Key wins in a franchise's history

[sheajets]

Patriots 29-26 in OT over San Diego in 2001 to improve to 2-3. Brady's first start was as nondescript as it gets, but here they're down 10 with 8 minutes to go and Brady leads them back to tie and win in OT

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 140nwe.htm

Also I guess the 17-24 loss to the Rams middle of the season can be considered a good loss considering it proved to NE that they can play with the greatest show on turf. Not going to touch on any of the cheating allegations and stuff, don't want to open that can of worms again

[7DnBrnc53]

Patriots 29-26 in OT over San Diego in 2001 to improve to 2-3. Brady's first start was as nondescript as it gets, but here they're down 10 with 8 minutes to go and Brady leads them back to tie and win in OT

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 140nwe.htm

Good point. If they lose that game, they start 1-4, and who knows if Brady keeps his job when Bledsoe returned that year.

[7DnBrnc53]

For the Packers, I am going to say that their 2003 Week 17 win against Denver (coupled with the Miracle in the Desert that same afternoon) was an important win.

Besides getting into the playoffs, the Packers also benefited by having a worse draft position in 2004. If the Vikings win, the Pack draft higher, and they would have taken J.P. Losman (which means that A-Rod may have been a Bill or a Redskin the next year).

[Gary Najman]

For the Cowboys, their win over the Cardinals in the 1987 season finale may have been huge.

If Dallas loses, the Cards go to the playoffs over the Vikings. Without the run that Minnesota had in 87, are they feeling squirly enough to trade what they did for Herschel Walker? Maybe not.

I agree, mainly because the Cowboys were very bad and underdogs. as it would shown the following two seasons.

[Todd Pence]

I think for the 1980's 49ers, the win that really was key for them was their demolition of the mighty Dalla Cowboys early in the 1981 season. That win really made America stand up and take notice of Walsh's young team, and showed that the team was not a fluke,

For the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970's, their key win may have been taking down Oakland in the 1972 opener. An opening day win over such a traditional power may have set the tone that this year things were going to be different in the Steel City.

[JWL]

Leaving playoff games out of the equation, which I think makes sense, I think the 1977 Broncos 30-7 whipping of the Raiders in Oakland in Week 5 was a win that signaled the Broncos had become a monster. The Broncos were already a 4-0 team, but with wins against Buffalo, Seattle and Kansas City, three of the four weakest teams going into the season, and a 7-0 win over St. Louis on opening day, but most I think expected their bubble to be burst by the Raiders. I think it remains the biggest regular season victory in franchise history.

I am not really disagreeing because I can understand that game being one where it announced the Broncos had arrived but they ended up losing to the Raiders two weeks later. Was there talk right after that game that maybe the Raiders still are the kings of the AFC West?

[JohnH19]

Minnesota crushing the Colts 52-14 in week 2 1969, 10 months after the Colts had handled the Vikings in the division round. Left no doubt that there was a new bully on the block.

That’s the game I was going to suggest. The Vikings were in a surly mood after blowing the Giants game that they comtrolled for 55 minutes in Week 1. The two TD drives that Sir Francis directed late in the game accounted for more than 10% of the points that Minnesota gave up during the regular season; 14 / 133.