A franchise's worst TWO-YEAR run after winning a Title?

[74_75_78_79_]

Bringing up the '58 Lions on my last post inspires this one.

Not only are they among the worst defending-champs ever, but their 4-7-1 mark in '58 was followed up with an even worse 3-8-1 record in '59 (Wilson would bounce back to winning seasons right after that, though)!

Could this possibly be the worst? The Broncos, at least, bounced back into the playoffs following '99 among other losing defenders. There are the '03/'04 Buccaneers. But 7-9 followed by 5-11, though bad, is not as bad.

Time to roll up some sleeves and scuba-dive all the way into the 1920s and explore-around as I slowly come up for air (something tells me the '26/'27 - no, NOT Pottsville - franchise is worth a look).



Though neither are anywhere near, it's worth a mere mention that the '68/'69 Packers at 14-13-1 and the '80/'81 Steelers at 17-15 are eerily similar.

[Citizen]

The Giants, at 14-18 the two years after 1990, might belong in the discussion.

[Brian wolf]

For me, it could be the 2022-23 Rams depending on the health of Matt Stafford. McVay was humbled last year and has already gotten rid of many players from that 2021 Champion squad.

The Lions from 1958-59 are excellent candidates as well and you have to wonder how the team would have responded to Buddy Parker had he stayed on from 57-60?

The Bucs under Gruden were major disappointments too, especially with all the talent on that squad in 2003-2004, with Keyshawn Johnson doing his best Terrell Owens imitation and disrupting the team.

Though I truly admire Weeb Ewbank and still think he is the best big-game HC ever, the Colts were very disappointing in 1960 and 61 and they unfortunately, hold the top spot for me ... 1960 was a disaster after a 6-2 start, with John Sample, Milt Davis, Alan Ameche and Big Daddy Lipscomb gone by 1961 ...

[74_75_78_79_]

The Giants, at 14-18 the two years after 1990, might belong in the discussion.

I looked at Handley's G-men. A very disappointing follow-up, those two years, for Giants-fans but FWIW enough mediocrity (semi-playoff-flirtations, here and there) sort-of sprinkled about to prevent it from being as bad as Tampa Bay and certainly not as bad as Detroit which, after meandering around the decades, seems like it is - indeed - the worst. The '26/'27 Cardinals going 5-6-1, and then 3-7-1, also are not as bad as the Lions, nor Bucs, win-%age-wise.

For me, it could be the 2022-23 Rams depending on the health of Matt Stafford. McVay was humbled last year and has already gotten rid of many players from that 2021 Champion squad.

The Lions from 1958-59 are excellent candidates as well and you have to wonder how the team would have responded to Buddy Parker had he stayed on from 57-60?

The Bucs under Gruden were major disappointments too, especially with all the talent on that squad in 2003-2004, with Keyshawn Johnson doing his best Terrell Owens imitation and disrupting the team.

Though I truly admire Weeb Ewbank and still think he is the best big-game HC ever, the Colts were very disappointing in 1960 and 61 and they unfortunately, hold the top spot for me ... 1960 was a disaster after a 6-2 start, with John Sample, Milt Davis, Alan Ameche and Big Daddy Lipscomb gone by 1961 ...

Yes, the jury is still out on this very Rams team.

I've been really talking strictly win-%age thus far. But simple "disappointment" can be factored in as well depending on one's opinion.

Yes, the Colts. I wasn't around for it but I could not have imagined after they going back-to-back to close the '50s, and the 6-2 start in '60, that it'd be mediocrity the remainder of Weeb's time there hence no three-peat, and no contender again until '64.

Who knows how Parker would have done had he stayed on a bit. With Layne gone, and considering just how hard they fell, he may have suffered losing seasons as well. Wilson, as I was recently reminded of here by some, was at least a good HC. He did win them that Title, and then after those two years aforementioned, he at least won again early the following decade, ultimately fielding a championship-caliber team in '62 who, unfortunately, had that Historic Juggernaut in their way - an HJ that they still almost swept hence almost force a tie-breaker with.

[Bryan]

The 49 Eagles became outdated pretty quickly.

[RichardBak]

The 49 Eagles became outdated pretty quickly.

You know, it might seem that way, but the Eagles' 6-6 record in 1950 (after 2 straight NFL titles and 3 straight division crowns) really wasn't as bad a drop-off as it looks. They got clobbered by the new kids on the block, the Browns, in that much anticipated season opener, but they rebounded with 6 wins in their next 7 games. They were 6-2 before dropping the last 4 games. Those 5 losses after the opening loss to Cleveland were by a total of just 18 points. So Greasy Neale's last team was competitive.

But '51 was bad---a 4-8 record under Bo McMillan (who was dying of cancer) and Wayne Millner. Even then, the Eagles' combined 10-14 record of 1950-51 ain't as horrible as the Lions' mark of 7-15-2 in '58-59.

[Terry Baldshaw]

The 1948 Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals ... a 76 season run trying for a repeat!