The Games That Changed the Game by Ron Jaworski

Author:Ron Jaworski
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780345517975
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2010-02-14T10:00:00+00:00

49ers Series No. 6

2nd Quarter, 5:32 remaining: San Francisco 24, New York 10

After coughing up the ball on successive possessions, the Giants were a little more careful on their series. Although they burned nearly five minutes off the clock on a solid drive, they weren’t able to close the deal and had to be content with a 48-yard field goal from kicker Joe Danelo. San Francisco had more than enough time to tack on another score before halftime—and nearly did. On the second play from scrimmage, Ayers popped out, looking for Taylor again, but L.T. was in coverage. Montana ran a double-pump fake and then completed his pass to Solomon for 17 yards. Joe’s fakes were confusing enough, but an additional weapon he used to torment the Giants was designed movement that continuously varied the launch point of his passes. They seemed to change on every play, and for a defense—even one as good as New York’s—this had to be terribly frustrating. It kept their pass rush from generating any kind of rhythm or timing.

That wasn’t the only variable tilting in Montana’s favor. “I think the flexibility Joe had in ‘81 worked hand in hand with the West Coast offense,” said Clark. “The play would be called to go against a certain coverage. If Joe saw that coverage was different before the snap, then he could change the play. Of the seventy-five to one hundred plays we’d have in a game, maybe thirty percent of those had audibles to them.” Cross took it a step further: “From an improvisational standpoint, when you talk about Montana, it’d be like comparing your average comedian to Robin Williams. Joe could riff on the field and ‘improv’ amazingly. He could take a lot of what Bill wanted to do and sort of put his own spin on it while he was doing it.”

A run by Cooper was stopped after just a couple of yards, and then Joe threw again. Ayers successfully Molly blocked the onrushing Taylor, and Solomon hauled in a 7-yard pass. Third-and-1 from the 46 suggested that the Niners would run, and they did—no trickery this time. From their two-back set, Ayers pulled out, and Patton provided the lead block. It was your garden-variety power running play. But it wouldn’t have picked up big yardage without Ramson manhandling Taylor: He washed L.T. inside and eliminated him from the play. Cooper found open space and ran for 20 before Flowers finally caught up to him. In 1981 the 49ers ranked near the bottom in yards-per-rush average, but in the playoffs, against one of the league’s most physical defenses, they were running with surprising efficiency.

In the closing moments, the Giants kept the Niners from going any farther, forcing a 50-yard field goal attempt. It would have been a challenge even on a dry field, but on Candlestick’s slippery surface Wersching was unable to maintain his footing and slipped as he approached the football. The kick was both wide and short, keeping San Francisco’s two-touchdown lead unchanged at halftime.

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