Jimmy Johnson Halftime Adjustment Against the Bills in SB XXVIII

[Last Guy on the Bench]

Fun read on Jimmy Johnson in The Athletic. Like many of you, I imagine, I couldn't stand the guy back in the day. But after a few decades have eased the pain I can now look back on him fondly as a beloved old enemy. Anyway, interesting comment by DJ about how they flipped the script on the Bills in our fourth Super Bowl and came back in the second half. Painful, but good to know:

 

Daryl Johnston

Fullback, 1989-1999

The one that I always remember is halftime of Super Bowl 28 in Atlanta against Buffalo. We’re down 13-6. And they really just kind of stifled us in the run game. They were doing something; they were twisting and moving inside. They were crashing their tackles inside and looping the linebacker outside, just running some stunts in the front so our guys couldn’t really tee off on them. And they were quick. It was one of the things that we always struggled with was the quickness and the movement in our run game. And they were giving us fits.

At halftime, Jimmy was outside the locker room and he said, “Listen, we know what they’re doing. You guys get off your feet, take care of your business. In about 10 minutes, let’s get back together, we’ll have everything up on the board for you. We’re going to show you what they’re doing. We’re going to show you how we’re going to counter that. And the second half, we’re going to force them out of what they’re doing right now. And then as soon as they move out of that we can get back to what we planned on doing.” So it was a play we had run about five, six weeks ago. It was just “power,” you know, just the power play. They were stunting the 3-4 outside linebacker with the defensive tackle down inside and looping the linebacker to the outside. So for power, it’s easy, everybody just adjusts and they’re basically taking themselves out of the play. If you remember the opening drive of the second half, when we had the football, it was Emmitt left, Emmitt right, Emmitt left, Emmitt right, Emmitt right, Emmitt left and it was “power” the whole way down the field. There wasn’t a whole lot of deviation on the play call. They were going to need to stop stunting and go back and play more traditional defense and at least mix it up a little bit. And they never really did. They kind of just stuck with what they were doing. And that’s why we had so much success in the second half.

I’ve always felt the way that Jimmy handled that whole thing because we were really frustrated coming in at halftime. And remember, Troy had the concussion against San Francisco in the championship game and it was just one week before the Super Bowl. So we were gonna lean on the run game a little bit more but they stuffed it in the first half and it was a little bit of “what’s going on here?” Then for him to be out at the locker-room door and to be saying, “Hey, we know what they’re doing. Don’t anybody panic, go in and take care of your business? We got the long Super Bowl halftime, we have plenty of time. Let’s make sure everybody’s (knows) what we’re doing. And we’ll go out here in the second half and we’ll force these guys out of what they’re doing and we’ll take advantage of the game plan that we have in place.” It’s Hudson Houck and it’s Norv Turner and everybody’s in on the X’s and O’s and all that stuff, but Jimmy to be there being real positive and knowing what we were going to be able to do in the second half. I thought it was, if not his best coaching moment while we were there, it was definitely near the top.

 

Full Article (subscription required):

That Was Just Jimmy

[Beast]

Yeah, real fun read. I had a ***** blast reliving that.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Beast

[Blainorama5]

You bring this up on the first day of training camp?

 

Is this supposed to be some sick twisted form of motivation for us???

 

Yes, it's a painful memory that I had almost erased from my brain.  Thanks!!

 

😉

[Last Guy on the Bench]

 

2 minutes ago, Blainorama5 said:

You bring this up on the first day of training camp?

 

Is this supposed to be some sick twisted form of motivation for us???

 

Yes, it's a painful memory that I had almost erased from my brain.  Thanks!!

 

😉

 

3 minutes ago, Beast said:

Yeah, real fun read. I had a ***** blast reliving that.

 

Ha ha. Sorry. Guess those few decades haven't been such a balm to everyone.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Last Guy on the Bench

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

Thank you Sir may I have another!?!?

[Blainorama5]

1 minute ago, Last Guy on the Bench said:

 

 

 

Ha ha. Sorry. Guess those few decades haven't been such a balm to everyone.

Nope.  😢

[Jauronimo]

This just underscores how badly we were outcoached in at least 2 of the 4 trips to the Super Bowl.

[mushypeaches]

2 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

This just underscores how badly we were outcoached in at least 2 of the 4 trips to the Super Bowl.

 

Let's correct that to 4 out of 4 and we'll be closer to the reality of what happened

[Rico]

Beloved old enemy?!?!

[GaryPinC]

3 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

This just underscores how badly we were outcoached in at least 2 of the 4 trips to the Super Bowl.

 

Walt Corey was badly outcoached in every one.  And yet Marv stuck with him.  That's on Marv, much as I love him.

[Logic]

Over a quarter-century later and everyone here is like “TOO SOON!!! 🤬”

 

Gotta love Bills fans.

 

[transient]

3 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

This just underscores how badly we were outcoached in at least 2 of the 4 trips to the Super Bowl.

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

[TC in St. Louis]

Halftime at the Super Bowl is way too long.  During regular season and playoffs, it's about 12 minutes.  Teams have more time than ever to make adjustments.  And if you're ahead, why make adjustments?  Look what happened to Atlanta when they were killing New England.  They were so far ahead they didn't need any adjustments.  Mean time, New England changed everything and won the game.

[Southern Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, transient said:

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

Marv was a hall of fame leader and motivator but unfortunately an average game day coach. 

[transient]

21 minutes ago, Last Guy on the Bench said:

Fun read on Jimmy Johnson in The Athletic. Like many of you, I imagine, I couldn't stand the guy back in the day. But after a few decades have eased the pain I can now look back on him fondly as a beloved old enemy. Anyway, interesting comment by DJ about how they flipped the script on the Bills in our fourth Super Bowl and came back in the second half. Painful, but good to know:

I can't remember which Cowboy they interviewed in the "Four Falls of Buffalo" 30 for 30 but they mentioned how, despite dominating the first half of the game, the Bills looked listless and defeated going into the tunnel at halftime, like they didn't have anything left to give after the four SB runs.

Edited July 27, 2021 by transient

[US Egg]

[Thurman#1]

25 minutes ago, mushypeaches said:

 

Let's correct that to 4 out of 4 and we'll be closer to the reality of what happened

 

 

Disagree.

 

Maybe the first. But in all four the major problem was simply that the D was built to stop the pass and we were unlucky enough to run into four opponents in a row with huge offensive lines and power run games. All four were awful matchups for us.

25 minutes ago, transient said:

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

 

 

Disagree.

 

Know what happens with bad big game coaches? They don't make Super Bowls, much less four in a row. Marv was a damn good coach. 

[transient]

3 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

Disagree.

 

Know what happens with bad big game coaches? They don't make Super Bowls, much less four in a row. Marv was a damn good coach. 

The AFC was a weak sister during his time. Someone from the conference had to make it. That roster was dripping with HOF talent and he underacheived with it due to stubbornness and hubris. "Read and react" was a complete waste of that defense under Walt Corey, and you have to give the opposing SB team some respect and not think you can just "out execute" a similarly talented team and win. That's a coaching problem.

[LABILLBACKER]

32 minutes ago, transient said:

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

This is so true. Great guy and we all love Marv but he was outcoached and allowed his team to party a little too much. We should have won 2 of those. 

[Thurman#1]

21 minutes ago, transient said:

The AFC was a weak sister during his time. Someone from the conference had to make it. That roster was dripping with HOF talent and he underacheived with it due to stubbornness and hubris. "Read and react" was a complete waste of that defense under Walt Corey, and you have to give the opposing SB team some respect and not think you can just "out execute" a similarly talented team and win. That's a coaching problem.

 

 

No.

 

The problem was the size of that defense through the middle. They were terrific at rushing the QB, as they had to be to get out of a conference that featured Dan Marino.

 

But we had three DLs, and they weighed 265, a 274 pound nose tackle, and Hansen at 278. That's tiny.

 

And unfortunately we had the bad luck to face four NFC East opponents in a row in the SB. And that conference was built around power running behind big physical OLs. The Cowboys OL had three guys over 300 at the time. The Bills simply couldn't stand up to that level of power and strength. And running so much kept Kelly off the field. Horrible, horrible matchups.

 

Much like last year's Bills D without Lotulelei, we were very athletic but didn't have a lot of sand in the pants.

 

A power running game was our kryptonite, and we faced four teams in a row that were built around that.

 

If we'd been as lucky as Peyton Manning's Colts, to face a team one year that they matched up well against, thing would probably look quite different. But we didn't. The NFC East was perfectly set up to beat that team, unfortunately.

 

Marv wasn't a game day genius, but the Bills program was set up terrifically. To get out of the AFC East you had to  beat Marino consistently, and that's how we were built. 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Thurman#1

[Matt_In_NH]

The Bills had a great gameplan and schemed their way to a first half lead.  They were not at all on par with that Cowboys team and were also doing some different stuff on offense with s misdirection trap play.  It was frankly shocking they had the lead.   Thurman fumbled and it was returned for a TD, that flipped momentum and after that it just snowballed.  THey litterally ran the same play all the way down the field, you knew it was over.

[Brand J]

1 hour ago, transient said:

I can't remember which Cowboy they interviewed in the "Four Falls of Buffalo" 30 for 30 but they mentioned how, despite dominating the first half of the game, the Bills looked listless and defeated going into the tunnel at halftime, like they didn't have anything left to give after the four SB runs.

Troy Aikman. I found that observation fascinating too.

[ticketssince61]

I always thought that the long halftimes were very detrimental to us because

1) the long delay took away any momentum we were having

2) gave way too much time to the other coaches to make adjustments

 

I think with a regular length halftime, we win against the Giants and the 2nd Cowboys

[2003Contenders]

All of this rehash about Dallas' 2nd half adjustments looks good now based on the outcome of the game -- but if things had gone differently, the Bills could have had a sizeable lead before Dallas ever touched the ball in the 2nd half. That may very well have put the Cowboys into more pass-happy mode, which undoubtedly would have been in Buffalo's best interest.

 

I think the biggest issue was that despite game-planning properly and dominating the Cowboys in the first half, they were only up 13-6 at halftime. As much as I love Thurman he really was a big part of the reason we lost that game. His fumble in the first half when the Bills were moving the ball, gave the Cowboys 3 of their 6 points. An INT (I think by Nate Odoms) late in the 1st half, set the Bills up nicely to go up by more than one score; however, questionable play calling down inside the redzone led to settling for a FG before the half. That is probably what led to the pep in the Cowboys' step versus the lethargy that Buffalo displayed.

 

When Thurman's fumble on the opening drive was returned for a TD, the game was effectively over -- even though the score was tied. The momentum was forever shifted -- and you could just see the "Uh oh. Here we go again" body language on the part of Bills players.  It didn't help that Thurman wimped out, feigning a cramp, and stewed on the sidelines most of the rest of the game. I believe Marv said that his biggest regret as a head coach was allowing Thurman to sulk like that -- rather than motivating him.

 

Oh well. Can't change the past...

[MJS]

1 hour ago, transient said:

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

The players all give him immense credit. He deserves a ton of credit for his leadership and for his ability to keep all those finicky, intense personalities going in the same direction.

 

And you're just wrong. He is a great coach and everyone who ever worked with him or played under him only has great things to say about him.

 

I mean, yeah, he got out coached by a handful of the greatest coaches in the sport's history, but that does not make him a poor coach.

Edited July 27, 2021 by MJS

[Kwai San]

1 hour ago, TC in St. Louis said:

Halftime at the Super Bowl is way too long.  During regular season and playoffs, it's about 12 minutes.  Teams have more time than ever to make adjustments.  And if you're ahead, why make adjustments?  Look what happened to Atlanta when they were killing New England.  They were so far ahead they didn't need any adjustments.  Mean time, New England changed everything and won the game.

 

But but but the old dinosaur halftime shows MUST go on!!!!  The "fans" love that show dammit!

[RiotAct]

good read.  I watched SB XXVIII on youtube a few months back.  Painful stuff (although, I’m sure it was a lot more painful as it was unfolding live)

[Mark Vader]

1 hour ago, TC in St. Louis said:

Halftime at the Super Bowl is way too long.  During regular season and playoffs, it's about 12 minutes.  Teams have more time than ever to make adjustments.  And if you're ahead, why make adjustments?  Look what happened to Atlanta when they were killing New England.  They were so far ahead they didn't need any adjustments.  Mean time, New England changed everything and won the game.

Atlanta lost because they refused to run the ball. Had they done that, they would have won.

[wnyguy]

I remember Marv's halftime speech in that game - " I'm tired, you guys tired? "

[RobbRiddick]

Here's the quick version of what happened (that's Jimmy at the back)

 

[John from Riverside]

This whole goddamn thread sucks

[NoHuddleKelly12]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

The players all give him immense credit. He deserves a ton of credit for his leadership and for his ability to keep all those finicky, intense personalities going in the same direction.

 

And you're just wrong. He is a great coach and everyone who ever worked with him or played under him only has great things to say about him.

 

I mean, yeah, he got out coached by a handful of the greatest coaches in the sport's history, but that does not make him a poor coach.

This…and BTW, he consistently outcoached one of the best of all time in Don Shula, year in, year out. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

What lost super Bowl IV was on play, Thurman Thomas fumble,  We had a 13? pt lead and were on a roll for more, Thurman fumbles the ball they pick it up for a TD.  after that even though we were still ahead the game was effectively over.

1 hour ago, 2003Contenders said:

All of this rehash about Dallas' 2nd half adjustments looks good now based on the outcome of the game -- but if things had gone differently, the Bills could have had a sizeable lead before Dallas ever touched the ball in the 2nd half. That may very well have put the Cowboys into more pass-happy mode, which undoubtedly would have been in Buffalo's best interest.

 

I think the biggest issue was that despite game-planning properly and dominating the Cowboys in the first half, they were only up 13-6 at halftime. As much as I love Thurman he really was a big part of the reason we lost that game. His fumble in the first half when the Bills were moving the ball, gave the Cowboys 3 of their 6 points. An INT (I think by Nate Odoms) late in the 1st half, set the Bills up nicely to go up by more than one score; however, questionable play calling down inside the redzone led to settling for a FG before the half. That is probably what led to the pep in the Cowboys' step versus the lethargy that Buffalo displayed.

 

When Thurman's fumble on the opening drive was returned for a TD, the game was effectively over -- even though the score was tied. The momentum was forever shifted -- and you could just see the "Uh oh. Here we go again" body language on the part of Bills players.  It didn't help that Thurman wimped out, feigning a cramp, and stewed on the sidelines most of the rest of the game. I believe Marv said that his biggest regret as a head coach was allowing Thurman to sulk like that -- rather than motivating him.

 

Oh well. Can't change the past...

Couldn't agree more, that one play was the game.

[transient]

31 minutes ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

This…and BTW, he consistently outcoached one of the best of all time in Don Shula, year in, year out. 

I don't think this makes the point you think it does. Don Shula, during Levy's tenure with the Bills, won a total of 3 playoff games and had a total of 3 double digit winning seasons... Miami was basically a 0.500 team with Shula at the helm despite a HOF QB behind center over the time Marv coached the Bills.  It's not like he was going head to head against him in the 70s when the legend of Don Shula was cemented.

[RobbRiddick]

As far as Levy is concerned, he gets a raw deal by many because he was such a nice guy, and therefore is seen as not tough enough. In a lot of ways that is true, in the big game he was beaten by tougher coaches, in the same way the Bills were beaten by tougher teams. But he also beat so many of those tough NFC coaches in the regular season. His record against the NFC in the regular season was great. He beat Parcels a few weeks before the Super Bowl. He beat the Cowboys the year of Super Bowl 28 (admittedly Smith was holding out at the time). He beat a great 49ers team at Candlestick in the no punt game. 

 

The Bills could and did beat anyone, but after the second SB loss they had two opponents out there, the Cowboys and the thought of "*****, what if we lose again". Psychology is a huge part of sports and I think mentally the Bills were really screwed after the seconds loss.

[Utah John]

What's especially frustrating is that the Bills regularly went 4-0 against the NFC teams they played in the regular season, then couldn't handle them in the SBs.  

 

I don't blame the Bills for losing the second and third SBs.  They were up against the Redskins and the rising Cowboys, when both those teams were really loaded.  The Skins and Cowboys had better teams. 

 

But in the first and fourth, it was lack of coaching flexibility that did in the Bills.  In the first, Kelly wanted to throw so much, but Thurman was really set up to dominate.  TT did great, but he could have done so much more.  The Giants' defense was keyed to stopping Kelly, and Levy didn't get Kelly to go to what was really working, which was Thomas.  Aside from the defense being hung over and unable to tackle anyone, that was the key.  

 

In the fourth SB, at halftime, while the Cowboys were figuring out how to win, the Bills were, what, napping?  Instead of Levy and the team leaders rallying the troops and getting them fired up, and perhaps even pointing out how something they saw the Cowboys doing that the Bills could take advantage of, I think Levy was handing out orange slices.  

[finn]

I remember that long drive where they just fed it to Emmitt Smith play after play. And Levy/Corey refused to play their two run-stuffing rookie defensive tackles, John Parella and James Patton, sticking with Jeff Wright and Mike Lodish even when they were being humiliated. Thanks for bringing it up. 

[Motorin']

1 hour ago, John from Riverside said:

This whole goddamn thread sucks

 

The only question it brings up for me, is what does McDermott do to become a better Head Coach? 

 

How does he learn from the past, and from the greats? 

 

He preaches becoming the best version of yourself, how does that apply to him as a Head Coach moving into a season where the Super Bowl is within sights?

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Motorin'

[Buffalo Barbarian]

5 hours ago, transient said:

Parcells, Gibbs and Johnson were all big game coaches. Marv... not so much. He can credit his HOF talent for getting him into the HOF, cuz it wasn't his coaching.

 

He knew how to handle men and those with big egos  and so was a great coach there but X O adjustments in game he was lacking.

 

 

[GaryPinC]

1 hour ago, RobbRiddick said:

As far as Levy is concerned, he gets a raw deal by many because he was such a nice guy, and therefore is seen as not tough enough. In a lot of ways that is true, in the big game he was beaten by tougher coaches, in the same way the Bills were beaten by tougher teams. But he also beat so many of those tough NFC coaches in the regular season. His record against the NFC in the regular season was great. He beat Parcels a few weeks before the Super Bowl. He beat the Cowboys the year of Super Bowl 28 (admittedly Smith was holding out at the time). He beat a great 49ers team at Candlestick in the no punt game. 

 

The Bills could and did beat anyone, but after the second SB loss they had two opponents out there, the Cowboys and the thought of "*****, what if we lose again". Psychology is a huge part of sports and I think mentally the Bills were really screwed after the seconds loss.

Levy was a very good coach but our defense got run roughshod by the Giants then same by Washington the next year.  At that point, a great coach would have realized to take that next step you needed to step up and jettison Walt Corey for a new DC.

Edited July 27, 2021 by GaryPinC