GREAT TEAMS, GREAT GAMES for SECOND SEASON Pro Football Board Game

SECOND SEASON Pro Football Board Game gives you the chance to replay some of pro football's greatest moments, with the "Great Teams, Great Games" and "MORE Great Teams, Great Games" team sheet sets! You'll get the participating teams from ten memorable championship or playoff games--20 teams in each set, 40 teams in all. Here's a run-down of the teams included in each set...

"Great Teams, Great Games"

1950N Cleveland vs. 1950N Los Angeles (December 24, 1950): A legendary battle between Cleveland's champions of the defunct post-war rival league, freshly-merged into the established league, and pitted against a Los Angeles team that had unleashed a history-making passing attack featuring two all-star quarterbacks. A late field goal gave Cleveland a memorable 30-28 victory.

1958N Baltimore vs. 1958N New York (December 27, 1958): Hailed for years by sportswriters as "the greatest pro football game ever played," this overtime battle was watched by millions on national television and is generally credited for launching the television age of pro football. Led by the passing of "Johnny U" and the running of "The Horse," who crashed over the goal line six minutes into the sudden-death period, Baltimore pulled out a thrilling 23-17 win.

1962N New York vs. 1962N Green Bay (December 30, 1962): Coached by the legendary gap-toothed coach, and featuring a roster loaded with hall-of-fame players, this Green Bay squad is considered by many to have been the best team in pro football history, running through the regular season with a 13-1 record and finishing with a 16-7 demolition of New York in the championship game. New York was led by the bald-headed quarterback in the twilight of his career who fired a record 34 touchdown passes in the regular season.

1968N Baltimore vs. 1968A New York (January 12, 1969): Experts snickered when the shaggy-haired quarterback of the underdog New York team "guaranteed" a victory for his upstart league champions against an established Baltimore squad that had breezed through the regular season with a 13-1 record, and had recorded a 34-0 shutout of powerful Cleveland in the playoffs. But when the final gun sounded, New York had secured a 16-7 win and the greatest upset in pro football championship history.

1969N Minnesota vs. 1969A Kansas City (January 11, 1970): In the final championship game before the merger of the two professional football leagues, Minnesota's stingy "Purple People Eater" defense made the team from the established league an odds-on favorite to manhandle Kansas City's upstart league champions. But Kansas City's dapper coach put together a brilliant game plan, and it was the Kansas City defense that made the big plays, sending Minnesota to a 23-7 defeat and giving the upstart league a memorable win in the last game it ever played.

1972A Miami vs. 1972N Washington (January 14, 1973): The 1972 Miami squad did what no other team from the established league had ever done--go through an entire season undefeated. Led by the square-jawed head coach, the bespectacled, cerebral quarterback, and a trio of talented runners--two of whom hit the thousand-yard mark--the Miami squad finished with fourteen wins in fourteen games, and capped the perfect season with a 14-7 defeat of Washington's "Over the Hill Gang" in the championship game.

1978A Pittsburgh vs. 1978N Dallas (January 21, 1979): One of the most exciting championship games of the '70s, pitting two of the decade's most successful franchises--Pittsburgh's brute strength against Dallas' hi-tech flash. Pittsburgh's quick-strike offense forged a 35-17 lead, but Dallas' never-say-die squad staged a last-minute comeback that ultimately fell just short in a 35-31 defeat. Both team's rosters feature hall-of-fame performers on both offense and defense.

1985N Chicago vs. 1985A New England (January 26, 1986): Chicago's legendary squad featured memorable characters like "Da Coach," "The Refrigerator," and the punky quarterback with the shades, and they roared through the regular season with a 15-1 record. New England made it to the championship game as a wild-card entry, with a Cinderella-like post-season surge of three road victories against favored opponents. Midnight struck a little too early for Cinderella, though, as Chicago stormed to an embarrassingly-easy 46-10 championship victory.

1988N San Francisco vs. 1988A Cincinnati (January 22, 1989): Hailed by many as the best championship game ever played since the merger of the two leagues. The game was tied at 3-3, 6-6, and 13-13, before Cincinnati took a late lead on a 40 yard field goal. After the kickoff, San Francisco found itself on its own eight yard-line, trailing 16-13, with three minutes to go. Then came "the drive," engineered by San Francisco's remarkable quarterback. Eleven plays and ninety-two yards later, San Francisco had taken the lead 20-16, and Cincinnati was unable to score in the 34 seconds left over.

"MORE Great Teams, Great Games"

1957N Detroit vs. 1957N San Francisco (December 22, 1957): These two teams finished the 1957 season tied at the top of the western conference standings with identical 8-4 records, so a playoff game was necessary to decide the title. San Franciso bolted to a 27-7 halftime lead, led by the strong arm of the legendary bald-headed quarterback with the funny name! Many Bay Area fans celebrated in the stands during the intermission, but Detroit regrouped and roared back in the second half for a stunning 31-27 victory, earning them the date with Cleveland for the league title. This was San Francisco's only playoff appearance in the club's first 25 years of play.

1963N New York vs. 1963N Chicago (December 29, 1963): An epic battle between a two league stalwarts, played in the bitter cold of Chicago's Wrigley Field. New York relied on the league's best passing attack, while Chicago's strength was its formidable defense. Defense won this brutal contest, with Chicago intercepting five New York passes, in a 14-10 win. Included among the interceptions was a game-saving theft in the Chicago end zone as New York threatened in the final seconds.

1963A Boston vs. 1963A San Diego (January 5, 1964): One of the biggest mis-matches in championship history, with a modest Boston club representing the new league's feeble eastern division going up against a San Diego offensive machine that had rung up 399 points in fourteen games. The result was a 51-10 thrashing in which San Diego piled up over 600 yards of total offense and averaged ten yards per carry rushing! Both clubs rated relative to the established league so you can pair up the winners in a realistic "what-if" inter-league championship scenario!

1970A Baltimore vs. 1970N Dallas (January 17, 1971): The first championship game of the newly-merged pro leagues was a bit of a let down for "purists" as Baltimore--transplanted from the established league into a new conference of teams from the upstart league--won the first conference title! They were paired off against a veteran Dallas team which was making its first championship appearance after having gotten turned back in frustrating defeats by Green Bay in 1966 and '67 and Cleveland in '68 and '69. This game was surprisingly sloppy, filled with numerous bumbles, bungles and bloopers. But it had an exciting finish, with Baltimore's kicker booting the game-winning field goal in the closing seconds for a 16-13 victory.

1974A Pittsburgh vs. 1974N Minnesota (January 12, 1975): This is the championship game which began the great Pittsburgh dynasty, although some of the stars of future championships had not yet emerged. It featured two legendary defenses; Minnesota's aging "Purple People Eaters" against the new-generation "Steel Curtain" defense. Everyone expected a classic defensive struggle, and that's exactly what they got! Pittsburgh's defense scored the only points of the first half by sacking the scrambling Minnesota QB for a safety and a 2-0 lead. The teams each scratched out touchdowns in the second half, but Pittsburgh iced a tough 16-6 victory with a short touchdown pass in the final minutes.

1980A Oakland vs. 1980N Philadelphia (January 25, 1981): The 1980 championship saw a battle between conference upstarts. Oakland's gruff group of swashbuckling cast-off veterans barged their way into the championship game with a series of post-season upsets. They met an energized Philadelphia club making its first championship appearance in twenty years. Oakland dominated, taking advantage of Philadelphia's shaky, error-filled play to build a 21-3 lead early in the second half enroute to an easy 27-10 victory. The games MVP was Oakland's seemingly washed-up former Heisman Trophy winning QB who had been picked up the season before on the waiver wire.

1982A Miami vs. 1982N Washington (January 30, 1983): This was a championship game that might never have been played at all. The 1982 season came to an abrupt halt in September when the players staged a strike after just two games. Weeks went by without a solution, and the season seemed lost. But in November, at a last-ditch meeting, the owners and players came together and an abbreviated nine game season was thrown together. The playoffs were expanded to accomodate more teams and renew fan interest, and Washington and Miami were the survivors. Both clubs were well-coached and colorful. Washington's aging running back had a career game, rushing for 167 yards as "Riggos Rangers" swept past Miami's "Killer Bees" 27-17.

1990A Buffalo vs. 1990N New York(January 12, 1991): One of the most exciting championship games ever, a nail-biter that went down to the game's final play. Buffalo's highly-charged offense was expected to dominate what was viewed as a modestly talented New York club which relied on discipline, patience and error-free football to win games. But New York siezed control of the game in the second half by executing long, time-consuming drives. A field goal with two minutes to play put New York on top 20-19. As millions of TV viewers held their breath, Buffalo's hall-of-fame quarterback directed a last-ditch drive inside the New York 30. With just seconds remaining, Buffalo's kicker trotted on the field to attempt the game-winning 47 yard field goal. But the kick sailed wide right, preserving the New York upset win.

1997A Denver vs. 1997N Green Bay(January 25, 1998): A final championship appearance for Denver's legendary quarterback #7 turned out to be a thriller of a game that wasn't decided until the final seconds, when Denver defenders knocked down a pass in their own end zone to preserve a 31-24 upset. While Denver's aging QB was the sentimental favorite, the heart of the club was its thundering running attack. Denver's MVP running back piled up 157 yards on 30 carries and scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner with under two minutes to play. Denver's first championship game win was a huge relief for its fans after four embarrassing losses.

1999A Tennessee vs. 1999N St. Louis (January 23, 2000): A floundering club in 1998, St. Louis seemed cursed again in '99 when the high-priced free-agent quarterback they'd signed in the off-season suffered a season-ending knee injury in the pre-season. However, what happened next was one of the great "Cinderella" stories of all time. With the season all but written off, a former minor league quarterback--unwanted by anyone else in the league--suddenly and startlingly emerged as the league's most deadly passer! The points piled up and so did the St. Louis victories, and in January the team found itself in the championship game against a Tennessee club that had its own amazing soap-opera story! The resulting game was one for the ages, a tense, exciting affair that ended with Tennessee reaching the St. Louis one yard line as the game ended, St. Louis hanging on for a thrilling 23-16 win.