Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Yes, in the 16-game era.

Off the top of my head I'll go with the 95 and the 97 Chiefs. I don't remember anybody thinking they were serious Super Bowl contenders.

2001 Patriots.

1979 Dolphins

Really other than the Bears/Patriots at home, who exactly DID they beat?

CSKreager wrote:1979 Dolphins

Really other than the Bears/Patriots at home, who exactly DID they beat?

Pretty much nobody. In Week 2, they beat Seattle, 19-10 and in Week 12, they lost in OT at Cleveland, 30-24. While they obviously came up short in the latter game, they were leading, 24-21, with just under two minutes to go before the Browns tied it on a FG. Shula's OC blundered right after that, with the Dolphins having 1:21 left, the ball at their own 30 and all three time outs. Miami threw a screen and gained a yard--but didn't call a timeout. Then they tried a sweep that lost a yard--but didn't call a timeout. With five seconds left, they threw a Hail Mary that failed.

Surprised no one said '86 Chiefs yet. Hard to place a 13-3 paper tiger (and many of you taught me that Marty's '97 squad IS NOT that) yet alone an 11-5 SB-Champ on this list. I would imagine strictly 10-6 teams significantly lesser than their record indicated.

Speaking of '79 Dolphins, what was with next year's installment (no point starting another thread)? If not for '80, Shula would have had himself a nice 8-year playoff-streak from '78 thru '85. They did beat good teams that year. In addition to Buffalo & NE, they beat Falcons & Rams while playing Chargers & Raiders rather close. Of course getting swept by Jets (on MNF and 'no announcer' finale) was the main culprit.

MatthewToy wrote:Off the top of my head I'll go with the 95 and the 97 Chiefs. I don't remember anybody thinking they were serious Super Bowl contenders.

Yes, the 95 Chefs were the epitome of paper tiger. They should have lost at home to the Giants, Raiders, and Chargers, and I don't know how they beat Denver in Denver (the Broncos were inconsistent that year, though). However, Rich Gannon almost led them to a go-ahead TD drive late in that Colt playoff game after he replaced an ineffective Bono. If Lake Dawson holds onto that pass, the Colts only have about 40 seconds for a rebuttal (down by 4), and the Chiefs probably hold on, sending the Steelers to KC.

If Gannon starts, and they win, he has to start against the weakest of the 92-95 Cowboy teams (the 92 and 94 teams are the best, in my opinion) in Supe XXX. Do they win? Probably not, but he has to be the starter the next year if he plays well.

Continuing with this theme, though, another weak 10+ win playoff team would be the 93 Bills. They were 12-4, but they were a few plays away from 7-9 or 6-10. When they played Dallas, Philly, and Miami (on the road), they didn't have to face Emmitt Smith, Randall Cunningham, or Dan Marino. They also were 1-3 against other AFC playoff teams, and they barely got by the Giants, Jets (at home) and the Pats (at Foxborough).

Also, I don't think the 92 Bills were a whole lot better, even though they did have three blowout wins in the first four weeks (even though two of those were against the Rams and Pats, two teams that would finish with losing records). They should have lost on the road to the 49ers, Saints, and Dolphins, they faced Denver without Elway (and only won by 10 at home despite forcing five turnovers), and they were handed that Wild Card game win.

They also played a not ready for prime time Steeler team in Round 2, and a Dolphin team that totally abandoned the run (playing right into Buffalo's hands) in the AFC Title Game before reality caught up to them against Dallas.

74_75_78_79_ wrote: Speaking of '79 Dolphins, what was with next year's installment (no point starting another thread)? If not for '80, Shula would have had himself a nice 8-year playoff-streak from '78 thru '85. They did beat good teams that year. In addition to Buffalo & NE, they beat Falcons & Rams while playing Chargers & Raiders rather close. Of course getting swept by Jets (on MNF and 'no announcer' finale) was the main culprit.

They never really seemed to recover from the Buffalo opening week 1 loss (after 20 straight wins over them) IMHO. Sometimes, week 1 can set a team up for success/failure- and for whatever reason, they never could quite get going out of the gate after that.

CSKreager wrote:

74_75_78_79_ wrote: Speaking of '79 Dolphins, what was with next year's installment (no point starting another thread)? If not for '80, Shula would have had himself a nice 8-year playoff-streak from '78 thru '85. They did beat good teams that year. In addition to Buffalo & NE, they beat Falcons & Rams while playing Chargers & Raiders rather close. Of course getting swept by Jets (on MNF and 'no announcer' finale) was the main culprit.

They never really seemed to recover from the Buffalo opening week 1 loss (after 20 straight wins over them) IMHO. Sometimes, week 1 can set a team up for success/failure- and for whatever reason, they never could quite get going out of the gate after that.

Actually, they won their next three games after that loss, with Griese coming off the bench for his last hurrah. However, the musical chairs behind center soon drove Shula crazy. That, coupled with Larry Csonka being negotiated into retirement, killed the offense. Csonka, who had a big comeback year in '79 (837 yards and 12 touchdowns) demanded $250,000 a year, but Joe Robbie wouldn't go higher than $230,000.

2012 Colts