Close Coach Phillips—But Off Just a Little Bit

By John Turney 

Today Coach Wade Phillips did a great chat on Twitter, fielding questions from his followers. And he did a wonderful job. He's a great coach and a gentleman.

Of course, he repeated a claim that has been made over the years, that isn't true, it's close, but it's off some.

Here is the LINK to the Q&A.

Phillips is referring to the 3-4 defense and why he likes it more than a 4-3 and then says the Houston Oilers were the first team to use the 3-4 fulltime.

Well. . . yes and no.

The first teams to use it as their full-time base defense were the 1974 Oilers AND  ALSO the 1974 New England Patriots. Both teams opened the 1974 using the 3-4 defense, not just the Oilers.

However, many (if not all) teams dabbled in going back to the early 1960s. In the early 1970s a lot of teams used it quite a bit, the Patriots and Oilers among then, especially in 1973. But the Dolphins used it as a pass defense (the 53 defense) in 1972-73 and the Bills used it a lot in the mid-1960s, as did the Chargers and other AFL teams/

So, Phillips is not far off, but just to be accurate the Patriots got there first as well.

Game 1 Oilers used the 3-4

Patriots in Game 1, 1974 in the 3-4

Obviously, we are not saying Phillips is wrong or is intentionally deceptive, it's just likely he does not remember what the Patriots were doing.

Here are some AFL shots from the 1960s with a few teams in the 3-4—

This is the 1960 Chargers versus Denver with LAC in 3-4

1965 Chargers with the RDE on 2-point stance

Same game, Chargers with left DE standing up giving defense a 3-4 look

1965 Bills in their 3-4 with the RDE on second level over a guard

Chiefs with Buck Buchanon on the nose RDE standing up (LLB Bell in crouch)

We could show a lot more, but as we mentioned almost all teams used some form of a 3-4 defense and some point. In the 1950s teams mixed it in, even the Colts who'd move Bid Daffy Lipscomb to from right defensive tack to right inside linebacker in a 3-4 look. Others had variations as well but none didn't use it full time as the '74 Patriots and Oilers did but they did use it.

Pro Football Journal Awards

By PFJ Staff

Here are the PFJ Award winners for 2019—

MVP—LaMar Jackson, Ravens

OPOY—Christian McCaffrey, Panthers

DPOY —Stephon Gilmore, Patriots

Offensive Rookie of the Year—Kyler Murray, Cardinals

Defensive Rookie of the Year—Nick Bosa, 49ers

Comeback—Cooper Kupp, Rams

Improved— Devante Parker, Dolphins

ST —JT Gray, Saints

Coach—John Harbaugh, Ravens

Executive—John Lynch, 49ers

Assistant Coach— Greg Roman, Ravens

Wade Phillips Out as Rams Defensive Coordinator

By John Turney

The Rams defense had three or so awful outings in 2019 but was also, on average, better than the 2018 defense that made it to the Super Bowl.

Phillips has had a long and distinguished career without a doubt. We do not know if he'll coach again or hang up the old waffle soul Riddells. But when you look at the teams he's been the defensive coordinator for or the head coach for, it is impressive.
(Click to enlarge)

One thing is for sure, several times he's landed in the money. What do we mean by 'landing in the money'?

He was hired to run his father's defense with the Saint in 1981 and they quickly drafted Rickey Jackson. Then, in 1986, he was hired by Buddy Ryan to coach the Eagles. Who was on that team when Wade arrived? Reggie White. In 1989 he goes to Denver but he inherited (and improved the defense there). They didn't have a star like Reggie White but then he's hired to coach the Bills who have a defensive end named Bruce Smith on the roster. Then he had some good players with the Falcons and Chargers but when he goes to Dallas he has DeMarcus Ware. Next, Son of Bum goes to Houston who just drafted JJ Watt then to Denver who had Von Miller. 

He then gets hired by the Rams who have Aaron Donald on the roster.

So, either he's the best defensive coach ever who developed these talented players into Hall of Famers or he's the most fortunate coach ever. Maybe both.

Everything Old is New Again—A-Gap Pressure Look with Defensive Tackles

By John Turney

The Seahawks beat the Eagles tonight in a fine game. One thing of note was a front the Eagles used to get their only sack. Here it is:

Eagles with both defensive tackles in the A-Gaps or both shading the center

It was interesting because it brought to memory the 1970 Eagles (and others) doing the same thing back in the day. Here is a screenshot of that:

1970 New York Giants at the Eagles

Jets align with both DTs in A-Gaps. 1979

It was nice seeing it, it's not something we see often.

Prediciting the AP All-Pro Team—How'd We Do?

By John Turney
Yesterday we posted our guesses for the AP All-Pro Team. So, how'd we do? We'd say we did okay but did miss some.

Here are the tallies for the "Locks":

We missed on Justin Simmons who was Second-team.

Here are what we termed "probables":

We missed on Hudson (Second-team) and Sherman as the fifth DB. We overthought the edge rushers, but Watt did get First-team as did Jones.

Here are the "Maybes", the hard ones to predict:

We'll take partial credit on the linebackers there. We didn't predict them as much as suggest that they would get mentions. We did miss on the second WR slot, though.

Where we missed the most was on who would get a certain amount of votes, we call that a fail by us. 

2020 Hall of Fame Final 15 Released

By John Turney

According to the Hall of Fame, "The finalists will be presented to the full 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting on Selection Saturday," on Feb. 1, 2020, the day before Super Bowl LIV. The Selection Committee will elect five Modern-Era players for the Class of 2020."

Here are the 15
Troy Polamalu, S—2003-2014 Pittsburgh Steelers
John Lynch, S -- 1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos
Steve Atwater, S -- 1989-1998 Denver Broncos, 1999 New York Jets
LeRoy Butler, S -- 1990-2001 Green Bay Packers
Edgerrin James, RB—1999-2005 Indianapolis Colts, 2006-08 Arizona Cardinals, 2009 Seattle Seahawks
Zach Thomas, LB—1996-2007 Miami Dolphins, 2008 Dallas Cowboys
Sam Mills, LB -- 1986-1994 New Orleans Saints, 1995-97 Carolina Panthers
Bryant Young, DT—1994-2007 San Francisco 49ers
Richard Seymour, DE/DT -- 2001-08 New England Patriots, 2009-2012 Oakland Raiders
Reggie Wayne, WR —2001-2014 Indianapolis Colts

Torry Holt, WR—1999-2008 St. Louis Rams, 2009 Jacksonville JaguarsIsaac Bruce, WR—1994-2007 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 2008-09 San Francisco 49ersSteve Hutchinson, G,—2001-12 Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans 
Alan Faneca, G,—2001-05 Seattle Seahawks, 2006-2011 Minnesota Vikings, 2012 Tennessee Titans
Tony Boselli, T, —1995-2001 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2002 Houston Texans (IR)

Choosing Two Running Backs for All-Pro—A Review of the 1990-98

By John Turney

Sanders loses two All-Pros under purist standards.

The Associated Press (and almost all other All-Pro teams known to man) chose two runnings until 2016 or so. In the mid-1990s they added a fullback, making it a 12-man roster. We have no issue with this, as we mentioned two running backs were the norm and also there is no rule that says only 11 players per platoon is required. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, whatever is needed to honor the top players.

Previously we've looked at Zach Thomas' five All-Pro selection by the AP and showed all of them were the "second slot". That will certainly help him in any potential Hall of Fame discussion. So, looking at the same kind of thing for running backs could be useful, too.

What if a fullback were added in, say 1990 and at the same time one of the running backs were removed? What if the All-Pro team followed what teams were actually doing?

We go through this exercise to show the purists who, from time to time, pop up on social media saying only one running back should be All-Pro, not two. And we get it—since the 1980s teams moved to one-back sets with either a fullback or H-back to lead the way for the runner. But the 1990s is was standard—fullbacks don't run the ball.

So, year-by-year, who would have been the one running back, matched with a fullback and how would it have changed their "resumes"?

So, who gets cut from the AP All-Pro team each year? We are doing just the quick eyeball test of stats since all were great, great players and show AP voting to see who got the most votes as well.

Obvousily we are not saying we know who would have won the voting at the time (ahistorically) if the voters were forced to choose one runner and one blocker, just showing that regardless of who they picked it would make some difference in career resumes for the borderline HOFers.

(Hat tip to Pro Football Reference for graphics and search engine)
1990
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (63 votes)
Thurman Thomas, Buffalo Bills  (58)

Added: Fullback—perhaps Tom Rathman

1991
Thurman Thomas, Buffalo Bills (79)
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (79)

Added Fullback—perhaps Daryl Johnston.

1992
Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys (72)
Barry Foster, Pittsburgh Steelers (67)

Added Fullback—perhaps Daryl Johnston or Tom Rathman

1993
Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys (77)
Jerome Bettis, Los Angeles Rams (40)

Added Fullback—perhaps Daryl Johnston or Kevin Turner

1994
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (98)
Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys (93)

Added Fullback—perhaps Daryl Johnston or Kevin Turner

1995
Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys (85)
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (80)

Added Fullback—perhaps Daryl Johnston or Sam Gash

1996
Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos (86)
Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers (50)

Note: Barry Sanders was First-team All-Pro by PFWA and SN making him a tied as a consensus All-Pro and this one data point should end all the "AP-only" schools of thought. 
Fullback: Larry Centers, Arizona Cardinals

1997
Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions (48)
Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos (44)

Fullback:  Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1998
Terrell Davis, Denver Broncos (47)
Jamal Anderson, Atlanta Falcons (39)

Fullback:  Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

So, Barry Sanders loses two AP All-Pro seasons, Jerome Bettis loses both of his, Emmitt Smith and Terrell Davis lose one each as does Jamal Anderson, Barry Foster, and Thurman Thomas.

It would make some difference when evaluating careers, not for the top guys like Smith and Sanders but for Bettis and Davis it might.