Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

These are all the years of he as a DC to pick from...

Saints: 1981 thru 1985

Eagles: 1986 thru 1988

Broncos: 1989 thru 1992

Bills: 1995 thru 1997

Falcons: 2002 thru 2003

Chargers: 2004 thru 2006

Texans: 2011 thru 2013

Broncos: 2015* thru 2016

Rams: 2017 - present

* - again, we’re excluding this one

Twenty seven seasons as a DC to pick from (28 total)! Yes, more DC seasons in Denver than anywhere else, but New Orleans being his most-consecutive years (5) in one place under that very title!

'89 is a clear notable for this discussion. WP took over a seriously-struggling Broncos D from the year before, and instantly made them 1st in points-allowed and #3 in yardage-allowed - the best Broncos defensive output in the Dan Reeves era. Yes, Humphrey at RB was a big help and, yes...55-10! Then again, didn't SF put up a 41-burger on Floyd Peters three weeks prior?

In either event, with or without '55-10', I'll place '83 with his dad's Saints as an even higher accolade. With just one (Ricky Jackson) of the Dome Patrol so far at his disposal (though Dennis Winston was onboard as well), WP had that Saints' D practically carry that quite anemic offense (George Rogers' 1,100+ rushing yards notwithstanding) to above-500 marks numerous times throughout the season, being hot on Rams' tail throughout for that final WC-spot. In fact, both played for that very spot in the season finale. Rams, of course, would prevail 26-24, but it wasn't the defense's fault for just three of the Rams' 26 points were scored by their offense (Lansford FG with 0:06 left)! Saints had ball more than 15 min longer than Rams! You simply place that '79 Saints offense with this very WP defense...no, not 2009 but one of the better Saints teams ever! On the flipside, the '78 defense and '83 offense together? Maybe not 1980 but...actually maybe as bad!


And what IS, so far, the last-ever 7-0 final NFL score??