Weirdest Teams of All Time

[Retro Rider]

’66 Alouettes - nice knowledge drop, Retro! Interesting! I guess they were, pretty much, the CFL version of the ’77 Falcons only they made the playoffs.

EDIT - looking over their schedule just now on the CFL database, I see they generally didn’t give up too many points throughout the season but a CFL version of Gritz Blitz I would imagine not at all. A few stinkers they suffered like a 44-0 dousing at Sask and, two games later, getting thumped at Hamilton, 33-4; Tiger-Cats would beat them, 31-14, penultimate week as well. In addition to the 1-0 final you gave, plenty of other weird scores such as a 4-2 win at Winnipeg and 8-3 & 9-8 losses to both Edmonton & Toronto respectively.

No, not even close to the Gritz Blitz. I found a new cure for insomnia: Try watching the '77 Falcons 3-0 loss at Buffalo on YT ... Atlanta had to be kicking themselves after losing that one (O.J. does knife his way for 138 yards on 23 carries to surpass the 10,000 yd. career rushing mark).

Back to the CFL, it's interesting to note that both Montreal & Winnipeg saw the departure of Hall of Fame head coaches following the 1966 season. They became the CFL's two worst teams from 1967-69 (1967-70 for Winnipeg). Montreal turned it around by winning 7 games and the Grey Cup in 1970.

Montreal’s 4-2 win against Winnipeg was played on Leo Lewis Sr. night. The Lincoln Locomotive retired partway through the 1966 season after a HOF career as a brilliant all-around RB who was also an excellent receiver and option passer. The second half of the game was played in a downpour.

Good thing the tribute to Leo was done before kickoff:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y ... 2%2C130992

Congrats on the Bombers win over Saskatchewan today. I will be rooting for them the remainder of the season (best looking uniforms in the CFL). Hard to believe but you have to go all the way back to the 1965 West Semi-Final to find the last time that Winnipeg beat Saskatchewan in the playoffs. Props to the Bombers history thread over at CFL Talk. Includes some great historical photos including Leo Lewis' 1958 Grey Cup jersey:

http://forums.cfl.ca/winnipeg-blue-bomb ... /104854/15

[JohnH19]

Good thing the tribute to Leo was done before kickoff:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y ... 2%2C130992

Congrats on the Bombers win over Saskatchewan today. I will be rooting for them the remainder of the season (best looking uniforms in the CFL). Hard to believe but you have to go all the way back to the 1965 West Semi-Final to find the last time that Winnipeg beat Saskatchewan in the playoffs. Props to the Bombers history thread over at CFL Talk. Includes some great historical photos including Leo Lewis' 1958 Grey Cup jersey:

http://forums.cfl.ca/winnipeg-blue-bomb ... /104854/15

Thanks for the congrats and the links. It'll be tough to win in Calgary next week but, if they do, the Big Blue will be the favourites to win the Grey Cup game.

Y'know, I never thought about the last time we beat the green Riders in the playoffs but you're right, it was in the '65 West semi-final. I'm still scarred by the 1972 loss to them in the Western Final here in Winnipeg. I'll never get over that game. It's the CFL equivalent of my Vikings loss to Atlanta in the '98 NFC Championship Game.

I know about the Leo Lewis Day game because I've owned the 1966 Blue Bombers photo yearbook since it came out in 1967. There are some great photos of the pre-game celebration and the mud bowl game that followed.

My dad took me to my first two games in '67; Ottawa 40 Wpg 7 and Hamilton 31 Wpg 4. OUCH! This season was probably the first year since 1966 that I didn't attend a single game.

[CSKreager]

1999 Detroit Lions

8-8 with a negative point differential

BUT

5 Pro Bowlers, beat 5 playoff teams (SEA, TB, STL, MIN, WSH), and only 1 of their 8 wins was against a team with a losing record (Bears on Thanksgiving Day)

[sheajets]

1988 New England Patriots

24th ranked offense....5th ranked D. They allowed 34 more points than they scored (250 vs 284). They started 4 different QB's, who combined for a paltry 2,333 passing yards and just 12 TD passes. They thew 28 interceptions. 2nd most in the NFL. In only one game did they throw for over 200 yards the entire season.

Every other team with a negative pts differential that season was sub .500 except for Denver who was 8-8.

9 times they scored 14 pts or less. 4 of those games they managed to win.

14-13 over the Jets (of course)
13-7 over the Seahawks
10-7 OT win over Tampa Bay
6-3 over Marino and the Dolphins in Miami

Three of those games were started by Doug Flutie whose statlines read

6/20 78 yards - 1td 2int
9/13 78 yards - 0td 0int
5/10 47 yards - 0td 1int

The most insane line would happen during a surprising 30-7 trouncing of the 7-1 Bears at home. Flutie went 6/18 165 yards 4 td's 0 int

They had a good rushing attack with rookie John Stephen leading the way with 1,100. As a team they had the 9th ranked rushing offense in football. Strangely they had the fewest fumbles in the NFL that season despite attempting the most running plays in football

Of their 9 wins, 5 came against winning teams. 2x the 8-7-1 Jets. The 9-7 Seahawks, 9-7 Colts, and the 12-4 Bears

In terms of special teams..their kicking game was near the very bottom of the league, making only 13 field goals (few other teams tied with 12 which was last) Teddy Garcia and Staurovsky were only at 54.2%, and they missed 6 extra points. Rookie Jeff Feagles also had a rather poor season punting the ball. They were well below average in kick/punt returns too.

Defensively however they gave up the 5th fewest yards in football (3rd fewest passing yards) 5th fewest points allowed in football...though they were only 19th against the run. They were middle of the pack in interceptions and their 29 sacks was near the very bottom of the league (24th)

How this team was 9-7 is absolutely baffling. It really seems like with these numbers they could've ended up around 4-12. They were not good at much of anything. It's not like they had a combination great rushing attack + great special teams to make up for their horrible air attack....not like they had a great pass rush or larcenous secondary either though they did have a good cover secondary.

And they were 9-6 heading into the finale vs Denver at Mile High, controlling their own destiny. A win would put them in...but the Broncos took it 21-10...now they needed the Colts and Browns to both lose to make it in and neirher one did. The thought that this team could've been 10-6 and in is pretty crazy...though maybe this season served as the even up for the 1981 team which was a very hard luck 2-14

[7DnBrnc53]

The 1992 Indianapolis Colts scored 216 points and allowed 302, but finished 9-7. Their -5.375 average point differential per game is the lowest of any over-.500 team since 1933.

This is why they should have traded Jeff George in 1993 (to the Vikings would have been nice) and signed a vet like Rich Gannon to be QB (and drafted someone like Brunell or Trent Green to develop).

1999 Detroit Lions

8-8 with a negative point differential

BUT

5 Pro Bowlers, beat 5 playoff teams (SEA, TB, STL, MIN, WSH), and only 1 of their 8 wins was against a team with a losing record (Bears on Thanksgiving Day)

The next year, The Sporting News picked them to go to the Super Bowl. We all know what happened to them after that.

[Retro Rider]

The most insane line would happen during a surprising 30-7 trouncing of the 7-1 Bears at home. Flutie went 6/18 165 yards 4 td's 0 int

Jim McMahon was injured in the second quarter and would never play in another regular season game for Chicago. Mike Ditka called it "the worst game for the Bears since I've been around." Four days after the loss at New England, Ditka suffered a mild heart attack.

Of their 9 wins, 5 came against winning teams. 2x the 8-7-1 Jets. The 9-7 Seahawks, 9-7 Colts, and the 12-4 Bears

New England had one more against the 12-4 Bengals in Week 7.

Great post. The 1988 Patriots were a weird team indeed!

[Brian wolf]

Flutie reminded the Bears on why they should have kept him. Jimmy Mac just couldnt stay healthy and Tomszak didnt care enough to keep fighting for the job, or at least thats how I saw it at the time.
Why Raymond Berry would give up on Flutie is anyones guess but he must have wanted a QB like Unitas to just throw and stay in the pocket ...

[CSKreager]

1981 Atlanta Falcons

Scored more points than they did the previous year when they went 12-4

Steve Bartkowski had more passing yards in 1981 than 1980 with similar TD totals (31 in 1980, 30 in 1981)

PD of +71

Highest scoring NFC team and 2nd overall behind only Air Coryell

Somehow this team (which many predicted to go to the SB) went 7-9 with 7 of their losses by 5 points or less (the 2 exceptions were against the AFC Central’s Browns and Steelers)

[7DnBrnc53]

1985 San Diego Chargers

Had a PD of +32 (467 scored, but 435 given up).

They were 28th in total yards, and 28th against the pass. However, if it wasn't for a few late game heroics by the other team, they would have been 11-4 going into Week 16 with a chance at the playoffs:

Week 7: Lost 21-17 to the Vikings on a late TD pass from Tommy Kramer to Leo Lewis with about 40 seconds left.

Week 11: In OT against Denver, the Broncos blocked a FG and returned it for a TD. However, it was called back, and the Chargers got a re-try, where it happened again (FG TD return by Louis Wright). The second one stood, and the Broncos won 30-24 in OT.

Week 12: After three lead changes in the fourth quarter, Tony Zendejas hits a 51-yarder to give the Oilers a 37-35 win over the Chargers.

[Brian wolf]

1963 KC Chiefs ... Only 5-7-2 for the year despite a +84 point differential, being the defending champions--despite moving to a horseshit town--(C Finley's words), having boatloads of talent with Len Dawson throwing 26 TD passes. After being shutout 0-17, by the newly named Jets in the first matchup ever between Stram and Weeb Ewbank, the Chiefs blew out their final three opponents with a combined score of 130-24 ... The fans never showed up as well.

*Edit -- sorry, didnt notice Rupert mentioned this team ...