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Showing posts from May, 2025

1957 AFL Championship

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Temperatures were reaching near 60° right before Christmas in Cincinnati as River Field hosted its second straight championship game. Rivermen fans once again filled the stadium over its capacity, but fell short of following up on last year’s crowd. Many New York fans made the trek over to watch their miracle team make it to the championship game, and if their last two games were any precedent then they’ll make it rough for the home team. Q1 New York wanted to make a statement on their opening drive, opting to start out their first title game with the ball. Having not played all year, the normally stout Rivermen defense could not stop the Lions’ ground game. RB Felix Philipow tore through the Cincinnati front seven, pretty much single-handedly carrying the Lions downfield and right onto the goal line. After a rush by RB Bernard Parks went nowhere, Philipow went right back out and beat the Rivermen secondary to the outside for the first score of the game. The Cincinnati offense seemed a...

1957 Playoffs: Division Finals

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West Division Final: Detroit Knights @ Cincinnati Rivermen Cincinnati had a relatively perfect December day for playoff football, with both teams’ faithful packing River Field for what many are dubbing the “real championship game”. Both teams were arguably the best in the league, but they both will need to win this game at least to have a shot at winning the title. Detroit is a newcomer to these parts, where a win would take them to their first title game. A win for Cincinnati would take them to their third straight. Q1 Cincinnati decided that they wanted to get a headstart over the Knights and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The Rivs managed to gain some ground and took up a good chunk of the first quarter, but were stopped shortly after crossing midfield. Instead of lining up for a fairly long field goal, Cincinnati punted it off to Detroit to work their way out of being deep in their own territory. The Knights were unable to dig themselves out of that hole, and Cincinnati wa...

1957 Playoffs: Division Semi-Finals

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West Division Semifinal: St Louis Stallions @ Detroit Knights Kaiser Field welcomed fans for postseason football for the first time since before the second World War, and they showed up in droves to watch their Knights finally play for something. It was just above freezing at gametime, with the grounds crew dealing with the remaining snow as the fans poured in. Although some St Louis fans were found in the grandstands, their cheers were quickly drowned out by a raucous Detroit crowd. Q1 Detroit would get the ball first, and were eager to keep the crowd with a good first outing. Even though QB Mike Major was ready to go back out as the starter, the Knights would continue to ride the hot hand of Mick Casey for their first AFL playoff game. Casey dropped back on the first play of the game, and threw a dart over the middle to WR Pat Kimball, who bounced off two defenders and broke free but got winded and was taken down for a nearly 60 yard reception. The Stallions were clearly rattled by t...