Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704834]I think Ditka got caught up in making sure he won the game.

Its impossible to coach when you have to worry about getting players stats. Ditka was focused on winning the game not making sure everyone (no matter how great) got a TD. I suspect WP would take the win without getting a TD instead of a loss and 3 TDs. Winning is all that mattered.[/quote]

37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game

Re: Mike Ditka
 

It was just so awesome every single time Fridge would go in for a TD....most of the time when he would line up, everybody would think he was a decoy, and then every single time he'd rumble right in...damn that guy was huge....

Payton deserved the carry in the SB though.....

Re: Mike Ditka
 

At that time, I thought they'd be going back to the SB many more times. I'm sure Dikta wasn't thinking that it would be the last time Payton would have the opportunity to score in the SB.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SmootSmack;704837]37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game[/quote]

The game was over from the start too. The Patriots got run over by that Bears D, just like everyone else did that year.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=SmootSmack;704837]37-3 toward the end of the 3rd quarter, ball on the 1 yard line. That's BS that he got caught up in winning the game[/quote]

Spoken like a true Monday morning QB. Unfortunately Ditka didnt have the luxury of knowing how the game would end. I'm sure he felt pretty good about winning the game but I am certain he didnt want to take any chances.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704859]Spoken like a true Monday morning QB. Unfortunately Ditka didnt have the luxury of knowing how the game would end. I'm sure he felt pretty good about winning the game but I am certain he didnt want to take any chances.[/quote]

Are you serious? Everybody knew that the Patriots weren't going to do anything in that game after the first half with their -19 total yards!

Re: Mike Ditka
 

It would have been nice for Payton to score , again , the game was almost over by halftime . Payton ending being one of my favorite players of all time . The first time I had seen him , we were playing them in Chicago ... I couldn't believe that we couldn't tackle that "little RB ".... awesome , tough football player , who would have made a great Redskin R.I.P. Sweetness .

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Summo;704863]Are you serious? Everybody knew that the Patriots weren't going to do anything in that game after the first half with their -19 total yards![/quote]

Like everyone else I didnt expect NE to win that game. I also didnt expect the Jets to beat the Colts, Oak to beat the Redskins, or the Giants to beat Buffalo but things happen and I dont blame Ditka for making sure he won the game.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704865]Like everyone else I didnt expect NE to win that game. I also didnt expect the Jets to beat the Colts, Oak to beat the Redskins, or the Giants to beat Buffalo but things happen and I dont blame Ditka for making sure he won the game.[/quote]

Perhaps you missed the point that it was late in the 3rd quarter and the score was 37-3 when the Fridge got that carry.

The game was over.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704866]Perhaps you missed the point that it was late in the 3rd quarter and the score was 37-3 when the Fridge got that carry.

The game was over.[/quote]

No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing but you assume Ditka knew the score or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Also lost in this was the fact McMahon had 2 goal line sneaks for scores.

Payton was a great short yardage back in his day, I understand using a guy as a decoy at times, but sometimes coaches outsmart themselves a bit and I think that's what happened with Ditka.

Needless to say of course all that matters is they won the game. Payton never made a big deal about it publicly and I'm sure in the grand scheme of his career it wasn't a huge thing to him. Just would have been nice to see him score instead of the circus sideshow that was the Fridge.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=Mattyk;704870]Also lost in this was the fact McMahon had 2 goal line sneaks for scores.

Payton was a great short yardage back in his day, I understand using a guy as a decoy at times, but sometimes coaches outsmart themselves a bit and I think that's what happened with Ditka.

Needless to say of course all that matters is they won the game. Payton never made a big deal about it publicly and I'm sure in the grand scheme of his career it wasn't a huge thing to him. Just would have been nice to see him score instead of the circus sideshow that was the Fridge.[/quote]

Good point about McMahon, I remember thinking that he should have won the MVP for that game and not Dent, but in retrospect, we know the NFL wasn't going to give that to him with the way he defied Rozelle with the whole headband thing.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

Courage Summo! Had the Q&A session been allowed to continue, I'm sure someone would have eventually asked him about his love for Ricky Williams.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704869]No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing but you assume Ditka knew the score or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.[/quote]

Now I remember why I don't usually respond to your posts. We get better responses from kidwell...and we had to ban him for having no point.

There's really no defending what Ditka did, even Ditka's said as much.

Re: Mike Ditka
 

[quote=irish;704869]No, I remember watching the game and pretty much thinking the same thing[B] but you assume Ditka knew the score[/B] or if he did that he cared what the score was. I remember Buffalo coming from way back in the second half vs Houston in the playoffs. Ditka wasnt going to let that happen because he's coaching pro football not PeeWee league.[/quote]
huh? i usually see your side, but your way off base with this