25 Years Ago Today, The Fish Were Squished

[RobertWeathers]

Thank god the team doesn't need to hang their hats on that.

However, for those of us who were remember the downswing after Fairbanks left and the Ron Meyer mess, it was a great ride.

 

[Patriot 37]

Thank god the team doesn't need to hang their hats on that.

However, for those of us who were remember the downswing after Fairbanks left and the Ron Meyer mess, it was a great ride.

Still one of my all time favorite wins, finally beating the Dolphins in the Orange Bowl. Robert Weathers had a pretty good game that day.

 

[BrainTrust66]

I remember it well -taped the game on a crappy VHS tape that I kept for years afterward (it may still exist but it's probably of an unwatchable quality). Even the late Mosi Tatupu scored in that game.

Beating Miami in Miami felt like beating the Yankees in NY in Game 7.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Still one of my all time favorite wins, finally beating the Dolphins in the Orange Bowl. Robert Weathers had a pretty good game that day.

I sure did.

 

[DarrylS]

Remember the difficulty in getting the "Squish the Fish" T-Shirts..

Also met the plane when the landed in Providence.. it was a cool time and recognized how big this NFL thing would become..

 

[RobertWeathers]

I remember it well -taped the game on a crappy VHS tape that I kept for years afterward (it may still exist but it's probably of an unwatchable quality). Even the late Mosi Tatupu scored in that game.

Beating Miami in Miami felt like beating the Yankees in NY in Game 7.

I didn't have the full appreciation of playoff failure in '76 or '78 as I started following the team in 1981ish when my dad started taking me to games, but later on as a teenager who was wrapped up in all things Boston sports in the 80s, it was just awesome. Just awesome.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Wow 25 years ago already....

Now an original squish the fish T-shirt would be something to have.

I remember physically tearing my Berry the Bears shirt to shreds shortly thereafter.

My God, the things I tried to convince myself were harbingers of glory...

The great coach was Ray Berry.
The great QB was Tony Eason.

It is so good to have finally gotten the real thing.

 

[BrainTrust66]

My God, the things I tried to convince myself were harbingers of glory...

The great coach was Ray Berry.
The great QB was Tony Eason.

It is so good to have finally gotten the real thing.

It is interesting to note that Berry is, in my opinion, the 2nd Greatest Coach in Pats history. He's not even in the same Solar System as Belichick, but he's 2nd in winning % amongst those who coached more than 50 games with the Pats (believe it or not, Pete Carroll is actually 2nd in winning % if you don't apply the 50-game minimum). He's 3rd in wins behind Mike Holovak but the difference is only 4 wins and Holovak coached 20 more games. He's the only coach other than Belichick to win at least 3 playoff games, the only other coach to take them to the Super Bowl.

This is not to say that Berry was a great coach...unless you measure him by Jets coaching standards

 

[Patriotic]

Like others, I had a VHS tape of that game. I can remember watching it a few years later during the dark days of the Lisa Olsen/Pats moving to St Louis era. At the end of the tape I found myself in tears. Maybe they were tears of joy but mostly they were tears of how far the Pats had fallen and that my childhood team was about to be no longer.

It hurt. Once you spend time in the valley, the mountaintop is all the sweeter.

God bless you, Mr. Kraft. You made all this joy we're experiencing as patsfans a reality.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It is interesting to note that Berry is, in my opinion, the 2nd Greatest Coach in Pats history. He's not even in the same Solar System as Belichick, but he's 2nd in winning % amongst those who coached more than 50 games with the Pats (believe it or not, Pete Carroll is actually 2nd in winning % if you don't apply the 50-game minimum). He's 3rd in wins behind Mike Holovak but the difference is only 4 wins and Holovak coached 20 more games. He's the only coach other than Belichick to win at least 3 playoff games, the only other coach to take them to the Super Bowl.

This is not to say that Berry was a great coach...unless you measure him by Jets coaching standards

I can't speak to Holovak as I wan't born yet so I'll leave him out of the discussion. I have no reason to doubt that he was a great coach.

Berry was an outstanding coach. His downhill slide was due to the fact that Joe Mendes took over for **** Steinberg as the top personnel guy and their drafts stunk from 86-90.

 

[BrainTrust66]

I can't speak to Holovak as I wan't born yet so I'll leave him out of the discussion. I have no reason to doubt that he was a great coach.

Berry was an outstanding coach. His downhill slide was due to the fact that Joe Mendes took over for **** Steinberg as the top personnel guy and their drafts stunk from 86-90.

Well, I can't say that I ever saw a Holovak-coached game either since I didn't jump on the bandwagon until 1976. I also didn't mean to mock Berry with that comment - he was a very good coach but I think that my understanding of what makes a "great" coach is permanently skewed by what has happened here the last 10+ years.

Great point about Steinberg - he built that '76 teams as well (should have been our first Super Bowl winner!). I'm trying to remember, didn't he leave in the early 80's and then come back?

 

[dhamz]

I'd say it was without question the best Pre-Brady/BB moment in Patriots history.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Well, I can't say that I ever saw a Holovak-coached game either since I didn't jump on the bandwagon until 1976. I also didn't mean to mock Berry with that comment - he was a very good coach but I think that my understanding of what makes a "great" coach is permanently skewed by what has happened here the last 10+ years.

Great point about Steinberg - he built that '76 teams as well (should have been our first Super Bowl winner!). I'm trying to remember, didn't he leave in the early 80's and then come back?

Bucko Kilroy and Chuck Fairbanks get most of the credit for building the 70s Patriots.

Steinberg joined the Pats in 81 I think and gets the credit for building the 80s Pats. Once Chucky Sullivan lost $20m on the Jackson tour, they cut way back on scouting, admin and Steinberg left to go to the Jets.

 

[mgteich]

Steinberg did a great job building the 1980's SB team. As you say, in the end, the financial troubles broke up the team. Steinberg violated his contract and moved to the jets in 1989 soon after the sale to Kiam. The Jackson Tour was the end for Sullivan.

In the next five years, there were lots of changes. The team almost ended up in St Louis. We were so lucky that this craziness only lasted only five years.

Bucko Kilroy and Chuck Fairbanks get most of the credit for building the 70s Patriots.

Steinberg joined the Pats in 81 I think and gets the credit for building the 80s Pats. Once Chucky Sullivan lost $20m on the Jackson tour, they cut way back on scouting, admin and Steinberg left to go to the Jets.

 

[Deus Irae]

I still sometimes allow myself to think that Eason might not have gone full Nancy, and the Patriots might have had a shot in the Super Bowl, if Dawson hadn't gotten injured.

That was a wild year, and one hell of a linebacking corps.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I remember:

- Craig James and crew running roughshod all over that soft Miami D for something like 250yds rushing.

- The Pats getting something like 5 or 6 turnovers like they had vs. LA and NY the two weeks prior.

- Marino stubbornly throwing to Mark Duper in the endzone for 3 or 4 straight plays, each time the pass was defensed by Raymond Clayborn. The final throw on 4th down was picked off. I remember SI calling it an "All-Galaxy performance" by Clayborn that day.

- The graphic by NBC showing the cost of various goods 20 years prior...the last time NE won in Miami.

First team to win 3 road playoff games to make the Bowl. It took another 20 years until the '05 Steelers (shortly followed by the '07 Giants...ugh) would win 3 on the road and the Super Bowl.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Patsrock]

It is interesting to note that Berry is, in my opinion, the 2nd Greatest Coach in Pats history. He's not even in the same Solar System as Belichick, but he's 2nd in winning % amongst those who coached more than 50 games with the Pats (believe it or not, Pete Carroll is actually 2nd in winning % if you don't apply the 50-game minimum). He's 3rd in wins behind Mike Holovak but the difference is only 4 wins and Holovak coached 20 more games. He's the only coach other than Belichick to win at least 3 playoff games, the only other coach to take them to the Super Bowl.

This is not to say that Berry was a great coach...unless you measure him by Jets coaching standards

You forgot a coach. In fact they also won the AFC Championship on 1/12, also over a Florida team. Which also advanced them to a Super Bowl in New Orleans also on 1/26 against a NFC Central team.

 

[Patsrock]

I still sometimes allow myself to think that Eason might not have gone full Nancy, and the Patriots might have had a shot in the Super Bowl, if Dawson hadn't gotten injured.

That was a wild year, and one hell of a linebacking corps.

The Pats could have very easily lead 14-0 in that game. Dropped TD by Morgan and the dropped Int by Blackmon who would have been untouched to the end zone. But oh well

 

[RobertWeathers]

I still sometimes allow myself to think that Eason might not have gone full Nancy, and the Patriots might have had a shot in the Super Bowl, if Dawson hadn't gotten injured.

That was a wild year, and one hell of a linebacking corps.

Raymond Berry has forgotten more about football that I will ever know, but to come out throwing the ball and not making the attempt to run the football was a gross miscalculation on his part.

He saw what Miami did and though Eason could do the same. The problem is that, while a serviceable QB, he didn't have Duper, Clayton, Nat Moore, Tony Nathan, etc type talent in the passing game.

That team was all about ground n pound and being opportunistic on D.

Either way, I don't think either approach would have mattered as that team was perhaps the greatest single-season juggernaut in NFL history. Steve Grogan is on record as saying that is the fastest defense he has ever seen.

 

[mgteich]

Yup, once Dawson went down, we couldn't run. Hannah and the line just couldn't handle the best defense ever, or even come close. We had 7 rushing yards, not good for a team that won with the run. As much as Hannah wants to blame Eason, there was no way to succeed without the OL stopping Perry, Dent and the rest.

And yes, Eason did look like a deer with headlights in his eyes as he looked and saw Dent coming again and again and again.

BTW, I agree with the analysis then and now that the 1985 Bears were unstoppable. They used Walter Payton as a decoy since we decided that we would take him out of the offense (which we did)

I still sometimes allow myself to think that Eason might not have gone full Nancy, and the Patriots might have had a shot in the Super Bowl, if Dawson hadn't gotten injured.

That was a wild year, and one hell of a linebacking corps.