The Greatest Postseason Upset of the 1970s

[JoeZagorski]

Hey Guys:

What playoff game (or Super Bowl) do you think was the greatest postseason upset during the decade of the 1970s? I'm thinking it might have been in 1979 when the Oilers defeated the Chargers in San Diego, but I could be wrong. Please take into account how much of an underdog the winner was, how many injuries, the statistics going into the game, etc. Thanks for your help, and I look forward to reading a bunch of great responses from you guys!

Sincerely,
Joe Zagorski

[conace21]

Hey Guys:

What playoff game (or Super Bowl) do you think was the greatest postseason upset during the decade of the 1970s? I'm thinking it might have been in 1979 when the Oilers defeated the Chargers in San Diego, but I could be wrong. Please take into account how much of an underdog the winner was, how many injuries, the statistics going into the game, etc. Thanks for your help, and I look forward to reading a bunch of great responses from you guys!

Sincerely,
Joe Zagorski

That's probably it, although the 9-7 Rams ending Staubach's career would be right behind it.

[Rupert Patrick]

The Oilers (without Pastorini or Earl Campbell) beating the Chargers in San Diego ranks in my book as the biggest postseason upset in pro football history. I would rate the Giants beating New England in Super Bowl XLII a close second.

[BD Sullivan]

Gotta go with the Oilers-Chargers. All the buildup was that was just NO way the Oilers could possibly win...

[Jay Z]

Gotta go with the Oilers-Chargers. All the buildup was that was just NO way the Oilers could possibly win...

Oilers had a few things going for them. Best part of their defense was their ability to create turnovers on INTs. They didn't have a great run defense, but the Chargers didn't run the ball all that well in 1979.

I think if Campbell had been out and Pastorini had played it would have helped the Chargers. Mainly because I don't think Pastorini was all that good, and he probably would have thrown a couple of INTs at least without putting all that many points on the board. That was big.

The turnovers by the Chargers were not that big a deal to me. The 4th INT hurt a lot. The other ones were down the field throws, and at least there wasn't much of a return. Gifford Nielsen didn't have a good arm, but he didn't turn the ball over. That meant the Chargers never had great field position. Given that, I don't think the Chargers were going to blow the Oilers out.

But how do the Oilers score 17 in this game when they only scored 13 the week before and the week after when Campbell and Pastorini played? They had a lot of luck. 3 points set up by a block field goal return. Another 3 are turned into 7 when the Chargers have too many men on the field on a FG try. Then Mike Renfro breaks free for a 30+ yard scamper down the sidelines on the only pass Nielsen completed to a WR. What could have been 3 points total turned into 17.

I actually thought the Ram-Cowboy game was a better played game; glad it was mentioned.

[SixtiesFan]

Hey Guys:

What playoff game (or Super Bowl) do you think was the greatest postseason upset during the decade of the 1970s? I'm thinking it might have been in 1979 when the Oilers defeated the Chargers in San Diego, but I could be wrong. Please take into account how much of an underdog the winner was, how many injuries, the statistics going into the game, etc. Thanks for your help, and I look forward to reading a bunch of great responses from you guys!

Sincerely,
Joe Zagorski

That's probably it, although the 9-7 Rams ending Staubach's career would be right behind it.

The Rams had lost their last game of 1979 at home to the Saints and looked bad doing it. In Pro Football Weekly, Ram beat writer Rich Roberts quoted an unnamed Ram official to the effect "It's all over and doesn't matter who we play."

By contrast, the Cowboys had ended the season by beating the Redskins 35-34 in a stirring comeback.

[7DnBrnc53]

The 49er win in Minnesota in 1970 isn't too bad of a candidate, either. You have a 12-2 Viking team hosting a 49er team (that never won a playoff game) in bone-chilling temperatures, and they had to seem like a sure bet in that game.

[Bryan]

Oilers had a few things going for them. Best part of their defense was their ability to create turnovers on INTs. They didn't have a great run defense, but the Chargers didn't run the ball all that well in 1979.

The turnovers by the Chargers were not that big a deal to me. The 4th INT hurt a lot. The other ones were down the field throws, and at least there wasn't much of a return. Gifford Nielsen didn't have a good arm, but he didn't turn the ball over. That meant the Chargers never had great field position. Given that, I don't think the Chargers were going to blow the Oilers out.

The Oilers also had the edge in "playoff experience". At the very least, the Chargers looked a bit tentative the entire game, perhaps due to their lack of postseason experience.

I think the Chargers turnovers were the key to the game. San Diego marched down the field on their opening possession and scored a TD...they could move the ball on Oilers all game long, but their possessions were eaten up by interceptions. Bob Klein was particularly terrible...he dropped a ton of passes and a couple of the INTs were throws that bounced off his hands. After watching the game (used to be on Youtube), I was not surprised to learn that the 1979 playoff was the final game of Klein's career. The Oilers seemed content to double up on the outside WRs and/or play both safeties deep and let Klein roam free in the middle. Perhaps if Winslow was healthy, the Oilers wouldn't have been able to do this. Much was made of the Oilers "stealing signals" (in reality, Fouts would line up under center with a 'cheat step' on passing plays), but I don't know how much that really helped. The Chargers made a lot of mistakes on their own.

Gifford Nielsen was immobile, indecisive, and had zero arm strength. The most amazing thing to me about the game is that Nielsen's final numbers actually looked decent (10-19-111-1-1). The only good pass he threw all game was the one to Renfro, which was a 10-yard slant turned into a 47-yard TD. The Chargers didn't play poorly on defense, but I thought they were too conservative. They should have forced the issue more by playing 8 in the box and stacking the LOS. They kind of let Houston run their regular offense. Carpenter, Wilson, and Clark were able to gain consistent yardage, and Nielsen wasn't sacked. I don't think its a stretch to say that Gifford Nielsen is the least-impressive QB to ever win a postseason game.

[Veeshik_ya]

That's probably it, although the 9-7 Rams ending Staubach's career would be right behind it.

To this day, don't understand why this is considered such a "major" upset.

The Cowboys finished 11-5 to the Rams 9-7, but the Rams struggled with injuries all year and came on at the end of the year (they dropped the last game to New Orleans when they already had the division wrapped up, a common occurrence. The Patriots lost their last game this year, then won the SB). They weren't some upstart club that managed to squeak to 9-7, they were an experienced veteran team with many a playoff game under their belts. Did the Rams have QB issues? Sure, but they always did. Nothing new there. Defensively, the Rams gave up fewer points than Dallas that year (309 to 313), but more important, their DPR was 64.7 to Dallas's 72.5. Sure, the game was in Dallas, but the Rams beat the Cowboys in Dallas in the 1976 playoffs.

In other words, the Rams had live dog written all over them. The only reason this is considered a huge upset is the Staubach story, a media story, not a football story.

[Bryan]

Did the Rams have QB issues? Sure, but they always did. Nothing new there. Defensively, the Rams gave up fewer points than Dallas that year (309 to 313), but more important, their DPR was 64.7 to Dallas's 72.5. Sure, the game was in Dallas, but the Rams beat the Cowboys in Dallas in the 1976 playoffs.

In other words, the Rams had live dog written all over them. The only reason this is considered a huge upset is the Staubach story, a media story, not a football story.

I agree that its not that great of an upset in retrospect...kind of like the reverse of the 1975 NFC Championship game. I would guess that the Cowboys destroying the Rams the last two times they played (28-0 in 78 Championship, 30-6 in 79 reg season) was a factor in the line being Dallas -8.5. Ferragamo was probably better than people thought at the time, and Randy Hughes at SS instead of Charlie Waters might have been significant as the Cowboys gave up 3 long TD passes. Don't know if that happens with Waters on the field.