COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 47 NUMBER 6

[George Bozeka]

Coffin Corner Volume 47 Number 6 is now available in Members Only. The issue includes the following:

PFRA-ternizing. An announcement of three new episodes of the Official PFRA Podcast available to stream; the publication of the latest book in the Great Teams series, The 1964 Buffalo Bills: Profiles of the AFL Champions, along with a presentation about the book by the editor, George Bozeka, at The Buffalo History Museum; and a notice of the last 24-page issue of the Coffin Corner, with an increase to 32 pages next year.

Official PFRA Elections Ballot. Note that the deadline for voting is December 31, 2025.

NFL Leader Margins: Teams by Jim K. Georges. An extension of the “Leader Margins” method—measuring how far a team outpaced the league’s runner-up in key stats—to six offensive and defensive categories across 85 seasons of pro football (1950–2024), revealing which clubs were truly dominant relative to their eras. It highlights extraordinary outliers like the 1955 Browns, the 1961 Oilers, the 2007 Patriots and the 2019 Ravens, showing how often margin leaders became champions, and argues that Leader Margins provide a more meaningful cross-era comparison than raw statistics.

Mike “Mad Dog” Curtis: Much More Than His Moniker by Ed Gruver. A portrait of the Baltimore linebacker as a ferocious, instinctive player whose leadership and versatility made him the heartbeat of the Colts’ great defenses and a pivotal figure in their 1970 Super Bowl run. Despite his intimidating on-field persona, Curtis was thoughtful and disciplined off it, and his sustained excellence left many believing he is worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame.

The Tackle That Launched a Dynasty by Jimmy Grant. An argument that while “The Catch” is iconic, the season-saving play of the 1981 NFC Championship Game was Eric Wright’s last-second tackle on Drew Pearson, without which Dallas likely would have reached the Super Bowl and the 49ers’ dynasty might never have been born. By highlighting how close San Francisco came to another devastating collapse—and how both franchises diverged afterward—it reframes “The Tackle” as the pivotal moment that launched the San Francisco’s 1980s dominance.

2025 PFRA Bookshelf by John Maxymuk. The annual bibliography of pro football books published this year, including those by PFRA members George Bozeka, Patrick Gallivan, Steve Massey, Jeff Miller and John Steffenhagen, Chris Serb, Greg Tranter and Budd Bailey, Christopher Warner, Chris Willis and Darin Hayes, and Joe Zagorski.

[Brian wolf]

I cant wait to read the article but I agree ... without that tackle by Eric Wright for the 49ers--which would be illegal in todays game-- Pearson might have scored, or at least allowed the Cowboys to run down the clock for the game winning FG by Septien.

The Cowboys still should have won it. Wright's tackle was huge but once Lawrence Pillars blasted by Cowboy's guard, Kurt Peterson, a surprised Danny White got hit and fumbled, recovered by Jim Stuckey. White played well for Dallas, and deserved a SB Championship but this fumble, like fumbles in both the 1980 and 1982 NFC Championship games, helped enable very tough losses. I still believe had the Cowboys won on a FG, regardless of the SB, which I believe they win ... Pearson makes the HOF much sooner.

To this day, as a former Cowboys fan, I dont know which loss was tougher for the franchise, this one, the 1970 SB--though they finally won it the next year-- or the 1966 NFL Championship game? The Ice Bowl was tough as well.