Rank all ten ’70s SB runner-ups

[74_75_78_79_]

Here are mine…

1) ’78 Cowboys
2) ’75 Cowboys
3) ’73 Vikings
4) ‘72 Redskins
5) ’71 Dolphins
6) ’77 Broncos
7) ’76 Vikings
8) ’74 Vikings
9) ’70 Cowboys
10) ’79 Rams

[Brian wolf]

Cowboys were lucky to beat the Vikings in 1975, especially without that great sideline catch from Pearson. Denver deserves to be higher ...

1978 Cowboys
1977 Broncos ... beat everyone but Dallas
1971 Dolphins ... team was so young
1970 Cowboys ... even with Morton hurt, very strong team
1973 Vikings ... finally put it together
1975 Cowboys ... shouldnt have beaten Vikings
1979 Rams ... great postseason until Cromwell drops interception in SB
1972 Redskins ... great win in RFK
1974 Vikings ... Foreman and Gilliam were it on offense
1976 Vikings ... homefield advantage in postseason

[saturdaysarebetter]

I like this one. I'm 63 years old and I can recall the order of the '70s decade SB winning and losing teams by memory very easily. I can't say that about any other decade even this one and it's only half over.

It's difficult to separate how a team looked during the regular season to the team that played in the Super Bowl. The '79 Rams were nothing special during the regular season with a 9-7 record but were a formidable team pulling it all together in the post-season and Super Bowl. The '76 Vikings were 11-2-1 during the season with the second-best scoring defense in the NFL but look terrible in the Super Bowl against the Raiders.

I'll go:
1. '78 Dallas - maybe the best team to ever lose a Super Bowl. I know, the 2007 Patriots come to mind, but remember the Pats had all kinds of problems with the Giants defensive line. The '78 Cowboys had an even better defensive line that those 2007 Giants: Ed Too Tall Jones, Harvey Martin, Randy White and Jethro Pugh. The '78 Cowboys also had more future HOFers than the '07 Patriots.
2. '71 Miami - a year away from greatness. The '71 Dolphins made me appreciate the '71 Cowboys later in life realizing how many future great players were on the '71 Dolphins team that got dominated in Super Bowl VI.
3. '75 Dallas
4. '73 Minnesota - a very good season made to look so bad by a great Dolphins team in the Super Bowl.
5. '77 Denver - one doesn't think highly of a Craig Morton-led offense, yet the '77 Broncos Orange Crush defense gave up more than 14 points just once in the regular season.
6. '72 Washington
7. '74 Minnesota
8. '70 Dallas
9. '76 Minnesota
10. '79 LA Rams

[7DnBrnc53]

1. 1978 Cowboys: I agree with SAB on this one.
2. 1971 Dolphins
3. 1979 Rams: This will shock people. However, this was an injury-ravaged but deep team that was way better than their record.
4. 1975 Cowboys
5. 1977 Broncos
6. 1973 Vikings
7. 1970 Cowboys
8. 1974 Vikings
9. 1972 Redskins
10. 1976 Vikings

[CSKreager]

Why are the 1976 Vikings ranked so low on some lists here?

Top 10 in points scored AND points allowed

Their schedule was actually the hardest of all 4 Minnesota SB teams. You can’t play the easy schedule card ala 75

Their 2 regular season losses were by a combined 4 points

[CSKreager]

1. 1978 Cowboys: I agree with SAB on this one.
2. 1971 Dolphins
3. 1979 Rams: This will shock people. However, this was an injury-ravaged but deep team that was way better than their record.
4. 1975 Cowboys
5. 1977 Broncos
6. 1973 Vikings
7. 1970 Cowboys
8. 1974 Vikings
9. 1972 Redskins
10. 1976 Vikings

I actually think they were worse than their record.

6-10 caliber roster that got lucky with a soft schedule that fooled us into thinking they were deep.

[7DnBrnc53]

I actually think they were worse than their record.

6-10 caliber roster that got lucky with a soft schedule that fooled us into thinking they were deep.

The 1979 Rams still had five Pro Bowlers despite some injuries. For example, they didn't have Ron Jessie and Willie Miller at WR for most of that year.

The next year, they had Ferragamo pretty much all season, and he threw for over 3,000 yards and 31 TD's.

Also, their depth showed at RB. Wendell Tyler only played in four games in 1980, and 1978 first-round pick Elvis Peacock and rookie Jewerl Thomas picked up the slack.

The 1980 Rams went 11-5, and three of their losses were by three points or less. One of their victories was a 38-14 drubbing of the Cowboys in Week 15 on MNF.

They lost in Dallas in the WC game because of an over-reliance on the deep ball. They had wide open guys that Ferragamo missed.

After that, Ferragamo made a big mistake in going to Canada, and the Rams faded for two years until John Robinson and Eric Dickerson.

[Mark]

Out of curiosity I looked to see which SB runner up in the 1970s had the best SRS in Pro Football Reference. For what it is worth the 1977 Denver Broncos are rated highest using their formula. 1978 Dallas Cowboys were second.