Rank all eighteen '80s teams that finished 12-4 (or .750, lol)

[74_75_78_79_]

Here they all are in chrono...

'80 Eagles
'80 Cowboys
'80 Falcons
'81 Bengals
'81 Cowboys
'83 Raiders
'83 Dolphins
'83 Cowboys
'84 Seahawks
'85 Raiders
'85 Dolphins
'86 Browns
'86 Redskins
'87 Bears
'88 Bengals
'88 Bills
'88 Bears
'89 Giants

Yes, the one in italics...they DID finish 9-3 so include them. Ironically, this exercise may not even get done by the very one who starts this, here, thread. Looks too tough to shuffle-up! But just in case some of you would like to take part, well here it is.

That '87 offering will be placed at #16. Soft schedule, fear-factor gone in wins against those easy opponents. Give Broncos a good-enough game at Mile High, okay, and they do beat Vikings in Minny. But getting pulverized at San Fran, 41-0, the following Monday Night then losing by 13 at home vs Seattle such a bad look/double-black-eye. Giving Washington a game at all (opening up that 14-0 lead) in the divisional can be seen as an over-achievement given what was written last sentence.

I wonder who I place at #17?

'83 LA RAIDERS is Numero Uno with me! That I know as well.


PS - Parcells deems his '89 Giants as his best G-men squad ever. This despite getting swept by both Eagles & Rams!

EDIT - '83 Cowboys now installed due to Gary's correction. That ought to be all of them now. Seventeen such teams.

[Gary Najman]

Here they all are in chrono...

'80 Eagles
'80 Cowboys
'80 Falcons
'81 Bengals
'81 Cowboys
'83 Raiders
'83 Dolphins
'85 Raiders
'85 Dolphins
'86 Browns
'86 Redskins
'87 Bears
'88 Bengals
'88 Bills
'88 Bears
'89 Giants

Yes, the one in italics...they DID finish 9-3 so include them. Ironically, this exercise may not even get done by the very one who starts this, here, thread. Looks too tough to shuffle-up! But just in case some of you would like to take part, well here it is.

That '87 offering will be placed at #16. Soft schedule, fear-factor gone in wins against those easy opponents. Give Broncos a good-enough game at Mile High, okay, and they do beat Vikings in Minny. But getting pulverized at San Fran, 41-0, the following Monday Night then losing by 13 at home vs Seattle such a bad look/double-black-eye. Giving Washington a game at all (opening up that 14-0 lead) in the divisional can be seen as an over-achievement given what was written last sentence.

I wonder who I place at #15?

'83 LA RAIDERS is Numero Uno with me! That I know as well.


PS - Parcells deems his '89 Giants as his best G-men squad ever. This despite getting swept by both Eagles & Rams!

The '83 Cowboys are missing.

[74_75_78_79_]

Here they all are in chrono...

'80 Eagles
'80 Cowboys
'80 Falcons
'81 Bengals
'81 Cowboys
'83 Raiders
'83 Dolphins
'85 Raiders
'85 Dolphins
'86 Browns
'86 Redskins
'87 Bears
'88 Bengals
'88 Bills
'88 Bears
'89 Giants

Yes, the one in italics...they DID finish 9-3 so include them. Ironically, this exercise may not even get done by the very one who starts this, here, thread. Looks too tough to shuffle-up! But just in case some of you would like to take part, well here it is.

That '87 offering will be placed at #16. Soft schedule, fear-factor gone in wins against those easy opponents. Give Broncos a good-enough game at Mile High, okay, and they do beat Vikings in Minny. But getting pulverized at San Fran, 41-0, the following Monday Night then losing by 13 at home vs Seattle such a bad look/double-black-eye. Giving Washington a game at all (opening up that 14-0 lead) in the divisional can be seen as an over-achievement given what was written last sentence.

I wonder who I place at #15?

'83 LA RAIDERS is Numero Uno with me! That I know as well.


PS - Parcells deems his '89 Giants as his best G-men squad ever. This despite getting swept by both Eagles & Rams!

The '83 Cowboys are missing.

Damn! By bad! Thanks! I'll edit the OP.

Hmm? Where to place them? You judge them more by their 12-2 start? Or their home losses in that three-week span to Washington & Rams (finale really shoudln't count due to Big D's playoff positioning already set; I'm very sure they would have lost anyway)?

[ChrisBabcock]

Without putting a lot of thought into this I think I would have all three '88 teams near the top of this list. Maybe top 3 overall? Hmmm

[CSKreager]

I would rank the 89 Giants dead last. Other than WSH and DEN, they didn’t beat anybody with a pulse (heck those 3 wins were by razor thin margins) and they basically only won the division due to Philly inexplicably losing to the Chargers and scoring 3 points at home vs Washington

[Brian wolf]

The 1983 Raiders finished strong after getting beat by the Redskins but the 1980 Falcons werent too far behind despite getting beat by the Cowboys in that memorable playoff game.

I feel had they gotten by the Cowboys, they would have beaten Philly at home, before beating the Raiders in the Superdome. They simply had more weapons than Philly, though the defense would have had to play better.

I also feel the 88' Bears were overrated. I felt the Vikings were better and would have taken the division had the Niners beaten the Bears on MNF. They were lucky to escape Philly in the Fog Bowl

The 89' Giants simply werent the same without Bavaro and the defense got shredded by Jim Everett in the divisional

Despite a worse record, the 83 Dolphins defense with Arnsparger, was much better than their 84 defense that got shredded by Montana in the SB. They beat the Niners in 1983.

The 85' Dolphins had the passing attack but the defense still was erratic. The 85 Raiders still had their great pass rush and Allen but nobody was betting on Marc Wilson in postseason. Had the 86' Redskins not lost to the hot Giants, they would have beaten the Broncos in the SB with Jay Schroeder before Doug Williams did.

83 Raiders
80 Falcons
81 Cowboys
83 Dolphins
80 Cowboys
81 Bengals
80 Eagles
83 Cowboys
88 Bengals
86 Redskins
86 Browns
88 Bears
88 Bills
87 Bears
85 Dolphins
89 Giants
85 Raiders

[CSKreager]

I also feel the 88' Bears were overrated. I felt the Vikings were better and would have taken the division had the Niners beaten the Bears on MNF. They were lucky to escape Philly in the Fog Bowl

The difference in that division wasn’t MNF vs the 49ers. It was Minnesota inexplicably losing TWICE to the godawful Packers.

All they had to do was not lay an egg in week 15 at Green Bay and CHI/MIN on the final Monday Night would have been winner take all.

Minnesota quite frankly got what they deserved. You cannot get swept by a bottom of the barrel team no matter how much “better” you felt they were

[Brian wolf]

Yep, that second loss to GB was especially huge. The Packers were somehow ready to play against the Vikings. Just looking at the Bears loss to Minn though, it seemed like the defense had lost momentum towards the end of the year, though they got through that Fog Bowl with big interceptions.

Thats the thing about a list like this ... some teams had strong years as a fluke. Some started strong but lost momentum, like the 80 Eagles or 83 Cowboys. The teams I listed basically stayed consistent, though many didnt get to a SB.

[Citizen]

Packers-Vikings was a really weird rivalry then. In the 10 seasons from 1979 through 1988, the Packers went 14-5-0 (.737) against the Vikings and 42-80-1 (.345) against the rest of the NFL. During that same stretch, the Vikings were 69-64-0 (.519) against everyone but Green Bay.

[74_75_78_79_]

Oh boy, cut me off! I guess I'm losing it.

1984 SEAHAWKS! I forgot THEM as well! Apologies to Reaser & Co.

It's now eighteen such teams! I guess they being a wild card and faltering in the end hid them from me. No excuse though.

I'm pretty confident now that there's yet another one (just like there's yet another planet out there besides Pluto).

Let me guess, the '87 Saints were actually 3-0 Wks #4-thru-#6, lol.


Well, until that's discovered, the starter of the thread in the meantime will now do his list...

1 - '83 Raiders!
2 - '81 Cowboys
3 - '88 Bengals
4 - '80 Eagles
5 - '81 Bengals
6 - '80 Cowboys
7 - '80 Falcons
8 - '86 Redskins
9 - '88 Bills
10 - '86 Browns
11 - '88 Bears
12 - '83 Dolphins
13 - '84 Seahawks
14 - '89 Giants
15 - '83 Cowboys
16 - '85 Raiders
17 - '85 Dolphins
18 - '87 Bears

I also feel the 88' Bears were overrated. I felt the Vikings were better and would have taken the division had the Niners beaten the Bears on MNF. They were lucky to escape Philly in the Fog Bowl

The difference in that division wasn’t MNF vs the 49ers. It was Minnesota inexplicably losing TWICE to the godawful Packers.

All they had to do was not lay an egg in week 15 at Green Bay and CHI/MIN on the final Monday Night would have been winner take all.

Minnesota quite frankly got what they deserved. You cannot get swept by a bottom of the barrel team no matter how much “better” you felt they were

Yep, that second loss to GB was especially huge. The Packers were somehow ready to play against the Vikings. Just looking at the Bears loss to Minn though, it seemed like the defense had lost momentum towards the end of the year, though they got through that Fog Bowl with big interceptions.

Thats the thing about a list like this ... some teams had strong years as a fluke. Some started strong but lost momentum, like the 80 Eagles or 83 Cowboys. The teams I listed basically stayed consistent, though many didnt get to a SB.

Packers-Vikings was a really weird rivalry then. In the 10 seasons from 1979 through 1988, the Packers went 14-5-0 (.737) against the Vikings and 42-80-1 (.345) against the rest of the NFL. During that same stretch, the Vikings were 69-64-0 (.519) against everyone but Green Bay.

This may get a laugh. After all, what's so 'big' about a 10-6 non-playoff finish the following year then followed by a 6-5 start before an 0-5 collapse the year after that (and then nothing again until Holmgren/Favre). But maybe sweeping Minny was a 'hint' of that very FWIW respectability to come in the next season and a half. Citizen's comment, though, seems to be the main explanation. Cool knowledge-drop!

I remember watching the pre-game show in Wk#8 that year - I'm sure it was 'NFL Today'; and I did see this recently elsewhere - Green Bay was coming off their first win vs the Vikings, making it a two-game win-streak to up their record to 2-5. There was a short on Infante and Titletown embracing him, he showing promise. Maybe some here can clarify.

Their Week #8 game was in Milwaukee against the defending-Champ, Redskins, who still were above-500 going in. Washington won, upping their record to 5-3, but Packers kept it real close. And then GB goes on to get shut-out in their next two games en route to 2-12 before beating Minny again in Wk#15, and then beating the Cards in the finale to make it 4 wins. Weirdly, they had the #7 defense in the league in '88! That's better than their #16 overall '89 ranking!


PS - apologies again for forgetting the '83 Cowboys & '84 Seahawks, apologies to those who feel I have them too low, and apologies in-advance to any other team I may have forgotten.