1978: Mazzetti’s 5 Field Goals Lead Falcons Past Rams

Just three weeks prior to the October 30, 1978 contest between the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams, 23-year-old Tim Mazzetti had been tending bar at Smokey Joe’s in Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania grad had failed to catch on with the Eagles, Cowboys, and Patriots and wondered if he would get another opportunity. But Atlanta’s placekicker, Fred Steinfort, had gotten off to a dreadful start and when the Falcons held a tryout to find a replacement, Mazzetti beat out two others to get the job. It didn’t take long for him to make a positive impression - he kicked a game-winning field goal in the final seconds to beat the 49ers in his second game. Now he would have the opportunity to kick before a Monday Night Football audience.

The Falcons were in their second season under the new organizational structure that most prominently included GM Eddie LeBaron, the former undersized star quarterback for the Redskins and Cowboys, and Head Coach Leeman Bennett. In 1977, they had gone 7-7 thanks to a dominating defense that allowed only 129 points all season while the offense was hindered by the frequent injuries to young QB Steve Bartkowski. Atlanta lost four of its first six games but had won the last two to be even at 4-4 going into the game against the Rams.

Los Angeles had been the dominant team in the NFC West for the past five seasons, but failed to make it to the Super Bowl. The head coach during that period, Chuck Knox, had run afoul of owner Carroll Rosenbloom and left for Buffalo, initially to be replaced by George Allen, who had been in LA from 1966 to ’70 before departing for Washington. However, Allen failed to last through the preseason and Ray Malavasi was now coaching the club. Despite the tumult in the front office, the team was off to an outstanding start on the field at 7-1 (including a shutout of the Falcons in LA); they had lost for the first time the previous week.

The crowd of 57,250 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was fired up and the Falcons defense responded in kind. However, it was the Rams threatening in the first quarter as they drove to the Atlanta five. They were helped along by a 12-yard pass from QB Pat Haden to WR Willie Miller (with a roughing-the-passer penalty tacked on) and 17-yard run by RB Lawrence McCutcheon. But LA came up empty when TE Terry Nelson fumbled at the two and it was recovered by Falcons CB Rick Byas.

The Rams got another shot when FS Bill Simpson intercepted a Bartkowski pass and returned it 24 yards. Haden threw a 10-yard TD pass to WR Ron Jessie on the first play of the second quarter to give Los Angeles a 7-0 lead.

To further complicate things for Atlanta, Bartkowski was lost to a shoulder separation later in the second quarter and replaced by backup June Jones. But the special teams made a big play when Falcons defensive lineman Edgar Fields blocked a punt at the LA 23. It set up Mazzetti’s first field goal of the night, from 21 yards.

The Atlanta defense came through with another big play when Byas intercepted a Haden pass at the Los Angeles 33 to set up another field goal attempt of 37 yards into a stiff cross wind with 32 seconds left in the half. Mazzetti was again successful and the Falcons went into halftime down by just a point at 7-6.

At the start of the third quarter, the Rams drove to the Atlanta 32, but Frank Corral missed a 49-yard field goal attempt. They were still leading late in the period when they tried to convert a fourth-and-one situation at the 50 and RB Cullen Bryant was stopped for a loss of a yard. It proved to be the turning point of the game.

The Falcons made the most of the opportunity, and Mazzetti put them ahead 9-7 with a 33-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter. Shortly thereafter, CB Rolland Lawrence intercepted his second pass of the game and Atlanta drove 64 yards in 10 plays capped by Mazzetti’s fourth field goal, of 26 yards, for a 12-7 lead with 6:44 left to play.

Atlanta continued to take advantage of LA turnovers. Rams DB Jackie Wallace fumbled a Falcons punt and RB Mike Esposito recovered at the Rams 25 yard line. Just before the two-minute warning, Mazzetti kicked a 37-yard field goal - his fifth of the contest.

Rams Coach Malavasi had replaced Haden with backup QB Vince Ferragamo to try and ignite the offense, but it was to no avail. When Corral missed a 43-yard field goal attempt in the last minute, LA’s fate was sealed and the Falcons came away with a 15-7 win.

Los Angeles outgained Atlanta, 234 yards to 185, and had the edge in first downs, 14 to 9. However, the Rams gave up a crucial five turnovers, to two by the Falcons, and Atlanta’s defense had five sacks.

June Jones played well in relief of Steve Bartkowski, completing 7 of 11 passes for 87 yards with none intercepted (Bartkowski threw one). Neither team was able to run effectively on the other, and RB Haskel Stanback led the Falcons with 51 yards on 21 carries; FB Bubba Bean added another 44 yards on 15 attempts. WR Alfred Jackson was the most productive of the team’s receivers, gaining 40 yards on two catches.

For the Rams, Pat Haden completed 13 of 23 passes for 130 yards with one TD but also three interceptions (two of them by Rolland Lawrence); Vince Ferragamo was two of four for 50 yards in relief. Lawrence McCutcheon was the team’s top rusher with 50 yards on 12 carries, while Ron Jessie caught four passes for 44 yards and WR Billy Waddy gained 50 yards on three catches.

“We moved the ball pretty well at first and had good field position and then started making mistakes. In fact we made too many mistakes, mainly fumbles and interceptions," said Rams Coach Malavasi.

Atlanta’s Leeman Bennett took note of his defense’s strong performance, in particular the momentum-changing stop on fourth down in the third quarter. “That was a big play,” he said. “It knocked the wind out of their sails when they didn't make it.”

The win was one of five straight for the Falcons, who went on to finish at 9-7 and in second place in the NFC West. They qualified for the playoffs as a wild card team – the franchise’s first postseason appearance – and in the first NFC Wild Card game defeated the Eagles. They succumbed to Dallas in the Divisional round, although in a tight 27-20 contest. The Rams, who went on to finish first once again in the division at 12-4, won in the Divisional round but lost the NFC Championship game to the Cowboys.

Tim Mazzetti tied the existing club record with his five field goals (since broken by Norm Johnson in 1994) on his way to leading the NFC in field goal accuracy (13 of 16, 81.3 %). It was an outstanding performance, especially for a kicker who started the season as a bartender. Mazzetti played for three seasons in the NFL and also kicked for three in the USFL.

1978: Cardinals Hire Bud Wilkinson as Head Coach

The St. Louis Cardinals had done well under Head Coach Don Coryell, winning the NFC East in 1974 and ’75 and just missing with a 10-4 record in 1976. It was the first time the team had made it to the postseason since 1948, but the Cardinals failed to win any playoff games, and when the club sank to 7-7 in 1977, Coryell was forced to resign.

On March 2, 1978 owner Bill Bidwill announced that collegiate coaching legend Bud Wilkinson would be the new head coach. The news was met with more than a little astonishment. To be sure, Wilkinson was a college coaching icon who had put together a 145-29-4 record at Oklahoma from 1947 thru 1963. In the midst of that was a remarkable 47-game winning streak from 1953-57. The Sooners won eight of ten bowl appearances during that time, as well as three national championships.

However, since leaving Oklahoma in 1963, Wilkinson had stayed away from coaching; he ran a losing campaign for the US Senate in 1964, served as director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, and spent ten years as a broadcaster of college football games. There was speculation that, at age 62 (making him the oldest head coach in the NFL at the time), he had been away from active involvement in the game for too long and would have difficulty relating to modern pro football players.

The initial reaction of some of the Cardinals players was not encouraging. Center Tom Banks, already trying to renegotiate his contract, called the hiring “one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. Insanity prevails.” Eric Williams, a second-year linebacker, summed up the feelings of several players when he stated “Everybody said, ‘Wow, like that dude is old.’”

To Wilkinson’s credit, he won over many of the doubters, including Banks. Known for his low-key and gentlemanly manner, he was an excellent motivator. He kept Coryell’s offensive line coach, Jim Hanifan, who had been a candidate for the head coaching job and fell in line behind the new coach, who in turn recognized that the offense had been one of the team’s strengths.

However, there were problems facing the Cardinals that persuasion couldn’t overcome. Coryell had clashed with Bidwill on personnel matters, and the team had typically drafted poorly. Before Wilkinson was hired, HB Terry Metcalf, an all-purpose talent who was the team’s best outside running threat, left for the Canadian Football League. WR Ike Harris and G Conrad Dobler were traded to New Orleans, weakening both positions.

The naysayers appeared to be vindicated when St. Louis proceeded to lose the first eight games of the ’78 season. Without Metcalf’s breakaway ability, the offense was forced to rely solely on the inside running tandem of FB Jim Otis and RB Wayne Morris – as a result, the Cardinals ranked 25th in team rushing (1954 yards). TE J.V. Cain suffered from a bad heel and the offensive line encountered numerous injury problems. The defense was poor against the run. First draft pick Steve Little, a placekicker/punter out of Arkansas who Wilkinson had promoted as the key to improving the team’s ability to win the battle of field position, suffered from a knee injury and was unable to dislodge veteran placekicker Jim Bakken while proving to be a mediocre punter.

Wilkinson took his share of the heat for the poor start, but he also drew credit when the club turned the season around and went 6-2 the rest of the way. As QB Jim Hart said, “He kept us together. He was always positive. I think people expected us to fall apart when we kept losing, but we didn’t and Bud was the major factor.” Hart, the 34-year-old offensive captain, played his part as he passed for 3121 yards and was voted the club’s MVP by his teammates.

While Wilkinson was able to maintain the team’s morale and, moreover, took a major step toward improving the running game with the drafting of RB Ottis Anderson from the University of Miami in the first round of the ’79 draft, deficiencies in the front office and the meddling of owner Bidwill ultimately brought a premature end to his coaching regime in the second year.

Tragedy in training camp, as Cain died of heart failure, cast an early pall on the 1979 season. Anderson had an immediate impact, rushing for 193 yards in the season opening game against Dallas, but the Cardinals lost that game and were 3-10 when Wilkinson was let go. Bidwill’s insistence on starting Steve Pisarkiewicz, the 1977 first round draft choice out of Missouri, ahead of the savvy veteran Hart at quarterback had been resisted by Wilkinson, and in combination with the failure to build upon the strong second half showing in ’78, was the final straw that led to the legendary coach’s dismissal. He had completed not quite half of the four-year contract he was signed to.

Larry Wilson, the all-time great Cardinals free safety, stepped in as interim coach for the rest of the way. With Pisarkiewicz at quarterback, St. Louis won two of the last three games for an overall 5-11 record and last place finish in the NFC East. The two wins didn’t herald stardom for the young quarterback – he was gone in 1980, finishing out his NFL career as a backup in Green Bay. Jim Hanifan, who had been passed over in favor of Wilkinson in ’78, was elevated to head coach.

As for Bud Wilkinson, the stint with the Cardinals was a mediocre postscript to an outstanding coaching career. His overall record for the 1978 and ’79 seasons was a dismal 9-20. However, he had displayed class and grace under pressure, and also showed that he had not lost his skill as a motivator. But he couldn’t overcome the organization’s failings, which likely doomed his tenure before it even started. And as a postscript, prior to the tenure of Ken Whisenhunt, who became the Cardinals’ coach in 2007, none of Wilkinson’s successors left the club with an overall winning record.