1998

[ShinobiMusashi]

I took a closer look at 1999 a few years ago and it was a fun ride(I never did finish a similar project on 1993 but will definitely go back to it someday). I've already posted about it here a few times but my interest in the NFL took a hit in 1997. By the end of that season and going through those playoffs I was kinda over it, but did love that year's Super Bowl(Broncos defeating Packers).

To think about why I lost interest, Houston losing the Oilers was a big part. Hard to describe that feeling of growing up with that team always around, then having a Tennessee Oilers in 1997. Also the NFL went through a lot of rapid changes, teams radically changing their uniforms(or like the Ravens in 96, their entire name/color), moving from city to city, new expansion teams(that got really good and shot to the top of the league really fast). By 1997 the NFL had changed, A LOT from the 92-93 seasons where I fell in love with it all(and the years before that via NFL Films tapes). Really a lot of things in the culture of media/music/sports I grew up in in the 90's felt like they all radically changed in some way that year.

I did not follow or care about the NFL at all in 1998, didn't watch any playoff games, and only watched a bare minimum of the Broncos/Falcons Super Bowl(I was more into Halftime Heat!). I didn't watch any of 1999 either until the playoffs. That 99 playoff tournament brought me back in, it looked like an all new NFL. Who the fuck where the Titans? Who was Kurt Warner? Marshall Faulk plays for the Rams? Peyton Manning in his 2nd season has Indy as the #1 seed in the AFC? Where is Barry Sanders? The Redskins are in the divisional round of the playoffs? Get the fuck out of here. Getting into the NFL in the 99 playoffs was a culture shock for me. But I was hooked again.

So in all my years of digging and reading and writing about old NFL stuff it's only fitting that I came around to those 2 years of the 90's where I stopped paying attention to the NFL. In 2021 I went team by team game by game through 1999 in a fun writing project on another forum. This Summer I found a playlist for 1998 NFL games that has 191 games(about a week ago the Cardinals vs Redskins 90+ point rematch was freshly uploaded for the first time, so 192 games now). There were 224 games played that season so that playlist is only missing 32 games from being a complete collection of the full 1998 season. There are playlists like this nearly complete for every season back to a certain point. Youtube is beautiful and it's a great time to be a nerd for old school football.

Some notable games are missing that I wanted to watch, among those 32 missing games not on Youtube is the big one the Colts return to Baltimore to play the Ravens for the first time since they left in the middle of the night in 1984. Also the Cardinals return to St. Louis to play the Rams, while not as big of a deal still would have been cool to see. Also missing is the first Oilers vs Raven's game earlier in the season. The rematch later in the season is on there and is a fantastic low scoring hard hitting battle. I think something started between those two teams in 1998 there in those 2 teams, it carries over into 1999, and by 2000 iron had sharpened iron to the point where these were the best 2 teams in the NFL(their divisional playoff game that year being the real Super Bowl).

But a quick overlook of the standings one thing sticks out after watching so many games this Summer. The AFC was way stronger than they had been before in the 90's in 1998. There were only 3 really bad teams in the AFC in 1998, 2 of them were playing with rookie quarterbacks(Manning in Indy going 3-13 and Ryan Leaf in San Diego going 5-11). The Cincinnati Bengals went 3-13 but had some games where they looked really tough earlier in the season when Neil Odonnell was healthy(he took down his former team the Steelers with a pretty good performance in week 6). The Bengals played both the Packers and undefeated defending champ Broncos to 2 really tough games in losing efforts earlier in the season. They also swept Pittsburgh in 1998 in what has to be one of the only times that ever happened in the first 30 years after the merger. Jeff Blake had an excellent 360+ yard game in a win over Pittsurgh late in the season in a game they played without Corey Dillon. Odonnell played really well in Bruce Coslet's system throwing 15 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions for a 90 rating through 11 starts. Corey Dillon was a beast, Carl Pickens was a top tier receiver, and offensive tackle Willie Anderson had a great season(he had excellent game against DPOY Reggie White in the Packers game). But Odonnell was lost with injuries(Blake was also out at one point and they lost 3 games with Paul Justin starting at QB) and the defense was the worst in the NFL.

So even the bad teams of the AFC in 1998 were tough or had some crazy combination of talent to look back and appreciate that year. The whole conference seemingly had a newfound confidence after Denver broke the AFC's losing streak in the Super Bowl that February. The Colts were bad at 3-13 but they had Manning playing in his only season with Marshall Faulk. Indy did have 2 really tough hard fought losses to Buffalo and Atlanta. They also took down the Jets. Having missed the 1998 season I never realized that Manning's career started the way it did. I never appreciated how he played against Belichick twice a year those years in those Jets vs Colts division games. I also never really thought about how Manning played twice a year against Aaron Glenn twice a year every year from 1998 to 2004. Glenn was Jets cornerback from Manning's rookie 98 season until 2001, then followed Manning to the new AFC South when he went to the Texans in 2002(they played each other twice a year there during Glenn's Texans' tenure from 2002 to 2004).

Also never realized Manning had a pretty epic shootout with Steve Young that 98 season in week 7. Young had 2 rushing touchdowns to bring the 49ers back from 31-17 deficit for a 34-31 win. Manning had 230 yards and 3 touchdowns while Young had 331 Manning also had his first showdowns with Marino in 1998 with the two going on to have 2 pretty epic shootouts in 1999 in Marino's last dance. Crazy though that Manning threw 28 interceptions that rookie season in 1998.

So the AFC was tough in 1998. In fact I'd say they were significantly tougher than the NFC that season. There was a big difference in the Colts 3-13 and the Philadelphia Eagles 3-13 that year. The Colts had 8 games against division rivals that all made the playoffs and played some really good teams to tough games, same as the Bengals. Just in a really tough division. The Eagles on the other hand were just flat out bad, the commentators in their week 1 games were already talking about them having a high draft pick in 1999. Everybody knew they were just going to be bad. But the script flipped in 1998 as far as AFC vs NFC, like back in 1989 you had some fringe teams in the NFC that missed the playoffs that probably would have made a deep playoff run had they played in the AFC that year. I feel that was true here in reverse here in 1998, maybe even more extreme. I think these 3-13 Bengals and Colts teams could have been fighting for Wild Card spots had they played in the NFC in 98.

The Baltimore Colts were another losing team going 6-10 but this was a big season for them. This was their first season in their new stadium after 2 years in the old Colts Memorial Stadium. Their win over the Colts that was posted about earlier in this thread for me was the 1998 Game Of The Year. Baltimore's 2 games against the Tennessee Oilers were absolute slug fests, with the rematch later in the season being full of fights to the point where the refs had to stop the game to cool both teams down. The Ravens had the key pieces in place on defense, Ray Lewis was there, Rod Woodson was acquired. They had Jim Harbaugh at QB and Priest Holmes at RB making for some interesting games. This was a tough 6-10 team that again probably would have been a Wild Card contender in the NFC in 1998.

The Chiefs and Steelers dominated the AFC through the 90's regular seasons but both fell off in 98. Both teams finished 7-9, both still had a lot of talent. This was Pittsburgh's first season without Rod Woodson, letting him go to Baltimore was a big mistake looking back. They still had prime Bus though and some killers on defense. It's amazing that Bill Cowher survived the 98-99 seasons as Steelers head coach looking back at these years, these were some dark times for that team. Getting swept by the Bengals seems like a low point.

The Chiefs with Marty at coach in 98 went 4-1 at the start then lost 6 in a row to kill their season. They were able to finish strong to get to 7-9.

The Seahawks, Raiders, and Tennessee Oilers were the fringe teams on the outside of the AFC playoffs all 8-8. It's a shame this Oilers team wasn't in the Astrodome where they belonged they were a tough mean football team with a bad attitude in 1998 that would have made the House Of Pain proud. I believe this was Mcnair's first full season where they finally went with him as the full time starter. They played at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville after playing 97 in Memphis the year before. So playing in their 3rd different stadium/city in 3 years. So this was like a vagabond homeless road warrior team at this point with no home field advantage. Several games the referee's would accidentally call them "Houston" just out of habit when announcing penalties. They got off to a 1-3 start before the big defensive stand off 12-8 win over the Ravens on the road. The 3 game win streak that got them to 6-4 with the win over the Steelers at home week 11 was big for this team I think. The 41,000+ attendance for that game was their highest of the season as they failed to crack over 40k for most games. The crowd of just over 31,000 that was there seemed to really be behind them for the home rematch against Baltimore. Then they went on the road and took down a pretty good 10-3 Jaguars team to get to 8-6. They would lose out the final 2 games to finish 8-8 in the final season ever for the Oilers before it was all "retired". The new name, new uniforms, new logo, new stadium, and Javon Kearse would all make a huge difference for this team in 1999. This was a really interesting season for the 98 Oilers though that I need to look closer at.

The Raiders were in their first season with Gruden and looked like they had QB problems, with 3 different starters that season. Jeff George went 3-4, David Hollas went 4-2, and ole Wade Wilson went 1-2 as starters. Tim Brown had his usual 1,000 yard season but that was about it for this team. They finished 22nd in offense and 20th in defense. But they were 7-3 at one point before collapsing to an 8-8 finish.

This Seahawks team missing the playoffs is kind of mind blowing looking at the talent on the team. Warren Moon still hanging in there and leading the league in passing through the first few weeks of the season gives this 1998 season a special touch. Moon to Joey Galloway was quite a QB/WR duo while it lasted. They also acquired Rickey Watters one of the best dual threat running backs of the 90's that still had a few good seasons left in him. Seattle was also loaded on defense with Cortez Kennedy, Shawn Springs, and Chad Brown. Moon ended up falling apart physically through the season and missing much of the later games, and Seattle hobbled to an 8-8 finish.

The Patriots are a team I haven't covered much but they seemed to be in a really weird spot in 98-99. Parcells abandons the team he put together after only 3 years to go to a division rival in 1997. They bring in Pete Carroll but the pieces of that Parcells team chip away year by year. Carroll gets them to a division title with 10-6 finish his first year getting them to second round of the playoffs in 97. The 98 team is without Curtis Martin who goes to be with Parcells in NY. They still got off to a 4-1 start but would lose the big games to the big contenders, big losses to the Broncos, Jets, and Dolphins. They would go on to beat the Bills and Dolphins to save their season. The win over the 49ers got them to 9-6 and secured their playoff spot. Ty Law with 9 interceptions is the stand out performance from this Pats 9-7 run in 1998. Bledsoe had over 3,600 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and 4 game winning drives.

Got to love this 10-6 1998 Buffalo Bills Doug Flutie team. Wade Phillips as head coach, some of the key guys from the 4 Super Bowl losses still hanging in there Thurman, Andre Reed, and Bruce Smith. They get off to an 0-3 start then win 5 in a row. Doug Flutie wins 7 of his 10 games as a starter with 2 comeback wins. Eric Moulds rips it up with over 1,300 receiving yards. They end up going down to the Dolphins in Miami in the Wild Card round.

Ive watched a lot of Dolphins games and covered them a lot in this thread already. They had the #1 defense in 98 with a killer secondary, young Jason Taylor, and Zach Thomas looking like Dick Butkus all year. They had an ok running game and 2 ok receivers, maybe not the best offensive line with Richmond Webb starting to get old and exposed as not that great of a run blocker. Dan Marino really didn't have the best season himself, throwing for 15 interceptions(after living through the Brock Osweiler season of 2016 I've always used his 15 interceptions that year as a gage for what a lot of interceptions are for a QB in a season, 15 is a lot that really kills a football team's season). The Dolphins finished 10-6 through it all but watching through the games I noticed 3 or 4 losses that were solely on Marino, some due to fumbles in the pocket in the worst situations that would cost them wins. Still Miami would take down their rival Bills in the Wild Card and had a chance against Denver in the second round. They would play without either starting defensive end and stood no chance, would lose a 38-3 blowout. I got to say of all the blown opportunities Marino had to make it back to a Super Bowl he really had a big chance here in 98 and a lot of the blame for them not making it falls on him. Sure Marino needed more firepower on offense, but With the top defense in the NFL Miami should have at least got to the AFCCG in 98 if he was as great as he was supposed to be. This should have been a 12-4 team, instead Marino really fumbled the season away and let the Jets take their division and the #2 seed.

Then there is the Jets, Parcells and Belichick, Vinnie Testaverde, Wayne Chrebet, Keyshawn, #2 defense in the NFL, top 5 offense. Manning took down Belichick's defense in week 11 in the start of their rivalry, but then the Jets went on a 6 game tear to finish the season 12-4 and take #2 seed in the AFC. After looking closer at this season I firmly believe this was the 2nd best team in the NFL in 1998 behind Denver. I do think they were better than Minnesota or Atlanta. They were actually leading Denver 10-0 in the 3rd quarter of the AFCCG before the Broncos ran away with it.

But the whole AFC East was crazy in 98 and 99. Pete Carroll's Patriots really fell apart in the second half of 99 and he was let go after they missed the playoffs. The Jets were crazy favorites to run away with the NFL in 1999 but then Testaverde gets hurt week 1 ala Aaron Rodgers. The Jets don't even make the playoffs in 99, Parcells retires again, then you get the whole mess with Belichick quitting and ending up in New England in 2000.

The Broncos were truly awesome in 1998. A pretty incredible 13-0 start, I do remember hearing a lot about them possibly going undefeated that year as the win streak went on. Then they were upset by the Giants and lost to Marino's Dolphins the very next week to fall to 13-2. They finish 14-2 with Terrell Davis breaking the 2,000 yards rushing mark, destroy the Dolphins in the divisional round, then take down the Jets to win the AFCCG before destroying the Falcons in a SB blowout. Elway actually missed 4 games in 98 but backup Bubby Brister came in and went 4-0 while he was out. They beat New England on MNF opening week in a clash between the 96 vs 97 AFC Champs, then beat a still good triplets Cowboys week 2, then survived a tough road test vs a loaded Seahawks team, then took down the Jaguars in a heavyweight showdown rubber match(Jags bounced Denver from 96 playoffs, then Denver blew them out to eliminate them in 97) that had huge game feel. The Jacksonville win put them at 7-0, then it was smooth sailing for the rest of that win streak, 2 wins a piece over the struggling Chiefs and Chargers, wins over the Bengals and Raiders. They also beat some really bad Washington and Philly teams in that win streak.

I'm thinking this 98 Broncos team is one of the best of the 90's decade. I do think they were better than the 97 Broncos team that went 12-4 and made it to the SB as a Wild Card team, much more dominant season in 98 with TD breaking 2,000. I also believe they were better than the 99 Rams or 96 Packers. I think they were just more dominant than the 90 Giants, 92/93/95 Cowboys or the 94 49ers. The only 90's Super Bowl team I would put over this 98 Broncos season is the 1991 Redskins, same 14-2 record but Redskins maybe played slightly tougher schedule. Their only losses were to a playoff bound Cowboys and a field goal loss to a 10-6 Eagles team that had historic defense that season. Other than that they never even trailed at any point that season. Also had a significantly tougher defense. Also much more dominant playoff run and beat a stronger Super Bowl opponent(that was favored to beat them).

The AFC had 3 bad teams in 1998, but those teams all had something going for them at one point of the season or another(or had rookie QB's). The NFC on the other hand was loaded with bad teams in 1998. That is an interesting element of 1998 the tables turned as far as AFC/NFC, whether it's an effect or coincidence that it happened after the Broncos snap the NFC's 13 year Super Bowl streak.

The NFC had some real stinkers.

I watched the week 1 Eagles game against Seattle and before the end of the 1st quarter the commentators were already predicting they would have a very high draft pick in 99. They finished with the worst offense in the NFL with an average of 10 points per game, they had something like 5-6 games without scoring a touchdown. Hugh Douglas was tough though with 12.5 sacks and they had Brian Dawkins. Ray Rhodes would be done and Andy Reid would be set up to take over Philly in 1999.

Carolina was another team in freefall mode. This 1998 Panthers team reminds me a lot of the 2005 Texans team, an expansion team playing in their 4th season where whatever they had built up with that expansion draft had completely fucking fallen apart and a total restart was needed already. This was the year Kerry Collins had his substance abuse issues and either quit or was cut after the 0-4 start. They would end up starting 0-7. At one point they were 2-12 before Steve Beuerlien found his groove and took over the job at QB, winning the last to for a 4-12 finish. Something huge this Panthers 98 season has in common with the 2005 Texans also is that this was the end of head coach Dom Capers tenure in Carolina after 4 years, after he took them to the NFCCG in 96 in only their second season. Panthers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was also the Texans DC at launch and was part of that 2005 disaster. So a lot of parallels here that I never realized. George Seifert takes over the team in 99. This team was crazy bad though, their 4 wins were over the Saints, the sweep over a terrible Rams team, and beating Indy in the finale. Eek. But it says quite a bit that Seifert was able to take this same squad to a pretty solid 7-9 season where they were in playoff contention until the final week the next year in 1999(Beuerlien and the Panthers offense was the hottest in the league in the final 4-5 weeks of the season putting up even better numbers than the GSOT Rams).

Speaking of the Rams of St. Louis, they were awful in 1998 as well. Another 4-12 team taking a step back from their 5-11 campaign in 1997 under Dick Vermiel's comeback season as head coach. They were a competitive team the first 3 weeks, playing tough in their first 2 losses before beating the Bills in Buffalo 34-33 in a game where Tony Banks led them back from a 28-10 deficit, winning the game in the final seconds with a rushing TD. They also beat the Jets in week 6 to get to 2-3. Then they lost 7 of their next 8 to drop to 3-10. They finished in the bottom 7 of the league in both offense and defense. With the 4-12 finish at this point going into 1999 they were the most losing team of the 90's decade. Kurt Warner was on the roster but only threw 11 passes all year(they would put him on the block for the Browns 1999 Expansion Draft but Cleveland left him and didn't draft him). Tony Banks threw 7 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in 14 starts. Their leading rusher had 313 yards all year. They did have Isaac Bruce but he was lost for 11 games with an injury.

The Saints in their second year under Mike Ditka got off to a 3-0 start but then finished going 3-10 for a 6-10 finish. They swept the Rams in 98 and had big wins over Dallas and a 9-3 win over Tampa. This was another team without a run game and had 4 different starting quarterbacks, including Panthers cast off Kerry Collins(who went 2-5 as a starter). The Saints were priming themselves up to trade their entire 1999 draft for Ricky Williams.

Other stinkers in 1998 NFC were the 4-12 Bears, 5-11 Lions, the 6-10 Redskins(that got off to an 0-7 start). The Giants finished 8-8 and had the 8th best defense in the NFL but they were pretty bad for most of the season as well, getting off to a 3-7 start with Danny Kannell stinking up the joint at QB. Kent Graham took over at QB and they would win 5 of their last 6 to get to the 8-8 mark. Strahan was a beast in 1998 with 15 sacks. One player that I'm surprised didn't get any Comeback Player Of The Year votes was Giants rb Gary Brown that year. He had a 1 hit wonder season with the Oilers in 93 where he ran for over 1,000 yards in only 8 starts. Then injuries cut him down and he never lived up to the hype from that. I think he may have been out of the league one year before getting another shot with San Diego in 97. He returns to his prime form in 98 with 1,063 yards.

So looking closer at how strong the AFC was in 1998, then look over at how 8 out of the 15 NFC teams were terrible, over half the conference. Then there was the 8-8 Tampa Bucs, taking a step back from their 1997 9-7 playoff season where they changed unis and snapped their streak of losing that stretched back to 1983. Tampa had the 5th best defense in the NFL but Trent Dilfer was going nowhere as QB throwing for 2,700+ yards with 21 TDs and 15 ints in his 16 starts. This was the year Mike Alstott really broke out, with close to 1,000 yards from scrimmage he was named 1st team All Pro. Tampa's 27-24 win over the Vikings in week 9 was the only loss Minnesota had all season in their 15-1 campaign. Would have been interesting to see this Tampa team in the playoffs in a 3rd game against Minnesota instead of the Cardinals blowout we got in the divisional round.

The NFC West cellar teams were bad, as was pretty much the entire NFC East. Washington would save Norv Turner's job by winning 6 out of 8 after the 0-7 start to finish 6-10. That run made Trent Green a starting QB in the NFL, the Rams would go all in on him for the 1999 season. The Cardinals made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 but look at their record and who they played and they have to be one of the most fluke playoff teams ever in the history of playoffs. But yet they end up taking down the Cowboys in the playoffs, something unthinkable. Which points out how weak really that 10-6 Cowboys team really was. Another team with a padded record feasting on bad teams, losing to the big dogs.

Got to wonder how this Cowboys team fares in the 90's with stability in the coaching staff. I feel like both Norv Turner and Dave Wanstedt both jumped the gun in taking the head coaching jobs in 93-94. In hindsight I think both guys would have been better off staying put in Dallas(either of them taking over for the departed Jimmy Johnson would have been better than the Barry Switzer hire I believe). Had Dallas been able to keep that staff together through the 90's this team would have for sure been at or near the NFCCG every season from 94 to 98. With this 1998 season being really the swan song season of the 90's NFL, it's a shame we didn't get just 1 more Cowboys vs 49ers game that season.

For the 49ers they finished 12-4 and had a pretty great team that fought really hard that year. Steve Young played his ass off with league leading 36 touchdown passes and over 4,100 yards passing. He had Rice and TO, plus Garrison Hearst running for over 1,500, they had it all, including a pretty bad ass d-line. One has to wonder how the 49ers defense would have looked if Deion would have stuck around beyond that 94 season. This 49er team being as good as they were in 98 is another element that makes that season great, Young/Rice was always fun to watch when that team was on. The theme of the 49ers in 1998 was that Green Bay just had their number. The Packers took them down in a huge heavyweight showdown around mid-season, giving them 5 wins in a row(including eliminating them from the playoffs in 95, 96, and 97). Steve Young had lost every game he had ever played against Green Bay going back to his days as a Buccaneers QB.

For the Green Bay Packers 11-5 season I believe they just got wore out. The 4 Falls Of Buffalo documentary really pointed out how much it took for the 90-91-92-93 Bills team to play at the highest level in so many high pressure games those 4 years, by the time of that second Cowboys Super Bowl in 93 that team just was emotionally done. I think the same can be said for this 1998 Packers team, this being their 4th year of being a primetime contender going deep in the playoffs every season. They made it to the NFC Championship where they lost to Dallas in 95, won the Super Bowl in 96, lost the Super Bowl in 97, then ran out of gas in the Wild Card loss to San Francisco in these 1998 playoffs. The Packers season got off to a 4-0 start before they struggled through a 4-5 stretch. A loss in Tampa dropped them to 8-5 but they finished strong winning out for an 11-5 finish. Reggie White had a great season in one of his final years with 16 sacks and 4 forced fumbles(I don't know that he really deserved DPOY that year as great as those numbers are though). Antonio Freeman led the NFL in receiving yards, Bret led in passing yards again with 4,200+.

It's crazy that the rise of the Falcons and Vikings put the 49ers and Packers against each other in the Wild Card round, in San Fran. With all the stakes on the line and everything I think you could say this was the 1998 Game Of The Year. I do remember when I watched it that I noticed the refs missed a Jerry Rice lost fumble late in the game that would have secured Green Bay's win. San Fran would take it with the incredible TO catch in the end zone for the 30-27 win in what has to be one of the best games of the 90's period. Even if the refs caught Rice's fumble and Green Bay held on to win this game I believe they were out of gas and had no chance on the road in the rest of these playoffs(though Favre going back to Atlanta in the divisional round would have been interesting full circle stuff).

Really think about it and that game really took it out of San Francisco as well. That was pretty much their Super Bowl that year to get past Green Bay finally. There was nothing left for the next round in Atlanta, and the Falcons were able to advance with a 20-18 win.

So it was down to the 14-2 Falcons at the 15-1 Vikings. I watched the game years ago for the first time and it was like watching a natural disaster caught on film. You really have to hand it to the 98 Vikings for this offense that season, just running scores up. They did beat some tough teams as well, including a sweep over the Packers, wins over Dallas, Jacksonville, and victories over tough Oilers/Ravens/Bucs teams that didn't finish with great records. 556 points a new record, averaging 34.8 points per game. They got off to a 7-0 start before losing to their former DC Tony Dungy's Bucs, then won out to finish 15-1. They annihilated the Cardinals in the divisional round before choking the NFCCG away. They were winning by 10 late in the 4th quarter. The blame goes to the kicker Gary Anderson for missing the field goal in the end but people forget the Vikings were actually winning by a full touchdown when he missed that. They called some questionable plays at the end of regulation and then had a chance to win it with a possession in overtime but couldn't get it done. Atlanta pulled off the upset 30-27 in overtime.

For the Falcons I believe they are a bit underrated. They get some hate for messing up everybody's dream Super Bowl that year but I believe the better team won. If Minnesota had been able to hold on to their lead and win somehow in the NFCCG I believe they get blown out even worse by Denver in the Super Bowl. This Falcons team was just really smart and well coached. They finished 4th on offense and 4th on defense in 1998. They went on a 9 game win streak after a 5-2 start for a 14-2 finish to steal the West from San Fran. You could argue they had a weak schedule with that NFC West cellar giving them 6 easy wins. Their only quality wins would be over New England and over San Francisco in the rematch. They caught a break getting a 49er team coming out of The Catch II epic in the divisional round. But the win over the Vikings in the NFCCG was legit. Looking at the Super Bowl going in that year it really should have been a little bit closer than 34-19. Once they fell behind 17-3 in the first half and had to abandon the run game it really was over. Jamal Anderson was for sure the workhorse with 410 carries for 1,800+ yards and 14 touchdowns. The dirty birds 1 hit wonder season really should get a little more respect I think.

[ShinobiMusashi]

TL/DR; This really was a special NFL season, the end of a certain window within an era of NFL history(90's NFL), a stand out season of that decade for certain with a lot of great stuff that I never appreciated until watching through the games on Youtube this Summer. Now I got to figure out what to have on TV for background noise around the house until football season starts.

Where I'd rank 98 among the best most entertaining 90's seasons;

1990
1998
1992
1995
1994
1991
1996
1997
1993

Got serious nostalgia for 93 but have to see through that and admit it was a low point for the NFL, a lot of really bad teams in the league that year, a lot of outdated head coaches still holding down teams and the game in general, ton of injuries to offensive stars across the league that year as well. Many low scoring games. But my Oilers were probably my favorite team ever that year and I really loved the NFL that season.

Can't put 98 over 1990, sorry, but love that whole Giants vs 49ers build and their clash in the NFCCG, plus the AFC seemed much stronger with Raiders/Oilers/Dolphins/Bills all getting their stuff together finally that year, plus a prime Bo Jackson and the whole Tecmo era rosters, prime NFL season in 1990 for sure(not to mention the GOAT Super Bowl; XXV, probably my favorite NFL game ever).

[Brian wolf]

Speaking of 1998, its interesting reading about Kurt Warner. I have the Lindy's Pro Football Review magazine that doesnt list him on the depth chart but lists him being invited to the Ram's training camp along with London Fletcher at linebacker.

Had these two players not shown something during that 1998 camp, they might not have been around for that historical 1999 season. I wonder which Ram's coaches fought to keep Warner on the team?

I have followed the Titans since their days as the Oilers and their story from 1996-2008 was incredible. 1996 was their last year in the Astrodome and fans stayed away in droves knowing they were moving to Tennessee. Then, fans stayed away from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis before they went to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, where fans were at least more vocal.

The team had some success but alot of mediocrity as the Titans, but were tough and hard nosed, reflecting on their HC, Jeff Fisher. To make up for lack of talent and speed, the team was ornery and borderline dirty, which helped change the future NFL.
After the 2008 season, the League was more determined than ever to crack down on defensive aggressiveness and borderline hits, which the Titans defense regularly preached.

[Oszuscik]

Speaking of 1998, its interesting reading about Kurt Warner. I have the Lindy's Pro Football Review magazine that doesnt list him on the depth chart but lists him being invited to the Ram's training camp along with London Fletcher at linebacker.

Had these two players not shown something during that 1998 camp, they might not have been around for that historical 1999 season. I wonder which Ram's coaches fought to keep Warner on the team?

I have followed the Titans since their days as the Oilers and their story from 1996-2008 was incredible. 1996 was their last year in the Astrodome and fans stayed away in droves knowing they were moving to Tennessee. Then, fans stayed away from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis before they went to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, where fans were at least more vocal.

The team had some success but alot of mediocrity as the Titans, but were tough and hard nosed, reflecting on their HC, Jeff Fisher. To make up for lack of talent and speed, the team was ornery and borderline dirty, which helped change the future NFL.
After the 2008 season, the League was more determined than ever to crack down on defensive aggressiveness and borderline hits, which the Titans defense regularly preached.

In that regard would you consider 2008 to be the last season of "real" professional football? Prior to the 2009 season seemed to be when the league really went all-out trying to implement new rules in response to the concussion fiasco. Obviously they needed to, but would you consider the game fundamentally changed beginning in 2009?

[Brian wolf]

I believe so, slowly but surely, especially once the CBA went into affect, which restricted even more hard scrimmages and practices that could help the players avoid non-contact injuries and get them prepared for the season.

[7DnBrnc53]

Can't put 98 over 1990, sorry, but love that whole Giants vs 49ers build and their clash in the NFCCG, plus the AFC seemed much stronger with Raiders/Oilers/Dolphins/Bills all getting their stuff together finally that year, plus a prime Bo Jackson and the whole Tecmo era rosters, prime NFL season in 1990 for sure(not to mention the GOAT Super Bowl; XXV, probably my favorite NFL game ever).

Even as a Denver fan, I agree. 1990 was a fun year (it also should have been Dan Reeves' last year as Denver coach, in my opinion) in part because of the revival of the 70's stalwarts (even Dallas was on their way even though they finished 7-9, and you knew that 1991 would be a playoff year for them). I also loved the Giant upset over the hated 49ers, denying them the three-peat.

What's interesting about that first Tecmo SB was that they kept the 1990 rosters instead of updating them for 1991 (which they did for the first TSB for the SNES in 1993, although they only had two rookies for some reason, and one of them wasn't Drew Bledsoe).

[CSKreager]

For the Falcons I believe they are a bit underrated. They get some hate for messing up everybody's dream Super Bowl that year but I believe the better team won. If Minnesota had been able to hold on to their lead and win somehow in the NFCCG I believe they get blown out even worse by Denver in the Super Bowl. This Falcons team was just really smart and well coached. They finished 4th on offense and 4th on defense in 1998. They went on a 9 game win streak after a 5-2 start for a 14-2 finish to steal the West from San Fran. You could argue they had a weak schedule with that NFC West cellar giving them 6 easy wins. Their only quality wins would be over New England and over San Francisco in the rematch. They caught a break getting a 49er team coming out of The Catch II epic in the divisional round. But the win over the Vikings in the NFCCG was legit. Looking at the Super Bowl going in that year it really should have been a little bit closer than 34-19. Once they fell behind 17-3 in the first half and had to abandon the run game it really was over. Jamal Anderson was for sure the workhorse with 410 carries for 1,800+ yards and 14 touchdowns. The dirty birds 1 hit wonder season really should get a little more respect I think.

Not only do I think those Falcons are overrated, the hate they get is deserved.

5 losing seasons in 6 years and sandwiched in between they just randomly made a Super Bowl with....... Chris Chandler

Jamal Anderson was an average RB whose numbers looked good because he got a million carries against a weak schedule.

They never felt SB worthy and it showed.

[7DnBrnc53]

Not only do I think those Falcons are overrated, the hate they get is deserved.

5 losing seasons in 6 years and sandwiched in between they just randomly made a Super Bowl with....... Chris Chandler

Jamal Anderson was an average RB whose numbers looked good because he got a million carries against a weak schedule.

They never felt SB worthy and it showed.

The NFC West in the late-90's was trash. The 49ers were pretenders after 1994. The Rams and Saints stunk (until 1999 and 2000, respectively). The Panthers had their one-hit wonder moment in 1996, then went down until 2003 (and even that year was a fluke).

The 98 Falcons were a solid team, but there's no way they should have beat Minnesota.

[ShinobiMusashi]

I don't know having a head coach that had been to and won as many conference title games as Dan Reeves, for some of the calls that Dennis Green was making late in that game are just unforgivable to me. If you can't coach it doesn't matter how much talent you have on the field that is a big reason why I love the sport as much as I do. Dennis Green wasn't in Dan Reeves' league as a head coach. The smarter football team won that game. If they were making bad decisions like that in a home playoff game imagine with all the stress and pressure of a Super Bowl after media week how bad that Vikings team gets blown out by Denver in XXIII against Mike Shannahan and Kubiak. Would have been ugly.

[ShinobiMusashi]

For the Falcons I believe they are a bit underrated. They get some hate for messing up everybody's dream Super Bowl that year but I believe the better team won. If Minnesota had been able to hold on to their lead and win somehow in the NFCCG I believe they get blown out even worse by Denver in the Super Bowl. This Falcons team was just really smart and well coached. They finished 4th on offense and 4th on defense in 1998. They went on a 9 game win streak after a 5-2 start for a 14-2 finish to steal the West from San Fran. You could argue they had a weak schedule with that NFC West cellar giving them 6 easy wins. Their only quality wins would be over New England and over San Francisco in the rematch. They caught a break getting a 49er team coming out of The Catch II epic in the divisional round. But the win over the Vikings in the NFCCG was legit. Looking at the Super Bowl going in that year it really should have been a little bit closer than 34-19. Once they fell behind 17-3 in the first half and had to abandon the run game it really was over. Jamal Anderson was for sure the workhorse with 410 carries for 1,800+ yards and 14 touchdowns. The dirty birds 1 hit wonder season really should get a little more respect I think.

Not only do I think those Falcons are overrated, the hate they get is deserved.

5 losing seasons in 6 years and sandwiched in between they just randomly made a Super Bowl with....... Chris Chandler

Jamal Anderson was an average RB whose numbers looked good because he got a million carries against a weak schedule.

They never felt SB worthy and it showed.

They were pretty good in 1995. Jeff George and 3 receivers with over 1,000, Eric Metcalf was killing it as return man/RB/WR, Ironhead Heyward had a good season, they had some talented veterans on defense, that was a fun team I remember rooting for that season. Of course it fell apart pretty bad in 96.

I can't say I'm a big fan of the Falcons/Jamaal Anderson, I didn't watch any of their games this Summer in this watchthrough. I do have to give it to Anderson though for 410 carries plus playoff grind is just tough regardless of schedule. He also averaged like 4.5 yards a carry if I remember right.

I want to defend their schedule but can't. It was weak af. The only 2 real quality wins are the back to back wins over NE and SF, where they had 9 sacks in both games. I will say that was a legit SF team there in 98 I don't know how we can say they were pretenders when they knocked the Packers off the defending back to back NFC Champs. That plays into Atlanta's luck though, they caught a 49ers team that was spent like they had just won their own personal Super Bowl by beating Green Bay finally in that wild card round. For Atlanta to beat San Fran in the regular season rematch though was a straight up win you got to hand to them, that made all the difference in San Fran playing Green Bay in the Wild Card round or getting that first round bye. Following through and beating New England as bad as they did was all the difference in this team being 14-2 instead of 12-4 and playing in the Wild Card round. So it's like the 72 Dolphins, you can't really knock this team for their schedule too bad because they did beat the teams they really needed to to get in the spot they were in in those playoffs. The win over Minnesota was legit too and not a fluke. The Super Bowl between Denver vs Atlanta should have been a better game, but Denver had just been through the whole process the year before maybe their experience gave them the edge in that game(probably would have been even bigger edge against a team not as well coached as Minnesota, less disciplined team with stars in their eyes).