CBS Sports: NFL 1986-NFC Divisional Playoff-Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears: Art Monk Highlights

Source:The New Democrat

What you are seeing in this video is that how great of an all around wide receiver that Art Monk was. And how good Jay Schroeder was when he was good. Perhaps as athletic, strong and accurate a quarterback as John Elway when he was on. But what we also saw how great a receiver Art Monk really was. Someone who was stereotyped as a possession WR. You go to him when you need a first down or you are in the red zone or going to a possession passing game. When the fact is he was 6'2-6'3 210 pounds or so of muscle with great track and football speed.

Art Monk was an all-purpose receiver and how the Chicago Bears stayed in man-to-man coverage against him in this game, when they didn't have a great cover corner, I may never know and perhaps only head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Bill Tobin of the Bears knows that answer. But Monk was big and fast, which meant if you play him man-to-man, you need a great cover corner. Like a Rod Woodson of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Someone who can run and tackle with real size. The Bears didn't have that at corner, at least in 1986.

CBS Sports: NFL 1987- NFC Divisional Playoff- Washington Redskins @ Chicago Bears: Pat Summerall Intro

Source:The New Democrat

Pat Summerall with another classic NFC intro for CBS Sports. But even with Jim McMahon, who I'm not sure if he even finished this game, because the Redskins defense which was really good in 87 and if anything better than the Chicago Bears, hit him and the Bears very hard on that cold frigid Astroturf Solider Field. Summerall was right that the Bears were definitely different offensively in with him healthy and in the lineup. Because it meant the Bears had a passing game, or at least a QB at could consistently throw the ball.

The problem that the Bears had in this game, is that they were playing one of maybe three teams in the NFL that had the personal and intelligence to not only play against their 46 defense, but the manpower to do it. With an accurate QB who could throw deep or short in Doug Williams, an offensive line that could at least shut down the Bears defensive line and the receivers that could get open and beat man-to-man coverage. The Redskins were a passing team first in 1987, unlike what they were from 1981-86. Because their great tailback George Rogers was hurt most of the season.

So what the Redskins did in this game was to spread out the Bears 46 and use all of their receivers. Their wideouts Art Monk, Gary Clark and Rickey Sanders, their tight end Clint Didier and halfback Kelvin Bryant in the passing game. Or go max protection and look deep to Sanders, Monk or Clark and the come back with the quick running game with either Kelvin Bryant, George Rogers and Timmy Smith. With the Bears on offense not being able to do much against the Redskins defense most of the game.

CBS Sports: NFL 1986-NFC Final-Washington Redskins @ New York Giants: Pat Summerall Intro

Source:The New Democrat

Another classic Pat Summerall NFL intro and another classic Pat Summerall Redskins-Giants intro and he and John Madden were a big part of the great Redskins-Giants rivalry. Because they did so many games between these two great franchises. I just the wish especially as a lifelong Redskins fan that he had a better game to call and we would've really of heard how great an announcer that he was. And how great an analyst that John Madden was. But the Giants got on top early on the Redskins early in the first quarter and never looked back.

The Redskins never established their great power running and outside running games in this game. The Giants essentially stacked the line of scrimmage against them early on. And then with the big lead, went into the trademark elephant two-deep zone defense so Redskins quarterback Jay Schroeder couldn't beat them deep in the air with those great Redskins speed receivers like Art Monk and Gary Clark. Which left the Redskins really just to short and medium-range passes when Schroeder could hit them.

CBS Sports: NFL 1986-NFC Final-Washington Redskins @ New York Giants: 2nd Half

Source:The New Democrat

On paper at least this was a great matchup. Two big physical very good teams on both sides of the ball. I think under normal conditions this is a one touchdown game and perhaps the New York Giants would've won again, but not in a shutout. Even when the Giants did beat the Redskins in this era, their victories tended to be very close even at Giants Stadium. But this obviously wasn't normal conditions, at least for the Redskins. The Redskins are from Washington, where it doesn't tend to get very cold until January. Winter tends to start in New York/New Jersey in November.

This was a Giants game in Giants weather at Giants Stadium where they were extremely difficult to beat. Very similar to the Green Packers at Lambeau Field when they are good. And now the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The Giants got off to a very hot start in this game putting up seventeen points in the first half. With the weather being the way it was and with the Giants defense in 1986, that was more than enough for a shell-shocked Redskins team that weren't prepared or didn't seem to be able to deal with the stadium and the weather.

NFL Films: NFL 1987: The Story of the Washington Redskins

Source:The New Democrat

The 1987 Redskins to me exactly goes to the brilliance of General Manager Bobby Beathard and Head Coach Joe Gibbs. A strike season where the NFL decides to play on with replacement players. That Beathard and his staff had to find for Joe Gibbs and his coaching staff. And Coach Gibbs and his crew having to determine which of these part-time NFL players can even play under these conditions and against NFL players that decided not to strike and how to use those replacements in the best way possible. Because the Redskins still had a job to do, which was to win as many games as possible in 1987.

The 1987 NFL season also goes to the depth of the Redskins with the players they lost to the players strike and the player they lost to injury. They had two starting quarterbacks in 1987, both Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks that could start for a lot of NFL teams in Jay Schroeder and Doug Williams. They lost their starting tailback in George Rogers, another Pro Bowl running back. They had injuries on the offensive line and had to bring in new starters like Raleigh McKenzie. Gibbs was constantly having to change his lineups around on offense and defense.

The 87 Redskins perfectly exemplifies the Joe Gibbs era in Washington. As a club that just had great depth everywhere and perhaps the best depth in the NFL. They didn't have the most talent in the NFL, but they arguably had the best players and the most good players and talent in the NFL. And when the strike was over and had they had all of their key players back, that is when the NFL got to see how really good of a team that they had. I believe especially on defense where they dominated the NFC Playoffs and Super Bowl. And on offense that could pile up points in the air and dominate on the ground.

MSG: New York Giants Chronicles- QB Phil Simms

Source: Scoop Nest- The New York Giants, vs. the Los Angeles Rams.

Source:The New Democrat 

My thoughts about Phil Simms as a football player and now as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, are quite frankly mixed. I should separate how I feel about him both as a player and analyst. But my thoughts about him as a player are mixed, because I'm a Redskins fan and I hate the New York Giants obviously because of the great Redskins-Giants rivalry. But sports hate and personal hate are two different things. And if you are familiar with the NFC East division, you know that the fans in the division hate every other team in their division, but they respect the good teams, especially the players.

My best memory of Phil Simms as a fan, is a 1989 game against the Redskins and perhaps I should save this for a post I write about Dexter Manley. But Dexter sacks Simms five times in that game and I still have that memory in my head of Simms looking like he just got struck by a machine gun every time that Dexter nailed him in that game. The Giants won that game, but I still have those five plays of Dexter nailing Simms as some of my greatest memories as a Redskins fan. Now to get to the good moments of Phil Simms career.

The one thing that I can't get out my head about Phil Simms career is that he gets almost no consideration and talk about the NFL Hall of Fame. Even though he was definitely one of the best quarterbacks of his era especially the 1980s. I know he officially only gets credit for winning one Super Bowl as a starting quarterback in 1986, but the Giants don't get that far without Simms in 1990 and until he got hurt late in the 1990 season and missed the 1990 NFC Playoffs. If Simms plays Super Bowl 25 against the Buffalo Bills, the Giants win that game by 10-14 points because they would've had the whole playbook especially in the passing game.

Phil Simms is one of the best clutch quarterbacks of his era, if not all-time and had a 95-64 record in the regular season and was 6-4 in the playoffs. I know he doesn't have the stats of Dan Marino, Joe Montana, John Elway and even Jim Kelly. But those guys played in mostly passing offenses and didn't play at least eight games every year at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. One of the coldest and windiest stadiums in the NFL. And no one was as good or better than Simms under those conditions and in the clutch as Phil Simms. Great quarterback in the clutch with a great proven record and that alone should at least get him consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

ESPN's SportsCentury: Dr. J Julius Erving

Source:The New Democrat

If you think about Dr. J as the dunker and watch all of his dunking highlights and that is all you know about him from mostly a basketball pop or hip hop culture perspective, what you know about Julius Erving is probably only what you've seen about him on ESPN or YouTube. And you are even too dumb or too young and perhaps both to truly understand the greatness of Julius Erving. Julius wasn't a great dunker, but a great basketball player who also happens to be perhaps the best dunker of all-time. But that was just part of Julius's greatness.

The Doctor of Basketball was also a great defender and a great rebounder. Think about it, 6'6 or 6'7 small forward with thirty-thousand career points and ten-thousand rebounds. How many other small forward have done that, no one else. A great man-on-man defender who could stop his man, but always knew what else was going around him. How did he get all of those great breakaway dunks, by playing the passing lanes and picking off passes and exploding to the bucket for those great dunks. Or running the floor with someone else feeding him the ball.

The Philadelphia 76ers of the late 1970s and early 1980s were perfect for Dr. J. Because they were a great defensive team that scored a lot of their points by taking the ball away from the other team and running the floor. Which fit Julius perfectly because that is how he played. And then add Moses Malone to the picture in 1983 and now you have a great defensive and breakaway team that now has a dominant force in the middle on both offense and defense and the 76ers became complete.

Dr. J became a great team player in 1983 with Moses Malone, because now he had another great player around him and no longer needed to do everything for the 76ers to win. And could rely on Moses and make his other teammates better and use them as well and just play his great all around game on both offense and defense. And what you had as a result are the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers as simply one of the best pure teams of all-time with Julius leading the way. And we got to see how truly great a player Julius was and he and the 76ers got the rewards of his greatness.