December 29, 2025 • 27 mins
Covers the final five regular-season games, including a tough loss in Miami and a playoff-clinching win over the Bengals. Features the emotional highs and lows of the playoff chase and the unforgettable moment when fans carried the goalposts down Route 1.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What do you remember about the nineteen eighty five Patriots
Forty years later? We're going back to tell the story
of the first Patriots team to make it to a
Super Bowl, the special team that blazed a pathway that
we much traveled over the next four decades. Here from
the players and coaches, as well as the sounds from
television and radio that defined the season, as we uncover
what made this a Patriots team to remember even if
(00:20):
they didn't win a Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Annihilating might be a better word.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Good yard, Hey wait, we putboard cut out do England
defense core Burger's back.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
We're gonna throw fire this one good fire cut good
on the.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Bear gaming player running it all away, good.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Cutdown, eighty five yards.
Speaker 6 (00:55):
Burning prior Deason rolling out to the right side, avoiding
the pressure.
Speaker 7 (01:00):
I'm Ronny brook wait n lind Upham, Indian zoom six
point Agrio shut down, Aprian, Tony Collin look, Agrian.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
No believe, I Mike do so And this is a
Patriots Super Bowl sound OUTYSSEEA nineteen eighty five episode five,
The Push.
Speaker 7 (01:17):
And It's New England still in first places, A bat
Chuck knoxa Seahawks from twenty to thirteen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The Patriots were streaking at eight and three, they'd won
sixth straight as they headed to the Meadowlands to face
the eight and three Jets with the AFC Division lead
on the line.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
So New England will open up on offense, and this
is the quarterback Steve Crogan in his eleventh year, Hallo Way,
Hannah Mores, Wooton and Moore. That is the offensive line
from tackle to tackle. Stanley Morgan and hamstring problems. So
that means that Jones will start in place of him.
Dawson is a tight end and of course Irving Fire
the other wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
But the game and season would quickly take an unfortunate turn, and.
Speaker 8 (01:57):
Grogan was dumped hard on that play. Remember he's got
knee problems, has had a number of knee operations that
he is gingerly leaving the field, But that's something we'll.
Speaker 7 (02:08):
Have to watch.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Steve Grogan, who had been the spark that ignited the
win streak, exited the game with a broken leg, opening
the door for the season's original starter, Tony Eason.
Speaker 9 (02:17):
Now with Grogan giving support from the sidelines, the whole
season road on Tony Eason's right.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Arm Eason, just recovered from his own shoulder injury, entered
the game for the first time since September, but surprisingly
showed little rust.
Speaker 10 (02:31):
The offense has all made a lot of progress. He
put in a lot of things in terms of quantity
and quality. Huh, and I think the offense made a
lot of growth thuring at the time period.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Down thirteen to three at the start of the fourth quarter,
Easton took a page from Grogan's comeback playbook, orchestrating two
scoring drives to tie the game first with a big
passing play to Cedric Jones the exit out that's.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
Down secret Joel twenty nine yards of the Patriots right back.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
In the ballgame.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Still down thirteen ten, Easton and the Patriots offense took
over with one seventeen left in the game after a
twenty six yard pass to tight end Derrick Ramsey. Craig
James rushed for another fourteen yards to set up Tony
Franklin with a twenty eight yard field goal attempt to
send the game to overtime.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Twenty eight yards or Easton, Hoole, that's a hood of
the whole.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It's there for twenty eight yards away and we are tied.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
At thirteen thirteen with now sixteen second.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
In overtime, the teams traded two punts each and that's
when special teams, a strength of the Patriots team all
season long, allowed a forty six yard punt return all
the way to their own fifteen yard line. The Jets
kicked the field goal and took the win along with
the lead in the division final score Jets sixteen, Patriots thirteen.
Speaker 7 (03:48):
The Jets defeat New England sixteen to thirteen, and the
Patriots with snakes bit in overtime. They are the only
NFL team never to have won an overtime game.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
They are now oh and A.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Cedret Jones still remembered the street breaking lost to the Jets,
but Pete Brock said the team still had confidence in
Eason despite the early season interceptions and sacks that mired
the offense out of the gate.
Speaker 10 (04:07):
That game was tough for us, you know, losing Grogan.
We fought back.
Speaker 11 (04:10):
You know, we thought we win the game and you
look and back after play he's on the ground, hold
his leg and you know, Tony was a great quarterback,
but Grogan was so hot at that time. You know,
we thought we running but Tony came back in. You know,
his shoulder thumb got better and better, and you know
he had some big plays and drove us down. But
that was that was a tough loss for us, you know,
(04:30):
very tough loss.
Speaker 12 (04:31):
Steve Grogan got us into a position to be successful
and you know, had to had to rely on we
had to rely on on Tony Easton to take it
from there. And Tony did a great job.
Speaker 13 (04:42):
So at what point do you make that change?
Speaker 12 (04:44):
But you know, Steve was Steve was our quarterback and
and it was, you know, fortunate that we had the
talent of Tony Easton to be able to pick up
where he kind of left off.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
On this dark November evening, Raymond very witness both the
end of the streak and the loss of the player
most responsible for it.
Speaker 10 (05:05):
The win streak was over.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
They were eight and four and once again it was
Easton's team and with four games remaining, it would be
up to him to get the Patriots back on the
playoff path.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
And now Tony Easton and the New England Patriots will
start at the Colts thirty six. Can Tony Easton do
the job? The placed in Steep Rogan. Rogan is here
by the way, on prushures Yes here is an inspiration
to his teammates.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
December first, Indianapolis, the Patriots needed a bounce back against
the Colts team that they had beaten thirty four to
fifteen just three weeks earlier.
Speaker 6 (05:37):
Man, this is going to be an important matchup today.
What the Colts do best is run the ball. Unfortunately
for them, the Patriot defense is very stingy against the run.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Getting their first touchdown in the first quarter in eight
games was a nice way to start thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Clock is down to two. Throwing touchdown two Irving Prior.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Easton continued to have success through the air as the
game developed into a back and forth affair, the New
England doing just enough to stay in in front of
a Colts offense that came to play inside there.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Who's your dome?
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Asen over the middle, Morgan puts us head down, touchdown.
He smelled ins On lent third and fourteenth and the
twenty five Easton going for all of them. Morgan grabbed
it for a touchdown and HiT's the wall.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
What a throw at catch.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Easton threw for two hundred and ninety three yards and
three touchdowns with just one interception, while longtime special team
stalwart mostly to Tupu closed out the win with a
fourth quarter touchdown that made it thirty eight to twenty four.
Late in the fourth quarter, it's back to Tupu.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
He's got it.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Man Easton will run over it to congratulate. Most seat
to Tupu on his first touchdown.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Of the season.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Totupu is one of the unsung heroes of the nineteen
eighty five Patriots. An eighth round draft pick in nineteen
seventy eight, Totupu saw over one hundred carries at running
back in nineteen eighty two and nineteen eighty three, developing
a bigger role as a key special teams player, a
skill that would carry his career all the way to.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
The nineteen nineties.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Tatupu still made some key contributions on offense, doing more
of the dirty work on short yards with Robert Weathers
mostly Totuku.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
What a tremendous short yardage name that is it has
a ring to it. Toatuka one of the better short
yardage carriers in the league, and he has a three
point eight yard Kirk carry average.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
But he made his biggest contributions for special teams coach
Dante Scarnekia.
Speaker 14 (07:17):
Well, they were really We had a great bunch of guys,
mostly Tatupu was our Special teams captain and one of
the really great players in Patriot history. He really meets
being the Patriot Hall of Fame is you know, one
of the pre eminent special teams players.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Thirty eight points was the highest scoring output of the season,
as the balanced attack put it all together when they
had to led by an offensive line that set the
tone up front.
Speaker 15 (07:46):
Feeling most comfortable to offensive guard Hannah's aggressive run blocking
became his hallmark. This style of attacking the defense from
the line position became infectious as Hannah and other members
of the offensive line Howard rules defensive opposition.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah was the leader
of a group that consistently wore down defenses in nineteen
eighty five, allowing the Patriots the seal wins in the
fourth quarter.
Speaker 16 (08:10):
The whole thing about a running game is you the
defense allows you to keep the game close, and that
way you can have a running game, and that thirty
pool yards and the cloud of dust pays off. And
then if you got the guys that are willing to,
you know, give it everything they got at the beginning
of the game. By the end of the game, most
(08:32):
people aren't in You know, the defensive lines aren't in
condition to collapse that long, so you can you wear them,
like you said, you wear them down. You know, if
you're having six nine play twelve play drives all the time,
you keep that defense on the field and you wear
(08:52):
them out, and you know it's not it doesn't mean
that you're not getting tired, but you're used to it.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
The offensive line also made an impact of practice, getting
rookie garon Varius ready for a stellar finish to his
first season well the GM. Patrick Sullivan watched Hannah lead
the way in his final year.
Speaker 17 (09:07):
The consistency of you know, I had to practice every day,
I always tell people. I mean, coming into my rookie
year and having to play as rush against John Hannah
every damn day of the season. You know, it was like, man,
I get tired of get my bell rung and keep fighting.
But you know, playing against guys like Ron Wooten and
(09:30):
Brian Holloway and John Hannah, Steve Moore, all those guys
down the line, it.
Speaker 10 (09:37):
Just prepared you to get get ready.
Speaker 18 (09:39):
John Hannah was just continued to play at a level
of excellence that nobody had ever played at in that
position in the history of the game, and to my view,
nobody's even touched it since then.
Speaker 10 (09:54):
That was very simple. Want to be the best offensive
guard that ever played football. That was curious.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Nineteen eighty five will be the final season of Hannah's
Hall of Fame career, but he continued to play at
an elite level, wrapping his thirteen seasons with his eighth
Pro Bowl and seventh First team All Pro selection.
Speaker 19 (10:08):
The veteran John Hannah thirteen years out of Alabama.
Speaker 20 (10:12):
But that's the direction they'll go, Hannah, the All Pro
side of the Patriots line.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
The left side of their line. That's where they like
to run the ball back on track.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
At nine to four, the Pats would return home and
coast to a win over the Lions.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And this is the best Patriots.
Speaker 20 (10:24):
Defense, people tell us in the history of the franchise,
and that's some twenty six years. They are aggressive, they
are highly ranked, and you know what they have those guys,
especially at linebackers to Steve Nelson's the Andre Tippets, who
can make things happen.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
The defense dominated, forcing three more takeaways, and the offense
controlled the clock, with Craig James going over one thousand
rushing yards for the season as the ground game tallied
their third two hundred yard rushing performance of the year.
Speaker 19 (10:49):
Third and seven bum the shotgun. Here's esan Eason bill
start that he took. Deason hung the shotgun formation, throws
into the gun Zonner touchdown Ferguson back to pass that
puts us hard to comfor.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The ball is not close and Julius Adams comes up with.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
It and the Patriots half the ball.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Tony Collins having a good afternoon.
Speaker 20 (11:10):
Also, he is one of those thousand yard rushers that
the Patriots have had. They've only had three Sam the
band coming in, Jim Nance, Tony.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Collins and soon to be for Jim James became the
fourth Patriot to break the one thousand yard mark.
Speaker 7 (11:23):
Here's a great James looking for two yards to get
one thousand.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
He's got it in Moore.
Speaker 19 (11:27):
A standing ovation for Craig James, who has ninety four
yards brushing this afternoon. That puts them over the one
thousand yard mark four in a year.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Paying off a late round flyer draft pick, Patrick Sullivan
made after James had first chosen the USFL.
Speaker 21 (11:39):
We drafted Craig James in the sixth round, and you
know he was he was under contract to the Washington Federals,
but we had a sense that we could get him
out of that contract. We understood he was very close
with Ron Meyer, who is our coach, and and we
understood from Ron that that Craig really wanted out, wanted
to be the NFL. So picking up Craig James in
(12:02):
the sixth round was a really great move for US.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
James credited Dante Scarnekia for helping him adjust to the
scheme in New England.
Speaker 22 (12:09):
Nothing against the system when I came in here as
a as a rookie, but we had a really hard time,
very complicated pass protection scheme. I've got I've got Sam,
I've got strong safetyre I've got that. But if then
I've got that, when you get a football player thinking
you've got problems, you got sacks. And so Scar cleaned
that up. He just said, look, let's let's simplify this thing.
Let's make sure we know who we're gonna block. If
(12:31):
you can't do that, then you don't You can't be successful.
Speaker 14 (12:34):
Craig is one of the great runners that I've ever
been around. We had I and Eric Dickerson down at SMU.
They shared the same position and phenomenal back, you know,
and they could do it all. They could run, they catch,
they could run inside, they could run outside, and you know,
Craig was a big part.
Speaker 10 (12:53):
The Lions win. Was also the first start for rookie
Garon Veris.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We stepped up to replace veteran stalwart Ken Simms, one
of the key injury losses of the season outside of
the quarterback position. After earning the respect of veterans like
Andre Tippett, Barris was ready for the challenge and continue
to add to his stellar rookie sack stats.
Speaker 23 (13:10):
Garin could have been a cathline type athlete, That's how
and people don't realize that about him. I mean, the
guy was all everything in track and field along with football.
And then on top of that, smart guy, he went
to Stanford and you know so and probably one of the.
Speaker 10 (13:28):
Meanest, toughest sobs you've ever been with.
Speaker 23 (13:31):
I mean, this guy I'll go to war with because
I knew that, you know what, We're gonna keep throwing
hands until somebody falls down and you know, I know
he ain't gonna run off and leave me.
Speaker 10 (13:40):
Hanging by myself.
Speaker 17 (13:41):
I really felt, and I think Coach prepared me well
for that first start against the Detroit Lions, and I
felt that I was ready to play. And you know,
it was just that culmination of learning the defense, learning
the style of play, learning to be aggressive, learning learning
to play smart. All those things provided me for that
(14:02):
opportunity that I had against Detroit my first start, and
to keep it rolling. You know, after that, I really
wanted to prove to the other guys on the team,
the veterans, Nelly and all of them, that they weren't
going to be let down by a rookie coming in
who was undersized at two hundred and fifty five pounds
and could play just as well or you know, play
(14:23):
up to his abilities.
Speaker 10 (14:24):
So that's that's really what I wanted to be. I
want to be part of that team.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Final score twenty three to six. The Patriots were ten
and four and held their playoff fates in their own
hands with two games to play. Heading into a key
divisional matchup at their own personal House of horrors, New
England had the chance to win their first AFC East
divisional title since nineteen seventy eight. But they'd have to
do it in a place they hadn't won in almost
twenty years, Miami's Orange Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Weird Delight.
Speaker 7 (14:47):
If you are with us tonight, we think we could
have a real stunner for you. Two football teams within
the same division, the AFC's they have been battling all
season long. There are two hot football teams and New
England Patriots. Well, the Wind to Night can't clinch this division,
and they won eight.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Of their last nine games.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
December nineteenth, Monday Night Football, Patriots at Dolphins with a
division title on the line.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
There's something called the tanks Silver. New England got a
little black clown. Remember the little character a little after.
Speaker 7 (15:12):
Every time the New England Patriots come to the Orange Bowl,
they go away with the loss. The last time they
won here was in nineteen sixty six. They have lost
seventeen consecutive games here in the Orange Bowl.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It was a heavyweight fight.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
The Dolphins took a seven to nothing lead, but Easton
and the Patriots came right back on the next drive
to keep pace.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
But Gason on first down, what's it out? Fire? Beautiful
beautiful timing.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
He sned to Friar touchdown Paul Lankford spinning with at Fryar.
But it was absolutely perfectly timed out by Easton and Fryar.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But every Patriots score was matched by the Dolphins, even
as the takeaway greedy Patriots defense kept New England within
striking distance with four takeaways to offset their four giveaways.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Were then start down at eleven for the Dolphins.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
They have forty two seconds right now, the ballin vote
arena tellers and New Anglers by they get it back.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I'm ready knocked it out of there. Tip. It came
all the way from behind Marino.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
Marino, I don't think he even saw it, and he
knocks it loose and Varius comes up with the recovery.
He said, looking for fire, and he picks off when
Blackwood goes up, come down with it at the five
yard line, the third Patriot turnover.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
The Patriots were hanging by a thread in the fourth quarter,
down by fourteen points, when a critical sequence got them
back into the game.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Second and ten, twenty seven yard line of New England.
Colin running by Colin Now he kicks off and he
finds Derrick Ramsey and Ramsey will have a first down
to the thirty seven yard line of the Dolphins. Slide
up Fraser and wide open up to Tony Collins. Colin
just ripped the food tacklers down to.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
About the fifteen yard line. And this is where the
noise really gets deepening down here.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
First in fifteen he said, fine passed the Stanley Morgan.
He takes it all the way down to the five
yard line to Tuffoo Mossy to Tuffo touchdown.
Speaker 10 (17:01):
Bord New England.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
Certainly here was his blocker as well that time he's
rolled up then cut back.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Hey, that's a tough New England team.
Speaker 7 (17:09):
They are mentally tough as well as physically tough.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Four big plays led to a Tatwo Poo touchdown, closing
the gap to twenty seven to twenty with just over
seven minutes to play. On the ensuing kickoff, New England
special teams came through in the clutch.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Right as still out of feet.
Speaker 7 (17:23):
Oh, ball as loose and the Patriots have it and
they're indicating touchdown. It was mcswaine who provided the hit.
Sidric Jones came up with the football and they're mobbing
Jones and the end.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Zone Cedric Jones kickoff fumble recovery touchdown tied the game,
erasing a two score deficit in the matter of two plays.
Speaker 10 (17:44):
We almost had it.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
I recovered it from a mot yeah on the kickoff,
you know it, and scored and we thought we had
it and then we lost it.
Speaker 10 (17:50):
It was It was a deflating for us, but.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
The game tied. The Patriots defense held Miami to a
field goal with five minutes to play, giving Easton in
the offense a chance to win the game and the
division with one touchdown drive. The offense started to move
the ball on the ground, converting a fourth and one
with Tupu while battering Miami with Collins and James. Then
they took to the air and Easton found Collins for
seventeen yards at the Miami thirty four. New England was
(18:13):
knocking on the door of a thrilling fourth quarter comeback victory.
With one six left, Easton dropped back to pass a
lot of.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Times please say the over thug kind of hope picked
off Lean. Blackwood had another opportunity. He took out Champions.
He hooks slid out a fig twenty five yard line
fast attended for Derrek Ramsay and the Dolphins players are
going bananas.
Speaker 24 (18:34):
They'll go hold like many teams have done since I've
been in when I was playing, and they'll say, hey,
we outplayed the Dolphins as the game we should have won,
but we will look at three or four mistakes that
they made and they said we blew the game. But
you know what, that's been happening here in the Wards
Bowl every since Shula's been here.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And the other thing is too It's not all over
for New England. They still haven't shot at making the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
They got a tough on next week.
Speaker 13 (19:01):
Cincinnati put points.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
On the board.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
The loss dropped the Patriots to ten and five. The
AFC's divisional title was out of their reach, but the
playoffs were not, and head coach Raven Berry kept his
team focused on that fact.
Speaker 23 (19:13):
So the Monday night game we lost, Barry gathers U
Hall in a huddle right in the locker room and
he looks at us and that finger was broken. But
he stood up and he started talking and he said
to us, he says, look, we've been delayed, but we
(19:34):
will not be denied. We will see these guys again.
And we're looking at him. The hell is he talking
about that's the second game of the season we've done.
We're not going to do the season. I mean they're
off our schedule, and we never thought about that again
until it's time to play them down there.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
The season came down to one final game. The Patriots
needed a win to get into the postseason. The opponent,
a feisty seven to eight Bengals team, was second year
quarterback Boomer Sisin and wide receiver Chris Collinsworth, a Bengals
team that would win the AFC three seasons later.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I asked for the new England Patriots.
Speaker 25 (20:05):
Oh what a year it has been for Raymond Berry
first full year as a head coach in the National
Football League.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Addie has got his.
Speaker 25 (20:13):
Team on the windows sill of the nineteen eighty five
eighty six playoff picture their capacity crowd on had here
at Sullivan City. Of the temperature twenty nine degrees, a
fifteen mile an hour win.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
The wind chill is twelve.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Degrees December twenty second, Sullivan Stadium. It was an electric atmosphere.
Speaker 11 (20:32):
We had Cincinnati at home and the crowd was rock
because they were rocking. It was the game that we
had to win to make the playoffs, so we had
to win that game.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
After trading early field goals, Tony Easton hit Stanley Morgan
for a fifty yard touchdown, and the Patriots were often running,
building a twenty to six league at halftime from the
midfield stripe.
Speaker 25 (20:51):
But his first down play actionison looking long.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
He damn my bargain. What's down? Number five this season?
Speaker 25 (21:03):
His forty seventh career ted That, my friends, is a
team record here in New England.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
What's down? Patriots?
Speaker 7 (21:14):
A nine yard touchdown run for Tony Collins, and it's
a play, Sam Retigliano, that has been around football for
as long as I've been around. There's a misdirected play.
They went to James on the right, Collins came to
the left, a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
The Bengals would hang around and make it interesting, posting
two second half touchdowns in a field goal to close
within four points on third and nine.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
It has cut Eddy Brown about the five touchdown Cincinnati
backwards pass.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
James.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
It is still touchdown Patriots, second down in goal, Cincinnati
five forty nine to play in the ball game, It's
Hias and its touchdown Collins.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Worth With just over two minutes remaining and New England,
clinging to a twenty seven to twenty three lead. The
Patriots faced a pivotal fourth down. Raymond Berry stayed aggressive,
looking to finish the game on their terms, and Robert
Weathers delivered one of the signature moments of the nineteen
eighty five season.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
George yardage turn fourth down on the flut.
Speaker 19 (22:13):
Here's the turn the hand off man, still, donny.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
They put the game away, really wore it on board down.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
They put the game away.
Speaker 13 (22:29):
I just noticed that I wasn't any playing time, and
I just figured that, just, you know, instead of sulking,
I'll just sit over there and wait until my time comes.
And Raymond came over to me and saw me. They said,
no't worry, You're gonna win one for you know, And
then he walked away, and I'm like, in my mind,
(22:51):
I'm like, man, I get out of here.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
Against the Bengals, the key play came when Raymond Berry
disdained a punt and gambled on fourth down from the
forty two with just two minutes remaining.
Speaker 13 (23:03):
I've heard a lot of people say these kind of things,
but I never really believed them. But it happened to me.
I'm sitting over there thinking to myself, Man, when I
get in the game, I'll.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Tell you what could usually do.
Speaker 25 (23:16):
The biggest play of the nineteen eighty five season for
the New England Papers the triple and Weather's the running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
That's Weathers.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Wonder does he have the first time you've been suck
up a touch by the Loveland?
Speaker 13 (23:34):
Well, there's a go sure, yeah, I'm like, what I'm
getting up by the legs of hamstring got ice on them.
And so I went in the very same play I
saw when I was sitting down is what actually happened.
And I couldn't believe it. It just sprung out before
me and a good blocking up front by the offensive line.
(23:58):
Greg Harthorne, excellent job, so did mostly so it was.
It was amazing.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
Everybody at Sullivan Stadium was hoping four on their six inches.
Instead Robert Weathers electra five everyone with.
Speaker 11 (24:15):
Thirty two yahs and Robert Weathers on like a fourth
and one that tremendous run.
Speaker 10 (24:21):
Raind was like, go for it. We're all excited.
Speaker 11 (24:23):
Robert Weathers, who was a nine to four hundred yard
desk guy in high school, broke it in a big
run and you know we're in the playoffs.
Speaker 13 (24:29):
Weather take it around the corner man and.
Speaker 10 (24:31):
It was over.
Speaker 13 (24:33):
I think I think it put They tore down the stadium,
not the stadium, but the post that day, did they?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
The Patriots won thirty four to twenty three and punched
their tickets of the playoffs as the exuberant fan based
storm the field, ripping down the goalposts and carrying them
right out of the stadium in Uproot one, I.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
Had the crowd of six to eight thousand boring onto
the plane circles.
Speaker 17 (24:52):
Here at Foxborough, you know, during the regular season beating
Cincinnati to even get into the playoffs, and we had
to have that victory. I think that was really the
biggest one. I still look back. Somebody sent me a pictures,
a black and white picture. I think it was in
the Boston Globe. But thousands of people on the field
(25:13):
after that game and the goal post got torn down
on the field, and I was wondering, I said, is
that the last time or has it ever happened since
that time where thousands of people rushed the field and
tore goalposts out of a professional football game.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
I don't know, but I've got proof that we were
part of that game that that happened.
Speaker 18 (25:32):
No, and that was a true light loose moment, if
you will, And unfortunately some people did get hurt.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I mean, you know, those.
Speaker 18 (25:43):
Those goal posts when they had made contact with those
high tension wires, that was two and a half miles
down route.
Speaker 10 (25:49):
One's sort of like.
Speaker 18 (25:52):
Why in God's name didn't the state police look at
these guys carrying, you know, a forty five foot long
pole on the street where Island Dave's happed him from
doing that, But they didn't, and you know, and we
got hurt.
Speaker 10 (26:05):
But fortunately all seriously.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
The electrified nineteen eighty five New England Patriots were headed
to the postseason for the first time since nineteen seventy eight,
but as Tony Collins and his teammates knew, it would
be a daunting road.
Speaker 23 (26:16):
We met the Bengals just to get in the playoffs.
Randon Barry said something to us, and he says, Okay,
we're in the playoffs, so.
Speaker 21 (26:25):
Now, okay, what we're gonna do.
Speaker 23 (26:29):
We're the underdog.
Speaker 13 (26:31):
We have to travel with every game.
Speaker 23 (26:34):
No, there's no home game for.
Speaker 13 (26:36):
Us, So what we're going to do.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
The Patriots finished the regular season eleven and five, team
that had found its identity, the team that was ready
for the next step.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
A week ago they were battling o the actually Eastern
Division title. Today, thanks, they were enough fights for their
life just to survive and be a fire a post
season fly next time.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
On the nineteen eighty five Super Bowl Sound Odyssey, the
playoff Road begins wild card AFC East rivalry showdown in
New York for.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
The first time in three years.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
Patriots fans with all the feelings of what the playoffs
are out about
What do you remember about the nineteen eighty five Patriots
Forty years later? We're going back to tell the story
of the first Patriots team to make it to a
Super Bowl, the special team that blazed a pathway that
we much traveled over the next four decades. Here from
the players and coaches, as well as the sounds from
television and radio that defined the season, as we uncover
what made this a Patriots team to remember even if
(00:20):
they didn't win a Super Bowl championship.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Annihilating might be a better word.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Good yard, Hey wait, we putboard cut out do England
defense core Burger's back.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
We're gonna throw fire this one good fire cut good
on the.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Bear gaming player running it all away, good.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Cutdown, eighty five yards.
Speaker 6 (00:55):
Burning prior Deason rolling out to the right side, avoiding
the pressure.
Speaker 7 (01:00):
I'm Ronny brook wait n lind Upham, Indian zoom six
point Agrio shut down, Aprian, Tony Collin look, Agrian.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
No believe, I Mike do so And this is a
Patriots Super Bowl sound OUTYSSEEA nineteen eighty five episode five,
The Push.
Speaker 7 (01:17):
And It's New England still in first places, A bat
Chuck knoxa Seahawks from twenty to thirteen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The Patriots were streaking at eight and three, they'd won
sixth straight as they headed to the Meadowlands to face
the eight and three Jets with the AFC Division lead
on the line.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
So New England will open up on offense, and this
is the quarterback Steve Crogan in his eleventh year, Hallo Way,
Hannah Mores, Wooton and Moore. That is the offensive line
from tackle to tackle. Stanley Morgan and hamstring problems. So
that means that Jones will start in place of him.
Dawson is a tight end and of course Irving Fire
the other wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
But the game and season would quickly take an unfortunate turn, and.
Speaker 8 (01:57):
Grogan was dumped hard on that play. Remember he's got
knee problems, has had a number of knee operations that
he is gingerly leaving the field, But that's something we'll.
Speaker 7 (02:08):
Have to watch.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Steve Grogan, who had been the spark that ignited the
win streak, exited the game with a broken leg, opening
the door for the season's original starter, Tony Eason.
Speaker 9 (02:17):
Now with Grogan giving support from the sidelines, the whole
season road on Tony Eason's right.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Arm Eason, just recovered from his own shoulder injury, entered
the game for the first time since September, but surprisingly
showed little rust.
Speaker 10 (02:31):
The offense has all made a lot of progress. He
put in a lot of things in terms of quantity
and quality. Huh, and I think the offense made a
lot of growth thuring at the time period.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Down thirteen to three at the start of the fourth quarter,
Easton took a page from Grogan's comeback playbook, orchestrating two
scoring drives to tie the game first with a big
passing play to Cedric Jones the exit out that's.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
Down secret Joel twenty nine yards of the Patriots right back.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
In the ballgame.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Still down thirteen ten, Easton and the Patriots offense took
over with one seventeen left in the game after a
twenty six yard pass to tight end Derrick Ramsey. Craig
James rushed for another fourteen yards to set up Tony
Franklin with a twenty eight yard field goal attempt to
send the game to overtime.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Twenty eight yards or Easton, Hoole, that's a hood of
the whole.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It's there for twenty eight yards away and we are tied.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
At thirteen thirteen with now sixteen second.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
In overtime, the teams traded two punts each and that's
when special teams, a strength of the Patriots team all
season long, allowed a forty six yard punt return all
the way to their own fifteen yard line. The Jets
kicked the field goal and took the win along with
the lead in the division final score Jets sixteen, Patriots thirteen.
Speaker 7 (03:48):
The Jets defeat New England sixteen to thirteen, and the
Patriots with snakes bit in overtime. They are the only
NFL team never to have won an overtime game.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
They are now oh and A.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Cedret Jones still remembered the street breaking lost to the Jets,
but Pete Brock said the team still had confidence in
Eason despite the early season interceptions and sacks that mired
the offense out of the gate.
Speaker 10 (04:07):
That game was tough for us, you know, losing Grogan.
We fought back.
Speaker 11 (04:10):
You know, we thought we win the game and you
look and back after play he's on the ground, hold
his leg and you know, Tony was a great quarterback,
but Grogan was so hot at that time. You know,
we thought we running but Tony came back in. You know,
his shoulder thumb got better and better, and you know
he had some big plays and drove us down. But
that was that was a tough loss for us, you know,
(04:30):
very tough loss.
Speaker 12 (04:31):
Steve Grogan got us into a position to be successful
and you know, had to had to rely on we
had to rely on on Tony Easton to take it
from there. And Tony did a great job.
Speaker 13 (04:42):
So at what point do you make that change?
Speaker 12 (04:44):
But you know, Steve was Steve was our quarterback and
and it was, you know, fortunate that we had the
talent of Tony Easton to be able to pick up
where he kind of left off.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
On this dark November evening, Raymond very witness both the
end of the streak and the loss of the player
most responsible for it.
Speaker 10 (05:05):
The win streak was over.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
They were eight and four and once again it was
Easton's team and with four games remaining, it would be
up to him to get the Patriots back on the
playoff path.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
And now Tony Easton and the New England Patriots will
start at the Colts thirty six. Can Tony Easton do
the job? The placed in Steep Rogan. Rogan is here
by the way, on prushures Yes here is an inspiration
to his teammates.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
December first, Indianapolis, the Patriots needed a bounce back against
the Colts team that they had beaten thirty four to
fifteen just three weeks earlier.
Speaker 6 (05:37):
Man, this is going to be an important matchup today.
What the Colts do best is run the ball. Unfortunately
for them, the Patriot defense is very stingy against the run.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Getting their first touchdown in the first quarter in eight
games was a nice way to start thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Clock is down to two. Throwing touchdown two Irving Prior.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Easton continued to have success through the air as the
game developed into a back and forth affair, the New
England doing just enough to stay in in front of
a Colts offense that came to play inside there.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Who's your dome?
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Asen over the middle, Morgan puts us head down, touchdown.
He smelled ins On lent third and fourteenth and the
twenty five Easton going for all of them. Morgan grabbed
it for a touchdown and HiT's the wall.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
What a throw at catch.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Easton threw for two hundred and ninety three yards and
three touchdowns with just one interception, while longtime special team
stalwart mostly to Tupu closed out the win with a
fourth quarter touchdown that made it thirty eight to twenty four.
Late in the fourth quarter, it's back to Tupu.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
He's got it.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Man Easton will run over it to congratulate. Most seat
to Tupu on his first touchdown.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Of the season.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Totupu is one of the unsung heroes of the nineteen
eighty five Patriots. An eighth round draft pick in nineteen
seventy eight, Totupu saw over one hundred carries at running
back in nineteen eighty two and nineteen eighty three, developing
a bigger role as a key special teams player, a
skill that would carry his career all the way to.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
The nineteen nineties.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Tatupu still made some key contributions on offense, doing more
of the dirty work on short yards with Robert Weathers
mostly Totuku.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
What a tremendous short yardage name that is it has
a ring to it. Toatuka one of the better short
yardage carriers in the league, and he has a three
point eight yard Kirk carry average.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
But he made his biggest contributions for special teams coach
Dante Scarnekia.
Speaker 14 (07:17):
Well, they were really We had a great bunch of guys,
mostly Tatupu was our Special teams captain and one of
the really great players in Patriot history. He really meets
being the Patriot Hall of Fame is you know, one
of the pre eminent special teams players.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Thirty eight points was the highest scoring output of the season,
as the balanced attack put it all together when they
had to led by an offensive line that set the
tone up front.
Speaker 15 (07:46):
Feeling most comfortable to offensive guard Hannah's aggressive run blocking
became his hallmark. This style of attacking the defense from
the line position became infectious as Hannah and other members
of the offensive line Howard rules defensive opposition.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah was the leader
of a group that consistently wore down defenses in nineteen
eighty five, allowing the Patriots the seal wins in the
fourth quarter.
Speaker 16 (08:10):
The whole thing about a running game is you the
defense allows you to keep the game close, and that
way you can have a running game, and that thirty
pool yards and the cloud of dust pays off. And
then if you got the guys that are willing to,
you know, give it everything they got at the beginning
of the game. By the end of the game, most
(08:32):
people aren't in You know, the defensive lines aren't in
condition to collapse that long, so you can you wear them,
like you said, you wear them down. You know, if
you're having six nine play twelve play drives all the time,
you keep that defense on the field and you wear
(08:52):
them out, and you know it's not it doesn't mean
that you're not getting tired, but you're used to it.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
The offensive line also made an impact of practice, getting
rookie garon Varius ready for a stellar finish to his
first season well the GM. Patrick Sullivan watched Hannah lead
the way in his final year.
Speaker 17 (09:07):
The consistency of you know, I had to practice every day,
I always tell people. I mean, coming into my rookie
year and having to play as rush against John Hannah
every damn day of the season. You know, it was like, man,
I get tired of get my bell rung and keep fighting.
But you know, playing against guys like Ron Wooten and
(09:30):
Brian Holloway and John Hannah, Steve Moore, all those guys
down the line, it.
Speaker 10 (09:37):
Just prepared you to get get ready.
Speaker 18 (09:39):
John Hannah was just continued to play at a level
of excellence that nobody had ever played at in that
position in the history of the game, and to my view,
nobody's even touched it since then.
Speaker 10 (09:54):
That was very simple. Want to be the best offensive
guard that ever played football. That was curious.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Nineteen eighty five will be the final season of Hannah's
Hall of Fame career, but he continued to play at
an elite level, wrapping his thirteen seasons with his eighth
Pro Bowl and seventh First team All Pro selection.
Speaker 19 (10:08):
The veteran John Hannah thirteen years out of Alabama.
Speaker 20 (10:12):
But that's the direction they'll go, Hannah, the All Pro
side of the Patriots line.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
The left side of their line. That's where they like
to run the ball back on track.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
At nine to four, the Pats would return home and
coast to a win over the Lions.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And this is the best Patriots.
Speaker 20 (10:24):
Defense, people tell us in the history of the franchise,
and that's some twenty six years. They are aggressive, they
are highly ranked, and you know what they have those guys,
especially at linebackers to Steve Nelson's the Andre Tippets, who
can make things happen.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
The defense dominated, forcing three more takeaways, and the offense
controlled the clock, with Craig James going over one thousand
rushing yards for the season as the ground game tallied
their third two hundred yard rushing performance of the year.
Speaker 19 (10:49):
Third and seven bum the shotgun. Here's esan Eason bill
start that he took. Deason hung the shotgun formation, throws
into the gun Zonner touchdown Ferguson back to pass that
puts us hard to comfor.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The ball is not close and Julius Adams comes up with.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
It and the Patriots half the ball.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Tony Collins having a good afternoon.
Speaker 20 (11:10):
Also, he is one of those thousand yard rushers that
the Patriots have had. They've only had three Sam the
band coming in, Jim Nance, Tony.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Collins and soon to be for Jim James became the
fourth Patriot to break the one thousand yard mark.
Speaker 7 (11:23):
Here's a great James looking for two yards to get
one thousand.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
He's got it in Moore.
Speaker 19 (11:27):
A standing ovation for Craig James, who has ninety four
yards brushing this afternoon. That puts them over the one
thousand yard mark four in a year.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Paying off a late round flyer draft pick, Patrick Sullivan
made after James had first chosen the USFL.
Speaker 21 (11:39):
We drafted Craig James in the sixth round, and you
know he was he was under contract to the Washington Federals,
but we had a sense that we could get him
out of that contract. We understood he was very close
with Ron Meyer, who is our coach, and and we
understood from Ron that that Craig really wanted out, wanted
to be the NFL. So picking up Craig James in
(12:02):
the sixth round was a really great move for US.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
James credited Dante Scarnekia for helping him adjust to the
scheme in New England.
Speaker 22 (12:09):
Nothing against the system when I came in here as
a as a rookie, but we had a really hard time,
very complicated pass protection scheme. I've got I've got Sam,
I've got strong safetyre I've got that. But if then
I've got that, when you get a football player thinking
you've got problems, you got sacks. And so Scar cleaned
that up. He just said, look, let's let's simplify this thing.
Let's make sure we know who we're gonna block. If
(12:31):
you can't do that, then you don't You can't be successful.
Speaker 14 (12:34):
Craig is one of the great runners that I've ever
been around. We had I and Eric Dickerson down at SMU.
They shared the same position and phenomenal back, you know,
and they could do it all. They could run, they catch,
they could run inside, they could run outside, and you know,
Craig was a big part.
Speaker 10 (12:53):
The Lions win. Was also the first start for rookie
Garon Veris.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We stepped up to replace veteran stalwart Ken Simms, one
of the key injury losses of the season outside of
the quarterback position. After earning the respect of veterans like
Andre Tippett, Barris was ready for the challenge and continue
to add to his stellar rookie sack stats.
Speaker 23 (13:10):
Garin could have been a cathline type athlete, That's how
and people don't realize that about him. I mean, the
guy was all everything in track and field along with football.
And then on top of that, smart guy, he went
to Stanford and you know so and probably one of the.
Speaker 10 (13:28):
Meanest, toughest sobs you've ever been with.
Speaker 23 (13:31):
I mean, this guy I'll go to war with because
I knew that, you know what, We're gonna keep throwing
hands until somebody falls down and you know, I know
he ain't gonna run off and leave me.
Speaker 10 (13:40):
Hanging by myself.
Speaker 17 (13:41):
I really felt, and I think Coach prepared me well
for that first start against the Detroit Lions, and I
felt that I was ready to play. And you know,
it was just that culmination of learning the defense, learning
the style of play, learning to be aggressive, learning learning
to play smart. All those things provided me for that
(14:02):
opportunity that I had against Detroit my first start, and
to keep it rolling. You know, after that, I really
wanted to prove to the other guys on the team,
the veterans, Nelly and all of them, that they weren't
going to be let down by a rookie coming in
who was undersized at two hundred and fifty five pounds
and could play just as well or you know, play
(14:23):
up to his abilities.
Speaker 10 (14:24):
So that's that's really what I wanted to be. I
want to be part of that team.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Final score twenty three to six. The Patriots were ten
and four and held their playoff fates in their own
hands with two games to play. Heading into a key
divisional matchup at their own personal House of horrors, New
England had the chance to win their first AFC East
divisional title since nineteen seventy eight. But they'd have to
do it in a place they hadn't won in almost
twenty years, Miami's Orange Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Weird Delight.
Speaker 7 (14:47):
If you are with us tonight, we think we could
have a real stunner for you. Two football teams within
the same division, the AFC's they have been battling all
season long. There are two hot football teams and New
England Patriots. Well, the Wind to Night can't clinch this division,
and they won eight.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Of their last nine games.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
December nineteenth, Monday Night Football, Patriots at Dolphins with a
division title on the line.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
There's something called the tanks Silver. New England got a
little black clown. Remember the little character a little after.
Speaker 7 (15:12):
Every time the New England Patriots come to the Orange Bowl,
they go away with the loss. The last time they
won here was in nineteen sixty six. They have lost
seventeen consecutive games here in the Orange Bowl.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It was a heavyweight fight.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
The Dolphins took a seven to nothing lead, but Easton
and the Patriots came right back on the next drive
to keep pace.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
But Gason on first down, what's it out? Fire? Beautiful
beautiful timing.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
He sned to Friar touchdown Paul Lankford spinning with at Fryar.
But it was absolutely perfectly timed out by Easton and Fryar.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
But every Patriots score was matched by the Dolphins, even
as the takeaway greedy Patriots defense kept New England within
striking distance with four takeaways to offset their four giveaways.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Were then start down at eleven for the Dolphins.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
They have forty two seconds right now, the ballin vote
arena tellers and New Anglers by they get it back.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I'm ready knocked it out of there. Tip. It came
all the way from behind Marino.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
Marino, I don't think he even saw it, and he
knocks it loose and Varius comes up with the recovery.
He said, looking for fire, and he picks off when
Blackwood goes up, come down with it at the five
yard line, the third Patriot turnover.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
The Patriots were hanging by a thread in the fourth quarter,
down by fourteen points, when a critical sequence got them
back into the game.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Second and ten, twenty seven yard line of New England.
Colin running by Colin Now he kicks off and he
finds Derrick Ramsey and Ramsey will have a first down
to the thirty seven yard line of the Dolphins. Slide
up Fraser and wide open up to Tony Collins. Colin
just ripped the food tacklers down to.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
About the fifteen yard line. And this is where the
noise really gets deepening down here.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
First in fifteen he said, fine passed the Stanley Morgan.
He takes it all the way down to the five
yard line to Tuffoo Mossy to Tuffo touchdown.
Speaker 10 (17:01):
Bord New England.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
Certainly here was his blocker as well that time he's
rolled up then cut back.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Hey, that's a tough New England team.
Speaker 7 (17:09):
They are mentally tough as well as physically tough.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Four big plays led to a Tatwo Poo touchdown, closing
the gap to twenty seven to twenty with just over
seven minutes to play. On the ensuing kickoff, New England
special teams came through in the clutch.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Right as still out of feet.
Speaker 7 (17:23):
Oh, ball as loose and the Patriots have it and
they're indicating touchdown. It was mcswaine who provided the hit.
Sidric Jones came up with the football and they're mobbing
Jones and the end.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Zone Cedric Jones kickoff fumble recovery touchdown tied the game,
erasing a two score deficit in the matter of two plays.
Speaker 10 (17:44):
We almost had it.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
I recovered it from a mot yeah on the kickoff,
you know it, and scored and we thought we had
it and then we lost it.
Speaker 10 (17:50):
It was It was a deflating for us, but.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
The game tied. The Patriots defense held Miami to a
field goal with five minutes to play, giving Easton in
the offense a chance to win the game and the
division with one touchdown drive. The offense started to move
the ball on the ground, converting a fourth and one
with Tupu while battering Miami with Collins and James. Then
they took to the air and Easton found Collins for
seventeen yards at the Miami thirty four. New England was
(18:13):
knocking on the door of a thrilling fourth quarter comeback victory.
With one six left, Easton dropped back to pass a
lot of.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Times please say the over thug kind of hope picked
off Lean. Blackwood had another opportunity. He took out Champions.
He hooks slid out a fig twenty five yard line
fast attended for Derrek Ramsay and the Dolphins players are
going bananas.
Speaker 24 (18:34):
They'll go hold like many teams have done since I've
been in when I was playing, and they'll say, hey,
we outplayed the Dolphins as the game we should have won,
but we will look at three or four mistakes that
they made and they said we blew the game. But
you know what, that's been happening here in the Wards
Bowl every since Shula's been here.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And the other thing is too It's not all over
for New England. They still haven't shot at making the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
They got a tough on next week.
Speaker 13 (19:01):
Cincinnati put points.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
On the board.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
The loss dropped the Patriots to ten and five. The
AFC's divisional title was out of their reach, but the
playoffs were not, and head coach Raven Berry kept his
team focused on that fact.
Speaker 23 (19:13):
So the Monday night game we lost, Barry gathers U
Hall in a huddle right in the locker room and
he looks at us and that finger was broken. But
he stood up and he started talking and he said
to us, he says, look, we've been delayed, but we
(19:34):
will not be denied. We will see these guys again.
And we're looking at him. The hell is he talking
about that's the second game of the season we've done.
We're not going to do the season. I mean they're
off our schedule, and we never thought about that again
until it's time to play them down there.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
The season came down to one final game. The Patriots
needed a win to get into the postseason. The opponent,
a feisty seven to eight Bengals team, was second year
quarterback Boomer Sisin and wide receiver Chris Collinsworth, a Bengals
team that would win the AFC three seasons later.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I asked for the new England Patriots.
Speaker 25 (20:05):
Oh what a year it has been for Raymond Berry
first full year as a head coach in the National
Football League.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Addie has got his.
Speaker 25 (20:13):
Team on the windows sill of the nineteen eighty five
eighty six playoff picture their capacity crowd on had here
at Sullivan City. Of the temperature twenty nine degrees, a
fifteen mile an hour win.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
The wind chill is twelve.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Degrees December twenty second, Sullivan Stadium. It was an electric atmosphere.
Speaker 11 (20:32):
We had Cincinnati at home and the crowd was rock
because they were rocking. It was the game that we
had to win to make the playoffs, so we had
to win that game.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
After trading early field goals, Tony Easton hit Stanley Morgan
for a fifty yard touchdown, and the Patriots were often running,
building a twenty to six league at halftime from the
midfield stripe.
Speaker 25 (20:51):
But his first down play actionison looking long.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
He damn my bargain. What's down? Number five this season?
Speaker 25 (21:03):
His forty seventh career ted That, my friends, is a
team record here in New England.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
What's down? Patriots?
Speaker 7 (21:14):
A nine yard touchdown run for Tony Collins, and it's
a play, Sam Retigliano, that has been around football for
as long as I've been around. There's a misdirected play.
They went to James on the right, Collins came to
the left, a touchdown.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
The Bengals would hang around and make it interesting, posting
two second half touchdowns in a field goal to close
within four points on third and nine.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
It has cut Eddy Brown about the five touchdown Cincinnati
backwards pass.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
James.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
It is still touchdown Patriots, second down in goal, Cincinnati
five forty nine to play in the ball game, It's
Hias and its touchdown Collins.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Worth With just over two minutes remaining and New England,
clinging to a twenty seven to twenty three lead. The
Patriots faced a pivotal fourth down. Raymond Berry stayed aggressive,
looking to finish the game on their terms, and Robert
Weathers delivered one of the signature moments of the nineteen
eighty five season.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
George yardage turn fourth down on the flut.
Speaker 19 (22:13):
Here's the turn the hand off man, still, donny.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
They put the game away, really wore it on board down.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
They put the game away.
Speaker 13 (22:29):
I just noticed that I wasn't any playing time, and
I just figured that, just, you know, instead of sulking,
I'll just sit over there and wait until my time comes.
And Raymond came over to me and saw me. They said,
no't worry, You're gonna win one for you know, And
then he walked away, and I'm like, in my mind,
(22:51):
I'm like, man, I get out of here.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
Against the Bengals, the key play came when Raymond Berry
disdained a punt and gambled on fourth down from the
forty two with just two minutes remaining.
Speaker 13 (23:03):
I've heard a lot of people say these kind of things,
but I never really believed them. But it happened to me.
I'm sitting over there thinking to myself, Man, when I
get in the game, I'll.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Tell you what could usually do.
Speaker 25 (23:16):
The biggest play of the nineteen eighty five season for
the New England Papers the triple and Weather's the running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
That's Weathers.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
Wonder does he have the first time you've been suck
up a touch by the Loveland?
Speaker 13 (23:34):
Well, there's a go sure, yeah, I'm like, what I'm
getting up by the legs of hamstring got ice on them.
And so I went in the very same play I
saw when I was sitting down is what actually happened.
And I couldn't believe it. It just sprung out before
me and a good blocking up front by the offensive line.
(23:58):
Greg Harthorne, excellent job, so did mostly so it was.
It was amazing.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
Everybody at Sullivan Stadium was hoping four on their six inches.
Instead Robert Weathers electra five everyone with.
Speaker 11 (24:15):
Thirty two yahs and Robert Weathers on like a fourth
and one that tremendous run.
Speaker 10 (24:21):
Raind was like, go for it. We're all excited.
Speaker 11 (24:23):
Robert Weathers, who was a nine to four hundred yard
desk guy in high school, broke it in a big
run and you know we're in the playoffs.
Speaker 13 (24:29):
Weather take it around the corner man and.
Speaker 10 (24:31):
It was over.
Speaker 13 (24:33):
I think I think it put They tore down the stadium,
not the stadium, but the post that day, did they?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
The Patriots won thirty four to twenty three and punched
their tickets of the playoffs as the exuberant fan based
storm the field, ripping down the goalposts and carrying them
right out of the stadium in Uproot one, I.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
Had the crowd of six to eight thousand boring onto
the plane circles.
Speaker 17 (24:52):
Here at Foxborough, you know, during the regular season beating
Cincinnati to even get into the playoffs, and we had
to have that victory. I think that was really the
biggest one. I still look back. Somebody sent me a pictures,
a black and white picture. I think it was in
the Boston Globe. But thousands of people on the field
(25:13):
after that game and the goal post got torn down
on the field, and I was wondering, I said, is
that the last time or has it ever happened since
that time where thousands of people rushed the field and
tore goalposts out of a professional football game.
Speaker 10 (25:27):
I don't know, but I've got proof that we were
part of that game that that happened.
Speaker 18 (25:32):
No, and that was a true light loose moment, if
you will, And unfortunately some people did get hurt.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I mean, you know, those.
Speaker 18 (25:43):
Those goal posts when they had made contact with those
high tension wires, that was two and a half miles
down route.
Speaker 10 (25:49):
One's sort of like.
Speaker 18 (25:52):
Why in God's name didn't the state police look at
these guys carrying, you know, a forty five foot long
pole on the street where Island Dave's happed him from
doing that, But they didn't, and you know, and we
got hurt.
Speaker 10 (26:05):
But fortunately all seriously.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
The electrified nineteen eighty five New England Patriots were headed
to the postseason for the first time since nineteen seventy eight,
but as Tony Collins and his teammates knew, it would
be a daunting road.
Speaker 23 (26:16):
We met the Bengals just to get in the playoffs.
Randon Barry said something to us, and he says, Okay,
we're in the playoffs, so.
Speaker 21 (26:25):
Now, okay, what we're gonna do.
Speaker 23 (26:29):
We're the underdog.
Speaker 13 (26:31):
We have to travel with every game.
Speaker 23 (26:34):
No, there's no home game for.
Speaker 13 (26:36):
Us, So what we're going to do.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
The Patriots finished the regular season eleven and five, team
that had found its identity, the team that was ready
for the next step.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
A week ago they were battling o the actually Eastern
Division title. Today, thanks, they were enough fights for their
life just to survive and be a fire a post
season fly next time.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
On the nineteen eighty five Super Bowl Sound Odyssey, the
playoff Road begins wild card AFC East rivalry showdown in
New York for.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
The first time in three years.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
Patriots fans with all the feelings of what the playoffs
are out about
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