Post by TheShadow on Feb 4, 2007 9:56:08 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com/
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Both the NFL Network and ESPN have compiled lists of the top 20 Super Bowl teams of all time, it will certainly pique the interest of Bay Area fans to see how their favorite teams fared. After all, eight of the 40 champions have been either 49ers or Raiders.
This marks the 30th anniversary of the first — the 1976 Raiders that humbled Minnesota in Pasadena. I consider it the best of the three Raiders championship squads.
The 1984 San Francisco team that destroyed Miami at Stanford has my vote as the best 49ers team. Both those teams only lost once all year.
I covered 19 of the first 33 Super Bowls — none of the first 10 and none of the last seven — and from this vantage point I thought the 1985 Chicago Bears to be the best of the lot, followed by the 49ers of 1984. The 1976 Raiders were No. 5 on my list.
How did these teams do in the NFL Network and ESPN all-time polls? The 1985 Bears were No. 2 on both the NFL Network and ESPN ballots. The 1984 Niners were ranked No. 5 by ESPN, No. 8 by the NFL Network.
The 1976 Raiders were voted No. 10 by NFL Network, No. 18 by ESPN. Perhaps somewhat forgotten.
The NFL Network chose the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins its No. 1 team (ESPN had them No. 7). It was a safe pick, the coward's way out inasmuch as that team never lost a game.
ESPN chose the 1989 Niners the best of the lot (No. 4 in the NFL Network poll), apparently impressed by the fact the Niners won in the biggest blowout in NFL history (55-10 over Denver).
But on its 30th anniversary, let's offer some props for that 1976 Raiders squad, which to my way of thinking, has been underrated.
It had seven future Hall of Famers on it — cornerback Willie Brown (Class of 1984), guard Gene Upshaw (1987), receiver Fred Biletnikoff (1988), tackle Art Shell (1989), linebacker Ted Hendricks (1990), tight end Dave Casper (2002) and coach John Madden (2006). The list includes the coach but not the owner. Al Davis went into the Hall in 1992.
And you'll hear arguments that at least three others should be Hall of Famers — quarterback Ken Stabler, receiver Cliff Branch and punter Ray Guy. Even so, eight is an unprecedented number (the 1989 Niners produced four Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Steve Young and Bill Walsh; only Montana and Lott played in that one).
The '76 Raiders finished 13-1, interrupting the Steelers' string of titles. There are a few reasons that Oakland outfit may not have captured the pollsters' imagination. Their lone loss was awful, a 48-17 drubbing in New England. When they beat the Steelers in the AFC title game, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were out with injuries.
But don't try telling Madden that team didn't belong.
"We had a party and my sons, Mike and Joe, got these DVDs of our '76 season and our Super Bowl highlight film," Madden said. "I'd never watched them. I got mesmerized by them. I just couldn't believe how good we were.
"It's funny, I've always fought not to be one of those guys who said `Oh, the game was better in the old days.' The game is better now. I kind of bought into that and even said it myself. But then (after watching the DVD) I was thinking that's not true.
"We were big. We were fast. Hell, they still couldn't cover Cliff Branch today. Stabler would still get rid of the ball quickly before they got to him. Dave Casper would still block and catch in the middle. Fred (Biletnikoff) would still catch everything he got his hands on. They still couldn't block Ted Hendricks if he came on a blitz. They couldn't get (Otis) Sistrunk. They still couldn't get by (Jack) Tatum or Willie Brown.
"You take those highlights in those years, put them on DVD on a modern television set and there isn't a heck of a lot of difference (to the best today's game has to offer). There really isn't. It didn't look like old time football to me.
"So I was just thinking ... what the hell have I been talking about? We were pretty damned good. I felt a little hypocritical saying football wasn't as good then. That's showing a little disrespect."
No. 10 and No. 18 is a confirmation of that.