Losses that ended an era

[7DnBrnc53]

1986 Week 1: I talked about how the 50-24 win the Chargers had that week turned out to be a mirage. However, it also was a bad sign for Miami, the team they beat. It was a sign that their reign of AFC East dominance from 1981-85 was coming to an end.

Also, another example happened in the 1980 AFC Wild Card game. When the Oilers lost 27-7 in Oakland, and fired Bum the next day, it brought an end to the Luv Ya Blue era in Houston.

[CSKreager]

1991 NFC Wild Card game- Dallas over Chicago was pretty much an end to the Bears' run of serious contention under Mike Ditka from 1984-1991,

[Todd Pence]

1999 - The 49ers' 42-20 loss to the Rams after a 3-1 start. It precipitated an 8 game losing streak and signified the changing of the guard in the division.

[BD Sullivan]

1989 (January 1990): The Browns lost the AFC Championship Game to the Broncos for the third time in four years and ended the Browns five-year playoff. That was really the last time they were relevant--1994 and '02, notwithstanding.

[7DnBrnc53]

1999 Music City Miracle.

I know that some people would consider the 96 WC loss to Jacksonville as the end of an era, but the 99 team still had holdovers from the SB era on it, like Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, and Thurman Thomas. Since the 99 WC loss to Tennessee, Buffalo hasn't been back to the postseason.

[Citizen]

12-7-68, Colts at Packers. Although 5-6-1, the Packers still had a slim chance to win the Central, but they had to beat the 11-1 Colts. The game was never close, and in the 4th quarter when the Packers gave up the ball on downs, the Lambeau Field crowd gave them a standing ovation -- an acknowledgement that the glory years were officially over, and a thanks-for-the-memories gesture.

[Todd Pence]

1978 - Vikings go down to defeat against Rams in divisional playoffs. This marked the last hurrah for Tarkenton and a bunch of the old guard Viking players. While the Vikes still would have competitive teams in the years left under Grant, their days of being a dominant NFC force were done. Truth be told, the era-ending loss actually might have taken place the previous year in the NFC title defeat to Dallas.

[7DnBrnc53]

1982 AFC First Round

When the Steelers lost to the Chargers in the first round of the SB Tournament, that was the last hurrah in the playoffs for a lot of the 70's mainstays like Bradshaw, Ham, and Swann, and it was the last year where the Steelers had a real shot to win a SB until the 90's.

They did go on to lose to the Raiders and Dolphins in the playoffs the next two years, but they did it with a lot of new faces, like Stoudt and Malone at QB, Walter Abercrombie and Rich Erenberg at RB, and Wayne Capers and Louis Lipps at WR.

[74_75_78_79_]

After a brief 'interruption' in '81 & '82, John Robinson comes to Anaheim and makes the Rams a regular playoff team the remainder of the decade. Not necessarily as W/L-dominant as they were in the '70s, but a couple of CC-berths just the same. Getting blasted by a Niners team in the '89 NFCC whom they beat at Candlestick a fair share of times in the '80s clearly marked the end of an era of 'good'. Rams wouldn't be a winner again until they were in StL.

1982 AFC First Round

When the Steelers lost to the Chargers in the first round of the SB Tournament, that was the last hurrah in the playoffs for a lot of the 70's mainstays like Bradshaw, Ham, and Swann, and it was the last year where the Steelers had a real shot to win a SB until the 90's.

They did go on to lose to the Raiders and Dolphins in the playoffs the next two years, but they did it with a lot of new faces, like Stoudt and Malone at QB, Walter Abercrombie and Rich Erenberg at RB, and Wayne Capers and Louis Lipps at WR.

The '70s Steelers? Losing in that 'tournament' game to SD a good suggestion but - in my opinion - I instead think it's a "take your pick" amongst a number of their 1980 games. Was it when Cincy swept them, dropping them to 4-2? The Raiders MNF-loss the following week? The loss at Cleveland week after that? Perhaps there were those in the 'Burgh who remembered '77 when they also started 4-4 and felt they'd rally into the playoffs. Barely winning at home vs a bad GB team then allowing a now-subpar-again TB to play them close couldn't have been all-too encouraging but avenging Cleveland at home in a comeback win (now 7-4) had to regenerate excitement.

It's been said by quite a few, I believe Bradshaw was one of them, that 'the end' was they losing at Houston 3rd-last-week on Thursday Night. I've read somewhere long ago that the Steelers walked off the field with their heads held high with swagger knowing among themselves that quite an Era has finally come to an end; or at least "interrupted" as Joe Greene was quoted saying in the off-season. However, Steelers were still in it after that 0-6 defeat. Beating visiting KC the following week tightened things up some more. Actually, I'd say the game that ended their Era wasn't a Steeler game at all. I say it was the Pats at Saints finale. If Pats lose, that Steelers/Chargers MNF-finale becomes a de facto playoff game in which both have to win-to-get-in. Coming off their first win of the season the previous week at Shea, the 'Aints' actually were up on NE, 27-24, early in the 4th. But Saints couldn't hold on and a Dynasty was officially over in the Steel City.

That said, maybe '82 is the Dynasty's 'last-hurrah'. Enough of those holdovers still onboard as you said, 7Dn, and starting things off by beating Dallas (at Dallas) and then Cincy! Looking real SB-caliber again! And then came...

[BD Sullivan]

You could probably extend the Steeler era to the latter part of the 1985 season. After all, they made the playoffs in both '83 and '84, including the conference title game in '84. Then in 1985, they had a one-game lead over the Browns after Week 11, but then lost four of their last five games when their defense collapsed--allowing an average of just over 33 points per game--which included a 54-44 shootout in SD. They then floundered for much of the next three years, hitting rock bottom in '88 with a 5-11 mark.