Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Jerry Glanville was bitten by a moccasin one time and it almost caused him to miss a game against the Steelers. This thread is not really about that sort of thing. It is about teams that were considered to be snakebitten.

The Chargers are off to a 1-4 start. The rough start is due to leads choked away late in three games and another game where the team could not execute a field goal that would have tied the score late. San Diego will eventually lose comfortably and finish 5-11 or so and the coach will get fired.

Another team that fits the bill is the 1997 Raiders. They started 1-3 and had tight losses to the Oilers, Chiefs and Jets. I can recall "the best 1-3 team ever" being said on ESPN. That team couldn't recover from the snake bites and got pummeled several times in the second half of the season.

What are some other teams that had rotten luck in this way?

I'm too lazy to look it up for confirmation but I believe Jeff George had 29 TD passes and only 9 INTs for that 4-12 '97 Raiders team.

Another team that I have always considered to be snake bitten was the 7-7 '72 Vikings. Minnesota won with a lot of different types of game turning plays during their glory years and it feels like they lost almost as many games by one or two big plays during that tremendously disappointing season.

The 1978 Saints lost to the Steelers and to the Falcons (twice) on late TD passes. That's how close they came to going 10-6 and hosting the WC game against Philly.

JohnH19 wrote:Another team that I have always considered to be snake bitten was the 7-7 '72 Vikings. Minnesota won with a lot of different types of game turning plays during their glory years and it feels like they lost almost as many games by one or two big plays during that tremendously disappointing season.

Very easily could have been 11-3:

*Lost 16-14 to Miami on a last-minute touchdown
*Lost 19-17 to St. Louis on a last-minute FG
*Lost 13-10 to Chicago after last-minute go-ahead TD called back and missed FG
*Lost 20-17 to San Francisco, allowing two TD's in the last 6:12, including one with 25 sec. left

BD Sullivan wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:Another team that I have always considered to be snake bitten was the 7-7 '72 Vikings. Minnesota won with a lot of different types of game turning plays during their glory years and it feels like they lost almost as many games by one or two big plays during that tremendously disappointing season.

Very easily could have been 11-3:

*Lost 16-14 to Miami on a last-minute touchdown
*Lost 19-17 to St. Louis on a last-minute FG
*Lost 13-10 to Chicago after last-minute go-ahead TD called back and missed FG
*Lost 20-17 to San Francisco, allowing two TD's in the last 6:12, including one with 25 sec. left

Didn't they also lose the Week 1 MNF game to Washington 24-21 on a Bill Malinchak blocked punt TD?
I also believe that the usually reliable Fred Cox hit the upright on a short last play FG attempt that would have won the St. Louis game.

JohnH19 wrote:

BD Sullivan wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:Another team that I have always considered to be snake bitten was the 7-7 '72 Vikings. Minnesota won with a lot of different types of game turning plays during their glory years and it feels like they lost almost as many games by one or two big plays during that tremendously disappointing season.

Very easily could have been 11-3:

*Lost 16-14 to Miami on a last-minute touchdown
*Lost 19-17 to St. Louis on a last-minute FG
*Lost 13-10 to Chicago after last-minute go-ahead TD called back and missed FG
*Lost 20-17 to San Francisco, allowing two TD's in the last 6:12, including one with 25 sec. left

Didn't they also lose the Week 1 MNF game to Washington 24-21 on a Bill Malinchak blocked punt TD?
I also believe that the usually reliable Fred Cox hit the upright on a short last play FG attempt that would have won the St. Louis game.

Minny scored a late TD to cut it to the final margin of three. Malinchak's block came early, though he also recovered a fumbled kickoff return that set up that clinching Washington TD.

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Minny scored a late TD to cut it to the final margin of three. Malinchak's block came early, though he also recovered a fumbled kickoff return that set up that clinching Washington TD.[/quote]


The Vikings out-gained the Redskins 382 yards to 203. That game was featured in the book "Braves on the Warpath: the 50 greatest games in Redskins History" I think it was chosen because it was a big win on MNF to start the Super Bowl year and was won by big special team plays, an Allen specialty.

2000 Washington Redskins. An 8-8 team that was basically a reliable FG kicker from a 10-6 or 11-5 record.

Three of their losses came primarily through missed field goals:

13-12 against Arizona with a 33 yard miss from Kris Heppner (though a fumble going into the endzone that went the other way for a TD didn't help either)

23-20 against Philadelphia with a 44 yard attempt by Eddie Murray missing late

9-7 against the Giants with misses by Murray from 39 and 49 yards

If they win twice, they're the last WC over the Rams (H2H tiebreaker) and facing New Orleans- who had never won a playoff game- in the Superdome. Washington's defense was MUCH better than the Rams' that year

If they win all three, they're a 4 seed and hosting a game at FedEx Field.

This was a year the NFC and the NFL was wide-open- that Redskin team actually fared well against the top teams that year (beat Baltimore, played Tennessee tough and might have won if not for a pick-six late in the first half, beat the Giants/Eagles on their turf)

CSKreager wrote:2000 Washington Redskins. An 8-8 team that was basically a reliable FG kicker from a 10-6 or 11-5 record.

Three of their losses came primarily through missed field goals:

13-12 against Arizona with a 33 yard miss from Kris Heppner (though a fumble going into the endzone that went the other way for a TD didn't help either)

23-20 against Philadelphia with a 44 yard attempt by Eddie Murray missing late

9-7 against the Giants with misses by Murray from 39 and 49 yards

If they win twice, they're the last WC over the Rams (H2H tiebreaker) and facing New Orleans- who had never won a playoff game- in the Superdome. Washington's defense was MUCH better than the Rams' that year

If they win all three, they're a 4 seed and hosting a game at FedEx Field.

This was a year the NFC and the NFL was wide-open- that Redskin team actually fared well against the top teams that year (beat Baltimore, played Tennessee tough and might have won if not for a pick-six late in the first half, beat the Giants/Eagles on their turf)

I seem to remember the 2000 Redskins went thru five different kickers. I don't think I've seen another team with five different kickers since teams went to a single or dual kicker format around the time of WWII.

I seem to remember the 2000 Redskins went thru five different kickers. I don't think I've seen another team with five different kickers since teams went to a single or dual kicker format around the time of WWII.

In 1999, they had David Akers, but they waived him during the season.