Big Red football was exciting football back in the seventies with some expressive victories and heart breaking losses. Loved he NFL as a kid could give a damn about now. Guys would have played the game for nothing back then.
True story. Fresh out of the box, my childhood chum Matt gets a Electric Football game. It came with the Big ♥️ and the L.A. Rams. The Cards of course we're in their red jerseys, L.A. in their all whites. So, we proceeded to put on the numbers.( Do you remember those tiny sticker numbers?) We then played the first game. Matt had the Cards. I kicked the little foam ball and it hit Terry Metcalf at the five. Therefore possession. We turned on the board's vibration device. Terry went untouched 95 yards for the touchdown return. I couldn't make this up if I tried. Both of us whooped it up, laughing, falling on the floor. This was before the high five. The best ever!
@@richardmiller3919 Which SB did he play in OR coach ( Head Coach ), Super Bowl None! He was 3-6 as a Head Coach in the post season with 0 Super Bowl appearances.
@@davidcobb2693 He was an offensive innovator and virtually everyone copied. If you look at the Joe Gibbs with Washington (who coached under Coryell), Cowboys of the early 90s, Rams under Mike Martz, they all used Coryell's offense. Coryell invented the I formation. He should be in the HOF for how he revolutionized offense.
@@whataboutrob442 He completely turned around cellar dwellers and made them winners. Look at St. Louis before Coryell arrived and after he left. The same with San Diego.
I’m sure someone like Colin Cowherd would tell me “get with the times”. But this to me screams NFL. I realize the Cardinals made business decision by moving to Arizona. But to me there’s no juice to their organization. Plus the NFL East lost something when they left. Yes it’s still a glamour division, but those games in the east during the 70’s were high octane...
As a Cardinal fan it was also easier to like and respect the Cowboys because of Roger Staubach and others. Plus we both had George Allen and the Redskins to hate.
@@whataboutrob442 St. Louis city and St. Louis county have separate governments. Some talk about unifying them but the high crime in St. Louis city is a primary reason. The two governments fought each other both wanting the location of a new football stadium, which resulted in no stadium. Owner Bill Bidwell thought Phoenix was going to right away fund and build him a new stadium but it took 18 years to do so and they played Arizona State all those years. St. Louis did build a new stadium for the Rams and wanted to even build a second stadium but owner Kroenke saw big bucks for him in the large L.A. market. Fan attendance was never an issue in either case.
When the big red moved from st.louis to Arizona it broke my heart. When your childhood team leaves it's never the same. I pulled for the Rams when they moved here but I always wished the greatest show on turf had those red jerseys and iconic cardinal on their helmets when they made all of those playoff appearances.
That "Air Coryell" was force to reckon with. The 74 Cards failed to penetrate in postseason falling to the eventual NFC Champs Vikings 30-14 whom later failed to the Steelers in Superbowl #9.
Although he has passed away, coach Don Coryell will be entering the hall of fame now in 2023 for his excellence in St. Louis and San Diego. His Big Red teams did not win a super bowl but they sure were exciting as the Cardiac Cardinals.
At the beginning the game vs Minnesota was not a "title" game it was a divisional playoff game. Minnesota had to go on and play the Rams before they made it to the Super Bowl.
Pity the poor Giants and Eagles having those three division rivals on their schedule six times each year from1974-1977. They each got 1-2 wins in 8 games against each opponent in that time frame.
The Big Red O-Line set a record with fewest sacks allowed with 7. The NFL stat book will say 8, but the Giants were credited with a sack when on a field goal attempt, a bad snap force the holder Roger Werhli to scramble then get tackled behind the line of scrimmage. Dan Deirdorf to this day, is still ticked off about the official scoring. FYI, the entire Big Red O-Line started the Pro Bowl. That was the 1st time an entire O-Line from one team started the Pro Bowl.
Most talent-laden personnel the franchise had was during this era, IMO. The 1966 team went 8-5-1 and led the league in total defense. The '68 team went 9-4-1.Those mid 60s teams were strong, too. A one-two punch in the backfield, a great quarterback and unreal speed at skill positions. That was a tough division back then (70s). Even teams that did not have winning records played tough, and competitive.
@Matt Pizzano Yeah, 1970 was the year they trashed Dallas 38-0 on Monday Night Football. And, I think the Giants waylayed them, too, that year. A big, bench-clearing fight broke out towards the end of that game.
Funny the Cards won the NFC East in back to back seasons, didn't have a home playoff game. Those 2 Division titles would be the only ones the Big Red would win as Dallas came back strong in '76, '77, '78, and '79. By then the Eagles had replaced them as a contender and the Cards made 1 last playoff in the strike shortened 1982 season. Their overall best team didn't make the playoffs. The 1970 Cardinals were leading the division all the way until the last week of the season and a tie proved to be a killer as Dallas edged them and the Giants out by that half game. Over the years the Cardinals always had the same problems. Weak offensive and Defensive lines, limited speed at the skilled positions, mediocre QB play, very average special teams, questionable coaching and below average drafting. Things, every other team in the very tough NFC East did well. When the Giants and Eagles got good, in the late 70's, early 80's, the Cards needed to be on par. They weren't and they wouldn't be average until 1984, when all they needed to do was defeat a physically tired, and aging Redskins team, in DC on the final Sunday of the season and they would win their 3rd Division Title. Poor clock management cost them a chance at a shorter FG attempt at the gun, as the clock wound down, the Cards running on the field for the kick, they got it off, but it sailed right and that was their last chance at the Playoffs in St.Louis. Always snakebit, the Cards could never have what it needed to win. A reflection of the bad Ownership and weak Front Offices. Never able to land big name players, it seemed the Cards were always short on legit talent, and that was the real culprit the whole time in St.Louis. I always rooted for Big Red, but they always had a knack of playing spoiler and messing up a team trying to get into the playoffs. I'm sure the city of St.Louis was sad to see them go!
@@kenbaker4528 You're right! It came down to Ownership. Boswell was always a "bottom line" owner. Meaning he was always looking at his pocket book. Can't win on a low budget philosophy. Imagine back in 1979 when Bud Wilkerson got fired, if the Cards would've said, Hey...there's this coach in Cincinnati that's offensive minded, but is about ball control (needed that element in the NFC East Espescially the back half of the season) and if we pay him a little more, maybe he'll come. What's his name? Hold on, Walsh, Bill Walsh. He's highly thought of around the league. The Bengals always had a top 1/3 of the league offense and the offense is basic, with explosive elements. Bidwell...ummm I don't want to pay a Assistant Coach, Head Coach money. Tell him, I said win some game in San Fran, and I'll pay him later, after he gets fired. That was Bill Bidwell
That Neil O'Donnell miss to this day, still, is a disappointment. Oh well, good synapsis on the STL Football Cardinals, always perennials but could never get over the hump when it mattered.
The play of the '74 Cardinals at the end of the season is the reason Coryell couldn't win the big one. They couldn't beat the Chiefs at home, then lost to the Saints on the road. Finally after trailing 14-0 at the half, they came back and beat the lowly Giants at home to secure the division.
Robert Fisk Gray,pisarrkawicz(?) Franklin and others like them were the reason the Cardinals couldn’t win the big one. Getting rid of Bobby Moore, John Gilliam and Dave Butz All against Coryell’s wishes were another main reason.
Robert Fisk You think Cory all is just a level above Sam? Two of the worst owners in NFL history are who he coached four. The greatest offense of minded in NFL history they still use as a numbering system to this day. He had no say so over the draft. If you don’t know anything about football stay off the fucking Cardinals, pages you fucking idiot.
