Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

1995 Eagles: They lose to Tampa Bay 21-6 at home in Week 1 (the first games for rookies Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks). That loss becomes a springboard to a 1-3 start (the nadir being a 48-17 loss at Oakland in Week 4).

After that game, Rodney Peete becomes the QB (Cunningham really didn't fit the WCO that well), and the Eagles go on to win four in a row en route to a 10-6 season and a WC spot.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:1995 Eagles: They lose to Tampa Bay 21-6 at home in Week 1 (the first games for rookies Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks). That loss becomes a springboard to a 1-3 start (the nadir being a 48-17 loss at Oakland in Week 4).

After that game, Rodney Peete becomes the QB (Cunningham really didn't fit the WCO that well), and the Eagles go on to win four in a row en route to a 10-6 season and a WC spot.

Yeah, that opener was the one in which Ricky Watters made the infamous non-catch across the middle along with the just-as infamous post-game remark, "I'm not going to jump out there and get knocked out. For who? For what?" And that Raiders game weeks later...Garner scoring that TD to draw first blood, 7-0, then cockily unstrap his helmet in the endzone en route to 17-0; that's as good as it got for the other team would score the next 48 points. Just the same, the Birds would go on to accomplish their now seemingly forgotten two-year playoff wonder under Rhodes.

1992 Chargers- Looked VERY ordinary against the Chiefs in Bobby Ross' debut. Seemed like they were still the same below-average team they had been under Dan Henning.

1997 Chiefs- Didn't look great in Mile High Stadium. Could have derailed their season had they not pulled off a Monday night comeback at Oakland.

1997 Steelers: Got blown out 37-7 at home against Dallas in Kordell Stewart's first start at QB. However, they had several wins over the course of the season in games that they could have or should have lost (Was, @Bal, @Arz, Den, @NE), and they made a run to the AFC Title Game where they lost to Denver. With Kordell's struggles, that season and the 2001 season were the worst things that happened to the Steelers (it kept an average QB in the lineup longer than he should have been) at the time. However, with the arrival of Big Ben, it didn't matter anymore.

1991 Lions

Imagine telling someone after that 45-0 week 1 loss at RFK that Detroit would finish with a winning record let alone make the NFC Championship Game

I don't see how a loss in Week 1 could ever doom a season.

rhickok1109 wrote:I don't see how a loss in Week 1 could ever doom a season.

The only thing I can think of is if a team's superstar player goes down with a season ending injury, like the 91 Eagles and Randall Cunningham or the 84 Seahawks and Curt Warner....but I guess in both of those cases the team rebounded fairly well and weren't 'doomed' (except for those couple games when the Eagles started Brad Goebel at QB).

In 1992 the Pack start out with a close loss to the Vikings, then get blown out by the Bucs, then lose their starting QB against the Bengals ... the backup who was forced onto the team after failing a physical did alright, going 9-5 the rest of the season ...