Reverse Paper Tiger Teams

[SixtiesFan]

1980 Broncos as well. Played the future Champion Raiders very hard late in the year with. Losing by 6 pts and then by 3pts in games that could've gone either way

Beat the 12-4 Cowboys and 11-5 Browns. Lost by only 4 to the 11-5 Oilers. Beat the 11-5 Chargers. Hard luck 8-8

The 1980 Broncos played nine games against teams that would finish above .500 (they were 3-6 in those games, and 5-2 against teams .500 or below. The two losses came against 8-8 KC).

What hurt them was the Matt Robinson trade, plain and simple.

Matt Robinson was one of those backup QBs who had some good games leading somebody to give up a bundle for him in a trade. Gary Cuozzo was another.

[CSKreager]

How about another Chiefs team- 1991?

They had some impressive wins and hard fought tough losses against a very tough schedule.

Famously beat BUF 33-6 on a MNF, thrashed a decent Miami team 42-7, beat playoff teams in ATL/LA Raiders, Knox’s last SEA team (a decent 7-9 that might have made the playoffs at 8-8 with some luck

They had no cupcake schedule- Denver 2x, at Houston, New Orleans, San Francisco (played 3 10+ win NFC West teams).

1991 KC was the inverse of 1995- tougher schedule, better wins, and they actually WON their home playoff game.

[7DnBrnc53]

How about another Chiefs team- 1991?

They had some impressive wins and hard fought tough losses against a very tough schedule.

Famously beat BUF 33-6 on a MNF, thrashed a decent Miami team 42-7, beat playoff teams in ATL/LA Raiders, Knox’s last SEA team (a decent 7-9 that might have made the playoffs at 8-8 with some luck

They had no cupcake schedule- Denver 2x, at Houston, New Orleans, San Francisco (played 3 10+ win NFC West teams).

1991 KC was the inverse of 1995- tougher schedule, better wins, and they actually WON their home playoff game.

The 1981 Chiefs would also qualify for this (9-7 finish).

They played in a division with two 10-win teams in SD and Denver. Also, they defeated the still-potent Steelers and eventual NFC Central Champ Bucs in the first two weeks.

The loss that hurt the most, though, may have been the 17-7 home loss against eventual AFC East Champ Miami (at Arrowhead) in Week 15 that knocked them out of the playoffs (well, that, and the wins that the Broncos and Chargers had).

I'm not sure, but I wonder if that was a turning point in the Marv Levy administration in KC (maybe the Chief president, Jack Steadman, started to sour on him after that loss).

[74_75_78_79_]

Even as a 5th grader, I was a bit baffled in ’81 that KC couldn’t at least split with SD. Doing so is all it would have taken for they the win the AFC West; and they would have with the better division record than Denver.

[ChrisBabcock]

I'm not sure, but I wonder if that was a turning point in the Marv Levy administration in KC (maybe the Chief president, Jack Steadman, started to sour on him after that loss).

In Marv Levy's autobiography he says there was tension from the get go between him and Steadman. Mostly to do with the QB position.

[7DnBrnc53]

I'm not sure, but I wonder if that was a turning point in the Marv Levy administration in KC (maybe the Chief president, Jack Steadman, started to sour on him after that loss).

In Marv Levy's autobiography he says there was tension from the get go between him and Steadman. Mostly to do with the QB position.

I did some Googling once about Walsh and Montana, and I found this article:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/6717 ... na-in-1979

In it, the author wrote something about Steadman being meddlesome:

After calling Joe's college coach, Marv came away with a gushing endorsement. Levy "would have been quite content to use [his] top of the second choice on [Montana]."

However, Levy also had a very meddlesome team president on his hands. Jack Steadman was not buying into the strategy of "bypassing the best quarterback available." Levy, "realizing now how many times [he] had persisted in having it [his] way," got on the horn and worked out a deal to trade up just ahead of SF and take Fuller.