Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Quite a few teams in history who either won the Super Bowl or lost it due to their secondary. Any SB (or pre-SB) Champs you can think of who won in spite of a weak secondary, or at least with a secondary that was relatively lesser than others that won?

The 1982 Redskins. Wasn't the nickname Pearl Harbor Crew derogatory?

While not necessarily "weak," the Jets secondary of 1968 was not exactly overflowing with household names, other than Johnny Sample, who was already in his career twilight. Yet they came through in a big way that day ...

2007 and 2011 Giants.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:The 1982 Redskins. Wasn't the nickname Pearl Harbor Crew derogatory?

They didn't get that nickname until the following season in 1983.

nicefellow31 wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:The 1982 Redskins. Wasn't the nickname Pearl Harbor Crew derogatory?

They didn't get that nickname until the following season in 1983.

Kind of an interesting turn of events. The 1982 Redskin secondary didn't have household names, but were very effective. They got a career year out of Jeris White (leading to his holdout), ex-Brown Tony Peters made the Pro Bowl and was probably the fastest guy in the secondary, Vernon Dean didn't make mistakes even though he was a rookie, and Mark Murphy was the free safety. In 1983, you have White holding out all year, Peters suspended because of cocaine (replaced by slow Curtis Jordan), and rookie Darrell Green starting at one CB spot. Although they gave up 4377 yards and 28 TDs, their opp. QB rating in 1983 really wasn't that different than 1982 (69.6 vs. 67.7) because they intercepted 34 passes (Murphy had 9). I've read that what cost the Redskins in 1983 was Vernon Dean getting hurt towards the end of the year...his backup (Anthony Washington) was terrible, and there were just too many liabilities in the secondary.

Bryan wrote:

nicefellow31 wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:The 1982 Redskins. Wasn't the nickname Pearl Harbor Crew derogatory?

They didn't get that nickname until the following season in 1983.

Kind of an interesting turn of events. The 1982 Redskin secondary didn't have household names, but were very effective. They got a career year out of Jeris White (leading to his holdout), ex-Brown Tony Peters made the Pro Bowl and was probably the fastest guy in the secondary, Vernon Dean didn't make mistakes even though he was a rookie, and Mark Murphy was the free safety. In 1983, you have White holding out all year, Peters suspended because of cocaine (replaced by slow Curtis Jordan), and rookie Darrell Green starting at one CB spot. Although they gave up 4377 yards and 28 TDs, their opp. QB rating in 1983 really wasn't that different than 1982 (69.6 vs. 67.7) because they intercepted 34 passes (Murphy had 9). I've read that what cost the Redskins in 1983 was Vernon Dean getting hurt towards the end of the year...his backup (Anthony Washington) was terrible, and there were just too many liabilities in the secondary.

White held out, was replaced by future HOF'er Darrell Green, and never played NFL football again.

Anthony Washington was terrible. I recall Cliff Branch having a big day in the Super Bowl against him. He lasted one more season in DC and then he was gone, never to play again.

Vernon Dean replaced Joe "The Bird" Lavender at CB but Lavender played a role as a reserve. 1982 was his last season so that was another piece missing in '83.

JeffreyMiller wrote:While not necessarily "weak," the Jets secondary of 1968 was not exactly overflowing with household names, other than Johnny Sample, who was already in his career twilight. Yet they came through in a big way that day ...

I think the Jets 1968 secondary was gone within two years.

1970 Colts?

ChrisBabcock wrote:1970 Colts?

I don't know about that. They had two pretty good players in Jerry Logan and Rick Volk. Each made three Pro Bowls ans neither was over the hill in 1970. The 1970 Colts weren't particularly bad in pass defense. They ranked 21st in yards, but they also faced the most pass attempts of any defense in the league. Still, they ranked 11th in TD passes given up, and 4th in interceptions.