1974

I wouldn't say that I have given up on the baseball season, but, man, ... football.

Dallas Cowboys 24 at Atlanta Falcons 0. Warns Joe Marshall in Sports Illustrated's Sept. 16, 1974, NFL-preview edition, "Dallas must still be considered the favorite, but a morale problem endangers that status. Traditionally, the Cowboys have been a triumph of speed and power over emotionalism. They have never been a happy group. 'If they were a close-knit team, no one would ever touch them,' says one veteran Redskin. Now Dallas may have more internal problems than it can suppress." Monday-Sept. 17-morning quarterback Tom Brooksheier scoffs. (Love the Cliff Harris-Ken Burrow tussle in the early going of that clip. It was so strange that the NFL had wide receivers named Ken Burrow and Ken Burrough in the 1970s.) Has any No. 1 overall choice had a stronger NFL regular-season debut than Ed "Too Tall" Jones? Five sacks to lead a defense that shut out its home-standing opponent? Also, in that YouTube clip, it appears for a little while that he killed poor Pat Sullivan. This is a brutal start to the season for the Falcons, who've been on a steady climb under Norm Van Brocklin (2-9 in 1968, 6-8 in '69, 4-8-2 in '70, 7-6-1 in '71, 7-7 in '72 and 9-5 last season). This is going to be a rough week of practice for the Falcons under the old Hall-of-Famer.

Miami Dolphins 24 at New England Patriots 34. The young, exciting Patriots look like the darling team of NFL '74. While it was Miami's offense that the World Football League raided, it's a time of transition for the Dolphins' defense, as well. Vince Costello is the new coordinator, replacing Arnsparger, and Miami was playing in this game without middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti, who was injured in the preseason.

Philadelphia Eagles 3 at St. Louis Cardinals 7. This almost certainly was KFVS's noon Central game on Sept. 16, 1974, and, if Channel 6 wasn't showing the Dolphins-Patriots, I might've even chosen to watch after Joe Marshall raved in SI, "That's right, fans! Watch out for the Eagles!" Philadelphia fielded a high-flying aerial attack in 1973, but the opening performance of Mike McCormack's second season as Philadelphia head coach was a dud after Tom Dempsey's 44-yard field goal in the first quarter. And though St. Louis won, it's not like Cardinals fans can be too excited about the opening game of Don Coryell's second year as their head coach. Jim Hart's four-yard touchdown pass to Donny Anderson in the second quarter was enough to stop the Eagles, but Hart--in and out of the starting-quarterback job for his eight years since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois University in 1966--was just 13 of 27 for 192 yards and one interception on the day. The Cardinals picked a quarterback, Texas-El Paso's Gary Keithley in the second round of the 1973 draft, but he's not even on the 1974 roster after getting two quarterback starts and punting in Coryell's first, 4-9-1 season as head coach. St. Louis chose no college quarterbacks this spring, so, Cardinals fans, you're rolling with Coryell and Hart.

San Francisco 49ers 17 at New Orleans Saints 13. This is a tough loss for the Saints, who in 1973, in John North's second season as head coach, recorded as many as five wins for only the second time in franchise history.

Cleveland Browns 7 at Cincinnati Bengals 33. This game really does look like a Paul Brown intrasquad scrimmage, but the truth is that the difference between Brown's new and old bags is growing. The Bengals, impressive here in opening just their seventh season in the league, are coming off their first AFC Central Division championship and second playoffs appearance.

Minnesota Vikings 32 at Green Bay Packers 17. Dan Devine has gone 4-8-2, 10-4 and 5-7-2 in his three years with the Packers, and now this?

Los Angeles Rams 17 at Denver Broncos 10. Los Angeles lost two games in 1973 by a total of three points. Chuck Knox is back for his second season as head coach. NFC Player of the Year John Hadl is back at quarterback. The Rams added the Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti of Penn State, to the league's second-best rushing attack. And everybody's back on the NFL's best defense of 1973. Then, in the preseason, Los Angeles walloped the Dolphins, 31-13, and, now, the Rams have opened the 1974 regular season by winning at Mile High Stadium.

Washington Redskins 13 at New York Giants 10. Bill Arnsparger, native of Paris, Ky., starts Doug Kotar, an undrafted rookie from UK at halfback. And now we know the origin of some signature George Allen footage.

Baltimore Colts 0 at Pittsburgh Steelers 30. Louisvillian Howard Schnellenberger's second season as Colts head coach is off to an ominous start. The Steelers, meanwhile, appear to have finally put together a solid passing attack to go along with their excellent defense and very good run offense. "Jefferson Street" Joe Gilliam beat out incumbent Terry Bradshaw and veteran Terry Hanratty for the starting quarterback job in the preseason, and he was solid in the opener (17 of 31 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and one interception). Nine Steeler receivers shared Gilliam's completions, and rookie wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth had two catches each. Joe Marshall reported on Pittsburgh's wide-receiver draft haul in the Sept. 16 Sports Illustrated: "In the first round they chose USC's Lynn Swann and in the fourth round they got what may be the real steal: John Stallworth from little Alabama A&M. When Pittsburgh received a film on Stallworth from his school, it carried instructions to pass it on to the other teams in the BLESTO-VIII scouting combine. The Steelers took one look and conveniently lost the film, which helps explain why Stallworth was still available in the fourth round. Pittsburgh might have used its first-round choice for him had Swann not been available."

New York Jets 16 at Kansas City Chiefs 24. After an injury-plagued 1973, Joe Namath is back! But so is Lenny Dawson, and so are the Chiefs!

Detroit Lions 9 at Chicago Bears 17. If you've never seen the NFL Films feature on the Bears' early '70s mascot (pictured at the end of the game highlight), I implore you to keep an eye out for it. It does not appear to be available on YouTube. The opening episode of the third season of The Bob Newhart Show, which aired Sept. 14, 1974, is on Hulu.com, however.

San Diego Chargers 14 at Houston Oilers 21. Sid Gillman had gotten rid of all but one of his picks before the 1974 draft, but he might've uncovered a gem in running back Ronnie Coleman. Gillman is reportedly unpopular among the Oilers, but his team is already halfway to its 1973 win total. Rough start, meanwhile, for new Chargers coach Tommy Prothro.

Oakland Raiders 20 at Buffalo Bills 21. What an episode of Monday Night Football this turned out to be Sept. 17, 1974, pitting "Pro Football's Dynamic Organization" and "The Juice." In fact, Buffalo handed the ball to O.J. Simpson only 12 times (his fullback, Jim Braxton, had 19 rushing attempts), and all three Bills touchdowns came on Joe Ferguson passes.

Based on Week 1 action, here's how I expect the playoffs to go:

-- Washington loses at Minnesota
-- Kansas City loses at Cincinnati
-- Dallas loses at Los Angeles
-- Pittsburgh wins at Buffalo
-- Pittsburgh loses at Cincinnati
-- Los Angeles loses at Minnesota
-- Minnesota beats Cincinnati in the Super Bowl

At this point, I expect coaching changes in Baltimore, New York, San Diego and Green Bay before next season, and I'll bet the Chargers get the first choice in next year's draft.