I was looking at the 1988 NFC Wildcard matchup...pretty tough matchup. The Vikings had destroyed the Niners in the 1987 playoffs and had one of the best defenses in the league. They were 11-5 and had the best point differential in the league by a wide margin (+173 to +119 for #2 Cincy). The Rams had beaten both the Niners and Bears during the 1988 regular season and had the third best point differential in the league at +114. They had a nice offense with Everett, Ellard, Greg Bell, and a two-TE combo of Holohan and Damone Johnson. Kevin Greene had a breakout year. The Vikings won the WC matchup, then lost to the Niners in the next round in a minor upset in which they were manhandled. I think either of those teams could have won the SB that year...especially with Boomer Esiason being unable to throw in the postseason.
The 1980 NFC matchup and the 1984 AFC matchup featured 12-4 teams playing 11-5 teams (Cowboys-Rams, Seahawks-Raiders), which is pretty remarkable. The 1985 NFC matchup shows how stacked the conference was at that time...Bill Walsh's defending champion Niners versus Bill Parcells' soon-to-be champion Giants.
Greatest wild-card matchups of all-time
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ChrisBabcock
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Re: Greatest wild-card matchups of all-time
I remember the 1997 Denver/Jacksonville matchup really being hyped up. A rematch of the upset from the year before was supposed to be a shootout between Denver's league leading scoring offense and the up and coming Jaguars team. The actual game wasn't that close though.
Re: Greatest wild-card matchups of all-time
The Jags got it to within 4 in the second half, but the Broncos were able to pour it on in the fourth quarter. Good candidate, though.ChrisBabcock wrote:I remember the 1997 Denver/Jacksonville matchup really being hyped up. A rematch of the upset from the year before was supposed to be a shootout between Denver's league leading scoring offense and the up and coming Jaguars team. The actual game wasn't that close though.
I don't think that the 1987 AFC game was that bad. You had the Seahawks at 9-6 who were preseason favorites to reach the SB vs. the upstart 9-6 Oilers in the House of Pain.