The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays

by Ron Jaworski, David Plaut, Greg Cosell

From the advent of the vertical passing game to the development of ever-more-sophisticated blitzing schemes on defense, professional football in the last half century has been a sport marked by relentless innovation. For fans determined to keep up with the changes that have transformed the game, close examination of the coaching footage is a must. In the words of Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, “The film does not lie.”

In The Games That Changed the Game , Ron Jaworski, a one-time NFL MVP turned Monday Night Football analyst and pro football’s #1 game-tape guru, breaks down the film from seven of the most momentous contests of the last fifty years. With an eye toward the brilliant game plans and seminal strategic breakthroughs that revolutionized play on both sides of the ball, Jaworski offers readers a drive-by-drive, play-by-play guide to the evolutionary leaps that now define the modern NFL, as well as portraits of the seven men who exhibited both creativity and courage in bucking established strategies. From Sid Gillman’s development of the Vertical Stretch, which culminated in the San Diego Chargers’ victory in the 1963 AFL Championship Game and launched the era of wide-open passing offenses, to Bill Belichick’s daring defensive game plan in Super Bowl XXXVI, which enabled his outgunned squad to upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams and usher in the New England Patriots dynasty, the most cutting-edge concepts come alive again through the recollections of nearly seventy coaches and players interviewed for this book.

Writing with the same vivid, passionate, and accessible style that has made him television’s go-to X’s and O’s maven, Jaworski fills in the blanks for fans who aren’t satisfied with merely dropping the terms “West Coast offense” or “46 defense” into conversation, but want to understand them fully, in context, as they were experienced by the men who played the game. You’ll never watch the NFL the same way again.



Foreword by Steve Sabol, president, NFL Films

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction, History, Collections

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2010

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deserves 3.5 stars. Ron ‘Jaws’ Jaworski describes seven key games in the past fifty years of professional football, which, according to him, changed how the game is played. It is a quick-paced, engaging read. You can almost hear Jaws talking about these games, coaches, players, and plays giddy with excitement. He comes across not only as a knowledgeable expert (he did play in the league for seventeen years) but also childlike in his love for his subject. Unfortunately, as with many experts, he often fails to describe his subject (in this case, complex offensive and defensive schemes) with jargon-free clarity. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology or with the players mentioned (as well as their positions and numbers), then much of what Jaws hopes to describe will slip by you. He offers the occasional chart of a play, but these are poorly labeled and infrequent. I think this book would make a great basis for a companion documentary series on these seven games in which you could see the plays as they develop. But even if Jaws does not effectively communicate the micro-level details of each play to you, you will still enjoy his telling of the macro-level story about how professional football remains a game in constant flux.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you a geek? Do you also love football? Then boy, oh boy, is this the book for you. If you've ever seen Ron Jaworski breaking down film on NFL Matchup or one of his other many ESPN shows, you know there's no one better. In this book, he takes a look at seven games featuring seven groundbreaking approaches to coaching in the NFL. There's no understating how much fun it is to read about how innovation rules in the NFL even though most of us can't see it on a game-by-game basis. Jaws has a good one here. It's accessible to the average fan, but gets deep into the game for the real football geek too.

[Ryan Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for any football nerds or football fans that want to grow their knowledge of the game. Jaworski's anecdotes from his playing days are fun.

Talks about the impact of each prolific coach/system in each chapter before breaking down key drives throughout the game and what happened.

Highly recommend.

[Trevor Wetzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the short-story “Bill Belichick’s Bull’s-Eye Game Plan.” The story starts out by explaining the events that had occurred earlier in that NFL season. It explains the certain events that caused this main-event to occur. The story then goes into giving information on the people involved in the story, mainly Bill Belichick. The story then flashes back to the beginning of Belichick’s career and explains how he got to be where he is now. The story then jumps into the game, the game that helped changed the game.

There aren’t really any main characters in the story. Belichick and the other coaches and players serve as the characters. None of the characters are described well thought out. But, the author does express the role that each player and coach plays in the story.

The setting of the story changes a couple of times but, it does not play an important role throughout the story. The story talks about the different places that Belichick coaches at but, never gives a description. During the actual game, the setting of the stadium isn’t even expressed.

I would recommend this book to a person with a high school reading level or higher. The story uses a good amount of larger, more complex words. The reader should also have a good amount of football knowledge, since the author expects you to know all of terms.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Jaws is the man! This walk down memory lane was fun and enlightening. His "players perspective" really adds to the descriptive nature of the chapters.

[Nicholas Sangiacomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book! The play-by-play can get a little dry at times (particularly during the beginning when the schemes are a little less complex), and at times I found myself skimming them looking for the occasional big moments which Jaws highlights.

The real strength of this book are the mini-essays between the play-by-plays. Jaws does a tremendous job of narrating the history of the strategic evolution within the game in a way that's not too difficult to understand. You really get a sense of the scope of time he's talking about. By the time he gets to the chapter on Bill Bellicheck, which is the best for a lot of reasons, in part because it's the most recent, I was totally hooked.

My only criticism would be that the play-by-play takes up a little too much of this book. If I could rewrite it, I would either a) reduce these sections to focus more on the big plays and surrounding narratives or b) really lean in to the play-by-play, archival aspect of this book and include screenshots of the formations these teams would come out in. Yes, that would have made this a longer and more complex read, but I also think it would have helped to illuminate the earlier chapters where the strategies are seemingly so basic and obvious that they simply aren't as interesting as the later chapters.

Overall, this book is a little bit of a mixed bag for the reasons described above. It is, however, definitely worth a read. Jaws has a great casual style that really fits the tone of this history, which feels like something he might be able to tell you with great enthusiasm by a fireside. At the end of the day the greatest strength of this book is the obvious love Jaws has for his subject, an enthusiasm that is contagious every time you pick the book up.

4 stars and highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the history of the game!

[Tom Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book as part of the Blue 58 Book Club, and really enjoyed it! We read the book at a one-chapter per week pace to keep up with the discussion, and I felt like that was an ideal way to do things. It gives the reader time to digest what they read, think about the impact of that particular game, coach or scheme, before moving on to the next.

Let’s start with the content: the general premise of this book is really cool. Going through seven games that exhibited early examples of game-altering philosophies and schemes, and discussing why they happened when they did. The games span four decades, from Sid Gillman’s influence on the league becoming a pass-first league to Bill Belichick shocking the St. Louis Rams in 2001 by eliminating their top offensive player from the game.

Some chapters were certainly better than others. I am surprised to say that Jaworski, an ex-NFL quarterback, excelled when talking about DEFENSIVE innovation more than offensive. I suppose that as a QB, these were the concepts that he had to lose sleep over. In any case, the chapters on Dick LeBeau and the Zone Blitz, as well as Buddy Ryan’s 46 Defense, were standouts.

One gripe I have about this book is that it started in 1963. Now, I understand that Jaworski needed game tape in order to break down the book in his pre-determined style (History lesson, Game Break Down, Fallout of Game), but it’s hard to feel that we missed something by not having an introduction chapter that broke down some of the earlier innovations. For instance: when did two-way players stop being the norm in the NFL? If that didn’t change the game, I don’t know WHAT did.

Anyhow, I would say if you’re a football nerd like myself, you’re going to enjoy this one. Lots of fun nuggets and connections to be made.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book’s concept is intriguing. Ron Jaworski analyzes seven games through different eras (1964-2002) that revolutionized the National Football League. Overall, the author provides sound rationale for each game he selected and is pretty thorough with his analysis of them.

In addition to breaking down game films, Jaworski includes insight from those who participated in the games and/or against the teams that played them. A former NFL Quarterback and television analyst of the sport, Jaworski provides personal thoughts as well as direct links to the aforementioned participants.

Any fan of the NFL would appreciate and learn from this book. One does not have to necessarily agree with the author’s opinion, which is shared openly, to gain more knowledge of the sport’s history. On a personal note, it was incredibly enjoyable to read the critical analysis of games and players one recalls watching as a youth. The nostalgia of bygone styles of football alone make this book a worthy read.

[Jen Spell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a sports fan with a newer interest in the Xs and Os, this was a great way to learn how the game has evolved to what we see on the field today. There are some details in the book I felt took away from the book's primary purpose, but on the flip side, some of those details allowed me to make meaningful connections to today's players (Kellen Winslow walked so Travis Kelce could run). This book also helped me understand the comparisons between Joe Montana and Brock Purdy when you look at their skill sets through the lens of a west coast offense -- every system lends itself to different strengths, which begs the question...what comes first, the system or the quarterback?

Overall, I close this book with a new understanding of the game that I love as well as a look at how small the football world actually is. It's almost like the genealogy of Adam and Eve. Every new and innovative scheme had to originate from somewhere.

[David Pruitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book that have wonderful insight into the evolution of the NFL game. The authors do a terrific job in breaking down the more complex aspects of the NFL in a way that even a mostly casual fan can understand. The book provided a rash of wonderful technical knowledge, enlightening stories, and humorous anecdotes that made it feel like a much easier read.

Where the book is limited is In it's assumptions of obscure player knowledge by the reader and its sometimes pedantic dragging discussions within some chapters. The last section in particular seemed out of place compared to the other coaches mentioned throughout the book and seemed like the authors were trying to add one more chapter for the sake of fluffing out the book.

Regardless, this book was well-written and a must read for American football fans.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for the football fanatic, no doubt about it. The casual fan likely won't love this book, unless they really want to delve into the finer workings of football strategies (such as pre-snap alignment, defensive and blocking responsibilities, and route-running).

If you want to learn more about those subjects, though, Jaworski is rock solid. His analysis isn't incredibly insightful or groundbreaking, but it is very understandable and interesting. The book may be 10 years old now, but seeing as it is reflecting on the past it has aged quite gracefully.

The only spot that may not be the case is the end of the book which forecasts the future (which is to be expected, and quite funny to be honest!).

Solid read, structure gets a bit repetitive the deeper you get.

[Jonatan Sotelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Querés aprender de futbol americano? Si sos de los que com oyo entendes el deporte pero querés saber más de lo que realmente pasa dentro del emparrillado, este libro es fundamental. No sólo explica los fundamentos del deporte, también da cuenta de aquellas historias que transformaron su desarrollo. La Cover 2 tan usada hoy en día, la defensiva 46 de los Bears o la zone-Blitz de los Steelers. Sin olvidarme de mencionar el "Bulls-Eye" de Belichick en el Super Bowl contra los Rams, el mejor plan de juego defensivo de la historia de la NFL, o la ofensiva West Coast.

Si querés aprender de futbol americano, este libro es imprescindible. Me encantó. Una fuente de consulta diaria.

[Paul MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and informative study of strategic innovation in professional football, evidenced through seven particular schemes and with a focus on seven specific games.

Ron Jaworski, a former NFL quarterback, manages to effectively explain the intricacies of these strategic developments in a way that even a relative newcomer to the sport, like me, can understand.

He interweaves the case studies with entertaining anecdotes from his own career which successfully prevented the book from becoming dry and diagrammatic.

Well worth a read!

[Chris Heim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book was very interesting. I appreciate the concept of the book and actually learned quite a bit about how NFL offenses and defenses evolved over time due to the ingenuity of coaching innovators. What I found less appealing was the play-by-play level of detail that the book sometimes fell into in describing the games in which these innovations could be illustrated.

[Alan Balch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little over my head. I think it's more for the person who loves the game of football over certain teams, but it was a fascinating look into the "chess game" that goes on behind the scenes.

[Jake Scully · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! It does a great job of portraying a game that is generally known as a dumb, tough guy sport, in a way that everyone can relate. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes football and wants to know more about the strategy of the game.

[Clint Banjo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so it’s not high literature but that’s not why you’re reading it...really in-depth look at tactics and in-game chess-like moves. Worth the read for me! Well researched and studied.

[Reggie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like football playmaking history I recommend this.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and definitely gives me plenty to look out for if and when the NFL ever returns...

[Scott McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book though it has a lot of break down of each of the games mentioned in here.

[James Mccracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basics on some innovations with Xs and Os.

[Joseph Vasek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean....Good read if you are an NFL junkie.

[Dusty Evely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous book, walking through some of the key figures in the story of the NFL, as told through specific game plans.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have only been watching football since 1990, so, I did not enjoy this book as much as someone who has watched the game longer.

[Stephen Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really neat historical look at fundamental shifts in NFL strategy. While a bit technical at times for me, I really enjoyed it anyways.

[Parth Patel]

“The Games That Changed The Game” by Ron Jaworski

It’s sometimes difficult to find interesting reads that reaches into the strategy of football, rather than just the random stories you get everywhere these days.
This book by Ron Jaworski, looks at some of the big changes in the world of football, but does so through an interesting view; by looking at individual games in which those changes were illustrated best.
Ron Jaworksi had significant hat tip to NFL Films’ Greg Cosell. With the way Ron comes across these days, it’s easy to forget that he was once a league MVP quarterback himself, and he played under some of the greatest coaches in league history. He was also a tough SOB and has one of the longest consecutive start streaks amongst QBs, even if it has been paled into significance by Brett Favre’s ridiculous iron-man run. In short, Jaworski’s book is worth reading.” Football is a chess match, with moves and countermoves. You’re constantly challenging the opposition, trying all time to be a step ahead of him (INTRODUCTION XIII).”, he said in his book.
He breaks down some big moments in the game and some key schemes over the past decades, looking at games played by Sid Gillman’s Chargers, Dick LeBeau’s Steelers, the West Coast Offense from Bill Walsh’s 49ers all the way through to the Bill Belichick’s game plan in Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams. In short, this book is as much about the coaching geniuses that developed new ideas as it is about the ideas themselves.
The drive descriptions of the games can get a little dull, tedious or repetitive, but the broader points he is making are interesting ones, and it is a great book to further your understanding of the game from a schematic point of view. In essence the game is the same as it was 50 or more years ago, but each of these revolutionary concepts, men, and games have transformed the way the game is played, each reacting to something they saw on the field and finding new ways to do the same thing.
If you’re at all interested in the how and the why, and not just the what, this book is well worth your time. While it doesn’t reach deep that into coaching fundamentals or anything from the ground up, it is an interesting look at the Xs and Os behind some of the great coaching innovations of the past decades, and gives an interesting history lesson into some of the game’s great coaches that don’t get as much attention anymore as they should today.
The bottom line is that this book contain some of the best best games of football in the past. Each games has its own image, respect, environment, suspense, emotions, hard work, skills, tactics, men, winning and losing. It’s tough today to have these kinds of games. If you want the full detailed story of these games, go ahead, read read and enjoy it. I like this book.
The book isn’t perfect by any means, but I would thoroughly recommend it as a great read for anybody interested in that aspect of the game. There will always be superficial stories to keep you amused, but there aren’t many books out there like this book.

[Barney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you like the football? Large men running around smacking the crap out of each other? Is football just about who can get more 350 pound men away from the nearest buffet table long enough to strap on pads to play a game? Ron Jaworski plumbs seven games for coaching styles and developments that cast a long shadow over the NFL. The book is very rewarding, and proves that Jaworski is perhaps the best color commentator on TV today; he has a unique ability to explain what you are seeing on the field.

Jaworski looks at seven different games, breaks down the film, and explains what was the important development of the game for the NFL. I watched several of these games:

Game #5: The 44-0 beatdown of the Cowboys by Buddy Ryan and the 46 defense (11/17/1985)
Game #6: A painful loss by the Steelers to the Bills in the playoffs (1/9/93)
Game #7: The upset of the Rams by the Patriots in the Super Bowl (2/3/2002)

Jaworski puts games in their historical context. The Bears 46 defense (in which the defensive tackles cover the center and guards) decimated the Cowboys, and hastened the demise of the core 1970s and 1980s "pro set": two backs and 2 WR with a tight end. The Dolphins beat the Bears that year by using Nat Moore as a slot receiver to create matchup problems. Doug Plank, who wore #46 with the Bears, said "the 8 man front (of the 46) can't defend a spread offense." (189) The spread offenses of the 90s and today have their start as a response to the Bears and then the Eagles playing the 46, which funnels everything inside in an effort to knock the quarterback on his ass.

Four of the seven feature defenses (the '74 Steel Curtain, '85 Bears, Dick LeBeau's zone blitz and Belichick's hit Marshall Faulk plan) which all deal with pressure. The offenses (vertical stretch, Air Coryell and the West Coast Offense) all deal with the passing game. All of the strategies strive to create pressure on single players or sections of the field. Jaworski does an excellent job in making the difficult much easier to understand. One thing I do not understand (nor does Jaworski) is the NFL's reluctance to allow fans to see the "All 22" film angle that shows all the players on the field at the same time. "This is the only true way to see all the assignments" Jaworski writes in the introduction, and he is correct. It is much the same as viewing a baseball game from the center field camera with only the pitcher and catcher in view. This makes baseball on the radio MUCH better than on TV, as you can picture how the fielders are playing the batter.

In any event, if you like the football, read this book. You'll learn quite a bit.

[David]

I highly recommend it to all football fans.

Most football books either a] are told from one person's point of view only b] focus on only one person or one team and or c] dumb things down for non-insiders and 'just fans'. Not here, you are not talked down to and the nuts and boring bolts parts of the business are not glossed over. It is also not one of those, 'how smart I am books.' He freely quotes and attributes ideas and thoughts to both subjects and collaborators alike. He did over 60 interviews and watched and broke down film of each of these games.

This is written more like a history than a hero making biography, while remaining very readable.

What Jaw did is take 7 games that he feels influenced coaching philosophies. In each chapter he gives the set up for the game and then describes it quarter by quarter, series by series and sometimes play by play.

Perhaps because these coaches and players were talking about their craft and how they applied it on a particular day the comments are much more candid than we are used to. Examples. Bill Walsh saying the game never slows down for some kinds of quarterbacks. Mean Joe Green saying talk about being in zone is crap, 'I played 13 years and was in the zone once.' Last when Colt QB coach Tom Moore was asked why Manning was getting all the reps in practice he said, 'If 18 goes down we are F**ked and we don't pratice f**ked.

You can debate if these 7 are that influential but don't bother -- just enjoy them.

Here are those 7

1. Sid Gillman's Vertical Stretch Boston Patriots vs Chargers Jan 5, 1964
2. Bud Carson's Cover Two Defense. Steelers vs Oakland Dec 29, 1974
3. Don Coryell's Roving Y. Oakland vs Chagers Sept 14, 1980
4. Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense Giants Vs 49ers Jan 3, 1982
5. Buddy Ryan's 46 Defense Bears vs Cowboys Nov 17, 1985
6. Dick LeBeau's zone blitz. Bills vs Steelers Jan 9, 1993
7. Bill Belichick's Bull's Eye game plan Rams vs Patriots Feb 3, 2002

[Joel Niermann]

In the book The Games that Changed the game, Ron Jaworski really made the reader feel like they were in the shoes of the players and coaches. The book is about seven coaches and seven games. In the book the narrator talks about coaches that are not to popular today but had a huge impact on the football society. When you think of football what do u think about? You think about your favorite team, your favorite player? Whatever it may be your perspective of football changes. Ron Jaworski wanted to inform you in his book about the great players and coaches that shaped up football till this day.

The theme of the book The games that changed the game was don't define a person on what they have, define them on what they could have. What I mean by that is not every great player or coach was the best their in own sport, but it was the courage, dedication and love they had for the sport. A quote " Sid was really his own innovator."[84] Sid was so advanced in football at the time that he made up most of his own plays and formations. At the time you never saw a coach or a player perform that. Thats the difference between a good coach and a great coach.

Ron Jaworski style is narritive. He breaks down player by player, coach by coach, play by play. As he would say "every seconed counted". It doesnt matter if there was one seconed or point one seconed he was determend to out perform the other team. Ron Jaworski broke down football in so many ways you couldn't amagine. His way of writting is very effective.

I enjoyed The games that changed the game. It was very interesting to read and I learned a lot about football. I disliked the fact that sometimes the book was kind of confusing with all the players and coaches. If I could change anything I would change the number of people in the book. I would of liked to learn a lot more people involving football. I have not read any books like this, but it is in my top five.

[TJ Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a football fan, geek, nerd, or whatever word you want to put in, the book The Games that Changed the Game by Ron Jaworski was a fantastic read. It is exactly what I have wanted to see when reading about football. It wasn’t any of the basic things that I have known for years, but it was the specifics of the evolution of the coaches, plays, playbooks, games, and overall game. Jaworski covers more commonly known topics such as Buddy Ryan’s notorious 46 defense that helped lead Da Bears to a Super Bowl XX win in 1985; and he looks at Bill Walsh’s famous West Coast offense that still is the root of many offenses today. “Jaws”, as he is commonly referred to as, ventures into more unknown waters such as Sid Gillman’s Vertical Stretch and Don Coryell’s Roving-Y. When he is writing, there is a mix of storytelling, teaching, and broadcaster. There is storytelling while going through the games themselves, teaching while going more in depth about a specific play or tactic, and elements of a broadcaster filling in the rest of the book. Personally, I kept reading because I wanted to get to the next tactic. The games were interesting, but I was more focused on each tactic such as a base zone blitz from Dick LeBeau or a basic route combination in the West Coast offense. Fair warning, there are times where the vocabulary can be a little erotic and hard to understand when he is talking about those said tactics. All in all, I highly recommend this book. I can safely say that I will read this book again to pick up on things I may have missed out on. I’ll probably even take some notes next time.