Boring? Nah. What's wrong with games without touchdowns? Long plays? Still in the game. Didn't Brad Daluiso kick a 54-yarder to beat Phoenix?
What's wrong with the NFL '93? Nothing, say the powers on Park Avenue. As long as the games don't last more than three hours and the networks get all their commercials in, everything is fine.Last year, there were a total of five games played without a touchdown. This year, the Jets played three in a row.
This was the season the NFL turned into the National Field Goal League. Once teams get into the red zone - it's no longer acceptable to call it "inside the 20" - it's like a 15-foot steel face goes up along the goal line, and the only way to penetrate it is to have somebody run in on fourth down and kick over it.
Why has this happened? A few quick reasons:
- Quarterback Quality: Every team needs two good ones, and barely half the teams have one. And throw in the season-ending injuries to Dan Marino and Randall Cunningham and the bumps and bruises to the rest of them, and you have third-stringers seeing too much playing time.
- Red Zone Defenses: Used to be, teams would play man-to-man inside the 20. Now, defenses have become much too proficient at zone in the red zone, which cuts off the passing lanes when the field gets shortened. But what can you do? Legislate against the zone like the NBA? Ridiculous.
- Situation Substitutions: It's always been a game of specialization, but now teams have defensive substitutions for every conceivable situation: Seems that it's gotten so far out of hand that a wave of players come in who specialize on third and less than 3 inside the 20 on a rainy day on a grass field when the temperature is less than 30 degrees. Of course, if it's higher than 30, it's a whole different group.
This is a league of followers. When the Super Bowl champ establishes a trend, everybody plays copycat. Last year, the Cowboys had 17 players in their defensive rotation. This year's trend: Some teams are trying to win without a quarterback.
* * *
Family values, the theme of the '90s, became an NFL issue in October, when Oilers tackle David Williams chose to stay behind with his wife, Debi, for the birth of their first son and failed to join the team for a game in New England the next day.
The story transcended sports: It made the front and back pages of newspapers, the network news, etc. Williams was docked his $111,111 game check, and the Oilers took a public-relations beating. They had given Williams permission to miss the team plane and the evening meetings but expected him to find his way to Foxboro the next day for the 1 p.m. kickoff. He didn't.
At the time, the Oilers were 1-4 and coming off a lopsided loss in Buffalo. And the irony is that they not only won in New England, but have kept on winning.
* * *
Has there been an NFL owner who has had more of an impact in a shorter period of time than Jerry Jones?
The day he bought the Cowboys in 1989, he fired Tom Landry, the only coach in the Cowboys' history. Within months, he forced out team President Tex Schramm, one of the league's longtime visionaries and power brokers. And in the recent television negotiations, he was a key player in the deal that resulted in Fox's outbidding long-time NFL partner CBS for the NFC games.
So, in under five years, Jones has had a hand in bouncing Landry, Schramm and CBS.
And how about Giants co-owner Bob Tisch? He spent $75 million for 50 percent of the Giants less than one month after they won their second Super Bowl in January 1991. Tisch had barely settled in when Bill Parcells quit on May 15. And then last week, CBS went out of the NFL business. Tisch's brother, Laurence, is CBS's chairman.
* * *
- NFL signs four-year $4.4 billion contract: There was always something comforting about Sunday afternoons with Pat Summerall and John Madden ending the weekend with the 4 p.m. game. Maybe they will resurface as a package deal with Fox, but this is a new era for the NFL. This generation of owners doesn't leave a penny on the table, not to mention $100 million a year.
- Expansion: It was a long process and took two meetings to vote, but Charlotte and Jacksonville were awarded the expansion teams for 1995. For their $140 million entry fee, they bought themselves the honor of getting wiped out on the field for their first five years. The good news is T-shirt sales are up.
- Emmitt Smith holdout: Never has a contract holdout generated so much publicity. But it had all the ingredients: Stubborn owner, stubborn player, Super Bowl champion, millions of dollars. Smith missed the first two games, Dallas lost them both, proving Smith's point, and he signed a four-year $13.6 million deal, the most ever for a running back.
- Jeff Alm kills himself: In the early morning of Dec. 14, the Oilers' defensive tackle took his life by putting a shotgun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. Alm was distraught that his best friend, Sean Lynch, had plunged to his death after the car Alm was driving hit a guard rail on a Houston interchange. The Oilers dedicated their victory over Pittsburgh to Alm and sent his family the game ball.
* * *
Good Move: Less than six weeks into the job, Dan Reeves put a permanent end to the Giants' two-year quarterback controversy. He picked Phil Simms over Jeff Hostetler. Simms, the best QB in Giants history, has led them to an 11-3 record.
Bad Move: One game after Vinny Testaverde went down with a separated shoulder, the Bill Belichick-Bernie Kosar feud hit the break point. Belichick fired Kosar with the Browns at 5-3 and in first place in the AFC Central. All Cleveland had in reserve was Todd Philcox. Testaverde is back, but Cleveland is 1-5 since Kosar was let go.
Good Move: The Giants signed Michael Brooks, Carlton Bailey, Mike Sherrard and Mark Jackson to nearly $20 million worth of free-agent contracts. Sherrard went out in the sixth game with a hip injury, but all have been major contributors.
Bad Move: Bill Bidwill opened his wallet and signed $22 million in contracts for free agents, including Steve Beuerlein, Gary Clark and Chuck Cecil. Phoenix is a typical 5-9.
Good Move: The Packers signed Reggie White to a four-year $17 million contract. Although the Packers are struggling to win the NFC Central, it's not White's fault. He has 10.5 sacks, and the defense has improved from No. 23 to No. 6.
Bad Move: Detroit's Wayne Fontes can't make a quarterback decision. He went from Rodney Peete to Andre Ware to Peete to Erik Kramer. That doesn't do much for locker room credibility.
Good Move: The Chiefs traded for Joe Montana and signed Marcus Allen, Super Bowl heroes of the past who they hope will be Super Bowl heroes of the future.
Bad Move: John Elway came off like a big baby complaining about Dan Reeves after the coach left. Elway has had one of his best seasons, and the new 49ers-style passing game has helped him, but how quickly Elway forgot that Reeves took three substandard Broncos teams to the Super Bowl.
* * *
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS HONORS
Coach of the Year: Dan Reeves, Giants
MVP: Steve Young, QB, 49ers
Offensive Player of the Year: Troy Aikman, QB, Cowboys
Defensive Player of the Year: Bruce Smith, Bills
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jerome Bettis, RB, Rams
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Dana Stubblefield, 49ers