1973 New England Patriots

[Bryan]

The Patriots were pretty bad in 1972, even worse than their 3-11 record indicated. They were outscored by an average of 18 points per game, and IIRC the Chargers "loaned" Phil Bengston to the Patriots so he could finish out the year as their head coach.

Chuck Fairbanks arrived in 1973 and really turned things around. Only a two game improvement in the win/loss department (3-11 to 5-9), but aside from two monster games by OJ Simpson the Pats were much more competitive as they were outscored by an average of only 4 points per game.

I was impressed with how many good new players Fairbanks brought in. 1972 had produced Ron Bolton, Sam Adams, and not much else in the way of new talent. 1973 rookies included John Hannah, Leon Gray, Mack Herron, Sam Cunningham, Daryl Stingley, Mel Lunsford, and Sugar Bear Hamilton. Quite the haul. I don't know if Fairbanks simply had an eye for talent, if he was good at developing players, or if it was blind luck, but you probably have to give Fairbanks a lot of credit for turning around the franchise.

I was surprised at how often the Patriots ran option plays in 1973, especially near the goal line. I don't know if that led to a copycat 'fad' with other NFL teams running option plays, but I don't recall it really catching on anywhere else.

[BD Sullivan]

The Patriots were pretty bad in 1972, even worse than their 3-11 record indicated. They were outscored by an average of 18 points per game, and IIRC the Chargers "loaned" Phil Bengston to the Patriots so he could finish out the year as their head coach.

Chuck Fairbanks arrived in 1973 and really turned things around. Only a two game improvement in the win/loss department (3-11 to 5-9), but aside from two monster games by OJ Simpson the Pats were much more competitive as they were outscored by an average of only 4 points per game.

I was impressed with how many good new players Fairbanks brought in. 1972 had produced Ron Bolton, Sam Adams, and not much else in the way of new talent. 1973 rookies included John Hannah, Leon Gray, Mack Herron, Sam Cunningham, Daryl Stingley, Mel Lunsford, and Sugar Bear Hamilton. Quite the haul. I don't know if Fairbanks simply had an eye for talent, if he was good at developing players, or if it was blind luck, but you probably have to give Fairbanks a lot of credit for turning around the franchise.

I was surprised at how often the Patriots ran option plays in 1973, especially near the goal line. I don't know if that led to a copycat 'fad' with other NFL teams running option plays, but I don't recall it really catching on anywhere else.

The option use probably shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering Fairbanks came from Oklahoma (doing the Pete Carroll shuffle in the process), which used it almost exclusively. Fairbanks did benefit somewhat from the Pats having three first round picks (after giving up Fred Dryer and Carl Garrett), but getting Hannah, Cunningham and Stingley showed he could spot talent. He had only been hired four days before that 1973 draft.

Fairbanks was the fifth choice of Billy Sullivan, who was desperate to sign a college coach. Parseghian, Paterno, Devaney and John McKay had all turned him down. Upton Bell had wanted to hire an NFL assistant, one of those being Chuck Knox.

[oldecapecod11]

by Bryan » Thu Oct 01, 2015 8:47 am
"... I was surprised at how often the Patriots ran option plays in 1973, especially near the goal line. I don't know if that led to a copycat 'fad' with other NFL teams running option plays, but I don't recall it really catching on anywhere else."

You are probably watching a film of the season highlights so... how many times did they score on an option?
By the way, 5-9 teams usually do not generate a "copycat fad" especially if their O and D are both ranked 16th in a 26-team league.

They racked up 28 Tds through a 5-9 season. One was a KO return and another was a fumble recovery.
The remaining 26 were divided equally - 13 passing, 13 rushing. (Well-balanced losing)
Plunkett rushed for 5 of the TDs - all on runs of 5 yards or less. (5-5-3-1-1) So, there's 5 possible option plays?
Blast runner Cunningham scored on 4 runs. (4-6-7-1) They ran a 2-back O. Sam was the FB - options? maybe?
Five of the rushing TDs came in blow-out losses - 13-37, 23-44, 13-31. Was an option the only way they could score?
Three came in a 32-0 Win. Were they having fun?
One came in a 23-24 Loss - likely the last play of the game. There was no EP. Did they go for 2 or lose because of a miss.
So, of the 10 rushing TDs of less than 10 yards, how many were options?
There were 3 passing TDs of less than 10 yards.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/t ... e/1973.htm

[SixtiesFan]

I recall there were some jokes about Fairbanks possibly using the Oklahoma wishbone, especially when he traded for his Oklahoma QB Jack Mildren in 1974. Mildren played strong safety one year for NE. He then left football for a business career.

[Pat McDonald]

Fairbanks drafted Grogan who scored 12 rushing TDs in 1976. Obviously, he liked his QB to be a running threat thus he spun off Plunkett to SF for a slew of draft picks.