CSKreager wrote: ↑Wed Jul 23, 2025 5:19 pm
7DnBrnc53 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 23, 2025 8:03 am
Man, only one winning non-playoff team per conference in '74 - Denver (7-6-1)
If Denver didn't blow that game in Cleveland in week 7 (they blew a 21-9 lead in the fourth quarter in a Kardiac Kids foreshadowing. Brian Sipe came off the bench to lead them to victory), their Week 14 game at San Diego would have been for a wild card spot (they lost 17-0 in OTL, but Charley Johnson didn't play much at QB).
And the Bills late losing streak would have gone down as a brutal collapse (think 79 Bucs had they lost the rain game), basically shutting them out of the playoffs for the entire 70s
Oilers were sure on a roll after that 1-5 start. I think it was either after their third win or fourth win - I got to go back to the TWITNFL episode - that Pastorini, according to Tom and Pat, said his team was going to win all the rest of their games. Record-wise, it was Denver by a half-game, but who really was the best non-playoff team in the AFC in '74, one may ask? Oilers finished 6-2 to Denver's 4-4, but those three-straight wins right before the finale is something solid for the Broncos to hang their hat on. They win at 9-1 Oakland, then at 6-5 Detroit, and then...of course...37-14 over
Houston themselves! And this despite Oilers sacking Charley 6 times for over 50 yards! Otis Armstrong played a Beast of a game! With something to play for going into the finale, perhaps a different story for Denver. Not just record-wise, but it looks like Denver gets the FWIW 'nod' as best AFC team to not make it.
Jeff Queen...no relation to Patrick, I see.
I would have liked to see Sid have another go as an NFL HC in the late-'70s/early-'80s. If he was OC for the Bears in '77 and QB-coaching Jaws in '80 & '82, then sure-enough he would have had enough in the tank for it despite his age.