WEBVTT - I Love the 80s: The Freezer Bowl 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.480 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.479 Hello and Welcome inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:25.959 Mike Harmon, a podcast where we look back at a 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:29.320 specific year in sports and the special teams that did 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:33.800 something really big that year. Today, we're continuing our run 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.360 of big games from the eighties. Hey, We've got a 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:38.879 lot of notes from from you saying, hey, let's go 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.320 back before the es. How about some stuff in the 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.800 eighties and seventies you ask, we provide. This episode, we 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.360 look back at one of the forgotten classics, not so 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:51.199 much for the way the game was played, but the 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:56.440 circumstances surrounding it. The one A f C Championship game 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:00.560 between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Diego Chargers, better 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:06.720 known as the Freezer Bowl, the coldest game in NFL history. Yes, 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.160 the Ice Bowl was cold, the famous game with the 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:13.680 Green Bay Packers winning over the Dallas Cowboys. However, this game, 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.960 the air temperature was minus nine degrees fahrenheit. But when 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.200 you add in the wind chill factor with you with 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:25.160 a sustained twenty seven mile an hour wind, it comes 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:30.080 in at thirty seven or thirty eight degrees below zero. 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.840 They played Chicago and winners. Growing up, Yeah in Chicago, 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:36.640 you go to the beach on days like that, right, yeah, 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.480 no question. So minus thirty eight degrees fahrenheit was the 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.160 temperature of this game, the coldest game in NFL history, 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:50.080 factoring in wind chill January the Cincinnati Bengals in the 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:53.840 San Diego Chargers. And this game gets lost, uh, sometimes 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.480 because of what surrounded it, because the week before this, hey, 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.960 how did the Chargers get to this game? Well, the game, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.920 widely regardless has the greatest game in modern NFL history, 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:07.520 the win over the Miami Dolphins. Kellen Winslow coming off 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:11.000 the field carried by his teammates. We've seen that done 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.760 so many different ways, the hook and ladder touchdown for 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.839 the first half for the Miami Dolphins, and later on 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:21.919 today on this day, jan U Joe Montana would throw 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:23.880 a touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the back of 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.120 the end zone that would also be known as the catch. 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.799 So you can understand where this game got lost a 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.840 little bit because you have the pageantry of one of 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.080 the greatest games the week before, then you had one 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.840 of the greatest games following this with one of the 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.320 greatest endings. And while this game wasn't close on the field, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.080 certainly everything that goes around it, Uh, it makes it 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.280 stand out. And when we talk about the Charge and 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.240 the struggles they had in this game, it really stands out. 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.440 Well you look at that the other game, the Miami 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.799 San Diego game forty eight, as you said, I mean 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.800 it also puts Don Strock and Von Schalman you know, 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.400 to the wayside. So he was a lead singer motor head, 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:09.920 right Van Shaman, he and let me kill mmr uh 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:15.320 their moments of training vocals now and now again. Shaman 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.720 was the lead singer of Accept, the Big Band from 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.480 the nineteen eighties. Yeah, that's right, that's right, training vocals 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:28.440 supergroup as it were. But yeah, Jim Boston, sorry, go ahead, Yeah, 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.720 you get the the greatness of those games surrounding it. Uh. 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.800 It takes nothing away from people, uh freezing while watching 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:37.640 your football game or which is one of the great 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.880 rites of passage as as you float through, no question 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.600 about it. So this game to give you a little 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.000 background on both of these teams. The San Diego Chargers, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.800 this was the middle of their era of boy the 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.840 high scoring, high flying, doing it away that we haven't 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.480 seen anybody in the NFL do it this up and 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.160 down the field on offense throwing the football as often 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.560 as they did, and it was new and they were 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:03.200 the only team that really did it like this in 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.920 the NFL. And the question was always can you win 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.320 a Super Bowl throwing the football like this? Right? That 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:09.800 was the bad and I mean now it's you gotta 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:11.960 throw the football to win the Super Bowl, but back 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.600 then it was can you really win throwing the football 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.400 this much? Don't you need to have a power running 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.560 game where you hold onto the football and thing? Can 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.600 you really win by going up and down the field 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.240 with all these all this crazy wide open offense. There 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.279 was a big discrepancy and big discussion about that, and 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.960 the Chargers were the team that was going to render 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.680 the verdict on this. If the Chargers can win the 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.400 Super Bowl, it could be done. But if they can't, 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.720 then you know, high flying offenses still are don't have 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.000 their place in the a f L, where the Chargers 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.039 came from, where they had to sell tickets and guys 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.680 throwing the football. That was one thing, But this is 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.760 the National Football League and this, in retrospect was the 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.800 best chance for the Chargers to prove their point and 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.760 win the Super Bowl. They come into this game. Dan 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.400 Fouts is all world at quarterback at this point, Charlie Joyner, 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.840 Kellen Winslow, West Chandler is terrific. J Brooks who led 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.599 the NFL in total yards as a rookie, Chuck Munsey 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.800 led the NFL and touchdowns. I mean, they were unstoppable. 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.840 This team was so unstoppable, and maybe more importantly, they 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.159 had lightning bolts on their pants, which really that's the 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.000 way that was. That's the you know what, what's the 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.719 old line? Uh, it's from Catch Me if you can. 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.760 You know why? Why the why the Yankees have such 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.440 an advantage. It's the uniforms. People just can't stop looking 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.919 at the pin stripes. Well, I would wear if I could, 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.320 and I like, I would wear tight pants that had 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.480 lightning bolts up and down them if I could stop you. 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.960 If you have any creativity in your soul whatsoever, and 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.040 a couple of bucks in your pocket, you could make 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.279 this hat. Listen, I'm not going on Pinterest to try 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:43.120 to find something. I'm just not doing it right. If 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:44.800 I can you give me this size, I'll have them 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.000 for your next fight. You can't find it on eBay. 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.240 I'm not gonna go. Look, man, I'm gonna upgrade those 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.680 zoobaz pants you've been wearing for the last thirty years, 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.240 and we'll get you those lightning bolts. If you want 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.479 lightning bolts on your pants, man, I'll make sure that happens. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.960 I'm gonna go to the dark Web to find lightning 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.120 bolts on pants. That's how I'm gonna do it. I 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:06.200 don't think you need the dark Web. I don't think 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.640 you need to open come. You might descrub your browser. 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:10.960 I don't need to. Okay, Well all right then, well 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.040 you know, challenge accepted. So for the next special teams, 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:14.960 you gotta tell me where that is. Then I will 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.520 find them lightning bolts on pants so or otherwise I'll 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.479 just custom design them. Man. Oh well, put your name 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:26.520 in the lightning bolts. Oh see, now if you can customize, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.800 and that would be pretty cool that I'd kind of like. Alright, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.520 Uh So this was Air Correel. This is them at 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.039 their at their biggest peaked on Corriel who brought this 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.320 offense in with him through to the NFL and the Chargers. 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:43.200 Really they only were ten and six on the season, 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.320 but you felt like they were always gonna win games 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.440 in the final two minutes. They were, They were always 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:50.480 up and down the field. They were fun to watch 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:52.920 and and you always went to this game going, boy, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.039 if we don't have our a game going, they're gonna 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:56.880 blow us out because of the way they like to 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.440 play football. But I think that's one of the you 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.080 meant and kind of how we look at this team 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.320 in historical terms. Right, we had the fight over don 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.320 kore Yell in the Hall of Fame. Oh yeah, right, 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:12.960 and in the end they only won of his games, right, 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.400 and and not to dismiss it, he's above five hundred, great, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.160 but it wasn't dominant, right when you talk about innovation 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.360 and things that are setting everybody's hair on fire. For 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.360 all the yardage, for all the spreading it out with 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.360 the myriad weapons you had in this offense, and some 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.760 of the great names from strata matic football history, no 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:36.920 question about it. Where you wanted to march up and 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:38.800 down the field, this was the team to do it. 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.320 Who do you got I'm gonna be the Chargers. Questions 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.080 had that won games in strata matic, not necessarily on 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.040 the NFL Gridirons sixty nine and fifty six for his 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.760 career with the Charges, seven and one in St. Louis 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.800 before that. So that's why you always have this battle. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:00.880 I mean, they scored almost thirty points a game this year, 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:05.800 twenty nine point nine four hundred seventy eight points and 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.200 they were ten and six. But could this team that 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.120 throws the football and plays on the West Coast in 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:15.040 the sunshine, could their game travel? Because that's the other 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.600 part of the equation was, hey, can you play this 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.000 kind of offense in the playoffs in the cold weather? 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.600 Can you win games like this? Those two those are 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.040 the two number one and number two things people always 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.120 ask can the Chargers do it? And they were gonna 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.760 and there was no bigger challenge than this. You're talking 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.680 about the coldest game in the history of the NFL. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.160 Congratulations Chargers. This is what you have to do in 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.400 Cincinnati to get to the super Bowl. And oh, by 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.080 the way, the Bengals, this is the year they put 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.600 it all together. This was a really, really solid team, right. 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.959 Dan Ross was a terrific tight end. Chris Collinsworth was 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:48.640 a rookie. You could already tell he was going to 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.079 be a star. And it's fun. I forgot how Collinsworth 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:52.920 used to when he would line up. He used to 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.920 just before the ball was snapped, he used to flail 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.960 his arms back and forth. You always know it was him. 0:08:57.960 --> 0:08:59.720 He used to do that all the time, you know, 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.160 for getting fed about guys with no motion. He would 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.080 always do that as as as he would get ready 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.520 for the snap. So that was always fun. But they 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.000 had Pete Johnson who ran for a thousand yards and 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:12.680 sixteen touchdowns. Anthony Monios is the greatest offensive lineman of 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.520 all time. They really put it all together. Forest greg 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:17.600 was the head coach who, oh, by the way, played 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.719 in the Ice Bowl, so he had the unfortunate experience 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.640 of having to play in the two Colden's games in 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.880 NFL history. But it's funny. Forest Greg, though, is a 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.280 guy that I always associated as the Packers coach right 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.559 right exactly, even though he had more years in Cincinnati. 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.840 To me, he was always the Packers coach, just me. 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.640 With all of this going on, the head of the 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:44.640 snake of this team was quarterback Kenny Anderson. And there 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:49.440 was no more shocking ascent than Kenny Anderson. This year 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.560 in the NFL. He was the top rated passer in 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.960 the league. He was the m v P. He was 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.000 the come from behind are the comeback player of the year. 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.079 He had always been a good, solid quarterback into the 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.880 Pro Bowl a couple of times. Cincinnati was decent in 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.520 the early nineteen seventies, early to mid nineteen seventy Cincinnati 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.280 won a few games at playoff games. They had three 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.800 ten win seasons, and then they were terrible. And when 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.000 they were terrible, Anderson was terrible. I can't believe he 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.240 stayed with them. I can't believe they kept him as 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.760 a quarterback. He was awful in nineteen eighty awful, nine 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.000 ten touchdowns, twenty two picks. He was how do you 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.240 stay there quiet that point, he'd been in the legal while. 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.199 How do you not say, okay, maybe time for a 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.600 change in quarterback? And then he got all the way 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:34.800 to the nineteen six I know, and he played. I 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.679 mean it was unbelievable, like he had Like I get it. 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.360 You have a couple of good years while you young, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:40.600 so you get the benefit of the data as you 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.760 get older, but usually that's as a backup. And you know, 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:45.920 this is where, Nope, he's still gonna be. Our starters 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.800 are are you kidding me? And then in one he 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:52.800 throws twenty nine touchdowns thirty eight hundred yards, all career highs. 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:57.080 He never approached those numbers before that year or after 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.000 that year. It's like he was efficient the following two years. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.000 Like if this was the two seventy one percent completion, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.000 if he was a baseball player, you would say, oh, 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:06.880 that's the year that they were banging the trash can. 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.400 And he knew exactly what was going on. He knew, 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.160 he knew what the play was, he knew what kind 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.079 of defense they were in because they banged the trash 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.200 can like for the Astros. But that that was the 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.520 meteoric rise of Kenny Anderson. If his if his career 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.560 was a grand it would be flat flight flat flave, 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:22.079 flat up, a little bit flat five, flat up, a 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.920 litt bit flaight flight flight flight flat down, down, down, down, down, straight, 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:26.760 all the way up to the top, straight, all the 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:28.800 way down the bottom flat flight flight flight flight flight flat. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.319 That's Anderson. Yeah, that's the guy. That's the rumor that 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.480 you got the big innovation that everybody's looking for. So 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.760 the stock pops and then you failed to meet earnings 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.320 the next quarter. Uh, and you go right back up 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:45.920 the charts. Twenty nine touchdowns in eight one for his career. 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.360 He was there from seventy one to eighty six, amazing. 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:54.160 He grew more than twenty touchdowns once one one other 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.319 time back in nineteen seventy five, nineteen, the year after, 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:02.800 and that eleven, ten, sixteen, And he played most most years. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:06.480 He played in almost all games. So it wasn't like 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.920 he was down in the you know, Jim McMahon era 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.360 and guys like that that were contemporaries where you were 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.280 gonna miss a bunch of games along the way. No, 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:20.880 he played, uh and just didn't excel. How's that for 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.720 being kind? No, that was good. You played and didn't excel. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:29.040 Thank you. I appreciate that. Just go out there. It's 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.520 like Jennifer Anderston, Hey, we're gonna give you another script 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.840 for romantic comedy. Is it gonna be good? It's gonna stink? Okay, Well, 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.720 we'll keep giving him to you. You lead Jennifer Anderston alone, 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:44.000 she's an American treasure. Did she go to Northwestern? No? Okay, okay, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:47.000 So I I have no tie to her other than 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:51.240 just um my love of her. That's nice night. Thanks, 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.960 for that and we had that water that was the 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.600 billboard right by our exit for work for a while, 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.600 so when I get stopped at that light, I could smile. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:05.240 So fortunately that sets the table completely for the Freezer Bowl. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.480 What happened next and what happened to the players following 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.840 this game, coldest game in NFL history, the Freezer Bowl? 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.480 Why did the Chargers have so many problems? We'll tell 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:39.280 you coming up next January, Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium. Dick Enberg 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:43.800 and Merlin Olson on the call. Minus nine degrees minus 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.959 thirty eight degrees when you factor in the windshill factor. 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.760 The Freezer Bowl, the coldest game in NFL history, was 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.760 set to kick off, and the players knew right away 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.600 this was gonna be unlike any game they ever played. 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.160 Hank Bower, who had gone out for the Chargers to 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.000 warm up before game, do a bit of running and 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.560 come back in, actually told his teammates when he came 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:07.200 back in, guys, listen, um, whatever layers you're wearing, take 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.040 them off, because they're just gonna slow you down and 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.000 it's not gonna help anyway, because it's just that cold out. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.800 And you can mentioned Merlin Olson, I mean father Murphy 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.319 up in the booth, praying for some sunshine if it's warm, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.640 and it did he did, there was. The sun did 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.720 peek in and out at times in the game, but 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.800 it still didn't matter. It's not like it went from hey, 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.520 minus thirty eight, now it's fifty degrees. No, it's minus 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.680 thirty eight. Now it's minus thirty six and a half degrees. Uh. 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.880 Both teams had trouble and both teams were were were 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:35.880 intimidated by the cold. But you could tell there was 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:37.880 one team there's a little bit more ready for it. 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.600 It was Cincinnati. One team that was not, and that's 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.480 the Chargers. Kenny Anderson, after in between every play, would 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.080 put his hands right down his pants right where where's 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.400 the warmest part of your body, right in the growing areas. 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.040 That's where I'm gonna put my hands to warm up 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:56.000 between every play, found advice. Fouts was wearing a white 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.560 sweatshirt under his jersey and after every play he would 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.680 pull the cuffs over his hands to keep him warm. 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.840 He he had a tough time holding onto the football 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.880 the entire game. And you're gonna see a big pattern 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:10.280 with Dan Fouts and why the Charges weren't able to 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:11.920 get to the Super Bowl and win. This game is 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.440 really about Dan Fouts and a lack of planning. But 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.200 right away you knew that Dan facts this was not 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.480 going to be his day, all right. The first pass 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.200 of the game, he threw He's got Kellen Winslow wide 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.560 open in the flat it. Winslow is gonna catch it 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.120 five yards and run for another ten yards in the 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.080 first down, and Fouts there's nobody between him and he 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.600 throws the ball and it flutters ten feet over Winslow's 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.360 head into the sideline. Winslow barely jumps because he's not 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:41.360 gonna catch it. And from that moment, uh, he maybe 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.960 backed away from the TV and said, oh, Dan Fouts 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.600 is gonna struggle. His third pass of the game, he 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.560 tries to throw it up twenty yards down field, it 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.640 flutters out of his hand, comes down, and it should 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.040 have been picked off because there's two dbs there, but 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.200 they wind the ball winds up going to the ground. 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.680 And this was kind of the day for Fouts. It 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.480 was so much that he had trouble throwing the football 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.200 as much as it was gripping it, because the ball 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.800 should never have fluttered the way it did coming out 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:09.640 of his hand. In fact, even said after the game, 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:11.720 I can't believe Kenny Anderson was able to throw spirals 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:13.880 during the game. I couldn't throw them at all. But 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.240 I have a big check mark in the column for 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:18.920 warm weather team that likes to throw the football coming 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.280 into the cold and can't do it. Check mark. That 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.120 was the San Diego Chargers. Yeah, on that first play, 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.920 you just see the ball flutter and start to rise 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.880 Winslow as you described it, a little bit of a 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:34.520 jump and the mean mug. Look he game Dan Fouts 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.280 on that play right off the jump. All right, we're 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.840 gonna have fun for the next two and a half 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:44.840 to three hours because you already have a little bit 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.080 of malcontentedness from your white house. And so you're trying 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.320 to throw short and you're praying for yak you're playing, 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.760 you're praying for the slip tackle and you know, the 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.760 the big play that comes off a short pass that 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.280 never comes. And that's the thing. When Fouts would throw short, 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.679 when he would try to throw ten to twelve yards 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.159 past the line of scrimmage, they did well because the 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.400 Chargers moved the ball the whole day. It's not like, oh, 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.720 every game with every every series was three downs upon 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.240 they moved the ball well, but when they tried to 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.080 go for chunk yardage, they either turned the ball over fouts, 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.440 couldn't throw the football deep. It was incomplete. They would 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.280 make a mistake mistakes and not being able to go 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.679 down field killed the Chargers and they never adjusted. You 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.479 think at halftime after a half of not throwing the football, well, 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.159 they would say, all right, here's what we gotta do. 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.080 We gotta go down ten yards at a time. But 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.080 or or we gotta take what we can get from 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.600 this defense, because clearly every time we try to get 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.600 greedy and throw the ball downfield, we couldn't do it right. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.040 And this was the first half to a t for 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.040 the Chargers. All right, the Bengals do a smart thing 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.800 and the opening kickoff, they decided to take the wind 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:50.920 at their backs in the first and third quarter because 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.400 they want to put doubt in San Diego's mind. They 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.200 want to get off to a fast start because San 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.040 Diego's team, you can pile up a lot of points 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.320 if we can make them have a scoreless first order, 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:02.680 not be able to control the game. We put doubt 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:04.760 in their minds. Maybe we get a score or two, 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.040 we can control the game. And that turned out to 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.800 be the best decision because normally, when you're choosing the wind, 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.520 you wanted second and fourth quarter, but they chose first 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:14.240 and third quarter because they wanted to get off to 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.600 a big start, and it happened. James Brooks had a 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:21.000 fumble after Cincinnati kicked the field goal, Anderson throws a 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.840 touchdown past M. L. Harris. It's ten nothing Cincinnati in 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.480 the first quarter. It's cold for both teams, but still 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.720 Cincinnati was a little bit better being able to move 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:31.879 down the field. And we get to the second quarter 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.120 and it's ten nothing Bengals and you're wondering, is San 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.240 Diego gonna get back in this or are they just 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.040 gonna just fall over for the rest of the day. Well, 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.360 and we know that the hits hurt a little bit 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.240 more growing up in Chicago play football you were in 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.720 New York. Right, If you're down a little bit and 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:54.800 things aren't clicking, the the extra blow, it's gonna hurt 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.840 a little more when it's cold and you're already miserable, 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.600 and so that that want to sometimes gets beaten out 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.879 of you pretty fast. And it's not that you're getting 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.440 obliterated because I mean they're not getting blown out by 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.679 any stretch. It's just more of the function of you know, 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.520 you're not seeing that chunk yardage that you're normally gonna 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.280 gonna use. And the rub routes were years from being 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.600 really used effectively. Uh, think about the Chargers if they 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:26.040 implemented some of that take that COREEL needed ground COREEL 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.760 instead of aircraft. Now, two things, at least you know 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.000 some some more. I think creativity on the I don't 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:36.040 I don't work the intermediate all about those halftime adjustments, Jason, 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.600 I mean, that's really what it's all about. Two big 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:41.040 things for San Diego. In the first quarter, they get 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.520 in position to kick a field goal and Ralph Bernershka, 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:45.280 who was one of the better kickers in the NFL, 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:48.120 uh comes out to kick. Look, he was a big 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.720 hero and bernursca you know the week before when but 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:53.200 when you're kicking in Miami's eighty eight degrees, hey, it's 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.040 a little bit different. His thirty seven yard field goal 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.520 gets about three feet off the ground and doesn't even 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:01.919 reach the end zone. His ball had no chance and 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:03.680 you can tell already in his head is I don't 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:05.600 know that I can kick this ball today. I I 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.040 really don't know. Now it's into the stiff wind in 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.200 the first quarter, but I don't know that I can 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:14.720 do it. Dan Fouts also makes an incredibly bad play 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.160 another chance that san Diego has, because like I said, 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:20.080 they drove the ball downfield. He tries to get greedy 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.440 and he throws a jump ball into the end zone. 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.720 That's a flutterball that gets picked off by Cincinnati and 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:28.879 and San Diego walks off the field and you're saying, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:30.800 what the hell kind of throw is that? And it 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:32.959