Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

How about Bills losing at Tampa Bay in Week #9, 1986 (now 2-7)? In comes Levy!

Bears getting blown-out in '03 finale at KC, 31-3? If Bears win, they finish 8-8 on a closing three-game-win-streak and maybe no Lovie Smith.

In 1992, John Elway got injured during a victory over the Giants. The Broncos upped their mark to 7-3, but only won one more game with John out most of the rest of the year. Their 8-8 finish led to Dan Reeves' departure, which led to Wade Phillips, and then Shanahan and two SB titles.

If the Broncos didn't lose Elway, and made the playoffs, Bowlen would have extended Reeves instead of letting him walk, and Elway may not have wanted to stay.

Sept. 24, 1978.

Packers 24, Chargers 3

James Harris, Dan Fouts and Cliff Olander combine to throw five interceptions, including a pick-six.

An announcer on the broadcast says something along the lines of "The Chargers just cannot pass the ball at all."

Chargers drop to 1-3.

Tommy Prothro is fired.

Don Coryell is hired.

Chargers soon start to pass the ball better. Yeah, a LOT better.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:In 1992, John Elway got injured during a victory over the Giants. The Broncos upped their mark to 7-3, but only won one more game with John out most of the rest of the year. Their 8-8 finish led to Dan Reeves' departure, which led to Wade Phillips, and then Shanahan and two SB titles.

If the Broncos didn't lose Elway, and made the playoffs, Bowlen would have extended Reeves instead of letting him walk, and Elway may not have wanted to stay.

How about Denver's 13-11 loss at Seattle to close out the 1982 regular season? Instead of finishing 3-6 the Broncos fell to 2-7. They managed to get Elway from Baltimore for Chris Hinton so that worked out well.

Retro Rider wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:In 1992, John Elway got injured during a victory over the Giants. The Broncos upped their mark to 7-3, but only won one more game with John out most of the rest of the year. Their 8-8 finish led to Dan Reeves' departure, which led to Wade Phillips, and then Shanahan and two SB titles.

If the Broncos didn't lose Elway, and made the playoffs, Bowlen would have extended Reeves instead of letting him walk, and Elway may not have wanted to stay.

How about Denver's 13-11 loss at Seattle to close out the 1982 regular season? Instead of finishing 3-6 the Broncos fell to 2-7. They managed to get Elway from Baltimore for Chris Hinton so that worked out well.

They would have probably gotten Elway no matter what. The better loss, when it comes down to it, was their 1992 Week 17 loss @KC that knocked them out of the playoffs. If they win that game, Reeves gets extended, and Elway probably leaves.

JuggernautJ wrote:

Todd Pence wrote:Baltimore Colts losing to Detroit in 1977.

Why?

The Colts actually helped their own divisional title chances by losing this week 13 game. It's complicated, but by losing to the Lions, Baltimore took away the ability of their chief rivals the Patriots to control their own destiny.

Todd Pence wrote:

JuggernautJ wrote:

Todd Pence wrote:Baltimore Colts losing to Detroit in 1977.

Why?

The Colts actually helped their own divisional title chances by losing this week 13 game. It's complicated, but by losing to the Lions, Baltimore took away the ability of their chief rivals the Patriots to control their own destiny.

The following week against the Patriots, they also got the benefit of a quick whistle late in the game. That allowed an apparent fumble deep in NE territory to be negated and the Colts responded by scoring the winning touchdown.

For the Steelers, some may say that Nov. 9, 1969 was the best loss in franchise history. They lost 38-7 to the Bears at Wrigley Field. That put them in the coin flip, and they were able to win that and get Terry Bradshaw #1 two months later.

In 1972, the Steelers lost on the road to the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys in Week 4 by a score of 17-13. That made them 2-2 on the year, but they must have gained plenty of confidence from playing Dallas so tough. That's because they won nine of their last 10 games (losing the one game by two points) and mostly sustained that momentum through the 70's.

Colts/Vikings Week 17 1997.

Indy losing to Minnesota paved the way for the Colts to get Peyton