Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

First and foremost...by ALL means...73-0!

After that, I think of some of those '80s SBs. Raiders winning XV & XVIII? No upset to me, but to win by as much as they did, especially vs Wash? Of course Bears over Pats, Wash over Den, SF over Den shouldn't have been close anyway (ok, maybe Wash/Den), but 46-10, 35 pts in 2nd Q, and 55-10 respectively?

Hawks/Broncos two years ago, by many, was supposed to be a close one, classic contrast in styles, and look what happened there? Hawks winning by 10 or 14, okay, but 43-8??

How about some of them Browns title games, win ('54, '55, '64) or lose ('57)?

As for non-SB/league title games, why don't we start with a couple NFCCGs - '78 (Dallas/Rams) and 2000 (Giants/Vikes)?

Jacksonville beating Miami 62-7 in the final game of Dan Marino's playing career and Jimmy Johnson's coaching career.

Rupert Patrick wrote:Jacksonville beating Miami 62-7 in the final game of Dan Marino's playing career and Jimmy Johnson's coaching career.

Should have thought of that one; the 'modern day' 73-0.

1961: Packers 37-0 over NYG
1964: Browns 27-0 over Colts

BD Sullivan wrote:1961: Packers 37-0 over NYG
1964: Browns 27-0 over Colts

I saw them both on TV. The Packers were unbeatable that day playing at home with a lot of emotion behind them. Before the game, it was said the celebration by the city of Green Bay would make Pittsburgh after the 1960 World Series seem tame.

I think playing at home really helped the Browns in 1964. Allen Barra wrote in his 1995 book, "That's Not the Way It Was," that the key was Unitas' poor performance that day (against a supposedly mediocre Browns' defense) after having one of his best seasons in 1964. Barra wrote on page 164:

"Unitas lapse against a real underdog like the Browns remains unexplained; in some ways, the Colts' failure in 1964 was a bigger upset than the loss to the Jets in 1969."

SixtiesFan wrote: "Unitas lapse against a real underdog like the Browns remains unexplained; in some ways, the Colts' failure in 1964 was a bigger upset than the loss to the Jets in 1969."

Which brings us to the underwhelming performance of the Colts in SB III.
Granted, 16-7 isn't necessarily "lop-sided" but the score was closer than the game and considering the spread (~17 points) the Jets victory was about as unexpected ("strangely lopsided?) as it gets.

2002 - Jets 41, Colts 0

Kermit McManus wrote:2002 - Jets 41, Colts 0

VERY good one! Forgot that one as well.

1975 NFC Title Game: Cowboys 37, Rams 7. That one didn't make a whole lot of sense.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:1975 NFC Title Game: Cowboys 37, Rams 7. That one didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I know what you mean in that statistically it was hard to see coming. However, in retrospect, I think that one might have been a case of Dallas playing in a very tough division and being under-rated, and the Rams playing in a weak division and being somewhat over-rated.

Dallas was written off as being too young before the year, but they matured quickly and added some great young athletes. They had fourth-quarter leads in 3 of their 4 losses. Some of those they probably could have won and then had an even record with the Rams, who they totally shut down in the season opener (James Harris 1 of 10, 5 yards, 3 Ints). I think the 75 Cowboys just matched up really well with the 75 Rams, which was hard to prognosticate. I wonder what Jimmy the Greek predicted?