NFL Films

NFL Rush Zone: Seasons of the Guardian vol 3

By 1967, Green Bay was already considered "Titletown U.S.A." Throughout the decade, the Packers had won four NFL Championships and Super Bowl I. Better still; they were coached by Vince Lombardi, who was relentless in his pursuit of perfection. But that season, Lombardi faced his greatest challenge yet: winning back-to-back Super Bowls -- one of Pro Football's toughest feats -- in a town that expected nothing less. The old master was up to the task. Lombardi had a core of veteran players in...

In 1992, many pundits felt that the Dallas Cowboys were too young to contend for a Super Bowl title. But head coach Jimmy Johnson and team knew otherwise. The Cowboys set out to prove they were already a force to be reckoned with. And so they did. Dallas shined thanks in part to its "Triplets" on offense: quarterback Troy Aikman, receiver Michael Irvin, and the NFL's leading rusher, Emmitt Smith. The defense was just as impressive. Linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and pass rusher Charles Haley...

The 1972 Miami Dolphins were getting antsy. Their title as the league's only undefeated team was in jeopardy. With just three games left in the 1998 season, the 13-0 Denver Broncos played relentlessly and boasted a Hall of Fame talent in exactly the right spot. At quarterback, 38-year-old John Elway played with the joy of an athlete in the prime of his career. Plus, star tailback Terrell Davis was on his way to becoming just the fourth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one...

By any other standard, it was a season of triumph. Eleven regular season wins, two more in the playoffs, and then the crowning glory of victory in Super Bowl V. >But for the 1970 Baltimore Colts, the victory remained in the shadow of a devastating defeat - their crushing upset loss to the Jets two years earlier in Super Bowl III. America's Game relives the Colts bittersweet season from their regular-season rematch against the Jets, through the first year of a merged NFL, to the comedy of...

Dominance in the NFL starts at the very top. There have been only five NFL dynasties during the Super Bowl era -- four of them were forged by the vision of a single head coach. The 1995 Dallas Cowboys were the exception. They won their third world championship of the 1990s under new leadership in Barry Switzer. Despite being without Jimmy Johnson, who had led the Cowboys to two Lombardi Trophies, and being burdened with free agent losses, off-the-field distractions and injuries, Dallas was...

It was perhaps the finest collection of talent in NFL history - and in 1974 nearly no one knew it. For five seasons, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll had meticulously built the team in his own image - tough and physical. In 1974, he added a draft class that included four future Hall of Famers. By the postseason, the team that would become the decade's best was ready to arrive. The Steelers rose to the top of the football world by upsetting the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX. It...

It was the hit felt from Boston to Bangor. In Week 2 of the 2001 season, New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe absorbed a vicious blow from Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, shearing an artery behind his ribs. He was out indefinitely. The 2001 season appeared lost. But in stepped backup Tom Brady, a former sixth round draft choice, and New England sports history was changed forever. Over the next few weeks, Brady compiled a 5-3 record as a starter. When Bledsoe returned to reclaim the starting...

In 1977, the Dallas Cowboys sent four picks to Seattle in exchange for the second overall choice in the NFL Draft. With that pick, halfback Tony Dorsett, the Cowboys had landed the final piece to their Championship puzzle. Combined with the ingenuity of quarterback Roger Staubach and the leadership of coach Tom Landry, Dallas surged to a 12-2 regular season record. Dorsett provided the break-away speed Dallas coveted in its backfield, rushing for 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns to win Rookie of...

Led by head coach Tom Flores, the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders entered Super Bowl XVIII as underdogs. But the Raiders proved that they were the NFL's best as they manhandled the highest scoring team in the league, the Washington Redskins, 38-9 to win their third Vince Lombardi Trophy. Al Davis has done more than anybody in the history of the game - through personal achievement, team achievement and contribution to the game - and has demonstrated more than ever that he is and always will be...

The first 30 days of October in 2004 were pure bliss for sports fans in New England. The Patriots were the darlings of the NFL, boasting two Super Bowl victories over the past three years, and an NFL-record 21-game winning streak. But Halloween proved to be a nightmare for New England. In Pittsburgh, the Patriots fell to Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers, and also lost their All-Pro cornerback, Ty Law, to a season-ending injury. In the weeks that followed, other key defensive backs missed time as...

Nobody loves reclamation projects more than Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. Jim Plunkett knew this. A former Heisman winner out of Stanford, Plunkett was cast out of New England and then released by San Francisco before arriving at Davis' doorstep in 1978. It proved to be a perfect match. In week 6 of the 1980 season, head coach Tom Flores gave Plunkett his chance. From there, he rewarded the team's confidence in him by leading Oakland to Super Bowl XV. There, backed by a renegade defense led...