Top 12 NFL regular season Power Rankings, 1990

[74_75_78_79_]

I'm sure enough we haven't touched on this season yet. Quite a few hypo-'Bills/SF SBXXV' commentaries but no '90 PRs as of yet. Interesting one to piece together. 8-8 playoff Saints ought to 'open the door' for 9-7 non-qualifiers, Steelers or Seahawks. How close to #12 (or just maybe off this list altogether) will inflated 11-5 Bears in the real soft NFC Central rank? Other than their opener vs Seattle, not a single win vs a winner for Ditka's bunch - losing 4 of final 6 to boot (belted at both Minn & Det). Do 11-5 Chiefs finish ahead of 12-4 Raiders due to sweeping them? I'd think so.

Ok, let's shuffle 'em up!

[7DnBrnc53]

1. Bills: The most impressive team in the NFL going into the playoffs.
2a. 49ers: Only ahead of the Giants because they beat them. They should have been 10-6 that year, not 14-2.
2b. Giants: Should have beat SF on MNF.
3. Raiders: Even though KC swept them, they won @Miami (who I was thinking of putting at 3) on MNF.
4. Dolphins: One of the best Miami teams of the Marino era.
5. Chiefs: Swept the Raiders and won at Chicago. The second-best Chief team of the 90's (behind 1997) in my opinion.
6. Redskins: The third best team in the NFC going into the playoffs. They beat Miami, Chicago, and Buffalo that year.
7. Seahawks: They were one of the hottest teams at the end of the year, winning five of their last six games. They swept KC and beat the AFC Central Champ Bengals 31-16. They also lost at Denver in OT, and they lost both games to the Raiders by a combined total of eleven points.
8. Bears: I will put them here by default, but they were a paper tiger who won a division that was much weaker than it was supposed to be.
9. Eagles: They were 10-6, but two of their last three wins were against QB's like Babe Laufenberg and Blair Kiel. Also, in Week 17, they gave up 301 yards and a 112.4 rating to Phoenix's Timm Rosenbach, a promising young passer.
10. Bengals: AFC Central Champs, but with an uninspiring 9-7.
11. Oilers: Will put them over the Steelers because they beat them to get into the playoffs.

[BD Sullivan]

The 6-10 Vikings lost five games (including one in OT) by four points or less, and lost by eight to the Eagles on MNF in an embarrassing collapse. They had a 24-15 lead with 5:09 left, and had just stopped the Eagles on fourth down. However, Joey Browner was flagged for holding. Cunningham then threw a pass that four different players tipped before Fred Barnett caught it and scored. Rich Gannon was then sacked at the Viking 6 and fumbled, which was picked up and run in for the score, and Gannon completed the collapse with an interception that was converted into a FG.

[ChrisBabcock]

1. 49ers
2. Bills... late season win over the Giants puts them ahead. That win was one of many seasons Super Bowl XXV was so shocking!
3. Giants
4. Chiefs... swept LA Raiders and beat Chicago.
5. Raiders... won their last 5
6. Dolphins
7. Eagles
8. Redskins... they did have those quality wins. Although the Bills were resting starters in a meaningless regular season finale. Even Steve Tasker caught a TD pass.
9. Bears... lost 4 of their last 6
10. Oilers... quality late season wins over Bills, Chiefs and the Steelers (in which that game had a playoff spot on the line)
11. Seahawks... won 5 of last 6
12. ok call me crazy. I'm putting the Saints here. Was not a dominant team by any stretch. (ahem, Steve Walsh) But won 6 of their last 9 and 3 of 4 in December including a win @ SF to sneak into the playoffs as the first ever NFC 6 seed.

[Rupert Patrick]

According to my Postseason Prediction System (probability of winning the conference and Super Bowl in parenthesis). Rank is based on round robin playing against all other playoff teams, with home field advantage taken into consideration for conference matchups. All teams on the list would defeat all teams ranked below them on the list except for Chicago, Miami and Washington, who are in a three-way knot where Chicago would defeat Washington, Washington would defeat Miami and Miami would defeat Chicago:

1 - San Francisco (40, 24)
2 - Buffalo (57, 30)
3 - NY Giants (37, 21)
4 - Philadelphia (12,5)
5 - LA Raiders (20, 7)
6 - Kansas City (8,3)
T7 - Chicago (8, 3)
T7 - Miami (5, 1)
T7 - Washington (2, 1)
10 - Houston (8, 3)
11 - Cincinnati (2, 1)
12 - New Orleans (1,1)

In match-ups, I have San Francisco rated a one-point favorite (50.8 percent vs 49.2 percent) to defeat the Giants in the NFC Championship game. San Francisco is also a one-point favorite (52.7 percent vs 47.3 percent) to defeat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV, while the Bills rate as a one-point favorite to beat the Giants (50.7 vs. 49.3 percent) in the Super Bowl.

[74_75_78_79_]

Rupert, your PPSs are always a nice addition to these PR threads even if it strictly includes playoff teams. Your top-3 matches mine; your top-6, Chris, matching mine as well.

1) Forty Niners
2) Bills
3) Giants
4) Chiefs
5) Raiders
6) Dolphins
7) Redskins
8) Eagles
9) Seahawks
10) Bengals
11) Oilers
12) Steelers

Many of you here taught me that the '90 installment of SF was not a 'younger twin' of the previous year but I'll still place them at #1 here. Two-time defending-Champs with just a little touch of they beating Bills the previous year. Craig, yes, a falloff but he & Dexter together still enough to complement Montana/Rice's magnus opus season along with a stellar D which, turns out, would hold G-men to zero TDs in both their games vs them. I think Lott & Co holds up against K-gun well enough. That said, Giants winning-it-all still no "upset" IMO considering 13-3 and Tuna already having a Ring/being a contender the last so many years.

Wash, unlike Philly, absent from playoffs last two seasons but recent enough post-season success as opposed to Gang Green still not winning yet gives Gibbs nod. Yes, 7Den, Eagles beating Lauf & Kiel then allowing Rose to go bonkers in finale nothing to hoot and holler over. Yes, they give Bills & Dolphins good games each on road but a loss is a loss and I knew they were never going to turn a corner after that. Seattle...beating both Cincy and Houston - and, yes, sweeping KC - places them where they're at. I almost put them over Philly along with me almost placing Wash over Mia.

Bengals trouncing Oilers closer to season's end than Oilers' romp over them gives Cincy nod. Plus, Bengals swept Steelers; Oilers didn't. Steelers, however, their stout D in '90 (and with no real pass-rush, mind you) has to give them a spot on this list even with that stinker of a finale vs Cody Carlson. Burying Rams on MNF albeit...vs Rams a foreshadowing of the Cowher years - and his significant prime time success - soon to come. Had to leave Bears out, sorry. Now the following year? Different story, better body of work.

Good point about Vikes, BD. I remember reading an article that Monday afternoon on that upcoming Minn/Phi game. The writer called it the 'Bart Simpson (underachiever) Bowl'. How about the 7-9 Colts? Perhaps not as good as Saints but 4 wins vs winners just the same. End of day, Ron Meyer really not a bad NFL HC.

[7DnBrnc53]

Two-time defending-Champs with just a little touch of they beating Bills the previous year. Craig, yes, a falloff but he & Dexter together still enough to complement Montana/Rice's magnus opus season along with a stellar D which, turns out, would hold G-men to zero TDs in both their games vs them. I think Lott & Co holds up against K-gun well enough. That said, Giants winning-it-all still no "upset" IMO considering 13-3 and Tuna already having a Ring/being a contender the last so many years.

I don't know. I think that a hypo 49er-Bill Supe XXV would have went more like their 1992 game did (the Bills winning a high-scoring shootout). The 49er D was good in 1990, but they didn't have the mind of Belichick at their disposal. Also, the Niners wouldn't have had the running game to control the clock (like they did in 1992 with Watters) like the Giants had with Ottis Anderson.

Bengals trouncing Oilers closer to season's end than Oilers' romp over them gives Cincy nod. Plus, Bengals swept Steelers; Oilers didn't. Steelers, however, their stout D in '90 (and with no real pass-rush, mind you) has to give them a spot on this list even with that stinker of a finale vs Cody Carlson. Burying Rams on MNF albeit...vs Rams a foreshadowing of the Cowher years - and his significant prime time success - soon to come. Had to leave Bears out, sorry. Now the following year? Different story, better body of work.

Their D was really good that year, but that Steeler O really regressed under Walton. Firing Moore was a mistake. I wonder if that season was the beginning of the end for Noll.

[74_75_78_79_]

[quote="7DnBrnc53]

Bengals trouncing Oilers closer to season's end than Oilers' romp over them gives Cincy nod. Plus, Bengals swept Steelers; Oilers didn't. Steelers, however, their stout D in '90 (and with no real pass-rush, mind you) has to give them a spot on this list even with that stinker of a finale vs Cody Carlson. Burying Rams on MNF albeit...vs Rams a foreshadowing of the Cowher years - and his significant prime time success - soon to come. Had to leave Bears out, sorry. Now the following year? Different story, better body of work.

Their D was really good that year, but that Steeler O really regressed under Walton. Firing Moore was a mistake. I wonder if that season was the beginning of the end for Noll.[/quote]

It was. Steelers' O seemed to come around somewhat after that dreadful 1-3 start/SI article about it (Walton) but very likely there's no 1-3 start to begin with had Moore been onboard hence playoffs again in 1990, perhaps a 3rd-straight winning season in '91 with Noll hanging around a little longer and Cowher never coming onboard. Sad to say it was, perhaps, a blessing in disguise at the time.

[7DnBrnc53]

It was. Steelers' O seemed to come around somewhat after that dreadful 1-3 start/SI article about it (Walton) but very likely there's no 1-3 start to begin with had Moore been onboard hence playoffs again in 1990, perhaps a 3rd-straight winning season in '91 with Noll hanging around a little longer and Cowher never coming onboard. Sad to say it was, perhaps, a blessing in disguise at the time.

I don't know. I really don't think that Cowher was that great of a coach. Maybe they won with him because the talent started to mature when he came on board, but he probably never wins a SB without Big Ben.

[BD Sullivan]

It was. Steelers' O seemed to come around somewhat after that dreadful 1-3 start/SI article about it (Walton) but very likely there's no 1-3 start to begin with had Moore been onboard hence playoffs again in 1990, perhaps a 3rd-straight winning season in '91 with Noll hanging around a little longer and Cowher never coming onboard. Sad to say it was, perhaps, a blessing in disguise at the time.

I don't know. I really don't think that Cowher was that great of a coach. Maybe they won with him because the talent started to mature when he came on board, but he probably never wins a SB without Big Ben.

The Steelers hosted the AFC title game five times in the Cowher era, but only won once--and that one nearly became a Hail Mary for the Colts they'd probably still talk about.