I Watched SB 28 In Full Last Night, Thoughts & Analysis

[BobbyC81]

13 hours ago, sven233 said:

While I don't think I will ever watch any of those Super Bowls again (it was bad enough living through them the first time around), I have been re-watching a ton of old games starting in the mid 80s through the end of the 90s.  I will say this....  watching these games and some of the coaching decisions that were made back then really makes me mad.  Even in games they win, and some fairly comfortably at that, the coaching left a lot to be desired. 

 

I get it.  We like Marv because those teams won a ton of games, but let me tell you.....I don't think he was a great head coach, he was one of the most conservative coaches I have ever seen, and didn't make a lot of great decisions in game.  Yes, we won a lot back then, but it was mainly because of the talent on that team.  Now, was Marv a great people person?  Could he manage all of those egos?  Yes.  He did that well.  But after re-watching most of these games, if the internet existed back then, I think there is a good chance he would have been ripped apart a lot for his actual coaching.

 

The other thing I noticed is that there were several glaring weaknesses on those teams back then.  I know free agency worked a lot differently back then so it may have been harder to fill holes, but there were several times, even season to season that the secondary could have used some help.  Or, the interior of the defense could have been upgraded.  The offensive line after was never really addressed for years after Wolford and company left.  They just kept plugging guys into key spots that were terrible and unathletic (here's looking at you, Parker).  And let me tell you......how this team even stuck with Norwood during the 90 season leading up to that first Super Bowl blows my mind.  He missed so many kicks, even the easiest of kicks, leading up to that game that I have no clue how he was still kicking for this team in important moments.  He was terrible.  Not sure what game it was because I watched it a few months ago now (it may have been against the Raiders) where he missed like 5 kicks, including both FGs and XPs, along with a couple that would have been game winners.  Not only missed them, but missed them BAD.  Them not replacing him earlier is baffling.

 

OK....this turned into more of a rant than I was anticipating.  Didn't mean for this to go on this long!  HA!  Point is, we all lived through a lot of great seasons back then.  We won a lot of games and we were fun to watch.  But man, we left so much meat on the bone for a lot of different reasons.  Frustrating to see it even more clearly after going back and re-watching most of those games again.

I remember when Marv was using rotating offensive linemen to send in plays and a reporter asked something about affecting continuity of the group.   Marv responded with “Continuity is overrated!”    I thought “WHAT?!!”   You hear coaches and players all the time talking about the importance of reps as a unit to perform the best and how injuries affect the cohesion.

[TC in St. Louis]

I was at the game.  I've never watched a replay.  The Bills had the game under control, and I was upset they settled for a field goal at the end of the half.

 

A Cowboys fan said something to me in the restroom.  He said "looks like you guys might win one."  I said, "Yeah, well there's another half to play."

 

Then I sat down and waited for the second half.  Halftime at a Super Bowl is way too long.  During the season it's about 12-13 minutes, and this seemed like an hour.  Too much time to make adjustments or to not make adjustments.  I'm thinking the Bills spent halftime resting up with their fingers crossed, while Jimmy Johnson was reaming everybody in his locker room.  Then they all sat down and watched "Dances with Wolves", took a nap, and finally returned to the field.

 

The Bills were in perfect position.  They had the ball at the 50 yard line, and Thurman fumbled.  How often in football does a fumble get returned for a TD?  Absurd.  The game did turn on that play.  Dallas sensed our vulnerability and went for the throat.  

 

I think Tasker said something on "Four Falls of Buffalo" that they just ran out of gas.  

 

I should've sold my tickets.  They were going for $2000, and I had 4 of them.  I was going through a box two days ago and found the free seat cushion from that game.  I might throw it out.  

[Success]

I'm probably not the only one - but I always felt like if we got that 1st one, we would have won at least 2, if not 3 out of those 4.

 

The only one I'm sure we wouldn't have lost is the 1st against the Cowboys. That team was just too good.

 

But for the Redskins and the 2nd Cowboys game, it was just in their head. I remember one of the players saying before the Redskins SB that they didn't want the Bills to be "like the Broncos."  It was all way too psychological at that point.  

[P Riv]

It always boggled my mind why the Bills ran a no huddle offense and conceded time of possession to NFC East, run dominant-ball control teams while fielding a relatively small defense.  Every single one of those games the defense wore down and gave up a lot of yardage on the ground and allowed the other team to dictate.  I recall against the Giants, we got into the red zone and ran a conventional offense with FB j Mueller in there.  2 plays and we pounded them, blew them off the ball and showed we could beat them at their own game.  Did Levy adjust?  nope...

[stevewin]

For this SB I went to Atlanta to try to scalp tickets.  I stayed with a friend who lived there and my brother flew up from Fla.  My friend thought he had tickets through a 'broker' but got screwed over right before the game.  Me and my brother tried for hours before the game but couldn't find tickets anywhere.  We eventually quit and went to the Bills bar my friend belonged to but it was full and they weren't letting anyone in - there was a townie bar next door that suddenly took in all the (unexpected) overflow.  When the fumble happened in the 2nd half I will never forget the feeling of rage and resignation.  I was more than a few beers deep and can remember clear as day staring at the glass pitcher on our table and being compelled to throw it across the room - it was like a dream sequence - or a nighmare.  To this day I can't believe I didn't actually throw that GD pitcher.  Man that SB sucked.

Edited July 16, 2022 by stevewin