Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

SeahawkFever wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:51 pm

ShinobiMusashi wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 5:56 am 1999 is such an oddball season and I've always been obsessed with it. With the talk of that 99 Titans team being overrated and pointing out their weaknesses despite 13-3, I've always been super critical of that 99 Rams team that beat them and how they played one of the easiest schedules of any Super Bowl team. Then look at the schedule the Jaguars played that year, even bigger cake walk with them losing all 3 of the games they played against legit competition(all 3 just happen to be against the same team).

Is there a case that the quality of competition was way down in the NFL in 1999? One of the most wide open seasons in NFL recent history? We are talking about the 99 Titans not being all that great but I've always felt like the 1999 Rams weren't all that great. I feel like the 2001 Rams were legit, and way better. But the 1999 team I feel was a 10-6 or 11-5 team had you taken them back in time to 97 or 98 NFL. Also feel like the Seifert Panthers of 1999 was coming up on them if not for the blizzard in Pittsburgh that cost them that game could have been bad news for St. Louis in those playoffs. That offense had really caught on and Beuerlien was red hot. Then look at how the Panthers swept St. Louis the next season in 2000. I don't believe St. Louis beats that Panther team 3 times in 1999 and that blizzard saved their championship.

The thing I notice about 1999 is that the teams are very bunched up as a group. 13 of the 31 teams were 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 with a further six teams at 6-10 or 10-6.

It’s the anti-1975 in that sense (look at how many teams won or lost 10+ games in that 14 game season.

As for the 1999 Rams, really good team; especially the offense of course, but they had the privilege of not only playing the easiest schedule of any Super Bowl champion, but by opposing win percentage they played the second easiest schedule by opposing win percentage of any team in the NFL, AFL or AAFC since 1929 with the 1975 Vikings being the only easier schedule (before 1936 of which not every team played schedules of the same length if I’m not mistaken).

That opponent win percentage being .332.

I’ve seen people here mention how the 90’s Niners or 91 Skins played easier schedules. Well those teams have nothing on what the 99 Rams had the privilege of playing (at least as far as regular seasons go).

For reference the lowest 90’s Niner team is 1990 who had an opposing win percentage of .446, and the 91 Skins had a schedule of .504. Statistically their schedules would be on a different percentile, perhaps closer to the bottom, but not as easy as the 99 Rams regardless.

JUST ELEVEN teams out of 31 with winning records in 1999!

https://profootballresearchers.com/foru ... ngs#p18612

So just how many teams had numerous quality wins?

Yes, I've acknowledged just how easy the '99 Rams' schedule was. But you can only play who's on your slate. And they, sure, hammered those 'bad' teams the exact way true juggernauts would have anyway. And, yes, a loss is a loss. But its not as if as soon as they went up against Tenn and Det, each on the road, they wilted thus showed their 'true colors'. They almost won each. They weren't far away from being 15-0 going into that meaningless finale at the Vet! The playoffs showed their real true colors! Open up a 49-17 lead over last year's 15-1 "should of been" NFC champs, then their D showed what they really were as "the Greatest Show", simply, decided to take the day off (no biggie), and then avenge their close loss to yet another smash-mouth team when it truly mattered the most! Nothing weak schedule/wimpy about that!

Despite Aeneas Williams being a better defensive player than anyone from that '99 unit (and SUCH a crying-as-Hell shame he didn't win a Ring), I've come to recent conclusion that '99 was simply better than '01 plain and simple! Better overall defense as well! Even if it was the simple Vermeil chemistry that did the trick!


PS - Yes, stats aren't everything, but WHEN will there EVER be a team on What-if-Sports.com that can better them?? All-Time RAMS team (Cle/LA/StL)? It better be Marshall Faulk standing on the 50 either calling heads-or-tails, or deciding if he wants to kick or receive, or which way the kick should go!!

CSKreager wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:37 pm

ShinobiMusashi wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 5:56 am 1999 is such an oddball season and I've always been obsessed with it. With the talk of that 99 Titans team being overrated and pointing out their weaknesses despite 13-3, I've always been super critical of that 99 Rams team that beat them and how they played one of the easiest schedules of any Super Bowl team. Then look at the schedule the Jaguars played that year, even bigger cake walk with them losing all 3 of the games they played against legit competition(all 3 just happen to be against the same team).

Is there a case that the quality of competition was way down in the NFL in 1999? One of the most wide open seasons in NFL recent history? We are talking about the 99 Titans not being all that great but I've always felt like the 1999 Rams weren't all that great. I feel like the 2001 Rams were legit, and way better. But the 1999 team I feel was a 10-6 or 11-5 team had you taken them back in time to 97 or 98 NFL. Also feel like the Seifert Panthers of 1999 was coming up on them if not for the blizzard in Pittsburgh that cost them that game could have been bad news for St. Louis in those playoffs. That offense had really caught on and Beuerlien was red hot. Then look at how the Panthers swept St. Louis the next season in 2000. I don't believe St. Louis beats that Panther team 3 times in 1999 and that blizzard saved their championship.

Had Carolina got in, are we sure they even win their first playoff game? They would have had to beat Minnesota or Washington (who had already came back from a 20 point deficit in week 4)

I think so. Minnesota had one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL that year and Beuerlien in the last 5-6 games was putting up better numbers than Warner/Rams, he was hot. Washington was a team that would always shoot themselves in the foot in big playoff games, they should have beat Tampa and look how that played out. They couldn't beat Shawn King I'm sure Beuerlien had a chance as hot as he was going in. Washington and Carolina did play a pretty great/close game early in the season when Carolina was struggling. I don't think Carolina was a great team or wins the Super Bowl or anything but I just can't see them losing a 3rd game to St. Louis in 99 in the playoffs.

ShinobiMusashi wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 6:35 am

CSKreager wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:37 pm

ShinobiMusashi wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 5:56 am 1999 is such an oddball season and I've always been obsessed with it. With the talk of that 99 Titans team being overrated and pointing out their weaknesses despite 13-3, I've always been super critical of that 99 Rams team that beat them and how they played one of the easiest schedules of any Super Bowl team. Then look at the schedule the Jaguars played that year, even bigger cake walk with them losing all 3 of the games they played against legit competition(all 3 just happen to be against the same team).

Is there a case that the quality of competition was way down in the NFL in 1999? One of the most wide open seasons in NFL recent history? We are talking about the 99 Titans not being all that great but I've always felt like the 1999 Rams weren't all that great. I feel like the 2001 Rams were legit, and way better. But the 1999 team I feel was a 10-6 or 11-5 team had you taken them back in time to 97 or 98 NFL. Also feel like the Seifert Panthers of 1999 was coming up on them if not for the blizzard in Pittsburgh that cost them that game could have been bad news for St. Louis in those playoffs. That offense had really caught on and Beuerlien was red hot. Then look at how the Panthers swept St. Louis the next season in 2000. I don't believe St. Louis beats that Panther team 3 times in 1999 and that blizzard saved their championship.

Had Carolina got in, are we sure they even win their first playoff game? They would have had to beat Minnesota or Washington (who had already came back from a 20 point deficit in week 4)

Beuerlien in the last 5-6 games was putting up better numbers than Warner/Rams, he was hot. Washington was a team that would always shoot themselves in the foot in big playoff games, they should have beat Tampa and look how that played out. They couldn't beat Shawn King I'm sure Beuerlien had a chance as hot as he was going in.

In his last 9 games, Steve Beuerlein threw 26 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. 4 of those interceptions came in the two games against the Rams. I don't see him faring much better in a potential matchup number 3.