(Photo by Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
After his hostile ouster in Denver, Dan Reeves wasn't going to suffer from unemployment for long. One NFL team is up to the challenge to give him the chance to continue his storied career. That team, the New York Giants, was more than willing to get rid of the awful Ray Handley era and bring in Reeves to put them as Super Bowl contenders. This team was a splitting image of his Broncos squads. They have the quarterback that surgically dissected his team in Super Bowl XI, Phil Simms. They have the linebacker that harassed John Elway in Lawrence Taylor. The running game was solid, the receivers were good, oh, hey, Mark Jackson came along with Reeves. The offensive line is stout, and the defense is tough. This could be a wonderful season for the G-Men.
1993 SEASON
They won their season opener against Chicago and started the season 5-1. One of those victories was a 41-7 drubbing of Washington at RFK Stadium. Remember, the Redskins won the Super Bowl two years earlier. There was one game against the Colts where LT was caught sleeping on the sideline. The Giants would go into the last two games with a 11-3 record and hoping for a division title. After an uncharacteristic showing against the PHOENIX Cardinals, they had to beat their division rival, the Dallas Cowboys, at the Meadowlands to claim the NFC East. In a hard-fought match, which saw Emmitt hurt his shoulder, but continued to play despite the pain. Dallas won with a game-winning field goal in overtime. The Giants finished with a 11-5 record and a wild card berth. Not bad for a first season at the helm for Dan Reeves.
By the way, how are Elway and Reeves coping with each other now that they are apart?
Oh, boy, the floodgates had opened.
After a hard-fought victory against the Vikings, the Giants were awaiting their next opponent in the divisional round. They face....(record scratch)...the San Francisco 49ers. Oh no, and oh no was right.
The 49ers probably saw Reeves on the sidelines and had flashbacks of New Orleans as they destroyed the Giants 44-3 behind a five-touchdown masterpiece by Ricky Watters. Also, if you are keeping score, the Niners have outscored Dan Reeves' playoff teams 99-13 in the last two outings.
Unfortunately, Simms and LT were getting old in the tooth and it was time for both to hang up the cleats. Heading into the 1994 season, Reeves decided to hand the reins to a certain quarterback from Duke University. No, not him, I meant Dave Brown. Before Danny Dimes, there was another quarterback from Duke University that caused Giants fans to crumble.
1994 SEASON
Well, they started off with a bang by beating the Eagles, the Phoe....nope, the ARIZONA Cardinals and Washington to go 3-0. Then, they flipped the script and go on to lose seven straight. Then, they flipped the script again to win six straight. This was the definition of a roller coaster as they finished 9-7. Despite ending up in second place in the NFC East, they will miss the playoffs.
1995 SEASON
Not much to say here. Hey, Tommy Maddox came to join Reeves and decided to suck. (6 comp. 23 att. 49 yards, 0 TD's, 3 INT's) Team proceeds to go 5-11 and getting a high pick in the draft.
1996 SEASON
Team drafts Cedric Jones but it doesn't make a difference. One game that stands out is the Giants destroying the Lions 35-7. In the game, Lions coach Wayne Fontes benches Scott Mitchell, which causes Scott to lose his mind on the sideline. Other than that, the NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS limp their way to a 6-10 record.
Giants management ran out of patience and chose to cut Reeves loose after four underwhelming seasons at the Meadowlands. Heading towards the 1997 season, Dan Reeves would have to find another franchise to continue his quest for a Super Bowl title.
There is a sign for Dan Reeves as the Atlanta Falcons came-a-calling and tabbed him as the coach to lead the franchise to new heights. Think about it, Dan Reeves, Georgia born and bred was coming home for a chance to help Atlanta out of the doldrums. His roster was exactly how he liked it, accurate quarterback in Chris Chandler, bulldozing running back Jamal Anderson, capable receivers in Tony Martin and Shawn Jefferson, a blocking/receiving tight end in OJ Santiago, stout offensive line led by Bob Whitfield, terrorizing pass rush from Chuck Smith, tackling expertise in Jessie Tuggle and a ball hawking corner in Ray Buchanan. The Falcons were looking to soar into 1997.......but not right away.
The Falcons started 0-5, including a loss to former Falcons quarterback Jeff George and his new team, the Oakland Raiders, where he did a victory lap around the stadium. Also, they lost to Reeves' former team, the Denver Broncos. Keep that in mind, everyone. Atlanta was 2-8, then went on a five-game winning streak to finish at 7-9. It's respectable, but surely, they will improve in 1998. Their draft pick was someone who was Georgia born and bred like Reeves and someone who would be a cog in their defense, Georgia Tech linebacker Keith Brooking. They signed a veteran in the secondary in free agent safety Eugene Robinson to help man the secondary. There was hope that Atlanta was going to be successful in '98. Well,......
THE HISTORICAL 1998 SEASON
To take what people thought about the Falcons going into 1998, oddsmakers gave them a +6000 chance to make the Super Bowl, meaning they were a long shot. However, the Falcons were not having that talk by going 5-1 to start. They entered the game against the Jets without their quarterback Chris Chandler and had to start 44-year old Steve DeBerg. They lost 28-3. Yep, 28-3, a score that is etched in the history of the Atlanta Falcons. After the loss to New York, the Falcons rolled on and punished opponents with jamming Jamal Anderson down defenses' throats and a defense that made plays. Around this time, a new dance craze was spreading through the South and into the NFL called "The Dirty Bird." Everyone in the Falcons was doing the dance after they score a touchdown. Atlanta was cruising along, and no one seemed to stop them.
Then, after a win over the New Orleans Saints which tied a franchise record for wins, Reeves felt ill and admitted himself into the hospital. The diagnosis wasn't good, he needed quadruple bypass surgery. This couldn't have come at the worst time. Despite having his best season in his career, the stress finally caught up with Dan Reeves. He would miss the rest of the regular season to rest up. However, that didn't stop the Falcons from rolling. They finished with a 14-2 record, which befuddled many "experts" around the NFL. Reeves would come back for the divisional playoff game against the 49ers, the team that has become Art the Clown to Dan Reeves. But this Dan Reeves was less stern and more joyful. He made a commercial for Zocor, medicine used to treat high cholesterol and reduce the risk of a heart attack.
See, he's smiling more.
Atlanta would go on and slay their demons with the Niners and entered to the NFC Championship against one of the greatest offenses in NFL history, the Minnesota Vikings. Randall Cunningham as quarterback, Robert Smith as running back, Cris Carter, Jake Reed and Randy Moss as receivers (Get well, Randy.) as John Randle anchored a defense that wreaked havoc on offenses. Once again, they were the favorites against the Falcons.
THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Vikings held a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter as Gary Anderson was brought in to convert on a field goal to make it a two-possession game. Anderson was perfect throughout the season, not missing on field goals or extra points. He picked the wrong time to miss a field goal that could have sent Minnesota into the Super Bowl. The Falcons answered in the ensuing drive as Chris Chandler connected with tight end O.J. Santiago for a touchdown to tie the game and send it into overtime. After a back-and-forth, the Falcons finally broke through and sent Morten Andersen to attempt a 38-yard field goal. The kick went through the uprights.
After many people gave them a +6000 shot to make the Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons were headed there for the first time in franchise history. Dan Reeves took a lost team and led them to the NFL's biggest stage in his second season there. He was able to do the Dirty Bird with his team after clinching the NFC title.
So, the Falcons would go on to face.....(record screeching)...the Denver Broncos......with Elway still at quarterback. Oh, and Mike Shanahan is the head coach. All of you conspiracy theorists thinking that the NFL is scripted would have had your mind blown with this one.
Once again, the Falcons were 7.5 point underdogs and Reeves would have to do whatever it took to finally win a Super Bowl. Imagine, winning a Super Bowl and showing the Broncos that they made a mistake in letting him go. Even though the Broncos won the Super Bowl the year before. You wanted to see him finally lift the Lombardi Trophy. However, this move didn't help matters.
So, the night before the Super Bowl, safety Eugene Robinson decided to fulfill his vices and asked a woman working on the streets for you know. It turned out that the woman was an undercover cop and arrested Robinson. After spending the night in jail, you figured that Dan Reeves would sit him and let him think about what he did. Instead, Reeves wanted to win this badly and his thought process wasn't exactly on point and gave Robinson the start over Devin Bush. This would be costly.
This Super Bowl wasn't in the fans' mind as a historical one. Secret Base called it the worst Super Bowl. They are probably off by a few years. The key play was an Elway to Rod Smith 80-yard scoring play via pass. The safety that was burnt on the play, Eugene Robinson. The Broncos would gallop all over the Falcons as Elway and Shanahan would be the ones lifting up the Lombardi Trophy. At the press conference, Reeves would congratulate Elway during his presser. It seemed as if the hatchet was buried. However, the quest continued for Dan Reeves.
1999/2000 SEASONS
Uhhhhhh......back to the doldrums. Jamal Anderson tore his ACL in 1999 and allowed the running remedy known as Ken Oxendine to get some work and a lefty gunslinger wearing number #7 for the Atlanta Falcons was able to get playing time.
(Photo by Brightman Images)
Tony Graziani.
It was around this time that the Falcons realized that Chris Chandler was getting old, and they needed to invest in a franchise quarterback. So, they traded with San Diego to get the #1 pick and select Michael Vick from Virginia Tech. The Chargers only selected a Hall-of-Fame running back from TCU with the Falcons pick.
2001 SEASON
Vick would be brought in sparingly and showed some promise as Chris Chandler and Jamal Anderson are cooked. The Falcons once again are just meh with a 7-9 record as Reeves is on thin ice.
2002 SEASON
Well, this is more like it. Warrick Dunn is now the featured back, and the Falcons seem to find their footing as Vick becomes the dangerous weapon that they wanted. In Week 13 at the Metrodome, Atlanta once again defeated the Vikings on an ironic long run by Vick. Then, in the Wild Card, #7 and the Falcons stunned the Packers in Lambeau before succumbing to the Eagles in the Divisional Round. Thanks to some Dan Reeves magic, the Falcons were back to be in the driver's seat of something special.
2003 SEASON
Michael Vick gets hurt, and the Falcons go back to being horrible. Management loses its patience and let Reeves go with three games left. I think how they drafted was the downfall here.
Dan Reeves would never coach in the NFL again, the hunt for a championship had ended.
When I started doing this, I wanted to focus on more of the positive spots in Dan Reeves' coaching career, but it was hard to push away the negatives. With the negatives, it made Reeves a man who wanted to reach the final destination and become a Super Bowl-winning coach. Losing four put him in bad company since everyone doesn't care that he went to four Super Bowls. He didn't win any of them. The Buffalo Bills are known as a four-time Super Bowl loser, not a team that reached the game in four consecutive seasons. It's sad for someone who spent his entire life in the game to where it almost killed him.
However, Reeves put his footprint on the game as a leader who would take teams to the promised land. He had won two AP Coach of the Year Awards, the George Halas Award and four conference championships. He and Marty Schottenheimer are the only coaches with more than 200 victories and are not in the Hall of Fame. Like seriously NFL, it's time to put them in.
As the years pass, many are giving him the credit he deserves. After his death, John Elway tweeted that Dan was a helluva coach and man. Hopefully, Canton is his final destination.
(References: Denver Broncos.com, Wikipedia, NFL.com, SI.com, Amazon, Pro Football Reference, Deseret News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Brightman Images, The Denver Post, New York Giants.com, the New York Post, Atlanta Falcons.com, Washington Post, ESPN.com)
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