Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Flipping through the Forum today and I thought of a question...

Perhaps this has been covered before and if so, I would appreciate a link to the thread. If not, maybe it leads to a discussion of the best single season team by WL % to walk away from a season with "nothing".

What is the best season WL % record to either not win the Championship (1920-1932) or not make the playoffs (1933-1966) under each and every playoff format used by the NFL, AFL and AAFC?

I would guess Baltimore Colts for the 1967-69 period under that short lived 4 division NFL format, at 11-1-2.The AFL had 1 format from 1960-68 then a 1 season format in 1969. (Guessing the Chargers in that season w/o looking it up yet.)

The AAFC had 1 format 1946-1948 then a different format in 1949.

Then in 1970-77 we had 3 div champs and 1 WC. Then in 1978 we started with 2 wild cards. Then there was a realignment of Divisions causing 4 div champs and 2 WC.

We also have many different scheduling formats. I am basically counting the 12 14 and 16 game eras of the NFL. Prior to that standard being established it seems like it was all over the board.

Was just curious who came up the "biggest" and walked away with nothing under all the formats. BTW, for purposes of discussion I was considering qualifying for the Playoff Bowl from 1960-1969 as being a non-playoff year. Just as the NFL does, like it never even existed.

Agreed.
The 1967 Colts and their infamous 11-1-2 record, which tied them with the Rams for the division lead only to lose on point differential has to be one of the most painful exclusions from the play-offs.

JuggernautJ wrote:Agreed.
The 1967 Colts and their infamous 11-1-2 record, which tied them with the Rams for the division lead only to lose on point differential has to be one of the most painful exclusions from the play-offs.

Especially since they went into the final game undefeated.

The 1929 New York Giants can top the Colts. They were 13-1-1. They had the most wins in the league. And they finished 2nd to the 12-0-1 Packers.

The 1932 Packers had 4 more wins than any other team at the end of the regular season....and they didn't even get a spot in the first playoff game. Ties didn't count, so the 6-1-6 Bears and the 6-1-4 Spartans faced off. The 10-3-1 Packers stayed home.

MarbleEye wrote:The AFL had 1 format from 1960-68 then a 1 season format in 1969. (Guessing the Chargers in that season w/o looking it up yet.)

I had no idea which AFL team had the best non-playoff record. My guess was one of Hank Stram's Chiefs teams. I looked it up, and it was the 1964 Boston Patriots, who finished 10-3-1 behind the 12-2 Buffalo Bills. The Patriots were 10-2-1 going into the final week of the regular season, facing the 11-2 Bills. The Patriots had beaten the Bills earlier in the season, and would be playing in Boston for this de facto divisional championship game. Kind of a wild game with Babe Parilli throwing for 294 yards and Jack Kemp getting 286 yards on just 12 completions, but the Bills won rather easily, 24-14.

I've always found the 1975 Houston Oilers to be an interesting non-playoff qualifier. 10-0 against every team not called the Steelers or Bengals and 0-4 against those two.

JohnH19 wrote:I've always found the 1975 Houston Oilers to be an interesting non-playoff qualifier. 10-0 against every team not called the Steelers or Bengals and 0-4 against those two.

They won in Oakland that year, too. If they make it to the playoffs instead of Cincy, the Oiler-Raider Divisional Playoff game would have been very interesting.

The 1985 Broncos finished 11-5, one game behind the Raiders who won the West. The two wild cards went to the Pats and Jets, who had the same record, while Cleveland won the weak Central with an 8-8 mark. Two of Denver's losses were against the Raiders in OT, and two others were four-point losses.