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| Barry Sanders became the third running back in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season. |
Two thousand yards is the magical number when it comes to NFL running backs as only eight players in NFL history after ran for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.
One of those eight running backs is the legendary Barry Sanders, whose date with density came in the final game of the 1997 regular season as his Detroit Lions hosted the New York Jets.
By 1997, Sanders had established as one of the if not the best running back in the NFL as he rushed for over 1,000 yards in every season since his inception back in 1989.
Sanders had helped the Lions to three playoff appearances during his career including a trip to the NFC Championship Game in the 1991 season.
But the 1997 season would be a period of adjustment for Sanders as he was led by a new head coach in Bobby Ross, who had taken over for Wayne Fontes following Fontes' firing after the 1996 season, as Ross would abandon the "Run N Shoot" offense that used a single back formation and opted for a traditional I-formation with a fullback.
Sanders got off to a slow start as he rushed for only 53 yards on 25 carries in the Lions' first two games of the season, which the Lions split, before rushing for at least 100 yards in the next 13 games as the Lions entered the final week of the 1997 season as Sanders needed to run for 131 yards in the game against the Jets in order to reach 2,000 for the season.
Even more enticing the 2,000 yards for Sanders was a playoff spot that the Lions could secure if they knocked off the Jets as Detroit came into the game with a 8-7 record.
Meanwhile the Jets came into the game with a 9-6 record needing just one more win to complete one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NFL history.
Following a 1-15 season in 1996 plus a 3-13 season in 1995, the Jets were able to pry head coach Bill Parcells away from their division rivals, the New England Patriots, to take over in the Meadowlands in hopes of turning the Jets around.
With quarterback Neil O' Donnell at the helm, the Jets went from the the bottom of the NFL to the doorstep of a AFC playoff berth as they entered the game with the Lions needing a win to secure a spot in the AFC playoffs.
After the Lions went three-and-out to start the game, the Jets got the ball at their 26-yard-line as O' Donnell would connect with wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson four times for 40 yards on a 12-play, 60-yard drive that culminated with a 32-yard field goal by John Hall to give New York a 3-0 lead.
Following another three-and-out by the Lions, the Jets would get the ball back at their 30-yard-line as O' Donnell completed two passes for nine yards to set up a 3rd & 1 which New York converted as running back Leon Johnson picked up the one yard the Jets needed for the 1st down.
O' Donnell would then hit Fred Baxter for 19 yards then Wayne Cherbet for 22 yards to put the Jets at the Detroit 19-yard-line where Adrian Murrell got a carry for five yards, then got the ball again to run for a 14-yard touchdown to increase the Jets' lead to 10-0 with 3:12 to go in the first quarter.
After both teams went three-and-out on their ensuing possessions, the Lions got the ball back at their 19-yard-line as the Detroit offense finally picked up a 1st down following back-to-back completions from quarterback Scott Mitchell to Tommie Boyd for 13 yards brought the first quarter to a close as Sanders had run for only seven yards on four carries.
Sanders would pick up 10 yards on his next three carries as the Lions would drive into Jets territory before they were forced to punt the ball back to the Jets as the second quarter was more of a punting contest than a football game as both teams traded punts until late in the second quarter when Detroit had the ball at its 20-yard-line with 1:42 left before halftime.
Mitchell would throw an incomplete pass to start the drive then hit Sanders for a three-yard screen pass to bring up 3rd & 7 when Mitchell scrambled for eight yards to pick up the 1st down at the Detroit 31-yard-line.
Mitchell would then complete a four-yard pass to Sanders which was followed by a seven-yard pass to Johnnie Morton for a 1st down at the Lions' 42-yard-line as Detroit would be pushed back five yards following a false start penalty on Morton.
On 1st & 15, Mitchell would connect with Boyd for 11 yards which was followed by a three-yard pass to Moore bringing up 3rd & 1 when Mitchell scrambled for eight yards and a 1st down at the Jets' 41-yard-line.
A holding penalty would cost the Lions 10 yards as they faced a 1st & 20 when Mitchell hit David Sloan for 19 yards then Kez McCorvey for six yards to put Detroit at the Jets' 26-yard-line as the Lions called their last timeout.
Jason Hansen would come onto the field and kick a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with the Jets on top 10-3 as Sanders finished the first half with just 20 yards on eight carries.
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| Jets quarterback Neil O' Donnell threw for 202 yards on 21 of 35 passes. |
The Jets got the ball to start the second half as Aaron Glenn returned the opening kickoff to the New York 27-yard-line as the Jets picked 11 yards on two plays for a 1st down where O' Donnell would be intercepted by free safety Mark Carrier, who ran the pick back 11 yards to give Detroit the ball at the Jets' 32-yard-line.
A two-yard run by Sanders and an incomplete pass set up 3rd & 8 when Mitchell found Moore for a 17-yard reception and a 1st down at the Jets' 15-yard-line as a six-yard pass to Morton followed by a Sanders run for no gain and an incomplete pass would force the Lions to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Hanson which cut New York's lead to 10-6 with 10:45 left in the third quarter.
The Jets would begin their ensuing possession at their 24-yard-line as a false start penalty and a pass to Richie Anderson that lost three yards pushed New York back eight yards where they would face a 2nd & 18 as O'Donnell completed a nine-yard pass to Baxter, then ran for 19 yards to pick up a 1st down at the New York 44-yard-line.
That is when Parcells decided to take out O' Donnell and insert Ray Lucas at quarterback in hopes of throwing the Lions off course as the second-year quarterback would hit tight end Kyle Brady for 19 yards and a 1st down at the Detroit 37-yard-line.
Following an one-yard run by Anderson, Lucas would run for 11 yards to pick up another 1st down at the Lions' 25-yard-line as Lucas would connect with Cherbet for four yards then handed the ball off to Anderson who ran for two yards to bring up 3rd & 4.
However, an holding penalty would push the Jets back 10 yards to make it 3rd & 14 when Lucas tried to hit Baxter across the middle only to be intercepted by Lions strong safety Ron Rice, whose 18-yard return gave the ball back to Detroit at its 42-yard-line.
Following another exchange of punts, the Lions got the ball at their 29-yard-line as fullback Tommy Vardell ran for five yards to start the drive to bring up 2nd & 5 when Sanders got the ball, only to run for two yards to make it 3rd & 3.
At this point, Sanders had been held to just 21 yards on 11 carries as the 2,000 yard rushing mark seemed like it too far beyond Sanders' reach.
That is when Sanders exploded for a 47-yard run to give the Lions a 1st down at the Jets' 17-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end with New York on top 10-6.
A nine-yard run by Sanders followed by a two-yard run by Vardell gave the Lions a 1st down at the Jets' six-yard-line as Mitchell would be sacked for a nine-yard loss to push Detroit back to the New York 15-yard-line to face a 2nd & goal.
Sanders would get the ball again as he faked out one Jets defended then avoided a diving attempt by linebacker Marvin Jones to tackle him as Sanders punched it in for a 15-yard touchdown to give the Lions their first lead of the game at 13-10 with 13:11 to go in regulation.
The Jets would begin its next possession at their 16-yard-line as O' Donnell completed two passes in a row for 11 yards to start the drive as New York picked up a 1st down at its 27-yard-line.
That is when the game took a turn for the worse when after Murell was tackled for a two-yard run on 1st down, Lions linebacker Reggie Brown laid on the ground motionless following an awkward hit.
Lions players frantically ran to the locker room tunnel to get a stretcher for Brown as he had stopped breathing following the collision with Jets guard Lamont Burns.
Brown would begin to breath again but he was loaded onto a stretcher and put into an ambulance following a 17-minute delay that brought the Silverdome crowd into an eerie silence.
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| Jets players pray after the Lions' Reggie Brown is loaded onto an ambulance |
After the game resumed, O' Donnell would complete a six-yard pass to Brady to bring up 3rd & 2 when Lucas was reinserted into the game as ran for two yards to pick up the 1st down.
O'Donnell would come back in and throw two straight incomplete passes to force 3rd & 10 when O' Donnell hit Jeff Graham for 19 yards and a 1st down at the Lions' 44-yard-line.
Two plays later on 3rd & 8, O' Donnell would fire a deep pass for Cherbet, who made a diving catch for a 33-yard reception to set the Jets up with a 1st & goal at the Lions' nine-yard-line.
That is when O' Donnell handed the ball off to Leon Johnson, who then proceeded to throw a halfback pass intended for Graham, only to have Lions cornerback Bryant Westbrook pick it off in the end zone to give the ball back to the Lions at their 20-yard-line.
With Sanders now on track, the Lions decided to lean on the running back to not only reach the 2,000 yard mark, but also take as much time off the clock as possible.
Sanders would get the ball four straight times for 30 yards to push the Lions to the 50-yard-line when Ron Rivers got a carry for three yards as Sanders would get the ball on the next two plays, picking up five yards to bring up 4th & 2 as Barry now had 129 yards on 21 carries.
The Lions decided to punt the ball back to the Jets, who got the ball back at their 20-yard-line as a pass interference penalty on Westbrook would give New York a 1st down at its 31-yard-line when O' Donnell was sacked on back-to-back plays then threw an incomplete pass to force 4th & 21.
With the odds not in his team's favor to pick up a 1st down, Parcelles decided to have the Jets punt the ball back to the Lions, who took over at their 42-yard-line with 2:15 on the clock needing a 1st down plus two yards for Sanders to reach 2,000.
Sanders would get the handoff from Mitchell on 1st down as Sanders got two yards to land exaclty on 2,000 yards as the Lions faced 2nd & 8 when Sanders exploded for one of his trademark long runs as he ran for 53 yards to give Detroit a 1st down at the Jets three-yard-line.
Sanders would come off the field and be put on the shoulders of some of his teammates as Mitchell took three knees to run out the clock on the Lions' 13-10 win as Sanders finished the game with 184 yards on 23 carries to finish the season with 2,053 , making him the third running back in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season.
The loss was a bitter pill for the Jets to swallow as they finished the season with a 9-7 record but out of the playoffs as they lost the final Wild Card spot in the AFC to a tiebreaker with the Miami Dolphins, who swept the Jets during the regular season.
New York would make the playoffs the following season with a 13-3 record as the Jets made all the way to the AFC Championship Game where they were defeated by the Denver Broncos 23-10.
As for the Lions, their 1997 season would come to an end one week later as they were defeated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-10 in a NFC Wild Card game as Sanders was held to 53 yards on 18 carries.
Sanders would play with the Lions for one more season as he rushed for 1,491 yards in the 1998 season and was just 1,457 yards from breaking Walter Payton's record of all-time rushing yards when Sanders shockingly retired before the 1999 season as he did not like the direction the Lions were going.
Sanders would have his number #20 retried and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
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| Barry Sanders is carried off the field after his 184 yard performance gave him 2,053 yards for the 1997 season. |
Then there it is Brown, who would been diagnosed with a contusion on his spine as the first two vertebrae in her neck were fused together in a surgery two days after the injury.
While Brown would never play football again, he would be walk on his own as the surgery plus the on the field actions prevented him from being paralyzed.
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