days later in which he expressed their interest in my proposal. There was one catch, however.
Triumph had some sort of commitment to do a book with Marv Levy. Would I mind collaborating with the Hall-of-Famer
and greatest coach in Buffalo Bills history?
Pregnant pause.
Well, I cannot remember my exact response, but I am sure it
went something like “No freakin’ way!”
Not really. It was probably more
of a restrained “yeah, sure!” as I tried to mask the excitement of being
offered a chance to work with someone of Coach Levy’s stature. Sure, I was
confident in my ability, but at this point, I had only written two football
books (Buffalo’s Forgotten Champions and Rocking the Rockpile),
so this was a huge step. But one I
welcomed gleefully!
A couple of days later, I came home from work and saw the
little red light flashing on my answering machine. I pushed the button and the first message
that sprang forth went something like this … “Hello Jeff, this is Marv
Levy. I understand we are going to be
writing a book together. Please give me
a call at (his private number) and we can discuss the particulars.”
For a solid week I played that message for anyone who
happened to drop by the house for a visit. Come on ... who wouldn't?
I returned Marv’s call straight away. We had a nice chat in which he expressed
excitement at writing this book with me. He
informed me that he had a heavy schedule of commitments that will limit his
availability and that I will “have to play quarterback” for this project and
let him know what particular plays from the team’s history I wanted him to
write about, and proofread the chapters he sends to me. Not a problem!
The initial idea was, as stated above, to produce a book
consistent with Triumph’s 50 Greatest series. Within a very short time, Marv and I were
corresponding daily via email, phone and fax (this was the dark ages of 2009,
after all). We eventually compiled a
tentative list of the plays we planned to cover. We agreed that Marv would write about the
plays that occurred during his time as the Bills’ head coach, while I would
tackle any of the selected plays that happened before or after his tenure. Marv even sent me a few hand-drawn sketches
of some of the plays we intended to feature in the book. Thank goodness I saved those faxes!
Here are a few ...
Though we never met face-to-face during the writing portion
of this book, we corresponded several times each week, even several times in a
day in some stretches. Marv would send
me his chapters and ask my opinion or that I go through and check for typos,
etc. In some cases, his chapters were
very long and I had the responsibility of having to whittle away some content
to make it fit into the available space.
My friend Jeff Mason (my former high school history teacher who has proofread nearly
everything I have ever written over the years) proofread the finished
manuscript for any misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, and so on.
Our book was officially published in October 2009. In all, we included 36 plays or events from Buffalo Bills history. The hard-bound book was lavishly illustrated and presented as a nice coffee table style book for die-hard Bills fans.
I will always cherish this episode in my writing
career. Working with Marv Levy was quite a
thrill! I was honored when he agreed to
write the foreword for my next book (“100 Things Bills Fans Should Know &
Do Before They Die”), which affirmed for me that he enjoyed the collaboration
as well.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Coach Levy!