The year was 1967 and the NFL was a young and thriving league in American sports having become America's most watched and popular sport two years before. The Green Bay Packers were the team of destiny and legends. Having been world champs from Super Bowl I, the Packers trip to Super Bowl II was indeed an up hill battle marred by injuries and an aging future hall of fame QB in Bart Starr. There were also rumors of retirement at season's end by the legendary coach Vince Lombardi dominating pre Super Bowl chatter in the media. The game would be televised on CBS.
In those days, the regular season was only 14 games. That year the Packers finished the regular season with only 4 losses, having won their division in week 11. At the time they clinched their division (by Week 11), the Packers possessed the NFL's number one overall ranked defense having allowed a league lowest total of 131 yards per game from opposing offenses.
Their sure fire, future Hall of Fame and aging Quarterback was Bart Starr. At 33 years old Starr has had his worst season as a pro. Not only had he missed 4 games due to injury, he finished the regular season with only 9 TDs and 17 INTs. Does that stat ring a bell?
The Packers had entered the Super Bowl having had just defeated their perennial rival, the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in a hard fought battle, at home, having met them for the second season in a row in the Conference Championship game. This classic game would later become known as the infamous Ice Bowl forever living in NFL Lore. This matchup was at its time the one the entire NFL world had hoped to see in the Championship game that year and boy did it ever live up to its billing.
Their Super Bowl opposition was a high flying, brash team in the Oakland Raiders. Their path to Super Bowl II was the complete opposite. They finished the regular season with only one loss, an NFL best 13-1 record. And in their Conference Championship game had just dismantled and defeated the Houston Oilers 40-7. Having put up 364 yards of total offense including a dominant 263 yards rushing performance. Their defense had forced 3 Oilers' turnovers while their offense yielded none in return. The two teams had just met 3 weeks earlier in a 19-7 game which clinched Oakland winning the Western Division.
The outcome: In Super Bowl II the Packers defense showed up. Highlighted by a 60 yard pick-six interception, they dominated the Raiders to a 33-14 Packer victory and World Championship. Offensively, they scored 4 FGs, 1 Passing and 1 Rushing TD on their way to victory.
Quarterback Bart Starr ended his tumultuous year on the highest of notes, earning the Super Bowl MVP nod throwing for 13 of 24 passes, 202 yards, 1 TD 0 INT.
In conclusion:
The parallels are stunning. The Panthers have finished their season, much like Oakland that year, with only one loss. They trounced Arizona by a huge margin in a game dominated offensively by their running game and defensively with multiple forced turnovers.
The Broncos on the other hand finished their season with 4 losses, just like Green Bay, having fought and clawed their way all year by a dominant defense and a struggling offense marred by key injuries along the way.
The Broncos also lost their aging future Hall of Fame QB for several games throughout the season only to have him back leading the charge in the Playoffs while knocking off their perennial rivals, the Patriots, for the 2nd time in three seasons in the Conference Championship game. An instant classic game which the entire NFL world was clamoring for: Brady vs Manning Bowl. I wouldn't be surprised if that game played at Mile High last week would earn its own nickname in years to come and live on in NFL Lore forevermore.
As were the Packers, the Broncos defense also is the best in the NFL and the leader in points allowed with 283.1 yards per game.
Super Bowl
50 will also be televised on CBS, and the pre-game talk is also dominated by the prospect of another legend's potential retiring after the game in one Peyton Manning.
But the most eye popping parallel of it all is the legendary quarterbacks, Bart Starr and Peyton Manning. It's uncanny that 48 years later the two Hall of Fame quarterbacks had an identical and forgettable regular season late in their careers with both throwing for exactly 9 touchdowns and 17 interceptions each. With both struggling with injuries and missing games as a result in the same season. And with both finding themselves ultimately playing in the Super Bowl on the backs of their teammates and their defenses.
So can history repeat itself? I tell you friend not only it can, but it does, as it has throughout human history always with great flare. It seems when it does it does with a bang, and a script fitting for Hollywood story tellers. This my friends is one of those scripts. The stage is set. The legends are before us. The public is at attention. The book is written and its last page is being inked in front of our eyes.
Enjoy the ride.
- Michael Salavati
#BroncosCountry
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