Tag: bum phillips

Saints are the first team to score 24 points, allow no TD’s, and lose in 40 years

The Saints are the first team to score more than 24 points, allow no offensive touchdowns, and lose in 40 years — and they did it last time, too:

The New Orleans Saints played another frustrating game on Sunday, squandering a late lead and giving too many opportunities to their opponents to make a big play. That’s become a concerning pattern during Dennis Allen’s tenure as their head coach.

You could argue the defense did its job by not allowing a single touchdown to be scored by the Atlanta offense, even if they had other flaws under the hood — a leaky run defense and too many penalties in pass coverage, among others. But at the end of day most teams would expect to win after scoring 24 or more points without allowing any touchdowns by the opposing offense.

After all, teams that hit those benchmarks hadn’t lost those games since 1983. And the team that did it last? The Saints themselves, coached by Bum Phillips, in their regular season finale. The visiting Los Angeles Rams scored a safety, a 72-yard punt return touchdown, a 31-yard pick-six, a 43-yard pick-six, and a 42-yard field goal for a combined 26 points. The Saints themselves managed just 24 points in that loss.

Sound familiar? Just like we saw from Dennis Allen’s team, the Phillips-coached Saints couldn’t get out of their own way. Their exciting 2-0 start is well behind them now. Allen must figure out how to get out of this slump at 2-2 and knock out the two-time Super Bowl champs next Monday night. If he can’t, they might fall too far behind in the NFC South title race to pick themselves back up.

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Mike Vrabel honors Bum Phillips by wearing cowboy hat to Texans game

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel honored former Oilers head coach Bum Phillips by wearing a cowboy hat prior to the game against the Texans.

The Tennessee Titans are wearing their Houston Oilers throwbacks for the Week 15 game against the Houston Texans, but head coach Mike Vrabel is taking it one step further.

During the week, Vrabel was asked if he would wear a cowboy hat to honor former Oilers head coach Bum Phillips. Vrabel wouldn’t say one way or the other if he would, but thankfully he has indeed decided to.

It remains to be seen if Vrabel will actually wear the hat during the game, but he was sporting the legendary head gear upon arriving for the contest against Houston. Check out the video below.

Titans by 50.

As if wearing Oilers throwbacks wasn’t triggering enough for Texans and Houston sports fans in general, seeing Vrabel rock that hat is going to send them through the roof.

The Titans and Texans will meet at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. EST.

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Titans will induct Floyd Reese, Jeff Fisher into Ring of Honor in Week 11

The ceremony will occur at halftime of the game against the Texans.

After announcing earlier in the year that former general manager, the late Floyd Reesee, and former head coach, Jeff Fisher, were to be inducted into the Ring of Honor in 2021, the Tennessee Titans have now revealed the date.

Per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, the two men will be honored at the Week 11 contest against the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium. The ceremony will take place at halftime.

Reese, who passed away back in August, was responsible for hiring Fisher, who took the team to its only Super Bowl appearance. Reese and Fisher hold the franchise records for most wins by a general manager and head coach.

Fisher and Reese are the second and third former Titans/Oilers to be inducted this year, as former Oilers head coach Bum Phillips was honored during the Sept. 26 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

After announcing the trio would be inducted, controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk released this statement:

“I am so excited to recognize these important figures in our team’s history,” Adams Strunk said. “Each had a significant hand in the success of their eras. Bum was Texas through and through and led us to new heights as the ‘Luv Ya Blue’ era was born, reaching two AFC Championship games.

“Jeff won more games than any coach in franchise history, while also leading our football team through some difficult years as we moved to Tennessee – playing in four different home stadiums over a four-year period. His ability to connect with our players and our fans was unmatched and he too reached two AFC Championship games and helped take us to our only Super Bowl.

“Floyd was a great position coach for us during our run of success during the Run ‘n Shoot years and then transitioned to the front office, where he found even greater success. He had a great ability to find talent and take ‘chances’ to find sustained success – hiring a first-time head coach in Jeff Fisher; selecting a Division I-AA quarterback, Steve McNair, in the top five of the draft; converting a first-round linebacker, Jevon Kearse, to defensive end; claiming a little used tight end, Frank Wycheck, from Washington; and trading down, then up to grab a Heisman-trophy-winning running back, Eddie George.”

Tennessee and Houston will kick off at noon CT on Sunday.

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Titans to add Jeff Fisher, Floyd Reese, Bum Phillips to Ring of Honor

The Titans will now have 17 members in their Ring of Honor.

The Tennessee Titans will have three new additions to their Ring of Honor in 2021, as the team announced former head coaches Jeff Fisher and Bum Phillips, along with former general manager Floyd Reese, will all be honored.

Titans controlling owner, Amy Adams Strunk, released this statement along with the announcement, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online:

“I am so excited to recognize these important figures in our team’s history,” Adams Strunk said. “Each had a significant hand in the success of their eras. Bum was Texas through and through and led us to new heights as the ‘Luv Ya Blue’ era was born, reaching two AFC Championship games.

“Jeff won more games than any coach in franchise history, while also leading our football team through some difficult years as we moved to Tennessee – playing in four different home stadiums over a four-year period. His ability to connect with our players and our fans was unmatched and he too reached two AFC Championship games and helped take us to our only Super Bowl.

“Floyd was a great position coach for us during our run of success during the Run ‘n Shoot years and then transitioned to the front office, where he found even greater success. He had a great ability to find talent and take ‘chances’ to find sustained success – hiring a first-time head coach in Jeff Fisher; selecting a Division I-AA quarterback, Steve McNair, in the top five of the draft; converting a first-round linebacker, Jevon Kearse, to defensive end; claiming a little used tight end, Frank Wycheck, from Washington; and trading down, then up to grab a Heisman-trophy-winning running back, Eddie George.”

Fisher is arguably the greatest head coach in franchise history, and at the very least the best in the Titans era. His 142 wins over 17 seasons with the team is tops, and he’s responsible for taking the franchise to its only Super Bowl. He also led the team during its transition from Houston to Tennessee.

Phillips led the way for the Houston Oilers for six seasons (1975-1980) as its head coach, taking the team to a pair of AFC Championship contests during what is dubbed as the “Luv Ya Blue Era”. He also served as the team’s defensive coordinator in 1974.

After serving as the linebackers coach for the Oilers from 1986-1989, Reese took a position in the front office as assistant general manager and eventually worked his way up to executive vice president and general manager in 1994, positions he held until 2006.

Reese was responsible for the hire of Fisher, and together the pair led the Titans to a pair of AFC Championships and one Super Bowl appearance during what was one of the most successful periods in franchise history.

With Fisher, Reese and Phillips being added to the Ring of Honor, the Titans will now have 17 members.

The others 14 include K.S. “Bud” Adams, Jr., Elvin Bethea, George Blanda, Robert Brazile, Earl Campbell, Eddie George, Mike Holovak, Ken Houston, Bruce Matthews, Steve McNair, Warren Moon, Mike Munchak, Jim Norton and Frank Wycheck all being recognized.

Phillips, who passed away in 2013, will be honored at the Sept. 26 game versus the Indianapolis Colts, while Fisher and Reese will be honored together at a later date that has yet to be revealed.

America’s Team: Cowboys 10 most memorable Thanksgiving Day games

With 52 Thanksgiving games on their resume, the Cowboys have plenty of holiday memories to choose from. Cowboys Wire picks out the 10 best.

America’s Team is as much a part of the All-American holiday as parade floats and candied yams. The Dallas Cowboys will host their 53rd Thanksgiving Day game in 2020. This season’s edition will mark the tenth time Dallas has welcomed their division rivals from Washington for the traditional late afternoon tilt. That’s the most of any Cowboys Thanksgiving opponent.

Over the years, the club’s Thanksgiving Day series has created some of pro football’s most memorable moments, including several chapters that are absolutely indelible within the Cowboys’ own storied history. To celebrate, Cowboys Wire takes a look back through the archives to dish out the ten quintessential Thanksgiving games that have meant the most to the team.

But the feast can’t be all deep-fried turkey and pumpkin pie; mixed in with some of the franchise’s most satisfying wins are also a few standout games that didn’t go Dallas’s way. Consider them the unpleasant cranberry sauce that your weird aunt brings every few years and makes you have at least a small helping of.

Morten Andersen on Saints hiring Jim Mora: ‘We went from a country club to boot camp’

New Orleans Saints legend Morten Andersen was the first kicker to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He looks back on a long NFL carer.

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What was it like to experience a coaching change on the ground level? For legendary New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen, the switch from Bum Phillips to Jim Mora in 1986 was drastic.

Andersen discussed the move and many other topics in a lengthy conversation with John Butler of Canal Street Chronicles, where he reflected on a storied NFL career and that included a heel turn with the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons. But the stark contrast in life under Mora’s administration as opposed to Phillips’ coaching helps illustrate what many NFL players experience amid regime changes.

“That’s like eating a cupcake and now you have to eat liverwurst,” Andersen began. “We went from a country club to boot camp. It was absolutely brutal because the ownership changed too. And John Mecom was fantastic. He spent money on the players. We had a really good training camp down in Vero Beach, great food, seafood. We worked, but it was relaxed; it was fun. That changed with Jim Mora. It was not fun with Jim Mora because we hadn’t had the results.”

But the results Mora brought in after that retooling impressed Andersen: he recalls his days with the “Dome Patrol” defense and quarterback Bobby Hebert fondly, though he’s still disappointed that group never had much playoff success. A four-time Pro Bowler in the 1980s, Andersen was also happy to know his coach trusted him to be more than a point-after kick specialist.

“I was glad to be part of it,” Andersen continued. “They used me as a weapon. I was used a lot. I was showcased, in many ways. It was unusual for a kicker to get that much action, but they trusted me for the long balls and the big kicks. That was my heyday for sure.”

It’s a fascinating read from an important member of the team’s — and the NFL’s — history, so check out the interview over at CSC.

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