Favorite season in NFL history?

[7DnBrnc53]

Jets Dolphins 51-45 in 1986 Week 3 which was the biggest passing shootout in NFL history.

That was a great game.

However, their week 1 loss that year to SD made a bigger impression on me (50-28). That showed me that Miami's run atop the AFC East was over, and a run of mediocrity was to come.

San Diego’s 3-0 start after starting 0-11 the year before (1975).

That may have had to do with new assistant Bill Walsh. Dan Fouts said that Bill rebuilt his game from the ground up. Also, maybe their great draft the year before was starting to show fruit.

[ShinobiMusashi]

The 1996 season was the first year I started watching football. As a 9-year-old growing up in Wisconsin, I obviously found football at the right time, so 1996 and 1997 will always be my nostalgia years. The 49ers and Cowboys were the decade's powerhouses, but the Packers finally broke through in those years. All the classic talent that were playing in those years... Brett Favre and Reggie White in Green Bay, the Cowboys still had The Triplets plus Deion Sanders, Steve Young to Jerry Rice was still going strong in San Francisco, John Elway, Dan Marino, Barry Sanders, "Pat Summerall with John Madden"... The mid-90s are my NFL sweet spot.

That said, 2004 always felt like a definitive season to me. That felt like the height of the epic Manning vs. Brady rivalry. Manning won MVP and broke Marino's record, while Brady cemented a dynasty with a Super Bowl win. The Eagles were also the perfect NFC Champion as they had finally broken through after losing the championship game the prior three years in a row. Andy Reid vs. Bill Belichick. Not to mention the collection of other head coaches that season, especially with Joe Gibbs making a comeback. Considering the shift toward player safety in the coming years (which was obviously necessary), 2004 felt like one of the last truly great old-school football seasons.

2004 was one of my favorite seasons as well. That particular season I had NFL Network on my Dish package and was just really in tune with where the NFL was at going into that season. That was also a really fun season for my Texans despite the 7-9 losing record I have a lot of great memories of them that year they were fun to watch.

[ShinobiMusashi]

1975 was a decade before I was born but I can't help but feel like that was a goldilocks sweet spot in NFL history there. This was the last year before they added more teams, more games, and changed the rules. All necessary changes that were good, but still can't help but look back at that smaller tighter NFL in 1975, enough time had passed since the merger to where some of the weaker AFL teams were able to strengthen up and be competitive. Some great players and games in the NFL that year, a lovely playoff tournament, and capped by the best Super Bowl ever up to that point(and still an all time great).

I find myself fascinated with 1968 and 1969 too. AFL and NFL were separate but had the common draft and Super Bowl. The AFL had reached a maturity point where that was something sweet going on there those last 2 years, the top teams were just as good if not better than anybody in the NFL. Very interesting seasons for both AFL and NFL for me when they were separate.

Go back 30 years and 1945 is another one that I love to go back to, another really fascinating period. If I'm not mistaken all the effects of the war had passed by then and rosters were at least starting to recover. A tiny smaller scale league with such a unique feel with the pads and the way the game was played, iron man play, the look and feel of the game at that time, the helmets, the colors. Also loved how it was a dynamic that there were really only 4 teams that mattered out of the 10 in the league at the time. The teams that dominated were all led by some god like legendary superstar figure, Sammy Baugh on Washington, Sid Luckman on Chicago, Bob Waterfield in Cleveland/LA, Steve Van Buren in Philly. Something about that I love, especially that those guys played on both sides of the ball.

[JohnH19]

Back in the 2019 section of this thread I gave the reasons that 1967 is my favourite season. But, even before I saw Shinobi’s post above, I also wanted to give a shout out to the 68, 69 and 75 seasons. 1976 is also one of my faves.

[ShinobiMusashi]

The oddball anomaly seasons are always interesting to me too, 1999 and 2008 were strange NFL seasons.

Not an oddball like those but I have been watching a lot of games from 1998 this Summer and that was indeed a good one(I missed it in real time).

[RichardBak]

The 1967-69 run, for all the reasons others have stated. I loved the rivalry between the leagues. I wish they'd never merged.

[Ten Minute Ticker]

I think favorite season is often a product of youth and/or success from your favorite team. As youth is concerned, it’s when you reach the threshold of understanding that things change.

1981 stands out for me. My first season following the NFL was 1978. The 1981 season was the last for me where everything remained basically as it was from the beginning - no teams had moved and all but the Rams played in the same stadia.

Plus, it was an interesting season as both conferences had decent playoff intrigue to the end of the regular season as well as some good playoff games. Soon, the Raiders would be in L.A. (minor move from my Midwestern point of view) and the Vikings would become an indoor team. (Major move from my point of view as a NFC Central guy.)

Along those lines, the line of demarcation for me is 1984. That’s when I was old enough to miss the Colts playing in Baltimore and the Jets playing at Shea. A few more teams changed uniforms, subtle or not. Bigger changes would come later, but that was the first season were it really seemed like the NFL I followed had changed. Not for the worse or anything, it was just different.

[ShinobiMusashi]

Going back to my interest of the 1945 season, it's been a while since that year caught my eye and I looked into it. I dove into it again this morning and it really is one of the stand out seasons of the first 30 years of NFL history for me(1920 to 1949, legalizing plastic helmets and unlimited substitutions, and the AAFC merger seemingly changed everything with all that starting in 1950). Though I got a few things wrong in my post about it above. Supposedly the Boston Yanks/Brooklyn Tigers had to merge due to roster shortage due to WWII still(edit, also Halas was still in military would return the following season to the Bears). Also there were 5 teams that mattered that year, unfortunately Luckman's Bears were not one of them even though he led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns. It was really all about Sammy Baugh's Redskins vs Steve Van Buren's Eagles in the east, and a 3 team race in the West between Don Hutson's Packers, a scrappy 7-3 Lions team (that swept the Bears in what look like 2 spectacular games), and the Cleveland Rams led by rookie Bob Waterfield that came in and dominated the NFL to take Cleveland to the title. You also had Mel Hein with the Giants though they finished with a losing record.

So clash of the titans type of season when you look at those legends and where they were in their careers. Only 10 teams, each team playing 10 games, division champions play each other for the title. So simple and to the point. Half the league had an all time legend in their prime; Baugh still in his prime in DC(look at how accurate he was that year, holy moley). 128 of 182 for 70% with 11 touchdown passes and only 4 interceptions seem like pretty spectacular numbers for 1945 passing. Washington also had the top defense in the NFL. Steve Van Buren led the NFL in rushing for Philly and had 17 total touchdowns in 10 games, they had the #1 offense and the #2 defense in the league. The Eagles got off to a 1-2 start but then got on a roll, beat both Cleveland and Washington handily to tie for 1st in the East at 6-2. The next week they go into New York and get upset by the Giants in what looks like a pretty great game at the Polo Grounds. Philly took a 21-0 lead after 3 Steve Van Buren touchdowns, including a 98 yard kickoff return. Then Arnie Herber throws 4 touchdown passes to come back and win it 28-21. The loss ends up costing Philly 1st place and Washington goes on to win the division with an 8-2 finish. Got to wonder if Philly held on and both Eagles and Redskins finish 8-2 would there have been a playoff? Then who would have won that one?

Cleveland runs away with the West with a 9-1 finish and then beat the Redskins in what looks like a good NFL title game 15-14 in the game that had something to do with a pass hitting the goal post if I remember correct.

Got to feel like this 45 season was also end of an era, the very next year the AAFC launches, the Rams move from Cleveland to LA, everything starts to change.

[CSKreager]

I think favorite season is often a product of youth and/or success from your favorite team. As youth is concerned, it’s when you reach the threshold of understanding that things change.

1981 stands out for me. My first season following the NFL was 1978. The 1981 season was the last for me where everything remained basically as it was from the beginning - no teams had moved and all but the Rams played in the same stadia.

Plus, it was an interesting season as both conferences had decent playoff intrigue to the end of the regular season as well as some good playoff games. Soon, the Raiders would be in L.A. (minor move from my Midwestern point of view) and the Vikings would become an indoor team. (Major move from my point of view as a NFC Central guy.)

Along those lines, the line of demarcation for me is 1984. That’s when I was old enough to miss the Colts playing in Baltimore and the Jets playing at Shea. A few more teams changed uniforms, subtle or not. Bigger changes would come later, but that was the first season were it really seemed like the NFL I followed had changed. Not for the worse or anything, it was just different.

81 felt like a demarcation point in another way.

it was the end of the Raiders/Steelers run where they won 6 of the previous 7 SB's

The Rams/Vikings, other 70s perennials, also missed the playoffs.

4 teams that were annual playoff mainstays all missing the playoffs all at once felt unthinkable.

Throw in the rise of the Giants and 49ers, the latter a young team rising up in an era where established veteran teams usually won

Plus after the AFC had won 9 of the previous 11 SB's post-merger, the NFC won all but one SB from XVI-XXXI

[74_75_78_79_]

The 1996 season was the first year I started watching football. As a 9-year-old growing up in Wisconsin, I obviously found football at the right time, so 1996 and 1997 will always be my nostalgia years. The 49ers and Cowboys were the decade's powerhouses, but the Packers finally broke through in those years. All the classic talent that were playing in those years... Brett Favre and Reggie White in Green Bay, the Cowboys still had The Triplets plus Deion Sanders, Steve Young to Jerry Rice was still going strong in San Francisco, John Elway, Dan Marino, Barry Sanders, "Pat Summerall with John Madden"... The mid-90s are my NFL sweet spot.

That said, 2004 always felt like a definitive season to me. That felt like the height of the epic Manning vs. Brady rivalry. Manning won MVP and broke Marino's record, while Brady cemented a dynasty with a Super Bowl win. The Eagles were also the perfect NFC Champion as they had finally broken through after losing the championship game the prior three years in a row. Andy Reid vs. Bill Belichick. Not to mention the collection of other head coaches that season, especially with Joe Gibbs making a comeback. Considering the shift toward player safety in the coming years (which was obviously necessary), 2004 felt like one of the last truly great old-school football seasons.

2004 was one of my favorite seasons as well. That particular season I had NFL Network on my Dish package and was just really in tune with where the NFL was at going into that season. That was also a really fun season for my Texans despite the 7-9 losing record I have a lot of great memories of them that year they were fun to watch.

Recently there was a special either on the NFL Network or ESPN ranking all the Super Bowl champions, There were talking-heads and known writers being interviewed throughout. I remember one of them opining at the beginning of the piece that he felt (now I'm paraphrasing) the Packers beating the Pats in '96 was the last true SB champ. calling next year's result an upset thus every year from there being teams winning-it-all that wouldn't have won-it-all in an earlier era. I felt it was unfair to that back-to-back Bronco triumph though I'm not a Bronco-fan. I always felt they were 'legit' champs to properly go down in history. Same with the '99 Rams (who've really been Historically growing on me) as well and others from the 21st Century, the latest addition being this...2024 Eagles squad!

'96/'97, I'd say, are 'cool' two first seasons to start following! Favre's two tour de force seasons! Green Bay now the team that wins more but Dallas and San Fran still rearing their ugly heads just enough. Dallas in '96 with the Favre/Holmgren still having yet to beat them going into the playoffs. 'Boys waffle the Vikes in the 1st Rd, I guess they MUST beat 'new' Carolina next week even though its in Charlotte and then make the Pack face them for that very SB berth! We know what happened there though I've opined many times that I think it would have, finally, been Green Bay's time anyway. And then the following year the Pack simply having to go into Candlestick to earn the return-trip to the Big Game (I so knew the Pack would prevail as I'm sure many others did; Mariuccci a fine coach, but that 11-1 start reeked of just a little 'paper tiger' with me, just a little - confirmation the following week at Arrowhead, 44-9).

No, '96/'97 were not at all '80/'81 but just my, perhaps, biased opinion based on my own point of nostalgia. Sure-enough someone quite younger than you will tell you in the future that he of she thinks 2012/2013 was his or her faves (their first years following). Maybe you'll think those are 'cool' ones as well (I'd agree). But you'll opine '96/'97 is "better" and I would also agree.

2004...yes! A great 21st Century candidate although I opined others since 2000 as even better (and, actually, not 2005 or '08). My team with a rookie QB winning every game he starts up until the AFCCG ('76 Mike Kruczek on SUPER DUPER Steroids) handing two un-beaten teams in consecutive weeks - each unbeaten team en route to that year's SB - their first loss! I already knew as season was winding down, though Steelers still kept winning, that the humble-pie Pats would get 'em in the end.

I always thought, and previously wrote, that it was Bryan Cox saying this but it was someone else on that '04 team! On ESPN, late in the season, he called the Steelers the best team in the league because they beat them, "who cares" that they're defending-Champs. Maybe it was...Ty Law? Either way, that, then, got me worried. Especially considering the Steelers not winning so impressively as of late. But miraculously beating Herm's Jets as they did made me think that, perhaps, Steelers were now a 'Team of Destiny'. Finally, a Pennsylvania Super Bowl? No, not quite. Once the Pats started pulling away I went back to not being at all surprised once again, 2004 is still a solid 'candidate' of a season, however, despite that AFCCG-result.

Without combing too much through the years, here's my top-10 strictly chronological-wise...

'50, '51, '57, '60, '63, '75, and (my personal 'Mt Rushmore')...'78, '79, '80, '81

After notorious '82, plenty of great NFL seasons to follow immediately starting with '83; IMHO 1998 being the very last of those.

That said, had '82 ended up being full, it may have been even better than those four seasons prior. Simply all those matchups that we never got to see, those career-years that players may have had...

Many seasons that have been mentioned thus far on this amazing thread that are tempting for me to place into that chrono-top-ten instead. And the one I'm about to mention may not be as great with me as those. But I'll just mention it anyways. It's 1947.

I mentioned it previously here while mentioning that LONE Steeler playoff berth before Chuck Noll...

https://profootballresearchers.com/foru ... 593#p54593

https://profootballresearchers.com/foru ... php?t=7711

The '47 Packers and the '80 Steelers have a bit in common. Both teams started 4-1. You can call Green Bay this very mentioned year as the 'last hurrah'/breath of hopes that Curly Lambaeu could possibly win another Title for Titletown! Perhaps those who know better or may have been around at the time can give us a better idea as to what everyone was actually thinking at the time. That same with that 4-1 Steeler start being seen as "the jury still being out" on someone else winning SBXV instead of the very team many saw as three-peating in 1980.

The Pack won their opener, 29-20, against the defending-Champ, Bears (Steelers beat "kick the SOB in" Oilers, 31-17)! The Bears then lost their second game at the Cards, 31-7, the following week. Then the Cards would beat the Pack in GB by a close 14-10 final. GB and the Cards were tied at 4-1 while the Bears were 3-2 at the end of October. But, like the '80 Steelers, Curly's Packers would lose their next three games after starting 4-1 - each by close scores as the case with the 'Burgh. Packers were ahead, 10-0, early in two of those three defeats and the same with the Steelers. And in the Packers' third-straight loss, dropping them to 4-4, they were up by more than a TD going into the 4th only for the Cards (in their rematch with them) to score two TDs to win it. Same with Steelers up by more than a TD going into the 4th Q against the Browns in Wk#8 only for Sipe to throw 2 TDs to win that!

Yes, the obvious thing that made 1947 great was the race between two Pennsylvania teams in one division, and the race between two Chi-town teams in the other! '47 and '48 are, of course, the two most significant years of the Cards/Bears rivalry! Nothing else compares in the years before or after. Two finales, both at Wrigley, deciding what Windy City team represents!

But just the simple Curly & troops rearing their heads in the beginning, adding a nice wrinkle, had to add to such suspense. A shame for them! Points and yardage-wise, they were the #1 defense in 1947! Close but yet so far, I guess.

I think favorite season is often a product of youth and/or success from your favorite team. As youth is concerned, it’s when you reach the threshold of understanding that things change.

1981 stands out for me. My first season following the NFL was 1978. The 1981 season was the last for me where everything remained basically as it was from the beginning - no teams had moved and all but the Rams played in the same stadia.

Plus, it was an interesting season as both conferences had decent playoff intrigue to the end of the regular season as well as some good playoff games. Soon, the Raiders would be in L.A. (minor move from my Midwestern point of view) and the Vikings would become an indoor team. (Major move from my point of view as a NFC Central guy.)

Along those lines, the line of demarcation for me is 1984. That’s when I was old enough to miss the Colts playing in Baltimore and the Jets playing at Shea. A few more teams changed uniforms, subtle or not. Bigger changes would come later, but that was the first season were it really seemed like the NFL I followed had changed. Not for the worse or anything, it was just different.

81 felt like a demarcation point in another way.

it was the end of the Raiders/Steelers run where they won 6 of the previous 7 SB's

The Rams/Vikings, other 70s perennials, also missed the playoffs.

4 teams that were annual playoff mainstays all missing the playoffs all at once felt unthinkable.

Throw in the rise of the Giants and 49ers, the latter a young team rising up in an era where established veteran teams usually won

Plus after the AFC had won 9 of the previous 11 SB's post-merger, the NFC won all but one SB from XVI-XXXI

1980, and then, 1981 were the one-two-punch that ended the '70s and told you, enough, what the '80s would be about.

First '80 with the 'accent' being added to Cowboys and Rams now being wild cards instead as the Eagles and Falcons would win their divisions - Atlanta being top-seed! Week #14 at the Vet being the 'decider' of that! Great game! And then, in the AFC, BILLS and BROWNS winning their divisions! Oilers better than Steelers this time, but STILL didn't..."kick that SOB in"! Stabler and Tatum, and then Casper, went to Houston only to go one-and-donw against that very former team of theirs who not only returned to the playoffs as a wild card, but...well, YOU KNOW! Chargers win their division again and were top-seed, but not quite like '79 though they, at least, make it to the CCG. And the Steelers...DON'T make it! Neither did Miami!

1981? San Fran surprises their way to...(YEAH)...and the Giants make the playoffs and both teams play each other in them (not a bad precursor) and then Joe Gibbs propelling Washington to that 8-3 finish thus forecasting...yep! San Fran surpasses Big D signalling their Dynasty to come thus signalling the Landry Era's soon-to-be demise. But I feel that the Forty Niners beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Wk#9, Montana/Bradshaw should also be seen as a passing-of-the-torch affair just like "the Catch" or, at least, close to it. This, even though, the Steelers would miss the playoffs yet again.

1982's strike, with me, interrupted such great groove that started in '78. 1983 would be another Great season, but you get the gist that just a little stuffing was knocked out the previous season. Yes, '84 by then was a different animal. But not enough. Still great, great stuff to come for quite awhile.