Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

The Cleveland Browns were the main rival to the New York Giants during the late 50's. Jim Brown was a rookie in 1957 and the Browns won the Eastern Conference that year over the New York Giants. Sure, the Giants used their "gap control" against other teams, but I am sure that Jim Brown and...

Here is something right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Tom Landry wrote the forward for Sam Huff's book "Tough Stuff." Here is part of that: I was teaching a new way to play defense. Instead of reacting to the play and pursuing, we used a coordinated defense that plugged all the gaps...

Here is one from Defensive fronts in the 1950's, part 2., which I googled.

And of Tom Landry's Defenses Circa 1958.

New York under its defensive coach, Tom Landry, built its great defense utilizing the same "flex" concept Landry still uses with the Dallas Cowboys. Etc., etc.

1964 may have been when Landry first used it at Dallas, but he used a version of the flex defense during the late 50's when he was defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.

Landry used the "Flex" with the Giants when he was defensive coach with the Giants during the late 50's. I have read that in different places

True. Long term successful teams like the Giants of 1956-63 or Packers of 1960-67 may have lucked into a league or conference championship some years but being in contention year in and year out gives a team more opportunities to luck out.

Cleveland ended up winning anyway, but Tom Landry remained a thorn in Cleveland's side for years afterward. Landry studied Paul Brown for hours on end to find the best ways to defense the Browns and invented the "flex defense" to contain Jim Brown and Cleveland's running game. I am sure th...

I often heard in 1967 about how lucky the Cleveland Browns were, and I guess that they were that year, both on and off the field. How were they lucky? Let me count the ways: 1. The Eastern Conference in 1967 was divided into 2 divisions with the Browns toughest rival in the east, the Dallas Cowboys,...

Spec Sanders missed the 1949 season due to an injury. Sanders had been a single wing tailback, and the Giants used the T formation. Also, the Giants had Eddie Price as a fullback and Choo Choo Roberts as a speedy halfback. Steve Owens was a defensive specialist and wanted to build up his defensive u...

Steve Owen is considered one of the great NFL coaches of the 30's and 40's along with guys like George Halas, Curly Lambreau, Ray Flaherty, and Earl "Greasy" Neale in the 40's. After meeting with Neale in 1950, Owen invented the "Umbrella Defense" in order to contain the Clevelan...