Least Likely Super Bowl QB

racepug
Posts: 779
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:18 pm
Location: Somewhere in the continental U.S.

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by racepug »

Brian wolf wrote:Had Stanley Morgan caught Eason's early pass in the SB, the Patriots might have gotten more confident with an early TD but the Bears would have won anyway. A more confident Eason might have had a longer career but after this blowout, he never recovered ...

Chandler had a great story leaving the Titans, winning his division and beating Young and Cunningham in the playoffs but come SB time, the team just finally ran out of gas ...
Didn't help the Falcons' cause that their "spiritual leader," Eugene Robinson, got busted in the French Quarter the night before the S.B. And for something regarding marital infidelity, yet (if memory serves).
Gary Najman
Posts: 1429
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:24 pm
Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by Gary Najman »

Although he was the first overall pick in 1971, not many would have predicted in the 1970s that Jim Plunkett would start and win two Super Bowls in the 1980s.
User avatar
TanksAndSpartans
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:05 am

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

74_75_78_79_ wrote:By the time the ’85 playoffs began as well as even prior to that, the Pats were the AFC’s best team that year thus deserving of representing in New Orleans. They were a very good (perhaps almost ‘great’) team. It’s just that like most SBs during that time, it was a case of the winner playing their absolute best game while the loser would play their absolute worst for whatever reason. Da Bears were noticeably better - and, yes, a convincing win is a convincing win which happens even if Pats played their best on that day - but not 36 points giving up a garbage TD better
I think this is debatable. Elway and Marino (just once, but should have been twice) got teams to the Super Bowl and met more balanced teams with better defenses and run games and it resulted in some lopsided Super Bowls, I think more so than the AFC teams just happening to play bad games. (In general, with the NFC winning something like 15 out of 16, having personally followed the NFL those years, it felt like the NFC just had better and more balanced teams and I started to just expect the NFC team to not only win, but win big. In reality some of those games were competitive, but it tends to blur together with the blowouts as time passes).

I wouldn't call any of the '85 AFC teams great, but the '85 Dolphins would have given the Bears a better game, imo. They went on a turnover spree in the playoff game against the Pats. Raiders were the 1 seed and probably the best AFC team in '85, but the nature of single elimination playoffs is the best team doesn't always get there. Off the top of my head and imo that '85 Pats team was one of the worst to make it to a SB. Maybe they ran out of gas after the two big upsets could have also been part of it.
racepug
Posts: 779
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:18 pm
Location: Somewhere in the continental U.S.

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by racepug »

TanksAndSpartans wrote:I think this is debatable. Elway and Marino (just once, but should have been twice) got teams to the Super Bowl and met more balanced teams with better defenses and run games and it resulted in some lopsided Super Bowls, I think more so than the AFC teams just happening to play bad games. (In general, with the NFC winning something like 15 out of 16, having personally followed the NFL those years, it felt like the NFC just had better and more balanced teams and I started to just expect the NFC team to not only win, but win big. In reality some of those games were competitive, but it tends to blur together with the blowouts as time passes).
The only two truly close S.B.s from the '80s that I can recall off the top of my head were the two involving the 49ers and the Bengals. I agree that the N.F.C. champs that decade tended to be much better balanced (and generally with better defenses) than the A.F.C. reps were.
TanksAndSpartans wrote:I wouldn't call any of the '85 AFC teams great, but the '85 Dolphins would have given the Bears a better game, imo.
I remember looking forward to a rematch in the S.B. in which I fully expected the Bears to get some revenge for their one regular season loss.
TanksAndSpartans wrote:They went on a turnover spree in the playoff game against the Pats.
As I recall that was New England's first win in Miami since the 1960s!
TanksAndSpartans wrote:Raiders were the 1 seed and probably the best AFC team in '85, but the nature of single elimination playoffs is the best team doesn't always get there.
As I recall the Raiders were also the top seed in 1982 and were upset in the playoffs (by the Jets) that year, too.
TanksAndSpartans wrote: Off the top of my head and imo that '85 Pats team was one of the worst to make it to a SB. Maybe they ran out of gas after the two big upsets could have also been part of it.
Given the roll the Bears were on I don't know if anybody could've beaten them in that S.B. As I recall the Patriots came out and gave it their level best - didn't they force a Bears fumble (by Walter Payton, no less!) early in that game? But when their early efforts amounted to (essentially) nothing, once the Bears got going in that game the Pats never stood a chance. I've read more than once that Tony Eason never really recovered after being manhandled by the Bears that day and I think there's probably something to that. As great as that Bears team was there was a bit of sadness attached to that game, at least as far as I'm concerned: the great John Hannah going out on that note and "Sweetness" not being given a chance to score a touchdown in what turned out to be his only S.B. appearance.
Lee Elder
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:55 pm

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by Lee Elder »

Unlikely STARTING quarterbacks have been listed here. I have two unlikely Super Bowl QBs in mind, both Super Bowl non-starters.

After all of the pre-game talk about Joe Namath prior to SBIII, Jets backup Babe Parelli was an unlikely consideration. But Parelli got in the game when Namath hurt his passing hand. I believe Namath stunned his thumb. Parelli wasn't in long, but his appearance was unlikely.

Much of the talk before Super Bowl XXII centered on Washington QB Doug Williams. But Williams left the game with a leg injury briefly in the first quarter, giving way to Jay Schroeder. Williams returned and Washington later won the game but Schroeder would have to be considered an unlikely Super Bowl QB.
User avatar
TanksAndSpartans
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:05 am

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

Lee, nice call on Parelli. I've seen SB III a few times and didn't remember that. How is a player from my '52 Packers Tel Ra highlights in SB III? Would not seem possible on the surface :D
Brian wolf
Posts: 2977
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:43 am

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by Brian wolf »

With respect to Mr Elder, I disagree on Schroeder ...

He was capable of leading the Skins to the SB in 85, 86 and helped in 87. He also could have taken the Raiders in 90 but his problem was decision-making and bad interceptions, which is why he got replaced by Williams in 1987. In 1985, he showed a lot of moxie leading the Skins after Theismann got hurt. He led a great comeback to beat the Bengals in wk 15 but the Skins just missed the playoffs. In 1986 he won 12 games but couldnt handle the Giants but who could ?

Despite a cannon for an arm, he was on a short leash because HC Gibbs had targeted Doug Williams since he left the Bucs. Schroeder had that great game against the Bears in the 86/87 playoffs but couldnt really recover after being shutout in the NFC Championship game. I really believe Gibbs started to have his doubts ...
rhickok1109
Posts: 1470
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:57 am

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by rhickok1109 »

TanksAndSpartans wrote:Lee, nice call on Parelli. I've seen SB III a few times and didn't remember that. How is a player from my '52 Packers Tel Ra highlights in SB III? Would not seem possible on the surface :D
It's perhaps worth noting that Parilli got the 1963 Patriots into the second round of the AFL playoffs.
Brian wolf
Posts: 2977
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:43 am

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by Brian wolf »

Parilli also could have won the 1966 Eastern Division for the Pats but on the final day of the season, Joe Namath played inspired football--despite rumors of being hungover before the game--as the Jets got to .500 for the first time during the Ewbank regime ...
Lee Elder
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:55 pm

Re: Least Likely Super Bowl QB

Post by Lee Elder »

Brian wolf wrote:With respect to Mr Elder, I disagree on Schroeder ...

He was capable of leading the Skins to the SB in 85, 86 and helped in 87. He also could have taken the Raiders in 90 but his problem was decision-making and bad interceptions, which is why he got replaced by Williams in 1987. In 1985, he showed a lot of moxie leading the Skins after Theismann got hurt. He led a great comeback to beat the Bengals in wk 15 but the Skins just missed the playoffs. In 1986 he won 12 games but couldnt handle the Giants but who could ?

Despite a cannon for an arm, he was on a short leash because HC Gibbs had targeted Doug Williams since he left the Bucs. Schroeder had that great game against the Bears in the 86/87 playoffs but couldnt really recover after being shutout in the NFC Championship game. I really believe Gibbs started to have his doubts ...
Brian, you make great points about Schroeder. What I meant (and may have written poorly) was that there was a fantastic amount of pre-game attention paid to Williams. Schroeder was pretty much ignored during the runup to the game and was thus an unexpected QB in the game. As it happened, I covered Schroeder when he played for the Raiders. He told some funny stories about his minor league baseball career.
Post Reply