1981 NFL Week 8

[Music] remember that kid you used to call four eyes back in high school no doubt he hated being teased and longed for the day when he could answer those taunts with muscle the same holds true for the 1981 new york giants former pushovers who can now view the world through rose-colored glasses but that view wasn't too pleasant in the early going against atlanta last week especially when steve barkowski and junior miller number 80 combine for a 29-yard score with two touchdown passes in the first half barkowski was highly visible while the giant's offense was nowhere to be seen their first touchdown came courtesy of their special teams unit a black pud was translated into six points by mike dennis number 46 but new york did not mount a real attack until phil sims found his passing touch in the third quarter [Music] [Applause] [Music] sims scoring past the number 86 johnny perkins gave the giants a 24 to 17 lead with two minutes left to play but the falcons refused to fade from the picture [Music] the last stitch atlanta drive was ignited by barkowski's passing and culminated in a touchdown by lynn kane number 21. kane's scores sent the contest into overtime but the extra stanza was finally decided by joe danello whose 40-yard field goal provided the giants with a 27-24 win as atlanta fell to a disappointing four and four record the new look new york giants up their mark to five and three with a third consecutive victory that gave them plenty of momentum for this week's encounter with across town rival jets and after so many seasons of popperdom the giants have their sights firmly set on being crowned princes of the city trouble always seems to pop up for the new york jets whenever the seattle seahawks are the opponent ever since the seahawks were first hatched back in 1976 they have never lost to the jets and last week in new york they sought their fifth win in the series but when the jets richard todd and number 85 wesley walker teamed for a long touchdown the jinx appeared to be over [Music] but after a penalty nullified the score the seahawks quickly reasserted their mastery two touchdowns by number 80 steve largent faced a 19-3 seattle win [Music] the jets hope to rebound this week when they renew their inner city rivalry with the giants an interstate rivalry flared up last week in california where san franciscans sought to get some long pent-up hostility off their chests the 49ers had not beaten the rams in san francisco since 1966 and there were moments in this encounter when the guests carried on the tradition of treating their hosts in rude fashion but two first quarter scoring passes by joe montana made it possible to hear the long forgotten strains of there's no place like home a 41-yarder to dwight clark number 87 gave the 49ers a lead they never relinquished though pat hayden kept the rams within striking distance throughout the day hayden passed for over 300 yards and one touchdown but los angeles was finally brought down to earth by fred dean number 74. dean registered five sacks in the game four of them coming in the final quarter even when the rams tried to double team him dean remained [Music] unstoppable with fred dean making himself at home in the rams backfield san francisco earned a 20-17 victory and by increasing their nfc western division lead to two games the 49ers have found themselves a home among the nfl's playoff contenders [Music] one thing is certain in 1981 the uncertain will prevail teams and players once shadowed in obscurity now have stolen the limelight like the denver broncos and their surprising long ball threat steve watson [Music] watson's reception was his 10th touchdown of the year but marked the broncos only score against the tenacious buffalo defense the bills consistently pressured quarterback craig morton with men like safety rod kush who exploited gaps left open by committed blocking backs [Music] by failing to pick up the bill's blitzing secondary denver's powerful shotgun received double-barreled action [Music] buffalo's gambling secondary led the way to a season-high seven sacks and when they weren't making the tackle the secondary gave bill lineman's second opportunities to get morton by styming the bronco attack nick mkhimer's third successful field goal with four seconds left was all the bills needed to win nine to seven the victory pushed the bill's record to five and three in one half game behind the afc eastern leaders the miami dolphins another team comprised of obscure players but against the dallas cowboys these unknowns made the nfl's most famous defense appear incognito [Music] instead of challenging the cowboys strong rushing defense the dolphins confused alice by mixing long-range tosses to darielle harris with low-risk screen passes to number 81 jimmy cephalo [Music] by averaging 33 yards per reception cephalo helped dolphin quarterback dave woodley pass for a career-high 408 yards a record doomsday surrendered almost willfully [Music] this 69-yard touchdown helped boost the dolphins to a 13-point fourth quarter lead and spurred many cowboy fans to head for the turnstiles but those fans forgot that another quarterback in texas stadium was staging a brilliant performance number 11 danny white threw for 217 yards in the second half and when he connected with number 84 doug cosby the cowboys trailed miami by only six with two minutes remaining 21 seconds later the cowboys regained possession in the dallas quarterback needed just one play to strike paydirt [Music] number 20 ron springs touchdown reception clinched the cowboys 14th consecutive win at home as dallas's two lightning quick scores won the game 28-27 such scoring strength makes raider fans respond like pavlov's dog since replacing jim plunkett with number six mark wilson the raiders have ended a three-game scoring drought and have made the coliseum's scoreboard ring once again against the chiefs wilson ran and through for a touchdown to help give the raiders a 17 to nothing halftime lead but the resilient chiefs battled back with the help of number 43 third string rookie running back billy jackson as a seventh round pick the little-known jackson scored three consecutive touchdowns and put kansas city in front 21-17 leaving the raiders down but hardly out [Music] patiently the raiders amassed a drive in the game's waning moments and reached the chief's 2-yard line with 34 seconds remaining but instead of running the ball in a scrambling wilson made a 91-yard mistake once again kansas city's opportunistic defense ensured a chief victory as number 59 gary spani became the third chief linebacker this year to recover a fumble for a touchdown the chief's 28-17 win bumped their record to six and two and with undisputed possession of the afc west the chiefs are no longer suffering from an identity crisis consolation is something chicago bears coach neil armstrong has gotten a lot of this season but last week against san diego armstrong's blockers gave him something new good execution clearing the way for walter payton's first 100-yard rushing day of 1981. the san diego chargers countered with the passing of quarterback dan fouts whose most inconsistent performance of the year was made better by the individual brilliance of his receivers west chandler's superb concentration in period 4 resulted in a 39-yard touchdown and it sent the two teams into overtime in a game most figured the chargers would win in a breeze but with a breeze at his back kicker john riveto nailed down the win [Applause] [Music] the bears surprising upset was their second victory in a season that can best be described as disappointing but after a half dozen defeats and a whole lot of consolation it sure felt good [Music] like the bears bum phillips's new orleans saints had notched only one win prior to last sunday but unlike walter payton saint running back george rogers had produced several hundred yard rushing performances last week against the cincinnati bengals was no exception for the fifth time this season rogers rolled up a 100 plus yards on the ground this 19-yard score and a fourth quarter archie manning touchdown pass were the big plays in last week's other big upset [Music] while the bears and saints were winning games they were given little chance to win in philadelphia eagle coach dick vermeel warned his club against complacency but against tampa bay the buccaneer defense was not the problem when the eagles finally got themselves untangled and on track they iced away their seventh win of the season many of philadelphia's wins have been low scoring unexciting affairs but at the halfway point they have seven of them and that's more than anybody else the cleveland browns have only four wins in 1981 but thanks to the mild-mannered gentleman in the windbreaker every brown game is full of offensive fireworks his name is brian seif and he is the quarterback last week against the baltimore colts he rewrote the cleveland browns team record book sipe's 444 yards passing broke the old brown record of 401 yards set by otto graham nearly three decades ago in 1952. it all looks so easy in the first half alone sipe's precision passing led cleveland to a 28-7 lead [Music] naturally the brown's big barrage caused cleveland fans to say swell things about the baltimore colts but as sometimes happens in one-sided games one fluke play gave the colts a chance to get back in it [Music] number 11 greg landry was the fourth colt to handle the ball on this aborted field goal attempt and instead of three points baltimore came away with a touchdown inspired by this bizarre turn of events quarterback burt jones guided the colts on a strong second half comeback but just when baltimore got close seif discovered something new about the colt secondary not only were they having a tough time covering his pass catchers but they were having a rougher time tackling his fullback mike cruit's bullish 16-yard run nailed down a cleveland victory a 42-28 record-breaking win over the baltimore colts [Music] in washington the new england patriots discovered that much like a bad tempered dog the last place redskins are not always an opponent's best friend [Music] against new england washington dug up some of the talent that seemed lost like an old bone buried in the backyard [Music] joe washington number 25 gained over 140 yards of total offense and scored the redskins first touchdown you can't teach an old dog new tricks but young pups like second year player mike nelms number 21 appear to have learned that aggressive special teams play is a long time tradition 75-yard touchdown helped boost washington to a 24-22 win however their 2-6 record kept them tied up in the basement of the nfc east one game behind the st louis cardinals against minnesota cardinal quarterback jim hart unimpressed by the vikings five-game winning streak exploited their suspect defense [Music] but any doubt about minnesota's defense was outweighed by the unquestioned ability of their offense as tommy kramer recorded another 300 yard afternoon framer's primary target was number 85 sammy white who led all receivers catching seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns [Music] however the nfc's number one ranked passing offense was overshadowed by the methodical drive conscious cardinals the key to defeating a team with minnesota's offensive potential is not to let them have the football and st louis accomplished that feat using players like running back wayne morris number 24 the cardinals displayed a more balanced offense allowing them to effectively maintain ball control [Music] hart completed 13 of 26 attempts for 191 yards against the vikings including his 199th and 200th career touchdown passes our continues to prove that not all 37 year old quarterbacks should be reading defenses from the protective confines of the color commentator's booth this touchdown pass to the elusive pat tilly number 83 helped lift the cardinals to an impressive 30-17 win [Music] the defeat left minnesota with a five and three record and only one game in front of the tampa bay buccaneers and detroit lions in the nfc central division in detroit for the second straight week reserve quarterback eric hipple slipped into the hot seat as if he had an ice bag on his rear end kipple who led the lions to a win over the bears in his first nfl start picked up where he left off against the packers number 17's touchdown gave detroit a seven to nothing lead however green bay seemed intent on ending this overnight success story [Music] quarterback lynn dickey's 75-yard touchdown pass to number 80 james lofton even the score at 7-7 when dickie left the game with an injury back-up david whitehurst picked up the slack [Music] whiters threw for nearly 250 yards including a touchdown to jerry ellis number 31 that helped give green bay a 27-24 late fourth quarter lead but moments later eric hipple found himself on center stage once again [Applause] this juggling catch by number 39 leonard thompson set up hipple's game-winning touchdown run in detroit's 31-27 victory in just two games hipple has accounted for nine lion touchdowns four running and five passing his performance is largely responsible for keeping detroit in contention in the nfc central division

Channel: Comrade Dobler

Views: 7,546

Rating: 4.9322033 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: KrBdOzVTbAc

Length: 21min 21sec (1281 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 12 2021