Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

To comment on the best and worst....I guess its weird that both the 68 Colts and 69 Vikes rank in the top 5. A weird time for the NFL with diluted talent and expansion teams. Colts of that era are kind of funny....64, 67, 68, 71 all in the top 50....yet they win the title in 70. One team that stood out to me was the 73 Cowboys. I'll have to look at them and see what was going on, but its odd to me that the 73 team is the only Landry Cowboys team to make the top 50. The 71 and 77 versions were statistically great, especially on offense considering the era, and the late 60's Cowboys put up some big stats as well.

One team that I didn't see in the bottom 50 was the 1952 Dallas Texans. Also, the 82 Colts didn't win a game yet they aren't on the list either. Funny to see the 72 Eagles ranked so high/low....they won a couple games but were pretty terrible. They had some expectation of winning due to their 71 season.

Bryan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 6:18 pm To comment on the best and worst....I guess its weird that both the 68 Colts and 69 Vikes rank in the top 5. A weird time for the NFL with diluted talent and expansion teams. Colts of that era are kind of funny....64, 67, 68, 71 all in the top 50....yet they win the title in 70. One team that stood out to me was the 73 Cowboys. I'll have to look at them and see what was going on, but its odd to me that the 73 team is the only Landry Cowboys team to make the top 50. The 71 and 77 versions were statistically great, especially on offense considering the era, and the late 60's Cowboys put up some big stats as well.

One team that I didn't see in the bottom 50 was the 1952 Dallas Texans. Also, the 82 Colts didn't win a game yet they aren't on the list either. Funny to see the 72 Eagles ranked so high/low....they won a couple games but were pretty terrible. They had some expectation of winning due to their 71 season.

Some years the gap statistically is bigger than others.

Ex: 1991 features the single worst team in the regular season in the last 83 years by the formula: The 1991 Colts, and the sixth best team over that span; the 1991 Redskins. A massive gap of .65 between them.

And in 1988, the Vikings are the best team and they are about .13; the second lowest of any top team only to the 1960 Texans, while the Chargers come out as the worst team at -.15; so a gap of only .28 between best and worst statistically.

The 73 Cowboys I believe are the best team to rank third in their season statistically (to the Rams and Dolphins).

They won their Super Bowls in 1971 and 1977, and they show up as the top team in score% differential in 1978.

69 Vikings being on top didn’t surprise me because they had the top offense and defense by raw points in the same season (the offense consistently had great field position in all likelihood because the defense was that good, and they scored a slightly above average number of offensive touchdowns too). Also had the most effective kicker, so that’s fewer drives that ended in a missed field goal.

The 72 Eagles being that far down is partially a result of playing awfully and against a schedule that wasn’t even hard. Most of the worst teams by raw stats at least had a harder schedule than average; often significantly so, but the Eagles received an adjustment down for their schedule I believe.

Fun fact: The receiver Harold Jackson was traded from one of the teams in the bottom 50 (1972 Eagles) to one of the teams in the top 50 (1973 Rams).

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:03 pm The 73 Cowboys I believe are the best team to rank third in their season statistically (to the Rams and Dolphins).

Looking more closely at the 73 Cowboys, Staubach had a very efficient year. This was also Calvin Hill's last big year before slowing down. One thing I found interesting is that no one on the Cowboys roster had over 400 receiving yards, and Billy Joe Dupree was their top yardage receiver. Otto Stowe had a nice run to start the year before getting hurt (26-389-6 TDs). Defensively, Jethro Pugh missed one game but the other 10 starters started all 14 games. That helps. Chuck Howley played in one game before retiring, which I did not remember. 'Harvey Banks Martin' had 9 sacks coming off the bench. Lee Roy Jordan had 6 INTs which is a high number for an MLB. They fell apart in the NFC Championship without Calvin Hill. Too bad that Hill was hurt....that would have been an interesting matchup between the Vikings and Cowboys.

Bryan wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:25 pm

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:03 pm The 73 Cowboys I believe are the best team to rank third in their season statistically (to the Rams and Dolphins).

Looking more closely at the 73 Cowboys, Staubach had a very efficient year. This was also Calvin Hill's last big year before slowing down. One thing I found interesting is that no one on the Cowboys roster had over 400 receiving yards, and Billy Joe Dupree was their top yardage receiver. Otto Stowe had a nice run to start the year before getting hurt (26-389-6 TDs). Defensively, Jethro Pugh missed one game but the other 10 starters started all 14 games. That helps. Chuck Howley played in one game before retiring, which I did not remember. 'Harvey Banks Martin' had 9 sacks coming off the bench. Lee Roy Jordan had 6 INTs which is a high number for an MLB. They fell apart in the NFC Championship without Calvin Hill. Too bad that Hill was hurt....that would have been an interesting matchup between the Vikings and Cowboys.

I’d have to double check, but I’m pretty sure most of these teams at the top were relatively healthy.

Though there are a couple who had to start a handful of games with their backup quarterbacks and still finished on top by Score% Differential because of other components.

Namely the 2002 Eagles, 1976 Steelers, 1986 Bears, and 1995 49ers.

Planning a separate thread for the best and worst score% differential teams from each season to look at those top teams as a collective.

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:40 pm
Though there are a couple who had to start a handful of games with their backup quarterbacks and still finished on top by Score% Differential because of other components.

Namely the 2002 Eagles, 1976 Steelers, 1986 Bears, and 1995 49ers.

Lest we forget the 68 Colts and the 72 Dolphins? Et tu, Brute?

Bryan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:38 pm

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:40 pm
Though there are a couple who had to start a handful of games with their backup quarterbacks and still finished on top by Score% Differential because of other components.

Namely the 2002 Eagles, 1976 Steelers, 1986 Bears, and 1995 49ers.

Lest we forget the 68 Colts and the 72 Dolphins? Et tu, Brute?

How could I forget Earl Morrall? Those two teams with him as well.

He was the best of these backups too I’d argue.