The best 1 win team in NFL history

[sheajets]

Rich Kotite is an interesting case. He actually had some pretty good years with the Eagles and if it wasn't for Cunningham getting injured in '91 they likely would have given the Redskins all they could handle in the division that year. In '92 the team started out the year looking like they would get to the Super Bowl but became a little inconsistent as the year went on. Though Kotite was using a lot of Buddy Ryan's players he still seemed to have the team play at a higher level than Buddy did when he was at Philly. If the Eagles underachieved under Kotite as much as the Jets did than the Eagles should have won three Super Bowls in four years instead of the Cowboys.

So was Kotite likely just not trying when he was with the Jets? Maybe he was able to be more successful in Philly because he was an assistant coach under Buddy prior to becoming the head coach and it was a team he was far more familiar with than he was with the Jets? Also it may have been a mistake naming him the GM of the Jets and he may have been able to do a better job if he was strictly able to focus on coaching?

There were whispers of Kotite burning out/not caring anymore very early in his Jets tenure. Supposedly he would leave the facility at 5pm every day to beat traffic home

[Saban1]

Don't know who was the best one win team, but the 1966 New York Giants may have been one of the worst.
49 to 40 to the Cleveland Browns.

Giants (as monstrous underdogs on the road) had a 40-28 lead over the Browns--and managed to give up three touchdowns in that span.

That was in the 4th quarter that the Giants were leading 40 to 28 when Cleveland scored 3 TD's. The Giants were also leading 34 to 14 in the 3rd quarter.

To give more info and background on that game: The Giants had lost by the score of 72 to 41 the previously week to Washington. That game set records such as most points scored by one team in a regular season game (72), most points scored by both teams in a regular season game (113). It must have been humiliating for the Giants, so they came into the Browns game kind of angry and ready to play as well as they could.

In the mean time, Cleveland had lost their last game on Thanksgiving day to Dallas which killed their chances of playing in the championship game that year. So, the Browns were down and were not in their best frame of minds going into the Giants game. There was also the post Dallas game letdowns mentioned on other threads.

So, the Giants were up and the Browns were down going into that game. The field was icy that day and on the opening kickoff, the Giants Clarence Childs returned it for a TD as the Browns seemed to be slipping and sliding all over the field. From there it went downhill for Cleveland. The Browns seemed to be sleeping through more than half the game. About halfway through the 3rd quarter, the Browns seemed to wake up from their slumber and started chipping away at the Giants lead.

It turned out to be the biggest comeback win in the Cleveland Browns history, but I doubt that they could have turned the trick against any other NFL team at the time. It helped a lot that they were playing against arguably the worst defensive team in NFL history.

[conace21]

I think one you left may be the best of all, at least in terms of personnel: The 1958 Packers.

They went 1-10-1, the worst record in Packer history, but they had Jim Ringo, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor. and Ray Nitschke on the roster.

They had two more HOF players: Jim Ringo and Len Ford. They also had two reigning All Pro's in Billy Howton and Bobby Dillon.

[rhickok1109]

I think one you left may be the best of all, at least in terms of personnel: The 1958 Packers.

They went 1-10-1, the worst record in Packer history, but they had Jim Ringo, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor. and Ray Nitschke on the roster.

They had two more HOF players: Jim Ringo and Len Ford. They also had two reigning All Pro's in Billy Howton and Bobby Dillon.

Yes, I only mentioned the HOF players (including Ringo), and I left Ford off the list because he was in decline and lost his starting job before the season ended.

[RRMarshall]

Are the 1969 Chicago Bears the only 1-win team to have a 1,000-yard rusher? Gale Sayers won the NFL rushing title that year and didn't have a run longer than 28 yards, perhaps another record for a 1,000-yard rusher? Bears lost 5 games by less than 6 points, so they have a claim as one of the better 1-win NFL clubs.

[7DnBrnc53]

Are the 1969 Chicago Bears the only 1-win team to have a 1,000-yard rusher? Gale Sayers won the NFL rushing title that year and didn't have a run longer than 28 yards, perhaps another record for a 1,000-yard rusher? Bears lost 5 games by less than 6 points, so they have a claim as one of the better 1-win NFL clubs.

Adrian Murrell had 1,249 yards rushing for the 1996 Jets, and Steven Jackson had 1,416 yards rushing (and a Pro Bowl invite) with the 2009 Rams.

[Mark L. Ford]

Arguably, the 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers were the ones who made the best use of a 1-13-0 finish, using the #1 draft pick to select Terry Bradshaw. They also picked Mel Blount a couple of rounds later, and began building the team of the 70s. The 1969 Chicago Bears went the other direction with their 1-13-0 finish, having traded away their first and second round draft picks, and their first selection was the 54th player overall, George Farmer. The Bears wouldn't have a winning season until 1977; by that time, the Steelers would have two Lombardi trophies.

[conace21]

I think one you left may be the best of all, at least in terms of personnel: The 1958 Packers.

They went 1-10-1, the worst record in Packer history, but they had Jim Ringo, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor. and Ray Nitschke on the roster.

They had two more HOF players: Jim Ringo and Len Ford. They also had two reigning All Pro's in Billy Howton and Bobby Dillon.

Yes, I only mentioned the HOF players (including Ringo), and I left Ford off the list because he was in decline and lost his starting job before the season ended.

Yes, now I see Ringo was first on your list. I blame it on the effects of too much screen time during tax season. Ford was definitely past his prime, but the 60's HOF players had not yet reached their prime so I figured he deserved a mention. Howton and Dillon may have actually been the best players that year. Howton had made All Pro the previous two seasons, and Dillon made his second straight All Pro team in 1958.

Heck, the Dallas Texans had a fair amount of talent, with Marchetti, Donovan, Buddy Young, George Taliaferro (3 straight Pro Bowls), and Dick Hoerner (who had started three straight years for the dangerous Rams offense.)

[Todd Pence]

I would go with the '62 Rams as the clear choice for the answer to this question. Most of their losses were close ones, they just had no punch on offense.

[sheajets]

Are the 1969 Chicago Bears the only 1-win team to have a 1,000-yard rusher? Gale Sayers won the NFL rushing title that year and didn't have a run longer than 28 yards, perhaps another record for a 1,000-yard rusher? Bears lost 5 games by less than 6 points, so they have a claim as one of the better 1-win NFL clubs.

Adrian Murrell had 1,249 yards rushing for the 1996 Jets, and Steven Jackson had 1,416 yards rushing (and a Pro Bowl invite) with the 2009 Rams.

Murrell was a good back for his brief prime. When you think of guys who've had 3 or more 1000+ yard seasons Murrell is not somebody who would immediately come to mind. Underutilized 1993-1995 (though they did have Johnny Johnson two of those years who was very versatile)