They beat the best ... and lost to the worst

[Evan]

They beat the best ... and lost to the worst - the “Any Given Sunday” principle in practice

#1 evan
Posted 10 November 2010 - 08:41 AM
Several times in NFL history a team has beaten the eventual AFL, NFL or Super Bowl winner, and also lost to the team with the worst record that season.

Thought I'd offer this research in case anyone else thought it was interesting. I went back to the early 60s in research, but may have missed someone, so if anyone would like to check the research or extend it even further back, feel free!

1964 St. Louis Cardinals – beat eventual NFL champion Cleveland (28-19), lost to NY Giants (34-17), which finished 2-10-2.

1967 New York Jets - beat eventual AFL champion Oakland (27-14), lost to Denver (33-24), which finished 3-11.

1967 Minnesota Vikings - beat eventual Super Bowl winner Green Bay (10-7, actually almost beat them twice as they lost the rematch to the Packers 27-24), lost to Atlanta (21-20), which finished 1-12-1.

1973 Baltimore Colts – beat eventual Super Bowl winner Miami (16-3), lost to Houston (31-27), which finished 1-13.

1977 St. Louis Cardinals – beat eventual Super Bowl winner Dallas (24-17), lost to Tampa Bay (17-7), which finished 2-12.

1988 Phoenix Cardinals – beat eventual Super Bowl winner San Francisco (24-23), lost to Dallas (17-14), which finished 3-13.

1993 Atlanta Falcons – beat eventual Super Bowl winner Dallas (27-14), lost to Cincinnati (21-17), which finished 3-13.

2002 New Orleans Saints – beat eventual Super Bowl winner Tampa Bay twice (26-20 and 23-20), lost to Cincinnati (20-13), which finished 2-14.

2003 Washington Redskins – beat eventual Super Bowl winner New England (20-17), lost to NY Giants (24-21), which finished 4-12, tied for the worst record.

Note: a few near-misses for this category came in 1978, when the Bengals barely lost to the Steelers (7-6), and did lose to the 49ers (28-12), which finished 2-14.
And in 1985, when the Dolphins beat the Bears 38-24 and just barely beat the Bucs (41-38), who finished 2-14.

And a couple of other times the worst team beat the best team directly, as in 1987 when the 3-12 Falcons beat eventual Super Bowl champ Washington 21-20; and in 1968 when 1-12-1 Buffalo beat eventual Super Bowl champ New York 37-35.

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#2 conace21
Posted 10 November 2010 - 09:05 AM
In 1997, the 0-10 Colts beat the defending champion (and eventual NFC Champion) Packers 41-38, even though they were without Jim Harbaugh and Marshall Faulk. Technically, the worst team beat the #2 team that year but the Packers were the defending champs and considered to be the best team in the NFL, right up until Terrell Davis started carrying the ball in the Super Bowl.

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#3 BD Sullivan
Posted 10 November 2010 - 01:44 PM
Not quite the same thing, but the 1981 Browns, who finished with a 5-11 record, picked up two of their victories against the 49ers and Bengals--that year's Super Bowl participants. Oddly, they were the only team to beat both squads.

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#4 Todd Pence
Posted 11 November 2010 - 03:21 PM
Several teams have beaten both Super Bowl participants in the same year, but I believe the Browns in '81 were the only team with a losing record to accomplish the feat.

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#5 Jeffrey Miller
Posted 12 November 2010 - 04:47 PM
The 1968 Bills (1-13) beat that year's Super Bowl champion Jets for their only victory. Also, they almost beat the previous year's AFL Super Bowl representative's (Oakland Raiders), which, if they had won, would have been one hell of an accomplishment!

[Saban1]

Regarding the 1964 Cards and Giants, the Giants not only beat the Cardinals but also played them to a 10 and 10 tie. Cleveland won the Eastern Conference with a 10-3-1 record. The Cards finished 2nd with a 9-3-2 record. Those games with the Giants cost the Cardinals the Eastern Conference title.

[John Grasso]

Going back to the 1950s, the 1952 Chicago Bears defeated the Detroit Lions, 24-23
on 11/23. Four days later the Bears provided the hapless Dallas Texans with
their only victory, 27-23. The Lions went on to defeat the Browns for the NFL title.