Which franchise for a period of time, in your opinion, underachieved?

[saturdaysarebetter]

Which franchise, in your opinion, for a period of time, for the lack of a better term, underachieved?

Not to under estimate what it takes to win at the highest level, in addition to having the necessary talent and skill, timing and good fortune also play a part as well such as remaining injury-free, and also taking into account what caused that franchise to seemingly underachieve.

Take the Oakland Raiders of the '70s for example. Very good teams year-in and year-out, consistently reaching the AFC Championship game, yet they ran into two great teams in their dynasty eras in the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Indianapolis Colts with Peyton Manning? One Super Bowl victory and two SB appearances, albeit they had to get past the New England Patriots.

The run-and-shoot Houston Oilers? Eight straight playoff appearances yet they never reached the AFC Championship Game.
The current Buffalo Bills? Eight straight playoff appearances and yet to reach the Super Bowl although the mighty Kansas City Chiefs have been in their way.

In the late '60s the Dallas Cowboys were known as next year's champion.
The Los Angeles Rams of the '70s? Was the lack of a polished quarterback the difference between them and the Vikings and Cowboys?

So which franchise, in your opinion, for a period of time, for the lack of a better term, underachieved?

[CSKreager]

Run and shoot Oilers

Those other teams you mentioned got at worst 1 game from the Super Bowl

Houston never even made the Final 4

[SeahawkFever]

Could the 80’s Browns have fit the bill?

[Brian wolf]

Seattle Seahawks 2012 - 2021 ... to win only one championship in the Russell Wilson era was a travesty. Carroll deserves the blame. Schneider gave him great talent.

[7DnBrnc53]

Another team that some would nominate would be the Air Coryell Era Chargers.

It started in 1978, when Don took over, and they finished 9-7. 1979-82 is when the rubber really met the road.

In 1979 and 80, they lost to inferior Oiler and Raider teams at home in the playoffs. In 1981, they beat Miami, but ran into bad luck when they had to go to Ice Station Riverfront. In 1982, they got lucky against the Steelers in the first round, but they didn't show up the next week in Miami, committing several costly turnovers.

After that, they went on the decline. However, in 1983, Ed Luther started six games at QB, and they were 1-5 in those starts (finishing 6-10). In 1984, they started 4-2 before only winning three more games the rest of the year (they did beat Miami and Chicago, however, and they had two close losses to the division champion Broncos).

In 1985, they were 8-8, but they had three losses come down to the final minute. If they win those games (@Minn, @Den, @Hou), they are 11-4 going into Week 16's matchup with KC (in reality, Mark Herrmann started and threw three INT's. If it was an important game, Fouts plays). The next year, they get off to a 1-7 start before the plug is pulled on Don Coryell.

Mainly, their problem during a lot of this era was defense. Also, Coryell ran very lenient training camps, and trusted players too much (Dan Dierdorf said that he did this when he was with the Cardinals). They also had a very cheap owner in Gene Klein, who wouldn't pay Fred Dean and John Jefferson.

[Brian wolf]

Good call on the Chargers, 7D ... they just couldnt seem to get everything in place to win it all. The defense was better in 78 and 79 than 80 or 81. It didnt help the defense that the offense turned the ball over so much. Without more time of possession, the turnovers and a gasping defense made winning tougher to do, despite all the points.

Had Muncie and Brooks stayed with the team, the offense might have stayed more consistent when Fouts got injured, but Klein like you said, was not willing to give top salaries to important players and Muncie screwed up with drug use.

I disagree on your evaluation of the Oilers and Raiders in 79 and 80 though. The Oilers were alot tougher than the Chargers, who may have beaten them with knowledge of their signals and gamebook as well, and the Raiders should have won all three games against SD in 1980. We can only wonder if the Chargers would have taken the AFC Championship game if John Jefferson doesnt drop those TD passes?

The gameplan that Bill Arnsparger put together and the Dolphins execution was the best I have ever seen against a Don Coryell Chargers offense in the 1982 playoffs. It was hard for Fouts to even complete a pass in that game. What if, ... the Chargers had played more power football that day with their line and running game, similar to what the Hogs would do for Washington in the SB? Could they have played better and kept Woodley off the field?
That was his best postseason game.

[7DnBrnc53]

Raiders should have won all three games against SD in 1980. We can only wonder if the Chargers would have taken the AFC Championship game if John Jefferson doesnt drop those TD passes?

The Raiders should have won the 1980 Week 2 game, but not the AFC Title Game.

The Raiders built that 28-7 lead on some breaks. Their first TD bounced off of Kenny King's hands to Ray Chester, who ran the rest of the way. They also had a TD after being set up inside the ten on a pass interference call.

Then, when they were up 28-14, the Chargers kicked off, and recovered a Raider fumble. However, the Chargers were called offside.

The last break was with about six minutes left. The Raiders were up 34-27, and had a third and six near midfield. They probably run the ball up the middle, and if SD stops it, they force a punt. However, Wilbur Young jumped offside. The Raiders converted the 3rd and 1, and went on to run the clock out and go to New Orleans.

[Brian wolf]

The Cowboys always underachieved from 1966 - 1986. They should have had at least one SB in the 60s, at least 3 in the 70s and another one in the 80s. Just too many playoff breakdowns.

I felt they underachieved with Tony Romo as well, though beating the Patriots would have been a tall task. Their chance might have been better from 2008-13 with DeMarcus Ware, but they couldnt make the playoffs enough.

[CSKreager]

Good call on the Chargers, 7D ... they just couldnt seem to get everything in place to win it all. The defense was better in 78 and 79 than 80 or 81. It didnt help the defense that the offense turned the ball over so much. Without more time of possession, the turnovers and a gasping defense made winning tougher to do, despite all the points.

Had Muncie and Brooks stayed with the team, the offense might have stayed more consistent when Fouts got injured, but Klein like you said, was not willing to give top salaries to important players and Muncie screwed up with drug use.

I disagree on your evaluation of the Oilers and Raiders in 79 and 80 though. The Oilers were alot tougher than the Chargers, who may have beaten them with knowledge of their signals and gamebook as well, and the Raiders should have won all three games against SD in 1980. We can only wonder if the Chargers would have taken the AFC Championship game if John Jefferson doesnt drop those TD passes?

Those Oilers weren’t tough, they were pretenders. All they did was get in the way of more interesting playoff matchups just to roll over for the Steelers

[Northwoodssportsman]

A team that I think underachieved was the 1990s 49ers.

Yes, they do have a Super Bowl Championship after the 1994 season over San Diego. Outside of that:

1990 - Lost in NFC Championship Game to the New York Giants (Shout out Jeff Hostetler)
1991 - Missed Playoffs with a 10-6 record (Lost in a tiebreaker to Atlanta)
1992 - Lost in NFC Championship Game to the Cowboys (Start of Their Dynasty)
1993 - Lost in NFC Championship Game to the Cowboys AGAIN (2nd Super Bowl Win)
1995 - One and Done in the Playoffs, Lost to Green Bay in the Divisional Round
1996 - Lost to Green Bay in the Divisional Round AGAIN (@ Lambeau; Eventual SB Champs)
1997 - Lost in NFC Championship Game to Green Bay a 3rd Time
1998 - Lost in the Divisional Round to Atlanta's Ground and Pound Attack
1999 - Missed Playoffs, Steve Young's Career Ends due to Injury

To think of all the talent that was on that squad: Young, Jerry Rice, Ricky Watters, Terrell Owens, Deion Sanders, Charles Haley, Brent Jones, John Taylor, Bryant Young, Tom Rathman, Dana Stubblefield, Eric Davis, Guy McIntyre, and Bill Romanowski.

That squad yielded just one Super Bowl Championship in the decade. Dallas had three, Green Bay had one, the Giants had one, Washington had one, Denver had two, and St. Louis won their first.