ISSUE 02
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elcome to the second of three editions of Overtime brought to you around the 2018 NFL London Games.
Using the voices and opinions of some of the biggest names in the game, our aim is to take you right into the very heart of the NFL. In this issue, you will hear from a pair of outstanding defensive linemen in Jurrell Casey of the Tennessee Titans and Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers. Long-time NFL defensive coordinator and Sky Sports pundit Rob Ryan gives us a coaching masterclass as we kickstart a mini-series looking at the keys to successfully managing an NFL locker room.
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As part of this, Rob stresses the importance of practice in the NFL and how good preparation can lead directly to Super Bowl glory. He also gives us the lowdown on how to create the ‘ideal 53’. And there is much more on offer in this edition as Colin Hubbuck looks at some of the leading offenses in NFL history, Titans stars tell us what it’s like to play for first-year head coach Mike Vrabel and we highlight six to watch at Wembley on Sunday. Enjoy this weekend’s game between theLos Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans in London.
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SKY SPORTS’ NFL ANCHOR NEIL REYNOLDS PRESENTS HIS SIX CHARGERS AND TITANS PLAYERS TO WATCH AT WEMBLEY STADIUM
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PHILIP RIVERS QUARTERBACK LOS ANGELES CHARGERS While his side-arm throwing style is far from textbook, Philip Rivers’ production has been sensational throughout a long and productive career that should result in his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rivers has been red hot this season, completing 68.6 percent of his throws for 1,702 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions for a passer rating of 115.1.
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MELVIN GORDON RUNNING BACK LOS ANGELES CHARGERS Firmly established as one of the best running backs in the NFL, Melvin Gordon is a key part of the Chargers’ attack. He boasts outstanding vision and patience to go along with his elite physical skills and is a factor in the running and passing games. Gordon leads the Chargers with 466 rushing yards this season and is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He ranks second in the NFL this season with nine touchdowns.
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MELVIN INGRAM DEFENSIVE END LOS ANGELES CHARGERS A genuine threat to get to the quarterback on every down, Melvin Ingram is one of the NFL’s elite pass-rushers. He can also drop back into coverage every now and then and fox the opposing offense, as he did with a Week 5 interception of Oakland’s Derek Carr. Ingram recorded 10.5 sacks in 2017 and should be up around that figure once again by the end of the 2018 campaign.
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MARCUS MARIOTA QUARTERBACK TENNESSEE TITANS As a developing and promising quarterback, Marcus Mariota has shown an ability to do it all – he can throw touchdown passes, leave defenders trailing in his wake on scrambles and even block on rushing plays. During the playoffs last season, Mariota even threw a touchdown pass to himself, becoming only the second quarterback in NFL history to achieve such a feat.
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JURRELL CASEY DEFENSIVE TACKLE TENNESSEE TITANS As talkative as he is unblockable, Jurrell Casey is one of the most dominant interior defensive linemen in the game today. The three-time Pro Bowler is already off to a fast start in 2018 with three sacks and is sure to be in the thick of the action at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Casey is a complete defender and one of the best in the NFL.
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KEVIN BYARD SAFETY TENNESSEE TITANS A true ball-hawk at safety, Kevin Byard is a dangerous defender who is capable of turning a game with a big play in the secondary. The third-year defensive back earned All-Pro (best of the NFL’s best) honours in 2017 as he led the league with eight interceptions. Byard recorded his first pick of 2018 during last Sunday’s meeting with the Baltimore Ravens.
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WITH JURRELL CASEY
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s one of the best play-making defensive tackles in the game today, Jurrell Casey is key to the Tennessee Titans defense in 2018. The three-time Pro Bowler is as talented as he is talkative and here he tells Overtime about the attitude of the Titans, the growth of the AFC South and Tennessee’s rivalry with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Casey on… the attitude of the Titans You’d better have a dirty, nasty mindset and want to go out there and put a whupping on somebody. We don’t care about the weather, who is hurt or not playing, we just want to go and take care of our job. That is the expectation I have for anybody who comes into our locker room, whether they be a rookie or a 10-year veteran – we all need to have that same mindset to go out and dominate.
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Casey on… the toughness of the AFC South The AFC South has always been a smash-mouth division with tough types of games. All the teams in this division play smash-mouth football and are not going to crumble. When teams come into the AFC South, you’d better be ready – we’re locking those gates and we’re not going to let you out until the clock hits zero. Casey on… the rivalry with the Jacksonville Jaguars I’m glad they have great confidence but they’ve still got to deal with us. They haven’t been to a Super Bowl yet and when they get to one, they can start talking. We’re all competing for the same thing and that’s to win it all like the Philadelphia Eagles. I don’t know how you can talk about future Super Bowls when you have zero. I love playing the Jags – whoever is on that field that
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day, they’re going to get a piece of Jurrell Casey. I love our rivalry. Casey on… last season’s comments when he labelled Jags quarterback Blake Bortles a choker The thing is I stand by the comments I made about Blake Bortles but if people really listen to what I said, I didn’t say he was going to be trash forever – I said that when we play against Blake Bortles, he is not good. I can talk about that because I am on the field playing in those games. It was blown up to be a big deal, the Jaguars ran with it and their people wanted to come at me. I’m standing behind it and he let my words speak volumes when he choked against the New England Patriots when he had that game (AFC Championship Game) won.
IN THE FIRST OF A MINI-SERIES FOR OVERTIME, TWO-TIME SUPER BOWLWINNER, LONG-TIME NFL DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AND SKY SPORTS PUNDIT ROB RYAN PRESENTS HIS KEYS TO COACHING
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uring an illustrious coaching career in the NFL – during which he won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots – Rob Ryan has established a reputation as one of the best defensive minds in the business. Having coached for six other NFL teams outside of the Patriots, Ryan has tutored some of the greatest players in recent league history, produced some of pro football’s most dominant defenses and worked with some of the very best head coaches still in the game today such as Bill Belichick, of the Patriots, and Sean Payton, of the New Orleans Saints. That makes Ryan, who is currently serving as a pundit on Sky Sports’ coverage of the NFL, perfectly placed to take us inside the coaches’ room in order to explain what it takes to succeed in the ultra-competitive world of professional American football.
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In the first instalment of this exclusive series, Ryan talks about building a roster, cultivating team chemistry and dealing with adversity when trouble hits the fan...
FINDING THE RIGHT 53 This has been something that really came into effect about five years ago and it’s focused around the draft process and teams are not looking for the best player, they want the right player. What that means is ‘How is this player going to fit into our building?’ Part of finding the right 53 is that you want guys who have similar strengths. In New England, their core characteristics are huge and they pretty much only take guys with these traits – smart, tough, competitive, selfless, hardworking and football is important to you. Those are six things and they want their guys to have those qualities. If you don’t have those, you may be a good fit for somebody else, but you’re not going to fit on that Patriots team.
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You can carry one guy who doesn’t have all the characteristics we just talked about – maybe a wide receiver who can run a 4.3 40-yard dash, but you definitely don’t have two. You’re going to put your eggs in that kid’s basket, you know he’s a little different but you’re betting on the potential. But not many good teams have more than one. When you build your roster, you have to consider that your offensive linemen can take longer to develop. Those are the guys you see coming from practice squads, they sit for two years and then, all of a sudden, they’re starting for you. Special teams also has a huge role in ‘the right 53’ and in football games – it is a third of the game. You can’t have five great outside linebackers and no special teams players. So what you do is you keep three great outside linebackers and then you have two core special teams players – guys who can protect the punt, guys who can run
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HEN YOU BUILD W YOUR ROSTER, YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT YOUR OFFENSIVE LINEMEN CAN TAKE LONGER TO DEVELOP”
down on kicks. You need these guys who are starters for a third of the game and you can develop them as players going forward. Finally, chemistry is what you’re looking for. I’ve been on some of the most talented teams in football when I was in Oakland and it didn’t work out. The first time adversity hit we had guys scattering all over the place – you need people who are pulling the rope in the same direction. You want guys who are advancing the team’s plans together. If you get one guy off that path, it’s like ants. If you get a cockroach in there with a bunch of ants, the ants can carry that cockroach. But
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you can’t have too many roaches. Maybe one, we can carry him a little bit but you don’t want 10 roaches. Then they’re heavier than the ants and the whole thing is a disaster.
DEALING WITH ADVERSITY This is where the character of your building and your leadership comes in, not just players but coaches. The players have to believe in their coaches and in their captains because adversity is going to hit and it won’t be once in a while – adversity is going to hit every single Sunday. Whether you jump out to a lead or you’re behind, you’re going to encounter some adverse things. One player gets injured, a young guy has to step up and play. He might say, ‘Oh God, I’ve never played in the NFL’ and that’s adversity. And it’s not just the young player’s adversity, it belongs to the whole team. That reserve player has to be prepared and coaching has to help him. If you realise this
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young man is in the game, you have to help him. You call defenses that can hide him a little bit. If you’ve got a tackle who is struggling on offense, you’d better help that guy by giving him an extra protector on that side. Or you slide all your protections to that side of the line so all he has to do is guard the outside. You can’t expose him. That is part of adversity but it’s everybody’s angst and not just his. Adversity also happens in relation to the score of the game. If you’re down by two touchdowns in the NFL, ooh that’s a hard fight back. God forbid it be three touchdowns. In those situations, you bring your entire team together and say, ‘OK, let’s start together again and let’s play one series at a time and play better each time we’re on the field.’ You try to get back in the game but you don’t look at the scoreboard because you will be disappointed. Keep battling, keep playing and eventually good things will happen for you. It’s a long 60-minute game.
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Some adversity can come from outside of the building. The first thing you tell players is that social media is out there now and just watch what you say. Four seconds of satisfaction after you’ve said something smart on social media is not good and it always comes back to get you. How do you react when that happens? Because it will happen. You’ve got to address it. The best thing to do is to get together
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OBODY HAS DONE A N BETTER JOB OF HANDLING THE MEDIA THAN THE PATRIOTS.THAT IS CREDIT TO BILL BELICHICK AND EVERYBODY PULLING THE SAME ROPE”
with your player and tell him where he went wrong and tell him not to do it again. If it is a really bad situation, you may need to have the young man talk to his teammates. It has to be addressed because if you ignore it, this will happen the whole time and you’re going to lose your locker room. If it is something that can be handled between a coach and a player privately, that is a perfect situation in an ideal world. But if it is such a thing where the guy needs to talk to the players because he has come out and said something about his team or his teammates – those are things you don’t want – the player
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has to be accountable. You make him own it. If he cares, the player in question has to stand up and come clean to his teammates. Here is what I love about the National Football League and its best players – guys are honest. Honesty goes a long way – if you made the mistake, own up to it. Trust me, we all know you made the mistake and you cannot hide and think, ‘Ooh, maybe no one will notice.’ Everybody noticed. There is no question that you have to circle the wagons in situations like that and stay united inside your building. Nobody has done a better job of handling the media than the New England Patriots. It’s taken years before anything came out controversial about that team. That is a credit to Bill Belichick and it is a credit to everybody in the building pulling the same rope. Every other team in the league is dealing with this stuff all the time!
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WITH JOEY BOSA
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he Los Angeles Chargers are expecting their pass rush to be even more dangerous in the second half of the 2018 campaign when they welcome back Pro Bowl defensive end Joey Bosa from a foot injury. As one of the elite quarterback-hunters in the game today, Bosa is sure to be a key part of the Chargers’ second half Super Bowl challenge. Here are four quick questions with the superstar defender. Your father, Jon Bosa, was a first-round draft choice like yourself and a defensive end for the Miami Dolphins. What did you learn the most from him? It was hard work. I’m blessed because I grew up with a father who’s well off and a mom who’s well off. I had things that I wanted, I had a nice house and I was really blessed growing up. But he had nothing when he was growing up so he had to work
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for every single thing he’s ever had. I spent summers vacationing, he spent them cutting down trees in New Hampshire and carrying them into his cabin. He let my coaches teach me football because he trusted in them. But he really just showed me that I’m going to have to work for everything I get and he made sure that I knew that. It’s just impressive to look at what he made of himself, so when I look at that, it’s a motivation to me and it’s just something I can always think about. What does it take to be a good pass rusher? It takes a lot of things. Obviously, everybody is different but I think it takes size, speed, quickness, power and flexibility. Tell us about your relentless pass-rushing style. I think being relentless is definitely a thing. You can definitely miss out on some sacks
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and some plays if you’re kind of loafing at the four or five-second mark of a play when it’s really dragging on. Then if you’re running to the ball all the time, you’ll run into some not lucky, but effort plays that won’t show up if you’re not really giving that effort. So, I definitely would say relentlessness is a good trait to have. Your dad went 16th overall in round one and you went third overall in the opening round of the NFL Draft. Where does your younger brother Nick (a defensive end at Ohio State) go in 2019? He’s got to beat us. He can’t make that big of a jump but maybe number one. He has all the things I just mentioned that you want from a pass rusher. As an athlete, I haven’t really seen anybody as impressive as him. With more time and more knowledge of the game, he’s going to be a scary break-out. He’s going to be a star.
TENNESSEE TITANS STARS ARE ENJOYING PLAYING FOR NEW HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
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s a former player who won three Super Bowls as an outstanding linebacker with the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, Mike Vrabel brings proven pedigree to the table. And that earns him a great deal of respect from his team in the locker room and on the practice field. He may only be a few games into his tenure as an NFL head coach, but it is clear that Vrabel – who is a vocal and hands-on leader – is making his mark in Nashville. Here is what some of Tennessee’s key players say about playing for Vrabel.
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MARCUS MARIOTA QUARTERBACK TENNESSEE TITANS Coach Vrabel is awesome. He is a guy who played 14 years at a high level and he has been a world champion. From that standpoint, he gets a lot of respect from the guys. If they see him running around in practice and getting involved in certain drills, it just heightens that level of respect. It’s a lot of fun to learn from a guy like that who has been around successful organisations. He just wants everybody to be the best that they can be and that’s all you can ask for from your coach.
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KEVIN BYARD SAFETY TENNESSEE TITANS Coach Vrabel brings intensity and an element of being a coach who is still young enough to mix it up with us. When coach is out there mixing with us and showing interest, we have to give the same back to him and with the same energy. Having him lead us has been great and Vrabel is not going to hold anything back. He’s going to keep everybody accountable – from the quarterback at the top to the last man on the roster. That’s something all of us appreciate. We knew from the first meeting that he would command the entire room through his energy. The first day of practice he was out there mixing it up with the d-line and mixing it with the linebackers. He was all over the field and I appreciate that – he is a coach who wants to win and he wants to make sure everything is right.
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TAYLOR LEWAN OFFENSIVE TACKLE TENNESSEE TITANS The really unique thing about Mike Vrabel is that he has done it all – he has been a special teams guy, he has been a starter, he has been an All-Pro. He has kind of touched everything. Coach Vrabel means business – he has so much energy out on the field. He is wearing pads and hitting people in practice and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a head coach run around like that in high school, college or the pros. He brings a certain amount of energy – he wants to win games and make it as fun as possible for us. He gets us going. Whenever you walk past him, he gives you a little shove and he has that intensity about him, which is why he was such a great player.
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MALCOLM BUTLER CORNERBACK TENNESSEE TITANS Coach Vrabel brings a lot of excitement, a lot of energy and a lot of attitude. He used to play the game for a long time so I know he knows what he’s talking about. He played for a long time for one of the best coaches in NFL history so it would be pretty smart to listen to that guy.
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JURRELL CASEY DEFENSIVE TACKLE TENNESSEE TITANS (Mike Vrabel) The mindset he brings is that he doesn’t care who you are or what your position you play, you better be able to bring a little more than you have in the past. You always need to want more out of your players and he is pushing everybody to the max. He has taught us so much that he has opened my eyes and made me think ‘I’ve got to learn more about football. I’ve got to know more about what is going on around me.’ I couldn’t tell you too much about the Patriot Way but they know how to win and they have the formula down. If he is bringing that to us, I’m all for that. I know he is bringing a formula to our team that I haven’t seen before – he is bringing high energy and he physically participates in drills and all our guys are locked in.
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IN THE SECOND PART OF A MINI-SERIES FOR OVERTIME, TWO-TIME SUPER BOWLWINNER, LONG-TIME NFL DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AND SKY SPORTS PUNDIT ROB RYAN PRESENTS HIS KEYS TO COACHING
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aving coached almost two decades in the NFL for six teams and with two Super Bowl rings in his trophy cabinet, Rob Ryan has a wealth of experience to call upon and has many great stories to tell. Now a pundit on Sky Sports’ coverage of the NFL, the long-time defensive coordinator continues his keys to coaching by revealing the importance of practice in professional American football.
COACH RYAN ON… THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICE Practice is so important in the NFL compared to a sport such as basketball. You’re not dealing with five guys on a court – you have 11 guys on the field at once so they have to know the plays together, they have to execute together and it takes a group of people to function.
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The specifics of coaching is really big, too. Bill Belichick would work the young guys every day by themselves after practice to develop the bottom part of the roster, but also so those young players got a lot of work. Then when it was time for them to come and play, they would be ready. You could see these guys get better and better working with Tom Brady and coaching helps that development. Here is a story I always tell about the importance of practice… We had a couple of safeties who weren’t tackling very well – Antwan Harris and Matt Stevens. This was in New England during the season where we ended up winning that first Super Bowl against the Rams. Every day we would live tackle. J.R. Redmond was the running back and every day he would go against these two guys and I had to run that drill. I had to get creative – one day I would do open
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tackling, another time I would do the old lay-on-the-ground drill and they have to jump up and make the tackle. We did about every tackle you could possibly think of and we started that with about four weeks left in the regular season. Even in the playoffs and during championship week, we’re tackling. We get into the AFC Championship Game and J.R. Redmond helped us win because he broke a few tackles on a key play and was really able to help us win. How about that Super Bowl? Let’s see if this made a difference. Right before the half, Antwan Harris makes a perfect-form tackle on Ricky Proehl, knocks the ball out and we recover the fumble and score a touchdown right before the break. That’s what tackling did for us.
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E HAD A GUY W WHO WAS USED TO MAKING GUYS MISS IN PRACTICE AND HE EXECUTED ON THE BIGGEST STAGE THERE IS - THE SUPER BOWL”
How did J.R. Redmond do breaking tackles? We start way back in our own end at the end of that Super Bowl and we begin a twominute drive. We went right down the field. He caught every pass, was making people miss in the open field and got out of bounds. All the catches on that winning drive were from either Troy Brown or J.R. Redmond. Did it make a difference? Yeah, it made a difference. We had a guy who was used to making guys miss in practice and he executed on the biggest stage there is – he did it in the Super Bowl. We had a guy who was struggling to tackle and he made a
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perfect-form tackle and forced a fumble in the Super Bowl. Those guys got better because we kept practising hard all the way through the playoffs. Here’s another example from New England, where our outside linebackers would take on the tight ends in practice. Well, I had some of the best outside linebackers ever to play the game in Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest. We’re going at each other in one on ones and our first-round tight end Daniel Graham had to get tough or die. We did the one on ones every day and a lot of times that was blocking. Daniel was a receiver in college. But he had to block and he was getting his tail kicked every day. Eventually, he learned that he had to shoot his hands inside, he had to click his thumbs, get his elbows in and own those pads.
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He worked with our guys so much and our linebackers would help him because they would have the same technique – he ended up becoming a mauler and one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. He was one of the greatest blockers to ever line up at tight end but that had to be formed in practice. He had a choice – you either get tough or die and he decided to get tough. You have to stay on top of individual techniques all through the season and that’s where practice comes in. You have to be consistent on your teaching and practice can make you better.
WITH THE RAMS AND CHIEFS SETTING ALL KINDS OF RECORDS, COLIN HUBBUCK LOOKS AT THE BEST NFL OFFENSES OF ALL-TIME
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hrough six weeks of 2018 season, two teams have been scoring as if they’re playing a game of Madden. Piloted by the record-breaking first-year full-time starter Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City lead the league with 215 points scored. With Todd Gurley at the heart of it and Jared Goff at the controls, the undefeated LA Rams’ offense sits behind the Chiefs with 196 points. Then come New Orleans Saints (with a game in hand), New England and, rounding out the top five is one of our visiting teams to London this weekend, the LA Chargers. With over half the season to go, it remains to be seen if the Chiefs and Rams can maintain the pace they’ve set so far but if they do, they could achieve historic stats. With that in mind, we take a look back at the best offenses ever to take the field, starting with some Chargers of another vintage.
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1981 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS HEAD COACH: Don Coryell KEY MEN: QB Dan Fouts; RB Chuck Muncie; TE Kellen Winslow; WRs Charlie Joiner and Wes Chandler As a quick indicator of how the game’s changed, the game-changing Air Coryell offense led the league in scoring with 478 points in 16 games (just over twice what the Chiefs have already racked up). Tough-asold-boots quarterback Dan Fouts ran Don Coryell’s revolutionary offense that outscored the next-best team (Atlanta) by 52 points and outgained the Bengals by 776 yards in total offense. Chuck Muncie rushed for 19 touchdowns to tie an NFL record and Winslow, busy transforming the role of the tight end in modern football, led the league in receptions for the second year, the second tight end to ever achieve the feat. In the epic AFC Divisional Playoff against Miami, Winslow caught 13 passes for 166 yards and a score and blocked a field goal as the
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Chargers won the shootout 41-38 in overtime. Their incredible run would end in the AFC Championship Game a week later at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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2007 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH: Bill Belichick KEY MEN: QB Tom Brady; WRs Randy Moss and Wes Welker; RBs Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney Imagine if Tom Brady had a deep threat like Randy Moss and a slot receiver like Wes Welker. Wait‌ this actually happened? I thought it was all a dream. The Patriots steamrolled all before them in the 2007 season (wait for the punchline, Giants fans) thanks to their offense. Brady tossed an NFL record (at the time) 50 touchdown passes, 23 of them to Moss, while Welker reeled in 112 catches. The offense scored a record 589 points as they racked up halftime scores of 42-7, 35-7 and 28-0. The 16-0 regular season would end in tears, however, as Big Blue shocked the world in Super Bowl XLII.
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1998 MINNESOTA VIKINGS HEAD COACH: Dennis Green KEY MEN: QB Randall Cunningham; WRs Cris Carter, Randy Moss and Jake Reed; RBs Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard Randy Moss crops up in another high-flying unit – this one in his rookie season, where he led the league in receiving TDs, including his one-man destruction of Green Bay on Monday Night Football. Mentored by the late Dennis Green and reformed hell-raiser Cris Carter, Moss would also score TD hattricks against Dallas and Chicago later in the season. At the helm was a 35-year-old “Rocket” Randall Cunningham. Blessed with one of the finest deep throws as well as the ability to run like a gazelle, Randall “Too Hot To Handle” was the perfect foil for Moss. The passer had spent 1996 out of football, having retired but answered a call from Green to reunite with his former Eagles teammate Carter. Cunningham led the league in passer rating, throwing for 34
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scores. Kicker Gary Anderson even completed a perfect season, hitting 35 of 35 field goals and every extra point attempt. However, much like Moss’s Patriots’ perfect season, everything went sour. Despite going 15-1 in the regular season, the Vikes fell to the ‘Dirty Bird’ Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game when Anderson missed a chip-shot field goal that would have put Minnesota up 30-20 with two minutes remaining.
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THE GREATEST SHOW ON TURF HEAD COACH: Dick Vermeil/Mike Martz KEY MEN: QB Kurt Warner; RB Marshall Faulk; WRs Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl The best thing about this one is that it was never supposed to happen. On 15 February 1999, Dick Vermeil signed Trent Green to replace Tony Banks at quarterback. On 28 August, Green tore his ACL on a hit by Rodney Harrison in a preseason game and NFL Europe and Arena League alumn Kurt Warner inherited the starting role. Expectations were soon shattered and a fairytale written as the offense led the league with 526 points, an average of 32.9 per game. NFL and Super Bowl MVP Warner chucked 41 touchdowns to Isaac Bruce (12), Torry Holt (six) and Az-Zahir Hakim (eight), while Marshall Faulk generated 2,429 yards from scrimmage with 12 scores. The Rams would win arguably the most exciting Super Bowl ever, XXXIV, against Tennessee. The
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following year, with Mike Martz as head coach, the offense improved on 1999 with 540 points scored at an average of 33.8 points and in 2001 went back to the Super Bowl only to lose to the Patriots.
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1984 MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH: Don Shula KEY MEN: QB Dan Marino; RB Tony Nathan; WRs Mark Clayton, Mark Duper and Nat Moore In just his second season, Dan Marino set NFL records for yards and touchdowns as he threw for 5,084 yards and 48 scores (a mark that would stand until 2004, when Peyton Manning broke it). He led the league in completions, attempts, yards, TDs, yards per attempt, yards per game and QB rating. Helped by an offensive line featuring Roy Foster and Dwight Stephenson, Marino was sacked just 14 times, allowing him to pepper NFL secondaries with his receiving corps of The Marks Brothers and Nat Moore. As a mark of Marino’s 1984 dominance, only two teams (St Louis and San Diego) threw for more than 4,000 yards and Seattle’s Dave Krieg was the next nearest touchdownslinger, with 32. The Fins would reach the Super Bowl where they’d fall to another offensive great, Joe Montana and the 49ers.
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2013 DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH: John Fox KEY MEN: QB Peyton Manning; RB Knowshon Moreno; WRs Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Wes Welker; TE Julius Thomas Nine years after breaking Marino’s record, Peyton Manning, then with Denver, would shatter several more marks. With weapons the likes of Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas, Manning orchestrated Adam Gase’s offense to an NFL record 606 points and 76 touchdowns. The quarterback, in his 15th season and two years removed from missing a season with a neck injury, led the league with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns, passing his 2004 mark and Tom Brady’s 2007 record. The unit scored at least 33 points in the first seven games and topped 50 against Philly, Dallas (in consecutive weeks) and Tennessee. In an endorsement of the adage “Defense wins championships”
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however, it would all be for nought as Seattle’s Legion of Boom shut the Broncos down in Super Bowl XLVIII.
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1950 LOS ANGELES RAMS HEAD COACH: Joe Stydahar KEY MEN: QBs Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield; FB Dick Hoerner; WRs Tom Fears and Elroy ‘Crazy Legs’ Hirsch Leading the league in scoring, the Rams offense in 1950 was statistically better than the unit that would lift the NFL title a season later. Led by quarterbacks Norm ‘The Flying Dutchman’ and Bob Waterfield, who shared starting duties, the unit scored over 40 points six times (half their games). By comparison, The Greatest Show On Turf only managed that feat four times in their Super Bowl-winning season. Tom Fears caught 84 passes in 12 games as the 1950 Rams set 22 NFL records, beating the Colts 70-27 and Lions 65-24 in consecutive weeks.
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1983 WASHINGTON REDSKINS HEAD COACH: Joe Gibbs KEY MEN: QB Joe Theismann; RB John Riggins; WRs Charlie Brown and Art Monk; T Joe Jacoby; Gs Russ Grimm and Mark May; C Jeff Bostic In Joe Gibbs’ third season, the Redskins went 14-2 to reach their second consecutive showpiece game, Super Bowl XVIII. Washington rode a nine-game winning streak to the playoffs where they battered the LA Rams 51-7 (with a rookie Eric Dickerson at running back). A 34-year-old Joe Theismann won the NFL MVP award, having completed 60.1% of his passes for 3,714 yards and 29 touchdowns. The fuel for the offense, however, was ‘Diesel’. John Riggins led the NFL with 24 rushing touchdowns to go with his 1,347 yards. Charlie Brown and Art Monk were on the end of 125 of Theismann’s passes for a combined 1,971 yards and 13 touchdowns as the Skins set the NFL record with
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541 points. The Super Bowl, where they lost to a Marcus Allen-inspired Raiders team, was the only game in which they scored fewer than 23 points.
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1994 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS HEAD COACH: George Seifert KEY MEN: QB Steve Young; RBs Ricky Watters and William Floyd; WRs Jerry Rice and John Taylor; TE Brent Jones One team that did win a Super Bowl on the back of a powerful offense was George Seifert’s 1994 49ers. Steve Young was still suffering from following in the footsteps of Joe Montana entering the season but by year’s end, the 33-year-old passer would secure his own Hall of Fame legacy. Young completed a career-best 70.3% of his passes for 35 scores and added seven more on the ground, setting an NFL record with a 112.8 QB rating. Jerry Rice was among nine current or former Pro Bowlers on offense and the GOAT caught 112 of Young’s passes for almost 1,500 yards and 13 TDs. Ricky “Running” Watters chipped in with 66 receptions for 719 yards and five TDs. In the regular season, the Niners averaged a league-leading 31.6 points per
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game but went off in the postseason, averaging 43.6. Watters scored five TDs against the Bears in the Divisional Playoff and Young’s six-score performance earned him the Super Bowl XXIX MVP award as the Chargers were swept aside 49-26.
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2011 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HEAD COACH: Sean Payton KEY MEN: QB Drew Brees; RBs Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram; WRs Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Robert Meacham; TE Jimmy Graham A mere seven years before Drew Brees became the NFL’s all-time passing yardage leader, he broke Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single season yardage mark with 5,476 yards through the air (which Manning surpassed two years later). The offense topped the 2000 Rams to set the total yards record with 7,474, which still stands. Darren Sproles set the mark for all-purpose yards, with 2,696, while a 25-year-old Jimmy Graham led the league with 99 receptions by a tight end, including 11 scores. Brees and co would score 40-plus six times (shellacking the Colts 62-7) on their way to the Divisional Playoff, where they fell to Jim Harbaugh’s Super Bowl-bound 49ers.
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HONOURABLE MENTIONS 1953 BROWNS 1988 BENGALS 1989 49ERS 1990 BILLS 1998 BRONCOS 2003 CHIEFS 2004 COLTS 2011 PACKERS