Best Year of the 1950s

[Veeshik_ya]

Yes, that's just silly on every level. The majority of the AAFC was absorbed and the players drafted into the NFL as part of the existing teams; the influx of talent greatly improved the older league in 1950. The idea of the Rams "feasting" on old AAFC teams is ridiculous.

Right. And what about the other teams that played those same AAFC teams and didn't come anywhere close to scoring as many points as the Rams did?

[Bryan]

Right. And what about the other teams that played those same AAFC teams and didn't come anywhere close to scoring as many points as the Rams did?

The presence of the Baltimore Colts franchise made 1950 an interesting year from a statistical standpoint. Lots of highlights:

October 2, 1950 - Chicago Cards Jim Hardy passes for six touchdowns vs the Baltimore Colts
(55-13), five of them to Bob Shaw, also a record.

October 22, 1950 - Bob Waterfield kicks a record nine extra points with no misses as the Rams
crush Baltimore 70-27, a record score in an NFL regular season game.

October 22, 1950 - Norm Van Brocklin, Los Angeles Rams, completed 11 consecutive passes vs.
Detroit Lions (10), October 15, and Baltimore Colts (1).

November 19, 1950 - The New York Giants trailed Baltimore 13-0 in the second quarter when they
benched Charley Conerly and the A-formation and switched to Travis Tidwell and the T-formation.
They rallied for a 55-20 victory that included 423 rushing yards.

November 26, 1950 - George Buksar and Ernie Zalejski, Baltimore Colts, combine for a 99-yard
return of an intercepted lateral (18 yards by Buksar and 81 by Zalejski) vs. Washington Redskins.

December 3, 1950 - Cloyce Box of the Detroit Lions had 302 yards receiving and scored four
touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts.

[Bob Gill]

The presence of the Baltimore Colts franchise made 1950 an interesting year from a statistical standpoint. Lots of highlights:

October 22, 1950 - Norm Van Brocklin, Los Angeles Rams, completed 11 consecutive passes vs.
Detroit Lions (10), October 15, and Baltimore Colts (1).

I'd have to say that one didn't really have anything to do with the Colts. He could easily have completed his first pass against the 1985 Bears. Not that it would've been a long touchdown, but still ...

[Bryan]

I'd have to say that one didn't really have anything to do with the Colts. He could easily have completed his first pass against the 1985 Bears. Not that it would've been a long touchdown, but still ...

It still counts! Like Tommie and Hank Aaron hitting the most HRs for a brother tandem.

[Saban1]

The 1950 Baltimore Colts really is not a team that should have been taken into the NFL in 1950. The Colt were the worst team in the All-America Conference in 1949. It was George Preston Marshall that insisted that Baltimore be one of the teams to enter the NFL from the AAFC. Marshall got some money as a result. Buffalo and/or the Yankees would have been much better choices.

[Byron]

The 1950 Baltimore Colts really is not a team that should have been taken into the NFL in 1950. The Colt were the worst team in the All-America Conference in 1949. It was George Preston Marshall that insisted that Baltimore be one of the teams to enter the NFL from the AAFC. Marshall got some money as a result. Buffalo and/or the Yankees would have been much better choices.

Exactly. The Colts were 1-11 in 1949 in the AAFC. They were a terrible team and didn't pick up much help in the Draft. San Francisco lost 10 players from their 1949 team--including their top 3-4 tackles and their best DB (Ed Carr). Sabin has a list of the players that were lost but the upshoot is that they were in a rebuilding season (their first three draft picks were tackles). The Rams beat the 49ers twice in 1950, 35-14 and 28-21. The Yanks (the other team, made up of primarily AAFC players, that Los Angeles played twice) had a suspect defense against the pass. They had lost DBs Harmon Rowe, Tom Landry and Otto Schnellbacher which essentially ravaged their secondary (the Rams beat them 45-14 and 43-35). Still, the AAFC teams fared as well as many of their counterparts from the older NFL: the Rams beat the Packers in two games by 96-28 and the Lions by 95-52. The issue was not the weakness of the teams from the AAFC, but the power of the Rams offense.

[Byron]

Right. And what about the other teams that played those same AAFC teams and didn't come anywhere close to scoring as many points as the Rams did?

You'll have to define "anywhere close". Each team's offense is different and there's little doubt that the Rams had one of the best in history. If you look at the Yanks, you can see that they typically won shoot-outs (their offense was #2 in the league in PPG, averaging 30.5 but their defense gave up an average of 30.6). The 49ers were in rebuilding mode and had a down season, giving up 25 PPG on average. The Bears, Yanks, Rams, Browns, and Lions all scored 27+ against them during the season. Everyone beat up on the Colts, who had only three games where they gave up less than 24 points.

[Veeshik_ya]

You'll have to define "anywhere close". Each team's offense is different and there's little doubt that the Rams had one of the best in history. If you look at the Yanks, you can see that they typically won shoot-outs (their offense was #2 in the league in PPG, averaging 30.5 but their defense gave up an average of 30.6). The 49ers were in rebuilding mode and had a down season, giving up 25 PPG on average. The Bears, Yanks, Rams, Browns, and Lions all scored 27+ against them during the season. Everyone beat up on the Colts, who had only three games where they gave up less than 24 points.

Yes, I'm probably guilty of some hyperbole there. Was just trying to point out how the Rams offense deserves credit for what they did. I've read more than one account where people have tried to chalk it up to a weak schedule. There's been plenty of weak schedules over the years, most of which don't result in anything historically great.

[Byron]

You'll have to define "anywhere close". Each team's offense is different and there's little doubt that the Rams had one of the best in history. If you look at the Yanks, you can see that they typically won shoot-outs (their offense was #2 in the league in PPG, averaging 30.5 but their defense gave up an average of 30.6). The 49ers were in rebuilding mode and had a down season, giving up 25 PPG on average. The Bears, Yanks, Rams, Browns, and Lions all scored 27+ against them during the season. Everyone beat up on the Colts, who had only three games where they gave up less than 24 points.

Yes, I'm probably guilty of some hyperbole there. Was just trying to point out how the Rams offense deserves credit for what they did. I've read more than one account where people have tried to chalk it up to a weak schedule. There's been plenty of weak schedules over the years, most of which don't result in anything historically great.

I'm sure their schedule looked weaker in retrospect--but only because their offense was so good! I agree with you that their offense deserves credit for what they accomplished.