NFL Old School Game of the Week: Former Bartender Kicks 5 FGs to Lead Falcons to Monday Night Upset over Rams

Tim Mazzetti(4) accounted for all 15 of the Falcons' points in their 1978 win over the LA Rams.

As the 1978 NFL season began, kicker Tim Mazzetti was not signed with any NFL team, but instead was signed with a bar in Philadelphia called Smokey Joe's where he was making $50 a night mixing drinks near his alma mater at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Brazilian-born Mazzetti's dreams of being a NFL kicker seemed fleeting especially after the former Penn Quakers kicker had unsuccessfully tried out for four teams since the beginning of the 1977 NFL season.

Mazzetti would get his chance to become a NFL kicker as he signed with the Atlanta Falcons six games into the 1978 season as Atlanta cut kicker Fred Steinfort after he made missed seven of 10 field goal attempts in the Falcons' first six games.

Mazzetti made two extra points in his NFL debut which was a 14-0 Falcons win over the Detroit Lions, then kicked the game-winning 29-yard field goal with one second to go to complete Atlanta's comeback from a 10-point deficit in a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Mazzetti's story would be put in the spotlight the following week as the Falcons hosted the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.

The Rams came into the game with a 7-1 record having lost their first game of the season the week before 10-3 at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.

The Rams were under the direction of first-year head coach Ray Malavasi, who had taken off the reins at head coach after Chuck Knox left Los Angeles to become the head coach of the Buffalo Bills after leading the Rams to five straight NFC West division titles, but zero trips to the Super Bowl as the Rams lost in the NFC Championship three straight times from 1974-76.

With a new coach and quarterback Pat Haden at the helm, the Rams were hoping 1978 was going to be the year they finally made it to the Super Bowl.

 Meanwhile, the Falcons come into the game with a 4-4 record with hopes of making their first postseason in franchise history.

The strength of the Falcons was their defense, the "Grits Blitz" defense which had allowed a NFL low 9.2 points per game the previous season but if Atlanta was going to make a run at the playoffs they needed their anemic offense led by quarterback Steve Bartkowski to pick up the slack and for Mazzetti to become a reliable kicker.

  After forcing a three-and-out by the Falcons on their opening possession, the Rams got the ball at their 41-yard-line where they began a drive to the Atlanta five-yard-line when on 3rd & 4, Haden found tight end Ron Jessie for a two-yard completion, only for Jessie to lose the football after he was hit by Falcons cornerback Rick Byas.

Strong safety Frank Reed would make the recovery for the Falcons and return the fumble nine yards before being tackled at the Atlanta 12-yard-line.

The two teams would trade punts for the rest of the opening quarter until Bartkowski was intercepted by Rams free safety Bill Simpson, whose 24-yard return plus an Atlanta personal foul penalty put Los Angeles at the Falcons 12-yard-line.

Following a two-yard run by Rod Phillips to end the first quarter, Haden connected with Jessie for a 10-yard touchdown to put Los Angeles ahead 7-0 just five seconds into the second quarter.

The Falcons, who did not pick up a single 1st down in the first quarter, were able to get a 1st down on their next possession, a 16-yard pass from Bartkowski to running back Haskel Stanbeck, before punting the ball back to the Rams.

The Rams were set to punt the ball back to the Falcons when Atlanta defensive end Edgar Fields blocked Glen Walker's punt to give Atlanta its best field position of the game as they took over at the LA 23-yard-line.

Four straight runs for 18 yards set up a 22-yard field goal by Mazzetti to put Atlanta on the board as the Falcons trailed 7-3 midway through the second quarter.

Following another exchange of punts, the Rams had the ball at their 41-yard-line when on 3rd & 13, Haden was picked off by Falcons cornerback Rolland Lawrence, whose 19-yard return gave the Falcons the ball at the LA 45-yard-line.

Falcons cornerback Rolland Lawrence had two interceptions in the Falcons' win.

However, the Falcons would lose their starting quarterback on the very next play when Bartkowski separated his left shoulder following a hit when trying to scramble.

Bartkowski would be replaced by June Jones, who could not lead the Falcons past the Rams' 47-yard-line, forcing Atlanta to punt the ball back to the Rams who took over at their 14-yard-line with 1:45 to go before halftime.

Two straight running plays picked up three yards to set up 3rd & 7 when Haden was intercepted again, this time by Byas, to give the Falcons the ball at the LA 28-yard-line with 71 seconds left in the first half.

Jones would attempt three passes, only completing one for nine yards, to set up another Mazzetti field goal, this one from 27 yards out to make it a 7-6 Rams lead with 27 seconds left in the first half.

Haden would be able to complete three straight passes for 45 yards to get the Rams to the Falcons' 34-yard-line as time ran out in the first half with Los Angeles still on top 7-6 and set to get the ball to start the second half.

The Rams would get the ball at their 23-yard-line and drive 45 yards in eight plays to give their kicker, Frank Corral a chance to increase the lead with 49-yard field goal.

But Corral's kick would sail wide left to keep it 7-6 in favor of the Rams and give Atlanta the ball at its 32-yard-line.

Four plays later, the Falcons were at the Rams' 42-yard-line when Jones handed the ball off to Stanbeck, who rumbled for nine yards until LA linebacker Bob Brudzinski jarred the ball loose, leading to a fumble recovery by cornerback Rod Perry to give Los Angeles the ball at its 28-yard-line.

Five plays would pick up 22 yards to set up 3rd & 1 when Phillips was stopped for no gain to set up 4th & 1 from the 50-yard-line.

Needing a few inches, the Rams decided to go for the 1st down only to Cullen Bryant be dropped for an one-yard-loss giving Atlanta the ball at the LA 49-yard-line with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons would avoid disaster on the next play from scrimmage as Jones completed a six-yard pass to wide receiver Alfred Jackson, only for Jackson to fumble the football which was picked up by tight end Jim Mitchell, who ran for 10 yards for an Atlanta 1st down at the LA 33-yard-line.

Six more plays totaling 20 yards set up Mazzetti's go-ahead field goal from 30 yards out to give the Falcons its first lead of the game at 9-7 just four seconds into the fourth quarter.

The "Grits Blitz" defense had a good night as they held the Rams to seven points, forced five turnovers and had five quarterback sacks.

The Rams would get the ball back at its 22-yard-line as LA would pick up one 1st down before it was backed up eight yards to set up 3rd & 18 from the LA 27-yard-line when Haden was intercepted again by Lawrence on a deep pass for Jessie to give the Falcons the ball back at their 28-yard-line.

From there, the Falcons would put together their best drive of the game, a 10-play, 64-yard drive which featured a 34-yard pass from Jones to Jackson, that was capped off by a 26-yard field goal by Mazzetti to increase the Atlanta lead to 12-7 with 6:41 left in the fourth quarter.

When the Rams' offense came back onto the field for its next possession, they did so with a new quarterback as when backup Vince Ferragamo took over for Haden in hopes of sparking LA to a comeback win.

The Rams would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to Atlanta, who took over at its 25-yard-line with less than five minutes to go.

It appeared that the Rams would get the ball back after they forced a three-and-out only to have Jackie Wallace fumble the football when trying to make a return on the punt, leading to a recovery by the Falcons' Mike Esposito to give Atlanta the ball at the LA 25-yard-line.

Three straight runs for five yards put Mazzetti in position to make it a two-score game(The NFL did not have two-point conversions in 1978)which he did with a 37-yard field goal to increase the Falcons' lead to 15-7 with 2:09 left in the game leading to broadcaster Howard Cosell to say "This Philadelphia bartender won't need to mix scotch-and-waters any longer".

Ferragamo would come back out with the Rams offense on their next possession as LA frantically tried to drive down the field in hopes of getting a quick score then recover an onside kick and get another score before the 2:09 ran out.

Passes of 22 yards to Billy Waddy and 28 yards to Willie Miller gave the Rams a chance to make it a five-point game as Corral came on to attempt a 42-yard field goal with 57 seconds left.

But once again, Corral's kick sailed wide left, giving the ball back to the Falcons who took two knees to run out the clock to complete the 15-7 Atlanta win.

The Rams would rebound from the loss to finish the regular season with a 12-4 record and their sixth straight NFC West title as LA would knock off the Minnesota Vikings 34-10 in the Divisional Round before losing 28-0 to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game.

The Rams would eventually get past the NFC Championship the following season with Ferragamo at quarterback as he lead Los Angeles to upset wins over the Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to send Los Angeles to Super Bowl XIV where LA was defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19.

As for the Falcons, they would finish the regular season with a 9-7 record, good enough to earn a sport in the playoffs for the first time in team history as Atlanta would come back from a 13-0 4th quarter deficit to pull out a 14-13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, before falling to the Cowboys 27-20 in the Divisional Round(To read about the Falcons-Cowboys game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-white-comes.html).

Mazzetti did not mix scotch and waters for two-and-a half years as he remained the Falcons' placekicker until he was cut during training camp of the 1981 season.

Mazzetti would then moved into the broadcasting business as was a sports reporter for an Atlanta television news station for the next two years before coming out of retirement to join the USFL's Boston Breakers, where he would be the team's kicker for the next three years before retiring for good in 1986.