Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Yes, may as well serve the 'trifecta' by starting this, here, thread.

As for 'Week 1 losses that SHOULD'VE doomed a season but DIDN'T', Steelers in both '94 & '97 are tempting to include. However in '94, despite NFL-inexperienced Barry Switzer now being onboard, getting thumped by Dallas with all that TALENT they had, even at home - especially coming off two convincing World Championships in a row - is nothing to be all-too-ashamed of, especially being the Steelers did finish...9-7 the year before. Same with three years later in what, as I've opined before, was likely Troy Aikman's tour-de-force career performance. By then, Cowher's Steelers starting off bad was common-place enough. I made myself look like a genius by assuring my Steeler/Saturday night poker-buddies that there was nothing to worry about; maybe Dallas still the better team but the 37-7 result was just an anomaly and the 'Burgh would still be a strong playoff team come December/January.

However, that very 8/31/97 (day after death of Lady Di) Opening Day torch-fest at Three Rivers can still be included on this particular thread, only it'll be applied to obviously the other team. Two years removed from SBXXX but being a mere playoff squad in '96, Dallas 'looked' to be "back to" SB-caliber after destroying a Steeler team, at Three Rivers, who also was a playoff team in '96. Well...despite a 'sort-of' FWIW rally (to...6-5) later on, we all know how it all turned out.

Plenty of other examples to include. Bucs beating Philly at the Linc, 17-0, in '03 - putting an apparent 'nail' in the...'Eagles having their number' coffin. Well, we know how that turned out (and while Birds still went 12-4 and returned to the NFCC). Ray Handley, in his debut/memorable fashion-statement, beating Niners on MNF in '91, and...my 1980 Steelers. All predictive eyes seemed to be on the 'Burgh doing what they didn't do in '76 and that's to complete a SB-threepeat. Beating "kick the door in" Houston in the Opener added to that thought. Lose to Cincy two weeks later but I'm sure many felt, "Hey, they buried them last year and look how it all turned out anyway." Utterly torching Buddy's playoffs-the-year-before Bears the following week and adding a win at Minn to it (now 4-1) had to strengthen the idea even more. And then came the...completed sweep to Cincy in Week #6, then MNF-loss at home to (still seemingly mediocre at the time) Raiders, then loss to Browns (now 4-4), and so on...

2003 Bills: They beat the crap out of NE 31-0 in Week 1, and they beat Jacksonville 38-17 in Week 2 (my SB pick was looking good). However, an offense that only scored 243 points that year (third worst in the league) was the death knell, and they ended up at 6-10.

1986 Chargers: They put up a 50-burger on the five-time defending AFC East Champion Dolphins in Week 1, and went on to lose 8 games in a row (Coryell was fired after Week 8) on their way to a 4-12 season.

2003 Bills: They beat the crap out of NE 31-0 in Week 1, and they beat Jacksonville 38-17 in Week 2 (my SB pick was looking good).

I remember sports talk radio here in Buffalo was actually talking Super Bowl after those 2 games.

In an interesting bit of symmetry, the Patriots beat the Bills by that same 31-0 score in the LAST week of the season.

1974 Patriots - stood up and punched the two-time defending champion Dolphins, who at that time had established an aura of invincibility, in the mouth with a 34-24 upset. Subsequent weeks in the first half of the season would see them knock off eventual division champions such as the Rams and Vikings. But the Pats ran out of gas midway through the year to finish at .500.

1993 Redskins - Richie Petitbon's debut saw his Redskin squad dominate the defending champion and rival Cowboys on Monday Night. But the rest of his season was an unmitigated disaster, one of the worst years in modern Redskin history, and he was dismissed at the end of it.

1969 Steelers. Won the first game of the Chuck Noll era. Proceed to lose their next 16. A lot of them badly.

2001 Panthers. Started 1-0. Ended 1-15.

1963 Lions: The year after finishing 11-3, they start off with a 23-2 victory over the Rams. They then proceed to lose seven of their next 10 and finish with a 5-8-1 record.

1966 Chargers: After losing to the Bills in the AFL Championship game two years in a row, they beat Buffalo in the opener, 27-7, and start the season with a 4-0 record. However, in their last 10 games, they go 3-6-1.

1977 - The New York Giants give their fans hope that this year will be different after they beat the mighty Redskins 20-17 on a last minute field goal following a wild fourth quarter which caps an otherwise dull game. Giant QB Jerry Golsteyn will have just one other career win as a starter. However, it turns out to be the same old Giants as they win just four times the rest of the year, although they do upset the Skins again.

Todd Pence wrote:1977 - The New York Giants give their fans hope that this year will be different after they beat the mighty Redskins 20-17 on a last minute field goal following a wild fourth quarter which caps an otherwise dull game. Giant QB Jerry Golsteyn will have just one other career win as a starter. However, it turns out to be the same old Giants as they win just four times the rest of the year, although they do upset the Skins again.

A pretty brutal three-game stretch right after that but did 'rebound' one final time to respectability in beating San Fran and then completing the sweep vs Wash to bring them to 3-3. And that's as good as it got.

More for-naught opening wins include...

Steelers in '85 & '03. The former being Mark Malone's tour-de-force moment, 45-3 vs Colts! 5 TDs! Tying Bradshaw's record! Oh, and he RAN another one in making it SIX total! AFCC-participant the year before, things were looking up! Sadly all would end at 7-9 with Noll suffering his first losing season since '71. However, Steelers down-the-stretch were still flirting with another division title despite mediocrity; 6-5 coming off a three-game win-streak until Wash, Denver, and Chargers at the Murph Sunday Night had other ideas. As for the 'Year Before Big Ben' 18 years later, a very good outing for Tommy Maddox vs Ravens. Playoffs for a third-straight year? Not quite, but a 'blessing-in-disguise' campaign just the same!

1999: Cards 25 Philly 24 at the Vet. Yes, against a 3-13 stinker from the year before, but it was on the road against a division-rival at a rough place to play. Had a bit of 'let-down' written all over it. Cards would go on to start 2-6 but won 4-straight from there and still looked to maybe sneak in the playoffs again (they were 6-7 a year prior). However, they would lose their final four and that was that.

Dorsett and newly-acquired Herschell beating G-men on MNF in '86. Definding-division-champs beating a team who also made playoffs in '85 and who they swept as well. Not only did it have to look like winning ways in Big D weren't going to end anytime soon, but they'd be even better. Real assuring 6-2 start would follow ('last-hurrah-of-GOOD' in the Landry Era) until Danny White gets injured Week #9 in rematch vs Giants. And you know the rest...

Steelers in '85 & '03. The former being Mark Malone's tour-de-force moment, 45-3 vs Colts! 5 TDs! Tying Bradshaw's record! Oh, and he RAN another one in making it SIX total! AFCC-participant the year before, things were looking up! Sadly all would end at 7-9 with Noll suffering his first losing season since '71. However, Steelers down-the-stretch were still flirting with another division title despite mediocrity; 6-5 coming off a three-game win-streak until Wash, Denver, and Chargers at the Murph Sunday Night had other ideas.

Wow! I totally forgot about the 1985 Steelers. That team is one of the poster children for this thread.

NFL Network did a Top-10 about QB Teases. Mark Malone should have been included. He led the Steelers to the 84 AFC Title Game, starts 1985 like a house afire, and then does nothing afterwards.