Happy blast from the past - 1984 vs. Browns (1 Viewer)

[Cincy Saint]

Read this today on Football Outsiders...

• You know that thing where head coaches kick a late field goal to turn a one-score deficit into a one-score deficit, hoping to hold their opponent to three-and-out, get the ball back, and score again to win? New Orleans actually pulled this off against Cleveland in Week 9. With 3:05 left in the game, the Saints had fourth-and-2 from the Cleveland 3, down 14-10. Instead of trying for a touchdown, Bum Phillips sent Morten Andersen out to kick a 21-yard field goal. The Saints kicked it away to the Browns down 14-13, with two timeouts and the two-minute warning left to stop the clock. New Orleans didn't even get the three-and-out, as Browns completed a 15-yard pass before running down the clock. After the punt, New Orleans got the ball back on their own 23 with no timeouts and 59 seconds left. Richard Todd, in his only season starting for the Saints, hit receiver Lindsay Scott for a 36-yard gain on the first play. A pass to fullback Hokie Gajan got it five yards closer. And then Andersen hit a 53-yarder with 6 seconds left for the 16-14 New Orleans win.

 

[HouseCall]

 

[Judge_Smails]

Thanks for sharing the video and thanks to OP for starting the thread. Watching that Anderson kick reminded me of how much of a phenom the Great Dane was. He was deadly accurate from 50+ in an era when most kickers were not and field conditions across the league were much less kicker friendly than today. He was the only guy that could always put kickoffs through the back of the end zone when in his prime.

 

[Outbackjack]

A few notes......

1. “Ty in the Sky” on the long pass.
2. Those uniforms are so freakin awesome.
3. The decision to kick the first FG. ???????

 

[St.Dan]

I remember watching that one as a kid Was the late Marty Schottenheimer’s first game as Browns coach.

I’m sure Bum would’ve traded that rare win in the chess game of coaching for the one he blew against the Rams the previous season. If he lets Andersen boot a FG up 24-23 with about 1:06 left, I think the Saints would’ve snapped their playoff drought four years earlier than they eventually did.

 

[UFCSaint]

I remember watching this game as a kid. The year before I had gone to my first Saints game in the Dome where Richard Todd's Jets beat the Saints. Then the Saints go out and bring Todd in the next season...and from what I remember he was mediocre at best.

 

[Cincy Saint]

A few notes......
3. The decision to kick the first FG. ???????

yeah that was kinda the spark for the FO.com mention. Usually when a team is down more than 3 and deep in plus territory late in the game, the correct move is to go for the TD. In this case, the Saints probably made the wrong analytic decision but the defense and some great work by the offense pulled out the win.