"GRITS BLITZ" THE GREATEST DEFENSE YOU NEVER HEARD OF
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- Discussing the "Grits Blitz" the 1977 Atlanta Falcons defense. And why so many people dont know how good it was, considering it was the inspiration for the 46 defense ran by buddy Ryan in 1985 for the Chicago Bears
My dad played on team then. We’re actually looking for more of his footage. Thanks for this! His name was Robert Pennywell #59 linebacker
No problem! I enjoyed making this video and learning about this team, they were amazing 🫡💯🔥
thats dope
That defense was listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records
But never mentioned in top 10 all time. Sad. Very sad
I am a Falcons Fan from way back when,and I remember that Defense,it was a tough know name hard hitting Defense.
Grits - 11 men up - 129 points allowed and scored 196 points. Record will never be broken. The D won 7 games that year while the O lost the rest. Most fun I ever had watching football.
My parents had season tickets in 1977 and I remember going to those games and seeing the Gritz Blitz sign. Fulton County Stadium was rocking then, It was great..
If the '77 Falcons had a shred of offense, they would've plowed thru the post-season.
Imagine if they had the 2016 offense
ATLANTA FALCONS DEFENSE IS THE MOST UNDERRATED TEAM OF ALL TIME
Their safety ray easterling suffered from CTE and committed suicide at age 62. I remember rooting for them as kid, cause they were smashin QB's. I was always a lions fan being from Detroit. But Atlanta's D was ruthless. Great video. U went way back bro
I was at the Falcons vs. Bears game at Soldier Field in 1977. The Bears Brian Baschnagel scored on a kickoff return on the last play of the game. Falcons won 16-10. That 7 points wasn't allowed by the defense. And it added a half point to the Falcons points per game in that 14 game schedule. The record should be even better than 9.2 points per game. It should have been 8.7 points per game.
Great video! Thats how I remember the falcons when I was a kid in the 70s they were tough! Red helmets and jerseys like the Georgia bulldogs!
The Falcons went with that uniform as they felt it was a way to appeal to those Bulldog fans to get behind them.
Boom! Shouting out to #77 Edgar Fields. Rookie from TEXAS A&M. First round. GritZ BlitZ baby.
Boom!
I've heard of them can't name any but damn sure know about grits blitz
I worked with Rolland "Bay" Lawrence. Cornerback on that team.
I like the commentary. Well done.
They held teams to 9.7ppg that’s an all time record. Also, the 5 yard contact rule was made “Mel Blount rule” because of this defense and the steeler defense. That’s what makes your bears defense as great as it was because even with the rule changes, buddy Ryan still managed to format a defense that was as dominant as it was
If you search up the greatest defenses of all time lists, most of them overlook this incredible performance by the falcons that year. Definitely a top 5 defense.
1980 Falcons Defense was Awesome Too!
James White The 1980 Falcons team was awesome, especially on the offensive side. They were loaded at every position.
James White. I wish they would go back to the 1980 unis with the red helmets,jerseys and grey pants!
Claude Humphrey!! Our 2nd hall of famer!!
Big props for listening to your comment section and respecting/researching our input. The Dirty Bird Nation swarmed in on that LoB thang, which is a good point of view for non-Falcon fans. It's when you mentioned Buddy Ryan and the 46 Defense that the #DBN had to #RiseUp
Great vid... sub.
Thanks bro! This is one of my favorite defenses all time ..it was great researching them!
Walter Payton carried the ball 24 times for 69 yards against three Falcons in 1977. Steve Bartkowski did not play and Scott Hunter was the Atlanta quarterback. Scott Hunter completed 8 of 22 passes for 90 yards and the Falcons won 16 to 10.
AND?
What a defensive performance
Falcons D was crazy . If they had an offense they would have won a super bowl. I witnessed this myself
The one dislike has got to be a Saints fan..lol
The 77 Falcons defense was one of the greatest. But sending the house does have its flaws. Coryell was the coach that exposed them by creating pass protection packages.
Star quarterback Steve Bartowski lmao this team would have been undeafted if they if they had any offense
Sounds like it
Mike Vick would of been awesome in that era. Much harder to pass in that era. Vick on bootlegs can get the WRs open. Not many QBs can do that and Vick wouldn't be pressured to throw 300 yards a game like today. Vick with Gritz Blitz. Too bad NFL will never play like that again
No love for Robert Pennywell? As I remember it, HE was the Mike Singleterry of that team.
Thanks for your view! And yes Pennywell was one of the leaders of the D
That’s my dad! He loved to talk about this
1977 Atlanta was the #1 Defense of ALL TIME with 9 points a game. Not to disrespect Jerry Glanville but Buddy Ryan has never said he'd been 'inspired' by it. Sure; the Ryan teams weren't the first to stack the line with 9 players; and the 46 wasn't an every down defense (like the Gritz Blitz) until midway of 1985. AND: The 86-90 Bears were just as dominant, check reference pages; but the Offense fell off, so they lost in the playoffs. Nobody would know about the 46 and Ryan wouldn't be famous if they didn't go 15-1 and win a SB because the Bears had one decent offensive season that decade.
Walter White CHI was 40-8 between 1984-1986, best record in the NFL. The QB position was their undoing since McMahon was only able to participate in the 1985 playoffs. In 1984 it was Steve Fuller and 1986 was Doug Flutie.
Thanks master mind I'm just a bum Learning
Now I look at the stats, I agree 77 Falcons was the best defense of all time! Just that they weren't that popular.
Buddy Ryan stole Jerry’s defense and called the 96
That defense literally retired Joe Namath!
Grits blitz I'd Madden meta, in fact most games it's the only thing people do besides 146, blitz which is mostly corners getting sacks
Awww man what a great vid defense defense defense ☝️👍👍👍
John Zook #?? & Claude Humphrey #87 Incredible DEs
Great Video! Thanks Much!
James White thanks for the view and comment bro !!
QB’s were forced to throw touch passes with this type of defense. The problem was the defensive backs and safeties were not fast like . This is where Mike Ditka comes in. He brought in Mike Richardson, Shaun Gayle and William Perry. Players Buddy Ryan didn’t like. But they added an element of surprise to the defense. Whereas Jerry Granville only wanted folks he liked and that made it predictable.
Imagine if they had this same type of defense again in todays age.
87 claude Humphrey hall of Fame
They lost a game when they were shutting out the other team,but the offense turned the ball over deep in the Falcons end of the field,they couldnt move the ball,so they kicked a FG.And Atlanta lost 3-0.And Bears fans always say the 85 Bears wasnt a copy of the 77 Falcons
I was 11 in '77 and Rolland Lawrence was from my hometown in Franklin Pennsylvania.
I wish the Grits Blitz came back because Atlanta would be stronger for it and a lot of the Defenses of that Era and Longest Time where Serious Mack Trucks.
As a life long fan of the Dallas Cowboys since 1970 when Roger Staubach, (and btw, it's STAUBACH, not Stauback. There's nobody in American football with a Heisman Trophy named Stauback. Pronounce it correctly). When the game starts, you root for your team like a fan should do. But after the game, you must recognize greatness. Jerry Rice, and those 80s San Francisco 49ers were the absolute as best as you could be. Just as those 1970s, Pittsburgh Steelers were the best defenses of all time even now in 2020. But for one year, in 1991, this Atlanta Falcons team were outstanding. Jerry Glanville was an early version of Jimmy Johnson of those great Miami Hurricanes of the late 80s. UNLV Running Rebs were a great dominant basketball team for about 3 years. Btw, I'm a paralyzed Disabled Veteran. Though I'm paralyzed from my chest down, I don't regret one bit. Because I came up starting with Magic Johnson with the Showtime LA Lakers win the NBA Championship his rookie season. From him I got to see Dr. J with the Philadelphia 76ers. Then of course Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics. You had Dominique Wilkins at Atlanta Hawks and of course Spud Webb. I grew up in an Era of greatness and I wouldn't change anything. These "Black" jersey Atlanta Falcons in 1991 were flat out legends. If Brett Farve would have only acted more professional, he never goes to Green Bay. That is a story all by itself because even after the trade, Brett Farve still sat on the bench. Don "the Majik Man" Majkowski. He basically was a Tony Romo before Tony Romo type. He was a 10th round pick which is a undrafted Free Agent. But he was solid player, and won alot of come from behind wins for GB. His only fault is that he wasn't Brett Farve.
This team was good against the pass&run.They were sound at fundamentals,tackling&hustle!
True
neat video. never heard of these guys til today. credit where credit is do.
Thanks
I love the video.
Check out the 1978 New England Patriots as a team they rushed for 3,165 yards, their the only team in NFL history to rush for over 3,000 yards in a season. Also they had no one rush for 1,000 yards on that 78 Patriots team. www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/1978.htm
Crazy
The bears that game as a team ran for 133 yards
Walter Payton had 24 carries for 69 yards rushing..
Black Jesus and they lost in Chicago..next?
So what. They shut down one of the best running back of all time.
That defense actually only gave up 123 points when you consider that the Special Teams unit gave up one of those TD's due to a kick return for a TD. Chalk this scoring record up as one that will NEVER beat beaten.
The 46 has nothing to do with the grits blitz. It started out as a 5-1 defense with Doug plank and Jeff Fischer playing in linebacker spots and a linebacker over the tight end in 1981 and the bears where so bad he was just trying to find something that worked. The grits blitz was a 3-4 with different calls sticky Sam was the the call with all of them coming
The 85 Bears are always credited to a have the best defense, but people seem to have forgotten the 77 falcons. Part of the reason was probably because they had a terrible record and didnt make the playoffs. Also because they were one year wonders, because the very next year, the falcons defense came no where near their performance in 77. Basically, they were just forgettable and had hardly any offensive identity. The 85 Bears went 15-1 and allowed only 10 points in the playoffs and smashed the pats 46-10.
Yo I was 15 years old then n u Had Pit. Steal Curtain. Dal. Doomsday Defense. Den. Orange Crush 78. Min. Purple People Eater's. Mia. No-Name Defense. Now Atlanta didn't play on Prime Time Monday Night Football. Which was Extremely Big. Then unlike today. Bc Atlanta wasn't a good team year b4. Now if they won the Super Bowl that year.. they would have been known 4 having Theeeee BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM of ALL TIME!!!! FACTS!!!!!
Absolutely.
Sounds like the Muddogs and Bobby Boucher!
While the number of games in a season is certainly a factor, look at the passing leaders. Betting that, at most, 2 QB's passed for more than 3,000 yards and 0 WR's had a 1,000 yard or 75 catch season. This was the last year of the OL not being able to extend their arms in pass protection and there was no 5 yard bump and run rule.
I saw them in person
Were still like this today losing to field goals
Claude Humphreys, an all pro end.
Claude Humphrey play for Atlanta and went to the Philadelphia Eagles and went to the Superbowl great player
Gritty my boy
New content this weekend
Great video. But It just takes him too long to get to his points.
This defense is statistically the best ever, but they played a very weak schedule, let’s get real.
Dallas cowboys did this also it was valled 0 coverage defense.
Also if u notice today ( I'm 60 years old now) these so-called analyst n commentators never seem to go beyond the 90's..very shallow Minded people. So u won't hear about a Team that Has the Best Defensive stats in 4 top categories>1. Scoring. 9.8. PG. Yards. PG. Yards. PPG. T.O. PG.. Better than 85 Bears. 2000 Ravens. 78 Bronco's. 69 Vikings. 72 Dolphins. 2014 Seahawks. And the 78 Stealers. Atlanta Is Tops in those categories then ALL these well KNOWN TEAM DEFENSIVE Schemes. But u won't hear about Atlanta Falcons GRITS -BLITZ bc no SUPER BOWL. COPY???
Facts!
I respectfully disagree what's the part about Buddy Ryan's copied off the Atlanta Falcons because buddy Ryan was doing the same thing when he was up there as a defensive coordinator with the purple people eaters up in Minnesota, don't get me wrong that 1977 Atlanta Falcons was badass ,but I respectfully disagree about Buddy Ryan's copy off of Atlanta Falcons with the 85 Bears
Walter only had 69 yards rushing
Only? That’s pretty good
@@executive6951 on 24 carries which is barely 3 yards a carry
@@coolop5117 UNDER 3 yards per carry!!
Dude Buddy stole that defense and renamed it the 46 and introduced it the very next year in 1978. And that Falcons defense wasn't just better than the 85 Bears - they were statistically much better. If they'd had just a DECENT offense - they'd have cruised to a SB win. The Falcons were way ahead of their time compared to the Bears.
That Bears defense gave up about 12.5 yds per game. The 1977 Falcons - the TRUE GREATEST DEFENSE EVER - only gave up 9.1 points per game. The best in NFL history and no defense even comes close to their numbers - except maybe the 2000 Ravens. THEY were also better than the ’85 Bears, at only 10 points per game and the 1975 Steelers were also slightly better at 11.5 points per game. So were the ’72 Dolphins at 12.1 points per game. The difference is that the 77 Falcons were absolutely ATROCIOUS on offense and they didn’t win the ring like all those other teams I mentioned .. If they had - they’d be number one w no questions about it . Don’t believe me?? Here’s some stats….the Bears allowed 258 yds per game - the Falcons allowed 230. The bears allowed 4.5 yds per play - the Falcons allowed 3.6 yds per play. The Bears forced 2.8 turnovers per game. The Falcons forced 3.5 They also handed out one of the most brutal defensive beat-downs EVER on November 27th 1977 against the Bucs (yeah I know - it’s the Bucs - but STILL) - the Bucs 2 QBs combined to go 5 of 23 for 17 yards and FOUR interceptions. The entire offense combined for 78 yards TOTAL.
Claude Humphrey NFL HOF
Sheriff your commentary about the Atlanta Falcons it stinks you bringing up all of the bad things everything that you can think about Foster franchise who are you trying to impress this was the wrong presentation about the Atlanta Falcons in my opinion and you should have had to list because you chose mostly lineman instead of offensive players I think she's playing should it be to the top of the list
Sorry can't agree, greatest d was in pittsburgh, bears was a one off, how many bowls did bears with that d, one sb xx, how many did steelers win with theirs, that's right 4, so
The Bears could not stay healthy on offense and Buddy Ryan left after SB 20. Those are the 2 biggest reasons they didn't win another SB
@@stevebarnes4805 1986 Bears were good on defense.
The Gritz Blitz was a temporary phenomenon; 1970's Offenses were too Neanderthal to cope with such an unsound Defense; and rules allowed D Backs do to what today would be Defensive holding; could commit Aggravated assault at the LOS and so no quick passes were possible. 1977 is the worst year for Offense in NFL History.
There's a reason NOBODY does hyper aggresive blitzing; over 7 rushers leaves too many players open; with 4 or less defenders left for at least 4 targets and no safety help means a quick pass can go all the way for TD. In 1985 Dan Marino roasted the Bears 46 Defense in its prime passing to TE's and RBs; the whole LB corps was rushing him. This is why Defensive Aggression in the past decade is all about 'Safe" pressure of the Zone Blitz; although a great QB knows the holes and so it's not so 'safe'. Later 80's Bears Defense was still dominant without rushing 7; but without the 85 Offense they always failed in the Playoffs.
The Greatest Defenses of the present and future will ALWAYS be about only 4 dominant front 4 on the D line and safe coverage with 7. Blitzing is what you do because your front 4 isn't dominant. Even AVERAGE D fronts get to the QB in 3 seconds. An unblocked rusher can get there quicker; but he might be picked up by a RB or a wheeled out O lineman who had nobody in front. Each extra LB vacates one more underneath zone, or leaves RBs and TE's without any coverage at all. The best blitzes in my opinion come out of Dime; with 6 D backs; you can spare one or two.
Walter White Wow great insight, thanks for the information bro
It's still fun to see Hyper-Aggressive D though; I love this stuff. Just that everybody's first thought is 'Why Doesn't MY Team Do this shit now!! Why do we 'let' QB's have so much time! " Once in a while defenses today still take a huge gamble and rush 7. It's called Cover-0 - No Safeties deep; Straight man; everybody else rush the QB. It's a big play either way; a catch and run or a sack. You're most likely to see it against Rookie QB's on 3rd and 8+ yards. They're less likely to find the wide open option in only 2 seconds. Or BAD QBs who can't find open guys normally.
There's Lots of resources at InsideThepylon.com; anything Danny Kelly writes. And This link uses college but its still great: www.uwdawgpound.com/2014/8/14/6002235/be-a-better-fan-learn-the-game-xs-os-resources
Walter White Great defenses are usually predicated on pressure. Heat on the QB and stopping the run are primary. Blitzes work if you have guys like Hayes, Haynes, Blount, etc. because WR's aren't getting open against those guys. At least it won't be quick. The period of time it takes to shake away from a good DB leaves a QB in peril against good pass rush or blitzing defenses.