1977: Another 3-way race and a bizarre conclusion

Sean Pa Patriot · Dec 10, 2008

FortressX said:
What year was it that Boomer Esiason & Co sat in the TV studio hoping the Pats would lose so they could get in the playoffs ?

That was 1986 When the Pats played Miami in the Orange Bowl.. If the Pats loss the Jets would have won the division, and the Bengals would be the wild card.. Mark Clayton caught a td pass, and said in the camera, Cincy pack your bags.. Then Steve Grogan ,filled in again for a again inj Tony Eason and was one of the best reg season games in Pats history..

Sean Pa Patriot · Dec 10, 2008

Lifer excellent Post.. I remember that game against the Colts, the Jones threw a bomb to Raymond Chester, 30-27 was the final.. Was played in a downpour..

FortressX · Dec 10, 2008

Sean Pa Patriot said:
That was 1986 When the Pats played Miami in the Orange Bowl.. If the Pats loss the Jets would have won the division, and the Bengals would be the wild card.. Mark Clayton caught a td pass, and said in the camera, Cincy pack your bags.. Then Steve Grogan ,filled in again for a again inj Tony Eason and was one of the best reg season games in Pats history..

Thanks for the info.
I hated Boomer till 2001 because of that.

jmt57 · Dec 10, 2008

Gwedd said:
I remember well. I also remember how darn-near homicidal I was when Berry sat Flutie. The fans were screaming for Flutie, and I remember watching Berry turn to face the crowd and do everything but flip them off.

It's no wonder I drink. Sigh. I hide the grey hair by shaving it off.

As much good as Berry did turning that team around, it was as if he caught Flutie in bed with his daughter. I remember Berry had Flutie returning punts for the Pats. How badly do you have to piss off your coach to have him make you, a QB, return punts?

Gwedd · Dec 11, 2008

Yup... To this day I can't figure out what happened there. I wish I knew.

nepatz11 · Dec 11, 2008

Sometimes I rememeber as a kid you would not even need a ticket you could sneak under the fence on the hill side and no one would care

godef · Dec 11, 2008

upstater1 said:
Out of all of that, I only remember the Colts-Patriots game when Bert Jones DIDN'T fumble.

I became a fan in 1976 at the age of 9.

Was that the tuck rule?

godef · Dec 11, 2008

upstater1 said:
But that 1981 team was by far and away the best 2 win team in NFL history!!!

I remember that team losing a lot of close games. I believe I recall a Monday Nighter against the Dallas Cowboys fairly early in the season when they still had a chance to get it going. In particular, a Patriot corner (I forget who) had an opportunity to intercept a pass in the endzone, only to have the Cowboy receiver calmly step from behind to in front of him and make the touchdown catch. Anyone remember that?

Just looked it up in the Pro Football Reference (link): in that season, the Pats actually were tied with the Baltimore Colts at 2-14, despite the fact the Pats had a -48 point differential (very low considering the record) while the Colts' differential was -274. Both the Colts victories were over the Patriots. Ouch.

godef · Dec 11, 2008

FortressX said:
What year was it that Boomer Esiason & Co sat in the TV studio hoping the Pats would lose so they could get in the playoffs ?

1986. It was actually in a restaurant or some niteclub, and they watched Steve Grogan come in for an injured Tony Eason and lead the Pats to an upset win in Miami to steal the division title from the Jets and knock Cincy out of a wildcard spot.

Lifer · Dec 11, 2008

FortressX said:
What year was it that Boomer Esiason & Co sat in the TV studio hoping the Pats would lose so they could get in the playoffs ?

1986. Patriots needed to win at Miami on MNF to win the East. Lose, and they were out.
Grogans bomb to Morgan won it! A great night.

Lifer · Dec 11, 2008

godef said:
I remember that team losing a lot of close games. I believe I recall a Monday Nighter against the Dallas Cowboys fairly early in the season when they still had a chance to get it going. In particular, a Patriot corner (I forget who) had an opportunity to intercept a pass in the endzone, only to have the Cowboy receiver calmly step from behind to in front of him and make the touchdown catch. Anyone remember that?

Just looked it up in the Pro Football Reference (link): in that season, the Pats actually were tied with the Baltimore Colts at 2-14, despite the fact the Pats had a -48 point differential (very low considering the record) while the Colts' differential was -274. Both the Colts victories were over the Patriots. Ouch.

Now THAt is whole other classic Patriots story!!!

last day of the season. Patriots at Colts. loser gets Kenneth Sims.

it was obvious both teams were tanking it. When the Colts punter clearly punted it into his own center on purpose my brother called me laughing hysterically.

upstater1 · Dec 11, 2008

The Toilet Bowl.

That was the name of the 1981 Colts Pats game to end the season.

TruthSeeker · Dec 11, 2008

Lifer said:
It all started perfectly. The Patriots scored on their first 2 possessions and rode those touchdowns to a 14-10 victory at Foxboro over Miami. Patriot fans were ecstatic about the chance to go to Baltimore and win the division the next week.
Then, the news APPEARED to get even better. In the last minutes of play, the Lions blocked a Colts punt and ran it in for the score that upset Baltimore!!
This was great, right?? It was now a 3 way tie at 9-4.

But wait a minute.........after tiebreakers were pondered it was realized that this was disatrous for New England. Now if the Patriots beat the Colts, and Miami won as expected against the Bills on Saturday, Miami and New England would both finish 10-4. In a 2 way tie with Miami, MIAMI would beat New England on tiebreakers. If the Colts had created a 3-way tie, The Patriots would have won.

I remember it well because I was well aware of the implications during the game and was rooting hard for the Colts to win. Even without the internet, there was plenty of information available (to anyone who wanted to do the calculations and who knew the rules) to understand the situation. I was amazed at how few really did until shortly after the game; I remember talking about the tie-breakers a lot in the week before the game.

Ultimately, what cost the Patriots then is the same thing that will likely cost them a playoff spot this year - they lost one more game than they could afford to lose.

Lifer said:
I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Hopefully this season will end better!!!!!

Thanks for this thread. Great idea!

FortressX · Dec 11, 2008

upstater1 said:
The Toilet Bowl.

That was the name of the 1981 Colts Pats game to end the season.

I always thought they called it "The Stupor Bowl".

Zeus · Dec 11, 2008

Lifer said:
Who remembers the bizarre final few weeks of the 1977 season, another year when the Patriots were in a tight 3-way battle for the division titles and tiebreakers were the dominant discussion.

This was the year following the amazing 1976 season and going into it the Patriots fans and the media were gushing about a possible Super Bowl season.

It was marred by a holdout by Leon Gray and John Hannah to start the season and the Patriots stumbled out to a disappointing 5-4 start. But finally they caught their stride and won 3 straight. With 2 weeks remaining, the standings were:
Baltimore 9-3
Miami 9-3
New England 8-4

The Patriots seemed to have their destiny in their own hands. Their final 2 games would home to Miami and at Baltimore. The Colts were playing at home on Week 13 to the weak Detroit Lions and the Dolphins were playing a weak Buffalo team at home Week 14. If the Patriots won their 2 games against their rivals it seemed assured the 3 teams would all finish 10-4 and the Patriots would win the AFC East on tiebreakers.

It all started perfectly. The Patriots scored on their first 2 possessions and rode those touchdowns to a 14-10 victory at Foxboro over Miami. Patriot fans were ecstatic about the chance to go to Baltimore and win the division the next week.
Then, the news APPEARED to get even better. In the last minutes of play, the Lions blocked a Colts punt and ran it in for the score that upset Baltimore!!
This was great, right?? It was now a 3 way tie at 9-4.

But wait a minute.........after tiebreakers were pondered it was realized that this was disatrous for New England. Now if the Patriots beat the Colts, and Miami won as expected against the Bills on Saturday, Miami and New England would both finish 10-4. In a 2 way tie with Miami, MIAMI would beat New England on tiebreakers. If the Colts had created a 3-way tie, The Patriots would have won.

Incredibly, The Patriots were virtually eliminated because Baltimore LOST!!!!

as us oldtimers would often say, this could only happen to the Patriots.

The next Saturday the Patriots were officially eliminated when the Dolphins crushed the Bills. Then on sunday, to rub salt in the wound, the Patriots were screwed when a Bert Jones fumble was called not a fumble and the Colts won the AFC East. Ironically, the team that was really screwed by the blown call was Miami, who would have won the division with a Patriots victory.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Hopefully this season will end better!!!!!

I was at the Miami-NE game that day. It was bitterly cold, but Patriot fans were euphoric after a huge win. I was sitting in traffic on Route 1 when I heard the news of the Colt "defeat." In the days after, many speculated that the Colts had tanked the game.

Zeus · Dec 11, 2008

Lifer said:
1986. Patriots needed to win at Miami on MNF to win the East. Lose, and they were out.
Grogans bomb to Morgan won it! A great night.

This was a tremendous football game. I still have it on tape at home.

The Patriots got the ball with about 6:00 minutes remaining and the score tied. Steve Grogan, in relief of injured Tony Eason was calling his own plays (perhaps the last QB to do this). After 6-7 consecutive running plays and with less than a minute remaining, Grogan hit Stanley Morgan on a 40 yard TD pass (Dolphins bit hook, line and sinker on play action). Morgan was spectacular that night and was legitimately on of the best players in the league that season.

Zeus · Dec 11, 2008

spacecrime said:
Was that the year we were beating the Bills, and the Bills tried a Hail Mary into the endzone with a couple seconds left in the game, and about 5 Patriots were there and they all jumped up and smacked the ball down, and the ball flew straight down into the gut of a Bills receiver who was lying on his back and he held onto the ball? Game over, Bills win.

My only trip to Rich Stadium ...

Bills got the ball deep in their own territory with 35 seconds left and no timeouts. After completing two passes into NE territory, QB Joe Ferguson heaved the ball into the endzone. Patriot LB Mike Hawkins seemed to have control of the ball and tried to slam it into the ground. Inexplicably, Bill RB Roland Hooks was more or less on the ground, in postion to make the catch. I was sitting in the end zone - the play happened right in front of me.

There was mention in another thread about the fan behavior in Buffalo. At that time, there were a lot of justified complaints about the atmosphere in Foxboro (where I attended every game). But I never saw anything like the miscreants in Buffalo that day ...

tuckeverlasting · Dec 11, 2008

Zeus said:
This was a tremendous football game. I still have it on tape at home.

The Patriots got the ball with about 6:00 minutes remaining and the score tied. Steve Grogan, in relief of injured Tony Eason was calling his own plays (perhaps the last QB to do this). After 6-7 consecutive running plays and with less than a minute remaining, Grogan hit Stanley Morgan on a 40 yard TD pass (Dolphins bit hook, line and sinker on play action). Morgan was spectacular that night and was legitimately on of the best players in the league that season.

i remember monday night football kept going from the game to boomer and the bengals at a local cincy bar. as the game went on they would go to boomer for a reaction. he did a lot of whining and crying that night so i dubbed him "baby boomer" and had hated him until recently.

1977: Another 3-way race and a bizarre conclusion

Sean Pa Patriot

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