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NFL--- IT began
in 1967 with Green Bay defeating Kansas City, 25-10. The Packers were hot in the
1960’s, taking Super Bowl II away from Oakland the following year, 33-14, though
Green Bay did not win another Super Bowl until 1997, Super Bowl XXXI, defeating
New England, 35-21.
Green Bay also won Super Bowl XLV (2011)
against Pittsburgh, 31-25.
But the most prolific Super Bowl winner
since 1967, that’s the Pittsburgh Steelers, achieving six victories---Super
Bowls IX and X (1965, 76), Super Bowls XIII and XIV (1979, 80), Super Bowl XL
(2006) and Super Bowl XLIII (2009).
And from competing at Super Bowl XXX and
losing to Dallas (1996), plus to Super Bowl XLV and losing to Green Bay (2011),
Pittsburgh can boast of having the most Super Bowl appearances, “eight.”
Also, while six teams have won the Super
Bowl two years straight, Pittsburgh is the only NFL franchise to win
back-to-back Super Bowls twice. . . the
five other back- to-back Super Bowl winners are Green Bay, San Francisco,
Dallas, Denver and New England.
Here are some other Super Bowl facts---
No losing Super Bowl team has given away
more than the 55 points from Denver to San Francisco, Super Bowl XXXIV
(1990);
In only seven of the 48 Super Bowls held to
date has a losing franchise failed to accrue fewer than double-digit points, the
lowest among losing teams being three points, Super Bowl VI (1972) Miami losing
to Dallas, 24-3.
Since year 2000, all Super Bowl winning
teams finished with more than 20 points, the high win of the period occurring at
Super Bowl XXXVII (2003), Tampa Bay over Oakland,
48-21.
The only team to reach the Super Bowl four
years in a row and lose each year, that’s the AFC East’s Buffalo Bills, 1991
through 1994, losing to the N.Y. Giants, Washington and twice to Dallas.
During
year 2000 and the present, New England reached the Super Bowl four times,
winning three, two of the wins back-to-back---first, Super
Bowl XXXVI (2002) against St. Louis, 20-17, then Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004),
defeating Carolina, 32-29 and Super Bowl XXXIX (2005), beating Philadelphia,
24-21, next losing to the N.Y. Giants, Super Bowl XLII (2008), 17-14. .
. Note that in each of the four
N.E. Patriot Super Bowl contests starting 2002, the final difference between
teams was three points.
Pittsburgh, the N.Y. Giants and Baltimore
are three teams that have won two Super Bowls each since year 2000. That’s six
Super Bowl victories of 15 Super Bowl matches. Add New England’s three Super
Bowl wins and the total is nine of 15 Super Bowl games won by four franchises
since Y2K. Of course, the Seattle Seahawks, NFL-2014’s NFC championship team, is
hoping to be number five, while NFL-2014’s AFC Championship team, New England,
is hoping to be first to win four in the time-frame at Super Bowl XLIX next
month. Seattle won Super Bowl XLVIII last February, defeating the Denver
Broncos, __-__.
Broncos---THERE are numerous quips for when it seems that all is about to
change, some negative, others positive. Among the darkest there’s, “The names
and faces change but the Con, the Con stays the same.” Then there’s, “Among the
Devil’s best tricks is his ability to convince you that things can really be
different.,” and, “Nothing ever changes, the beat goes on, as it is now.” In the
National Football League, the Denver Broncos proved how wrong the dark quips can
be when former Broncos QB, John Elway, became top man re. Broncos football
operations and helped to bring in John Fox as Head Coach and Peyton Manning as
the team’s QB, this after a sad turn with long-time Broncos HC, Mike Shanahan,
going stale and his replacement unable to live up to expectations. With Fox as
HC, the Broncos won the AFC West three years straight, thus to playoffs each of
his years with the Broncos, and the Super Bowl XLVIII.
But the Broncos were eliminated during this
year’s playoffs and so no Super Bowl that the Broncos front office and Denver
fans were sure would be theirs to win.
“Sorry, John, we’ve a difference in
outlook,” is what the intent of conversation was on firing day, quiet,
respectful.
Fox is now the Chicago Bears HC, and from
Baltimore to the Broncos as HC it’s Gary Kubiak, former Broncos QB.
The big question, then, is, “Will Kubiak be
able to accomplish what John Fox couldn’t? Will he take the Broncos all the way
in 2015, the Broncos front and center at the fiftieth Super Bowl?
Of course, the question cannot be answered
with one hundred percent certainty, certainly not by any stat and computer whiz,
not by any NFL analyst of the highest order, nor by any sportswriter, and surely
not by any member of the Broncos organization, although informed guesses can be
made and many have been.
Yes, Kubiak isn’t an unknown quantity, he’s
been with the Broncos in the past, his reputation as offense coordinator at
Baltimore has been superb.
Still, any
person in a new job and away from a team for several years isn’t the same
individual that he or she was prior to the new gig. Too, the team that Kubiak
will be coaching isn’t the same team that he was with years back, except in name
and location. Make no mistake, “We are all new
at the new, everyone of us. So, too, the challenges we face almost every day.”
Still, experience gives us a better shot at
succeeding, and Kubiak has this, and the Broncos offense might once again have
Peyton Manning afield. The Broncos can surely have a better chance than most
franchises for an appearance at Super Bowl number 50. You can’t set aside a team
that finished NFL-2014 at 12-4, most of it’s A and B lists returning for
NFL-2015.
Too, what may seem to some as near-future
assistant coach packaging that will need more than a single season to deliver
superbly will, given today’s candidates, be of deep experience that can lead to
development of innovative tactics and help improve skills for the rushing
strategy that didn’t seem to exist during the Broncos recent playoff loss, and
for the defense that has be a lot more seamless, more mobile and more physically
aggressive to prevail against teams such as those that will be competing at
Super Bowl XLIX, the Patriots and the Seahawks, likely to be the toughest
competition during NFL- 2015 playoffs.
NBA---THE teams that in each of the six NBA divisions are holding first and
second slots are the same as those that held those positions more than two weeks
ago, without any of the second place holders gaining significantly toward being
number one. The Western Conference Northwest’s 31-12 Portland Trail Blazers are
eight games up on the Oklahoma City Thunder, the WC’s 30-12 Memphis Grizzlies
are still atop the Dallas Mavericks by a game, and the WC Pacific’s 34-6 Golden
State Warriors are above the L.A. Clippers by seven. As of today, and as it was
more than two weeks ago, the 34-6 Warriors are also the WC’s number one
franchise.
Inside the Eastern Conference, the EC
Atlantic’s 27-15 Toronto Raptors are leading second place team, the Brooklyn
Nets, by nine wins, the EC Southeast’s 35-8 Atlanta Hawks are six above the
Washington Wizards, and the ECs Central’s 28-16 Chicago Bulls are four wins atop
the Cleveland Cavaliers. . . Leading the EC, and also the entire NBA, are
the 35-8 Hawks, two weeks agon one win behind the then 26-5 Warriors.
But while a status quo is being maintained
at the top of the six divisions, there have been changes at the bottom, for
example, the EC Southeast’s 18-25 Bobcats have moved to fourth place from last,
the 15-30 Orlando magic now the EC Southeast’s last, and the EC Central’s 15-29
Indiana Pacers dropped to last, replacing now fourth place team, the 17-26
Detroit Pistons.
Two NBA teams are still owners of the least
number of wins, both with an embarrassing seven wins of more than 40 games
played to date, the WC Northwest’s last place 7-34 Minnesota Timberwolves, and
the EC Atlantic’s last place team, the 7-36 N.Y.
Knicks.
Among third position holders, the WC
Southwest’s 29-14 Houston Rockets have been the only team to show possibility of
early advancement, being just a win below second place team, the Dallas
Mavericks. All other third place holders are seven or more behind second place
teams.
The only fourth position team of either NBA
conference with only single-digit games behind a first place team is the WC
Southwest’s 27-17 San Antonio Spurs.
The WC Southwest is the NBA’s only division
with all five of its teams at .500 or above .500, last place N.O. Pelicans being
21-21.
END/ml
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