Today's NFL is a ratings monster. The hype is year round; the Super Bowl is a national holiday in the tradition of a Roman bacchanal.
The players are bigger, faster, stronger, and much better paid then their 1980s' counterparts, but the teams of the 80s' were better.
The great teams of the '80s': the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, and the Chicago Bears, all represented the dominant NFC in 11-straight Super Bowls from 1981 to 1992.
The NFC won 10 of those 11 games, with the Redskins' loss to the Oakland Raiders in 1984 being the only blemish.
The Dallas Cowboys of the early '90s were the last of the great teams before the advent of free agency. Free agency changed the game completely.
Parity is the name of today's NFL.
No longer could teams with wealthy owners like Jack Kent Cooke (Washington Redskins) and Eddie Debartolo (San Francisco 49ers) stockpile veteran depth.
The Redskins regularly brought in old, seasoned pros to make their Super-Bowl runs. Joe Gibb's always wanted to go to big running backs. Sometimes two or three stocked on a team. John Riggins, Joe Washington, George Rogers, Earnest Byner, Gerald Riggs, and one-game wonder Timmy Smith, all ran behind the legendary Hogs.
The Hogs were helped by being able to maintain structure. Structure that allowed them to have many of the same players playing together for a long, dominant stretch.
With free agency, this can no longer occur.
The deep-pocketed Redskins did insure the continuity of Hog dominance by snatching All-Pro left tackle Jim Lachey from the Oakland Raiders in the mid-'80s, to strengthen an area Joe Gibbs always deemed essential to success.
An offensive line that stays together plays better together.
The solid, cohesive, veteran lines of the 1980s' great teams are a thing of the past.
These teams enjoyed running the ball behind Pro-Bowl studded offensive lines, which upon reaching the Super Bowl, generally dominated their weaker AFC brethren.
In today's NFL, these teams would be stripped of their veteran players by ravenous teams with tons of cap space. The name of the game now is not greatness, but parity. The great teams are gone.
No longer can teams stash veteran quarterbacks on a roster. The cap prevents it. Steve Young and Joe Montana would eat up too much cap space. The Redskins always kept a veteran quarterback on hand to help out in an emergency.
Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, and Jay Schroeder all manned that key position for the Redskins, once Joe Theismann's career ended on a leg-shattering sack by the great Lawrence Taylor. Joe Gibbs is the only coach to win three Super Bowls with three different players at quarterback.
The key to that is depth. Depth is a luxury that is lacking in today's NFL. Depth can no longer be afforded.
A few key injuries at one position and a team's season is wrecked.
The Niners and Redskins of the '80s loved bringing in veteran players to supplement their squads.
Bill Walsh once said that a fourth-quarter pass rush is the key to winning in the playoffs.
So the Niners coveted veteran pass-rushers: Hall of Fame defensive end Fred Dean, Charles Haley, Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, Tim Harris, and Richard Dent all passed through Candlestick.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Andrew Stevens about 1 year ago
Great writing.
Here's a question: In their prime, could a dynasty Super Bowl team from the 1980's beat a recent Super Bowl winner? Again, with both in their prime, in some kind of Playstation-Madden '09 football fantasy world...which team would come out on top?
Could anyone today, other than Tom Brady, read defenses better than Joe Montana?
Is Ray Lewis better than Lawrence Taylor?
Do 1980's defenses stop Terrell Owens or Randy Moss as opposed to Jerry Rice or Art Monk?
These are the things one has to wonder.
For myself, I am so glad I was started watching sports in the late 1980's/early 1990's. These 20 years have been awesome, all across the sports world.
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Dan Boone about 1 year ago
Well any of the Super Bowl teams mentioned, Niners, Skins, Giants, and Bears, would beat a recent Super bowl winner. Those guys were good, played together a long time, and were not all that smaller then these guys.
A lot of the DT's and Ol of today are fat guys who tire..Remember the Denver Bronco line of Elway's last years? Sall, in shape, agile, and hostile....
Steve Young, echoing Bill Walsh, said the poor play at today's quarterback position is the reason the league is so mediocre...
Most of these QB's are taught not to think just react since pony ball..and they are cuddled. No contact, no bump and run, and basically let the OL hold. Playing in the 80's rules, let alone in the 70's or before they be slaughtered like lambs. Except for a very few like maybe Brady or Manning could adapt...
Taylor is much better. Lewis was most effective when two giant tackles kept blockers off him and he was free to roam. Lately he just piles on and dances like a selfish fool...
Earlier WR's weren't babied...
Let Mike Wagner the 6'3 Super Bowl Steeler Safety say it...[from the excellent "The Super Seventies" by Tom Danyluk]
On being asked about the Super Bowl Steelers playing against today's big receivers...
"We played against big receivers like Randy Moss before. You know what we would have done against Randy Moss? We would have fuxxxed him up. We would have absolutely fuxxxxed him up. We would have hit him on every possible play."
So yeah an 80's Lester Hayes, or a 70's Mel Blount, or Zeus help Terrell Owens a nasty Night Train Lane from the 50's, with his vicious clotheslines tackle and orphan attitude playing against a self loving spoiled man child, could hold up okay...
It, of course, depends on the rules...I mean what would Jack Tatum do to TO?
Defensive Backs weren't always sissy tacklers like Deion and Pac Man....
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