FAKE RONJAN!!Box Score Monday - Champ saves the Day(ne)!
0-2. It's a hell of a deficit to claw out of in the NFL, and it's well-known that it's almost impossible to win the Super Bowl after dropping your first two games:
The only Super Bowl champs to start a season 0-2 are the 2007 Giants, 2001 Patriots and 1993 Cowboys
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 10, 2013
Of course, the 1993 Cowboys started 0-2 because Emmitt Smith was holding out for a new contract. Upon his return, they dropped only two more the rest of the way en route to back-to-back championships. The 2001 Patriots were a different team after Drew Bledsoe went down in the 2nd game and Tom Brady took over. And, well, the 2007 Giants were Exhibit A in the thesis of "Eli Manning is a real piece of work".
Net -- it takes extraordinary circumstances to pull out of this deficit.
Tonight, the 0-1 Steelers travel to Cincinnati to play the 0-1 Bengals, and desperation may well be in the air. That got me thinking of one of my favorite regular season games ever, a contest between the 0-1 Chargers and the 0-1 Broncos in 2005.
The Chargers were defending division champions and had free-agent-QB-to-be Drew Brees looking to hold off upstart Philip Rivers for the starting QB job. The Broncos were led by QB Jake Plummer and were coming off back-to-back 10-6 seasons. So both teams had high expectations coming into 2005, and after each team dropped their first game, they each badly needed a win as they faced off in Denver.
The Chargers raced to a 14-3 halftime lead, and it sure looked grim for the Broncos as the Chargers got the ball first in the second half. And then, on the first play of the third quarter, Champ Bailey picked off Drew Brees, taking it in for the score. At 14-10, we have a ballgame, now!
The rest of the game was a real slugfest (check the play-by-play!).
The Broncos kept self-destructing, even losing a go-ahead punt return touchdown due to "too many men on the field" as Broncos players ran onto the field to celebrate. But they finally broke through in the 4th quarter, taking a 17-14 lead with nine minutes to go.
The Chargers promptly came right back and tied the game on a field goal, the only points high-powered San Diego could muster in the second half. Five minutes to go.
Enter ... Ron Dayne. Yes, that Ron Dayne. Dayne registered six of his eight carries on the drive, gaining 38 yards. The key play was his final touch of the afternoon: a 10-yard run on 4th-and-1 from the San Diego 33-yard-line that set up the game winning field goal. It's good! Broncos win, 20-17!
In retrospect, that game had serious ramifications for both teams.
The Broncos went on a roll and finished 13-3. They handed Tom Brady his first-ever playoff loss (after a perfect 10-0 start) en route to an AFC Championship Game appearance. It was perhaps the most overachieving team in Broncos history, and my personal favorite.
Meanwhile, the Chargers turned it around and stayed in striking distance most of the season, but ultimately finished out of the playoffs largely due to this one loss. And Denver hit them hard again in the rematch. Eliminated from the playoffs at 9-6, the Chargers lost the meaningless rematch with the Broncos and Drew Brees suffered a serious injury to his shoulder, ending his career with the team and paving the way for the era of Philip Rivers.
What a game.
-rj