I was at that game, Sanders got NEGATIVE 1 yard rushing. NOT ZERO yards!!! We were in the southwestern corner of the south endzone stands, about 10 to 15 rows up!! What a GREAT DEFENSE!!!
@@montaguproctor-beauchamp8579 one game is overhyped? You should watch his entire career. The problem this game was that he got tackled in the backfield on almost every play except 3. He had no blocking.
Packers were a complete team but played terrible against the Cowboys the next week. 4th in total offense and 5th in total defense. A hall of fame QB and a Hall of fame finalist head coach.
Funny how one game can distort one's perspective of a player. Today was Sander's 52 Birthday, and Bleacher Report showed Barry Sander's career stats. 10 Seasons played, 10 Pro Bowls, 4 rushing Titles. 15,264 yards on 3062 career carries. Overall average per carry 5.0 yds. Think about that: Sanders averaged over 1500 yards per season for every season he played in his career. With a career 5 yds per carry average, the Lions could have run Sanders every down for his career and never faced a 4th down situation.
Yeah, except... He rarely got his average. He got his yards in big bursts. He actually lost yards alot, and put his team in a lot of 3rd and long situations. But, when you regularly post 60+ yard TD runs, your average tends to benefit from it...
@@mojoschmee9320 Mojo, You sound like an Emitt Smith or Walter Payton fan. Fine, since they were also great RB's. So were Bo Jackson and Earl Campbell. But Barry didn't lose yards on most carries and then make up for it on a few sporadic big runs. That's BS. Sanders couldn't have averaged 5 yards per carry for his career if he was constantly losing yards per your belief. Sanders was occasionally forced to takes losses when hit behind the one f scrimmage by his sub-mediocre O line. He was also caught behind the line occasionally when getting the hand off and seeing that there was nowhere to go with the ball. Like all great RB's, Sanders took what was given to him and made the most of it. And in those situations where he was able to get thru the D-line and only had to beat 1 or 2 defensive secondary players, he was deadly. Don't dismiss Sanders as an RB who simply ran around in circles behind the line of scrimmage just so he could find a hole. You underestimate his greatness. Watch interviews of other RB's and players in the league who faced Barry Sanders. He was the real deal.
@@Charleybones If he regularly got 5 yards per carry, then all those long runs would've boosted his average up into the teens. Barry Sanders, despite a shortened career, owns the all time record for yards lost from scrimmage. Lost more than the most sacked QB's, by a large margin. You don't acquire that record by hitting the hole hard and fast on every carry. No, that record is acquired by running in circles behind the line of scrimmage in an attempt to break a long one...
@@mojoschmee9320 biggest Barry fan…but some of this is true. In this video alone..there are holes Barry cud have gotten 2 yards. Do that twice Nd it’s 3rd Nd 6. Manageable
@@Charleybones I think it's just the mentality of this once-in-a-generation player to try to always go for the home run play to give his average team the highest chances of winning. In his one college breakout year, he hit the hole hard. His style of play was noticeably different owing to a superior offense and consequently, he set collegiate rushing records so far ahead of everyone else they're unlikely to ever be broken.
Bryce Paup had a monster day. As a hybrid OLB / DE, he really benefited from the attention given Reggie, and he took full advantage. It's also funny to remember here that both Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens were originally listed as fullbacks, blocking for a revolving door stable of ineffective halfbacks, before each was eventually shifted into the featured halfback spot.
Barry ran 188 yards on that same defense in the same season with that so called crappy O-line. Y'all make excuses for Barry's terrible performance in the post-season, but give him praise on the regular season i.e. 1997 over 2,000 yards rushing.
I felt so bad for Barry. Lions outside of 1995 were bootie juice but they had Barry and Herman Moore. Just look at 6:42 how many guys are up at the line 9 guys 🤣🤣 teams never showed any respect for Lions crappy QB play. How Barry did what he did year after year was unbelievable.
@@hellas7644 because the qb sucked. Barry only ran 13 times that’s not them focusing on Barry. They threw too much and the qb sucked even on the last throw. They still win if he wasn’t scared and over threw Herman who was open
The field conditions looked awful. Torn up turf and muck for Barry to run on. He was an absolute master at quickly changing speed and direction, but his brakes simply didn't work on that field.
@@hellas7644 they scored 12 points... Emmitt would've outscored him on his own in almost any playoff game he appeared in. The 93 playoff run was all Emmitt, as Troy Aikman was injured throughout.
Barry was more of a highlight reel regular season RB than the superior football player Emmitt Smith, who's versatility made him a complete football player built to win.
Emmitt also had a better offensive line, backed up by a better defense. Which he admitted when asked the question who is better you or barry, Emmitt stated we don't have the same offensive line,you can't compare us just enjoy us while we can still play.but I will admit Emmitt no doubt was stronger he broke alot of tackles even when the initial hit was in the backfield emmitt was something else and then some.he spear headed the Dallas cowboys offensive attack. Barry was strong but is better known for his quickness and speed especially in the open field. I dont disagree with your state just adding to it.
Weird how 9 defenders at the line everytime Barry runs and not when he doesn't. They either spent 80 hours a week studying how they only setup a run or paid some money to be in on knowing when Barry would run.
This Lions O-Line deserved a lifetime supply of Victoria Secret after this game. They got emasculated. The 90s Cowboys O-line destroyed this Packers D-Line on many occasions. Perfect example to how Emmitt had it WAY easier than Barry
Dallas run formation is based off the I-formation and the Lions run formation is based on spread singleback offense. Barry would not want to run the Dallas system following the Fullback and the O-Line. Besides, he had Lomas Brown and Kevin Glover so let's stop that media narrative that Barry never had an O-line. In addition, the games that Emmitt Smith didn't play, Dallas would lose or get dismantle along with the offensive line couldn't protect Troy and the backup RBs couldn't amount to what Emmitt's abilities could do.
@@81superjay You've replied back to this comment which lets me know you've watched this video. Do you not see a Packer jersey in Barry's face every time he got the ball? At that point it doesn't matter what type of formation you're in. His o-line sucked and the Lions play calling sucked. Sad thing is he had to play the Packers twice a year for 10 years straight not including the playoffs! It's a reality that Barry played for a terrible organization. Have you heard of Calvin Johnson? You put Barry with the Cowboys in the 90s and he runs for 24,000 yards. You Sanders haters also need to stop the narrative that he didn't run up the middle. If you would like, I will post a RU-vid link where he runs up the middle plenty of times when there was no hole and turned it into TDs. This isn't about down playing Emmitt. This is just proving that Barry Sanders is greatest RB of all time.
@@dukeholidai Wrong, try again playa. I do agree that the lions were a terrible organization, but to say that their online sucked after I named you two good pro bowl linemen is not enough for you. Let's evaluate things through proper context starting with the team. The lions did lack in having a good QB and defense, and most of all the coaching staff. The QB position had never been consistent which will kill the team chemistry on offense. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about Barry and his flaws. For starters, he struggles running on the right side of the offense, he's not great running up the middle due to their formation (singleback) and doesn't like the contact of running up the middle, doesn't block, not a good catcher for the RB position, he struggles on running fields that have real grass, really doesn't play well on cold climates, and mainly goal line downs which they would have to sub in for Barry to make the first down or score a TD. If I recall, when they played green bay in the second time in the regular season back in 94, Barry ran 188 rushing yards against that same Packer defense that they had to play later on in January in the playoffs. You wanna know why Barry got those yards? As you know Reggie White plays LDE, so during that game in the regular season in December he was getting blocked as Barry was running left side and he was getting double blocked during that game. There was one play when Barry ran 53 yards and a couple of plays later after Barry was able to get to the one yard line of the goal, the backup RB subbed in and was able to score a TD on the goal line. Reggie only had one sack and no tackles during that game. Fast forward to January in the playoffs, Reggie was placed on the Right side of the defense because the GB defensive coach made the adjustments to stop Barry when he runs to the left side and they capitalize it which they forced Barry to run right knowing that is one of his Achilles hill and he went nowhere. The lions coaching staff never made adjustments for Barry and the offense. In addition, when the lions played against the dolphins in Miami on Christmas day, Barry struggled running on that grassy field in Miami and it was warm that night. That same Miami defense that was ranked 17 in the league for run defense Barry couldn't out run them. No, Barry would not have ran 24,000 career rushing yards with the running formation that Dallas was playing. Barry never had patience and trust to run behind his fullback and O-line. That same great wall of Dallas O-line the first two games in the 93 season when Emmitt held out, tell me what was the outcome of those games?
@@81superjay Your points proved on why Sanders is the greatest RB. He didn't have a weakness going to the right. He didn't have a dramatic weakness playing on different fields either. Every player has a weakness. If he did, it wasn't a dramatic weakness otherwise he wouldn't accomplished the yards the accomplished. It's actually scary, because he was still the very successful despite of. Again, he did run up the middle when there was daylight. Barry wasn't an Earl Campbell type running back. Show me a running back his stature who constantly smashed up the middle when there wasn't any space and lets see how long they lasted. During Emmitt's time, Madden always complimented the Cowboys line for opening holes that cars could drive through. Speaking of the Cowboys, do you know who Erik Williams is? The guy who Reggie White feared, because he could shut down Reggie While alone? The guy who's also considered the TRUE best OL of all time until the car wreck? Do I need to mention Larry Allen? Nate? etc? I rest my case on the Cowboys O-line. Here's a fun fact, if you compare Barry and Emmitt's first 10 years, Barry actually has more receiving yards than Emmitt with less receptions! Let's throw that argument out now lol. Ok the Dolphins? But what about the times he ran all over the Cowboys when they were a top rated defense. You're nitpicking hard about that game. All players have bad games. I would also expect an athlete to lose patience when you're constantly dodging a breaking tackles in the backfield before you could get a step off. Great QB's (Tom Brady, Payton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Steve Young) lose patience and scramble when there's a defender in their face as well. It's human instincts. What's even scarier, they knew Sanders was getting the ball at every level of sports from high school to pros and he STILL dominated. Cowboys had Aikman, Irvin, Alvin Harper, and Jay Novacek surrounding Emmitt. Emmitt was a good RB with a very very talented team who dominated behind a run first system. They were all talent but play calling wasn't very creative in terms of strategy which is why they'd require a good running back to be successful. Barry wasn't just an outside scat back/Reggie Bush type of RB. He ran up the middle (where there's little daylight), get low, and used his leverage to break tackles against bigger defenders. He was a good receiver. Sanders would thrive in any system that gives him holes and opportunity. The Cowboys would have definitely provided that for him. As you mentioned above, the Lions never made ANY adjustments and just plain sucked; and still do. Barry Sanders still could've shattered the record even with spending his entire career with that team. Sad. You switch teams with Emmitt and Barry, I guarantee Emmitt wouldn't had as much success and probably would've gotten badly hurt playing with the Lions. On the other hand, Barry and the Cowboys would've won at least 4 SBs straight and he'd shattered the RY record.
@@dukeholidai How am I proving your points while I'm rebutting it? Doesn't make sense. I said what I said because I actually watched those games back then when I was a Barry fan. If Emmitt Smith O-line is so great then why that same O-line roster couldn't protect Troy Aikman in 1989 when their record was 1-15? Emmitt wasn't there, but he was the game changer of that offense. You know if Barry would've played for Dallas, he would have to get with the jimmy Johnson program to run behind his fullback which Barry doesn't like running in that style anyway and they would have some problems.
1:43 No chance for Barry to run there. Reggie White completely overpowers his man. 2:26 Maybe Barry could've ran straight, but GB #55 was coming off his blocker anyways. But as soon as Barry made that cut to the left, he was screwed. Not sure what the initial play design was. 3:00 Just sad. Reggie White is too good lol 5:07 Okay, here is where I feel like Barry could've ran forward and exploded down the middle for a couple of yards. Maybe he's too tramuatized by Reggie White coming down the middle? 6:43 Seems like Barry ran his route. Maybe he could have cut right, but I don't think that was the play he was given based off the hand off and motion. I could be wrong though. 9:50 No chance there for Barry. 11:17 Not sure what the play was, but I feel like Barry was supposed to run left based off how the offensive line is blocking. Barry decides to run right though, so that poor run is on him. Supposedly, Barry had 13 attempts in the game, but I only saw 7 runs. I feel like 3 of those runs were not on Barry. There were at least 2 runs that failed due to Barry trying to improvise. There were other runs not shown in the game, but since they weren't considered highlights by the uploader, then it's hard to say whether those runs failed due to Barry or his surrounding circumstances. However, we do know that Barry had a long for 7 yards, which was not shown here. Overall, it's a mix of the line being bad, and Barry not trusting his line and the playcall, and instead he tries to improvise which sometimes yields a worse result. Box Score: www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199412310gnb.htm
I appreciate the breakdown but please don’t tell us what Barry sanders should have ran. He’s Barry sanders you’re not. And you were wrong he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage he had no blocking.
Aubrey Matthew caught a deep pass inside the GB red zone that was ruled out of bounds...reply showed he was CLEARLY in bounds, that catch would probably changed this game
