1957 Playoffs: Division Finals

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 was back within their own territory. They quickly got to work, as QB Lester Parker hit WR Alfred Dunn on the sideline for a 22 yard gain to finally get the game going. RB Perry Ferguson got the ball twice to set the Rivermen up on the 10 yard line, and one play later Parker found WR Jimmy Woods in the back of the endzone for the first score of the game. Detroit would get good field position on an excellent return by Dakota Cochrane, and stood a few dozen yards from scoring range. After a toss play on first down went nowhere and an incompletion on second, the Knights were saved on a pass interference to put them with the leg of K David McGinnis. McGinnis’ kick just barely got over the crossbar for three. Cincinnati would get right up to the first down on their first play of the drive, but the Knights held firm and forced another punt. The Knights’ next drive was pretty much more of the same, a great return by Cochrane once again stalled out and brought the field goal unit for another attempt. McGinnis put a little more power behind this next kick and easily cleared the crossbar.
CIN 7, DET 6

Q2
On their ensuing drive, QB Lester Parker tried to replicate his first big pass to WR Alfred Dunn, but this time S Harvey Maynard was right there to intercept the ball and potentially give the Knights the lead. Their offense failed to get through Cincinnati’s defense, and punted the ball away after gaining a single first down. Neither team could seemingly get a grip on the field, with players from both teams slipping that prevented them from converting on their own third down. Detroit added to the sloppiness of this quarter, as RB Brady Walters could not hang on to a toss from QB Mick Casey, and the ball rolled into the possession of Rivermen DL J.J. Worthington. Cincinnati was now deep in their own territory after the turnover, but their offense slowly but surely made their way out of that hole. RB Perry Ferguson continued to terrorize the Knights defensive front, bruising his way on two consecutive plays that moved the chains. It was only when they pivoted to the pass game did the Knights finally begin to pick up on their offense, and a failed third down conversion brought out K Brian Singer for a field goal of his own. Singer proved why he is the best in the league, easily nailing one from 36 yards out to give the Rivermen a narrow lead entering halftime.
CIN 10, DET 6

Q3
The Knights got right to work to begin the second half, as Cincinnati allowed the passing game from QB Mick Casey to open up. They slowly pushed the Rivermen defense back, and forced them to be deep in their own territory for the first time all game. The Knights looked like they were losing out on all momentum, but Casey faked a toss to RB Jesse Brown and took to the air, hitting WR Johnathan Kindrachuk over the top for the go-ahead touchdown. Unfortunately, the point after was blocked at the line of scrimmage, and the Knights only had a shaky two point lead.  Cincinnati would not want to make that lead last for long, embarking on a drive of their own. QB Lester Parker practically saved the drive on his own, rolling out when all of his receivers were covered and uncharacteristically ran it himself, gaining a first down and a little more to keep the drive alive. Two handoffs to RB Billy Garcia weren’t enough to gain enough for another first, and Parker threw the ball away on third down. They were within range of K Brian Singer, whose kick gave the Rivermen the lead back. The rest of the quarter was rather uneventful, as both teams traded punts with neither making significant progress.
CIN 13, DET 12

Q4
Detroit finally broke the stalemate halfway into the final quarter. Backed up on a 1st and 20 thanks to a holding penalty, QB Mick Casey threw a lateral to RB Jesse Brown, and Brown bobbed and weaved through the Cincinnati secondary to nearly gain a first down, but was close enough to move the chains a play later. That play alone was just enough for a McGinnis field goal to retake the lead. The Rivermen could still win on a field goal, and so tried to take away as much time as possible in the event Detroit got the ball again. The Knights were unable to stop the small ball approach of the Rivermen, as Cincinnati kept on inching closer and closer to the endzone. Instead of winding down the clock, the Rivermen decided they would risk it and go for it all. QB Lester Parker stepped back to pass, and put his trust in WR Alfred Dunn to win a contested catch in the endzone. Parker put the pass right in front of Dunn, and Dunn was just able to grab the ball around DB Arnold Wolf for the go-ahead touchdown. The Knights scrambled to find a way into the endzone, but three straight incompletions effectively ended their season. Cincinnati ran out the remaining clock, and for the third straight year, the Cincinnati Rivermen would be fighting for another championship.
CIN 20, DET 15

East Division Final: New York Lions @ Washington Federals
D.C. was unusually warm for mid-December, meaning it was perfect weather for playoff football. The warmer weather allowed Federals fans to show up in droves, essentially making the few Lions fans who made the trek seem non-existent compared to the roars of the home team. Washington is trying to become just the second team to repeat as champions and has been treated like a shoo-in, while New York is trying to prove they deserve to be in the playoffs after upsetting Boston the week before.

Q1
New York elected to let the home team start out with the ball, and the Federals wanted to show the Lions why that was the wrong decision. The drive didn’t start out the way they wanted to, going for it on fourth down on their first set of chains. RB Rip Rooney was able to muscle his way for a first down, and the Federals kept rolling. They quickly got to the 25 yard line and faced a 2nd and short, deciding to trust Rooney again to pick up the gain. Rooney was stopped short of the first down by a surprisingly stout Lions defensive line. QB Johnnie Sellers then tried to run it himself up the middle, but faced the same predicament as Rooney and ended up just short. Instead of leading off with a touchdown, K Eugene Hickman came out instead to nail a field goal for a 3 point lead. The Lions predictably went three and out against one of the league’s top defenses, and the Federals had the ball again. Washington would put the ball back after a three and out of their own. New York got some ground when RB Felix Philipow continued to find openings in the Washington defense, and the Federals seemed to have trouble stopping him after shutting him down in the regular season. New York would turn to the air late in the drive, with QB Freddie Hughes throwing to whoever was open to keep the Federals guessing. Hughes punched it in on a slant over the middle to WR Dale Godfrey, taking a 7-3 lead into the second quarter.
WAS 3, NY 7

Q2
QB Johnnie Sellers proved again why he is the league’s best QB, almost effortlessly finding a way to dice the Lions defense for gain after gain after gain. Sellers would finally appease the eager home crowd by putting a pass just over New York DB Joe Bellisario, and directly into the hands of WR Joseph Atkins for a 28 yard score. New York kept piling on their offense, and Washington was still unable to stop Philipow on the ground. Philipow continued to run all over the Federals downfield, but relented once he got to the 2 yard line. RB Bernard Parks would be the one to punch it in for a touchdown two plays later. Both teams went back to their late first quarter form, trading punts and daring one another to make a move on offense. Lions QB Freddie Hughes thought he was up to the dare late in the second, but an errant throw by him sailed directly to Federals DB Alan Small for an interception. Washington only had a few minutes to get another touchdown, but they would only get to the 41 yard line before time nearly ran out. K Eugene Hickman barely made the field goal to end the half. It was another surprisingly close game for the Lions, and the momentum could still swing in either team’s favor in the second half. Washington surely hoped it would fall in their favor, but New York would start out with the ball in the second.
WAS 13, NY 14

Q3
The second half was not kind to either team’s first drive. QB Freddie Hughes was unable to see DL Kermit Johnston from behind him, knocking him down and sending the ball loose. Johnston recovered the ball for the Federals and gave them good field position to retake the lead. None of the momentum gained from the fumble seemed to carry over into their drive, and to add to it K Eugene Hickman missed the go-ahead field goal attempt. The Lions tried to make the passing game work, but didn’t make it very far with that gameplan and punted it back to the Federals. Two big plays by RB Rob Golden put Washington right on the goal line, and RB Rip Rooney was able to sneak right up the middle for the touchdown. New York still could not get anything going, and gave the ball right back to the Federals. QB Johnnie Sellers looked like his usual self, exploiting the weak Lions secondary for easy passes and letting his receivers do the work. Sellers looked to throw another one over the middle, but WR Gene Cockburn ran a bit too far and ended up tipping in trying to catch the ball. It would instead end up in the arms of DB Joe Bellisario, who returned back a few yards into opposing territory. The Lions leaned on RB Felix Philipow to get them into the endzone, and he did not take long to get there. Hughes tossed him the ball, and Philipow followed the blocks he was given to scamper 22 yards into the endzone. New York was back on top, and Washington for the first time was starting to worry about their chances of winning.
WAS 20, NY 21

Q4
The tension would not let up in the fourth, and was rather anticlimactic for a majority of the quarter. Both teams traded punts once again before Washington looked like they had a chance to take the lead back. QB Johnnie Sellers stepped back to pass, but as he was about to throw deep he was hit by DL Clifford Dale. Sellers got the pass off, but it traveled directly into the arms of LB Theo O’Neil for Sellers’ second interception of the half. The Lions would do good in killing time of the clock, but weren’t in field goal range and punted the ball away with a little over 5 minutes left in the game. Sellers seemed to be avoiding the bad luck he had accumulated in the second half, and he was killing time so the Lions would not be able to come back and win. Sellers played like his MVP self on this drive, as the pocket had collapsed on a second down that allowed him to escape and make a break for the first down. He would spin around DB Jeff Brother, but S George Schmitz came crashing into Sellers and knocked the ball loose. Brother realized the ball had broken free, and scooped up the ball and made a break for the endzone. Federals RB Rob Golden nearly caught up to Brother, but Golden made the tackle just as Brother reached the endzone. Washington Stadium was so quiet fans could hear a pin drop. The few Lions faithful that were in the Stadium were louder than they’d been all season, knowing that the Lions were a few minutes away from making the championship. The Federals were still shaken by this, and went three and out to prematurely end their season. New York ran out what was left on the clock, and their miracle season would stay alive for one game more.
WAS 20, NY 28

Eighth American Football Championship: (E3) New York Lions @ (W1) Cincinnati Rivermen
1957 H2H: Did Not Play
Historic H2H: 1-0 CIN
Playoff H2H: 0-0

If you expected this matchup for the championship, you’d probably be thrown into the nearest body of water. The Rivermen being here was pretty much the only thing people thought was nearly a guarantee. They were teetering on the edge of their title window, and the acquisition of DL Fergus Prenderghast lit a fire under the defense to extend the window just a bit further down the line. Cincinnati has been a machine, and they anticipated a rematch against Washington in the title game to reclaim their championship. In their place is this plucky New York team that most believed had no right to be here. They’ve certainly earned their right to be here, taking down two potential title contenders by benefiting off of miscues and playing pretty much even with both of them despite occasional offensive woes. The Lions are truly representative of David, a plucky underdog that everyone else is rooting for to take down the Goliaths of the AFL. Unfortunately for this David, the Goliath in Cincinnati will come out on top but not without significant challenge.
My Pick: Cincinnati