Bakken Boots Cards past Vikes, 15-13

Good old fashioned smashmouth football is what you get here in the mid 1970's. The Vikes were known as the Purple People Eaters and the Cards were the first flight of Air Coryell. Minnesota started off the scoring with a neat opening drive to go up 7-0. A perfect blend of running and passing kept the Cardinal D off guard. Chuck Foreman banged it in from the 1 for the score. After a 12 play, 78 yard drive the cards settled for a Jim Bakken FG. Bakken would attempt another FG on their next drive only to see the points come off the board thanks to a false start. West had to come on to kick. The Vikes go a 21 yarder from Cox to go up 10-3 at the half. Neither team did much in the 3rd. The only score was a safety when Ken Reaves sacked Fran Tarkenton in the end zone. That made the score 10-5 as the hometown fans began wondering if they were in the 8th inning of a Twins game and not the 4th quarter of a Vikings contest. The 4th quarter started with a quick 5 play Air Coryell lighting strike drive that culminated in a Mel Gray from Jim Hart TD from 12 yards out. For the first time all day the hometown Vikes were down 12-10. Both teams slugged it out and relied on their defenses. The Cards gave the Vikes good field possession late in the game. Tarkenton led the Purple bunch on a quick drive that culminated in a Fred Cox 49 yard FG with :39 seconds left to go in the contest. All Minnesota needed to do was kickoff and keep the ball away from Terry Metcalf. Unfortunately for them Metcalf got it and almost ran to daylight. 53 yards later the Cardinals had :27 ticks of the clock from the Viking 35. Hart quickly hit Metcalf for 4 yards, then Thomas for 11 and finally Gray for another 11 to put the ball on the Viking 9 yard line with :05 left to go. Bakken strolled on for the game winner, but the Cardinals had 12 men on the field and had to back up 5 yards. Bakken, who is an experienced vet wasn't phased as he kicked a 31 yarder straight through the uprights to give the Cardinals an opening day 15-13 road win.

Last but not least at #14, Anthony "Mop" Barra takes...

...the 1979 Chicago Bears. Sweetness himself, Walter Payton is the focal point of the attack. Don't expect Bob Avellini to be launching long passes. First off he couldn't throw that far and secondly Brian Baschnagel couldn't run that far. The defense is solid. Doug Plank and Gary Fencik patrol the safety position and love to hit anyone who likes to throw it long. This is a team build around one player, but oh what a special player he was

After 8 hrs of deliberation Greg finally picks...

...the 1979 Washington Redskins. You read it correctly. 8 hours of hemming an hawing and finally he picks the '79 skins. He narrowed it down to either 76 or 79. I think he simmed 10 or more games btwn each team and reviewed all of the ratings. I believe he bought his house faster ! The '79 skins were the first 10 win team to not make the post season in the multiple wildcard era. Joe Gibbs took over the team and put Theismann in as his starter. Riggins runs through people and the hogs are just starting to play in the slop. Big ole Dave Butz clogs up the middle on defense.

#12 - It's in the Cards for Howie.

After resigning from the Cowboys debacle during CFL V, Coach Fortel vowed to return, but only with a team that had offense in it's blood. The 1975 Cardinals were an offensive jaugernaut. Air Coryell made it's first layover in the Gateway city and revolutionized offenses forever. Mel Gray and Jackie Smith pulled in many passes from Jim Hart. Terry Metcalf was a triple threat out of the backfield as well as on special teams. That offensive line was just awesom with Dierdorf and Dobler.

#11 - A return to South Beach

After winning the Super Bowl with the '73 Phish I almost felt obligated to pick the 1977 offering. When stacked up against the remaining un-chosen AFC teams (HOU or NE) it was no choice at all. The '77 Dolphins are obviously a step below the teams of the early 70's, but somehow Shula just kept on winning with them. By this time Bob Griese came into his own and was more than just the band leader who handed the ball off and threw a few passes. By 1977 Griese was allowed to air it out and his results earned him a pro-bowl nod. I just wish he would have spent some of that extra money and bought a cheap pair of contacts. Those glasses under the helmet might have worked at Purdue where they are all engineering majors, but in the NFL ???

The 1975 Cincy Bengals go at #10

Super Bowl runner up George Bserani got himself a fine team at #10 when he snagged the '75 Bengals. Cincy posted some really good teams in the 70's only to be overshadowed by that franchise in black and gold. Ken Anderson is one heck of a passer. The defense is anchored by a world class secondary. Ken Riley and Lamar Parrish can flat cover. Isaac Curtis can't sing, but he sure can catch the deep ball.

At #9, Bob Kalec reaches for some Orange Crush

Remember those ugly Orange jerseys and that stupid nickname that made a lousy soda a lot of money ? I do. It seemed like they came from out of nowhere. This ferocious defense led by the late Lyle Alzado and Randy Gradishiar pummelled opposing RB's and QB's into the ground. Being from the East coast I remember watching those 4 pm games with Charlie Jones on the mike. Their weakness is their offense. Craig Morton was a fine pocket passer, but no one would confuse him with being Mr. Mobility. This defense will keep them in games and cause havoc on opposing backfields.