Spun Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 A scribe in a San Diego rag, Tony Phillips writes about O.J. matters and alludes to the Bills in an inaccurate manner. In 1973 the Bills were in the first of two 9 -5 seasons in a row and it took more than O.J. to accomplish this. The Electric Company comes to mind. Phillips writes of O.J.: "In 1973 he rushed for 2,003 yards in a 14-game season with the Buffalo Bills, who at the time fielded the feeblest roster in football with one notable exception". http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=5089 http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf1973.htm
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 That is because most sports writers these days have no more historical sense than your average American, which means they can rarely think back beyond the beginning of the last TV season. Sports journalism is especially bad these days because many outlets actually forbid on-air or print staff to discuss "dead athletes" lest they lose the attention of the hot pockets crowd (you know, the kind of people who would not know who Norm Van Brocklin was, for those of you who remember that recent TSW thread) while at the same time rushing to anoint every decent performance as "historic." Combine that with the encouragement to make snarky one-liners like "feeblest roster in football" in order to sound tough and cool, and you can see why our entire civilization is doomed doomed doomed. A scribe in a San Diego rag, Tony Phillips writes about O.J. matters and alludes to the Bills in an inaccurate manner. In 1973 the Bills were in the first of two 9 -5 seasons in a row and it took more than O.J. to accomplish this. The Electric Company comes to mind. Phillips writes of O.J.: "In 1973 he rushed for 2,003 yards in a 14-game season with the Buffalo Bills, who at the time fielded the feeblest roster in football with one notable exception". http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=5089 http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf1973.htm 850633[/snapback]
tennesseeboy Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 WHAT? JD Hill, Bobby Chandler and Paul Seymour (in addition to being great blockers) were no slouches as receivers. Jim Braxton was a darn good fullback. And Robert James on the other side of the fence was maybe the best defensive back ever to wear a Buffalo Bills Uniform. A team doesn't get nine wins off one running back, and Buffalo was no exception. Was he the primary offensive option? Sure...read any interviews with offensive players. Saban told them it would be blocking for OJ that would earn them a paycheck. The 9 win season belongs to the guys in the trenches at least as much as it belongs to the guys in the backfield.
olivier in france Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 of course the1973 Bills were not bad, i was born in 1973!!
Cripes Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Maybe the writer does have a point --the Bills only had 4 touchdown passes that year? Didn't even complete 100 passes?
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Maybe the writer does have a point --the Bills only had 4 touchdown passes that year? Didn't even complete 100 passes? 850792[/snapback] They did have an anemic passing attack with rookie Joe Ferguson, which cost them some games mid-season when they fell to 5-5, though they ended the season on a 4-game winning streak. The point is not that the team was awesome, but rather that the writer probably has no idea how good the team actually was, and was talking out of his @$$.
stuckincincy Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Maybe the writer does have a point --the Bills only had 4 touchdown passes that year? Didn't even complete 100 passes? 850792[/snapback] Here are the offensive numbers for 1973 SB winner Miami: ---------- PASSING -----------||----- RUSHING -----| TOTAL CMP ATT YD YPA TD INT ATT YD YPA TD YD 133 256 1675 6.54 17 12 507 2521 4.97 16 4196 NFL rank ---> 24 24 23 14 8 3 12 3 2 7 16 133 completions between Bob Griese and Earl Morrall. It was a different league. Bump 'n run, head slaps, crackback blocks, beating a QB to a pulp, etc...all that was legal.
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