Favorite One-Hit Wonder Team/Player?

[CSKreager]

The NFL has been littered with teams and players that had one sensational season and couldn't replicate it, but you certainly couldn't forget about it.

What are your favorite examples of this?

For me, the teams that stand out in this department to me the most- The 1998 Super Bowl Dirty Bird Falcons, the 1989 Packers (Cardiac Pack), and the 2001 Bears (whom somehow captured a division title during a less-than-stellar run for Chicago- and they didn't even do it with a soft schedule!)

Player-wise: 1995 Scott Mitchell (4000+ yards, 30+ TD's!), Steve Beurelein 1999 (Believe it or not, Kurt Warner in that magical MVP season was only the #2 passing yardage QB in the NFC West), and 2007 Derek Anderson (Looking back, maybe the most improbable Pro Bowl QB season ever)

[NWebster]

Beattie Feathers, Icky Woods, Bucky Pope lots of injuries and ailments that shortened otherwise promising careers. On the other side of the ball we probably just saw one with Lorenzo Alexander.

[Ronfitch]

As a kid, it was Terdell Middleton. After starting in one game as a rookie in '77 (97 rushing yards), in '78, he came out of nowhere to become the fourth player in Packer history to hit the 1,000 yard mark in a season, scored 11 rushing TDs, go to the Pro Bowl and get some post season honors. He was in the league another five years and this '78, adding another 900ish yards and three TDs to his career total.

Don Woods, drafted by and cut by the Packers in '74 only to be picked up by the Chargers. Woods dd not play until the third game of the '74 season for the Chargers, set the league rookie rushing record in eleven games and was named AP Rookie of the Year. He as in San Diego another five seasons and split a sixth between the Chargers and the 49ers, had a couple of good seasons as a Charger after the breakout season as a rookie, but never came close to that season again.

[Jeremy Crowhurst]

As a kid, it was Terdell Middleton. After starting in one game as a rookie in '77 (97 rushing yards), in '78, he came out of nowhere to become the fourth player in Packer history to hit the 1,000 yard mark in a season, scored 11 rushing TDs, go to the Pro Bowl and get some post season honors. He was in the league another five years and this '78, adding another 900ish yards and three TDs to his career total.

I've always wondered what "the rest of the story" was with Middleton. He has that great season, has nice receiving numbers as well, and the Packers go and draft a running back -- Eddie Lee Ivory -- with their first round pick the following spring. Although Ivory never did much, Middleton faded into obscurity. Was there a drug problem, did he spend too much time reading his press clippings? Or was it just that 284 carries was way more than the team was comfortable with, and that he was the kind of back who needed that sort of workload?

[7DnBrnc53]

I do admit that I liked the 1989 Packers. I feel that Sharpe and Majik should have been NFL Co-MVP's that year over Joe Montana. They would have given the Niners a tougher game in the playoffs than the Vikes did. They won out there earlier that year, and played them tough in Milwaukee the next year.

Another one-hit wonder that I want to touch on (on the heels of Mike McCoy's firing) is the 2013 Chargers.

After sneaking in the playoffs with a 9-7 record, they went to Cincinnati and defeated them 27-10. Then, the next week, they were able to make things interesting in Denver in the fourth quarter after Chris Harris, Jr went out. Keenan Allen went wild on ex-Charger Quentin Jammer, and a 24-0 score was trimmed to 24-17.

Denver needed a 21-yard completion from Manning to Julius Thomas with about three minutes left (on their own 20) on 3rd and 17 to get in position to put the game away. That's how close that Charger team was to getting the ball back and (possibly) forcing overtime.

If SD comes back and wins, I believe that they ride that momentum through NE (who wasn't that good that year, and they were without Gronk) and into the Super Bowl (where they lose to the Seahawks in a closer game. Also, on a side note, John Fox is summarily dismissed [in the words of Milton from Office Space] the next day).

After what actually happened that season, though (any Denver "what ifs" aside), I thought that Rivers may end up getting a ring as a Charger eventually, and that they had a bright future. Now, three seasons later, McCoy is fired, the team may move to LA (even though the owners don't want to), and I think they should trade Rivers to a contender that needs him.

[BD Sullivan]

As a kid, it was Terdell Middleton. After starting in one game as a rookie in '77 (97 rushing yards), in '78, he came out of nowhere to become the fourth player in Packer history to hit the 1,000 yard mark in a season, scored 11 rushing TDs, go to the Pro Bowl and get some post season honors. He was in the league another five years and this '78, adding another 900ish yards and three TDs to his career total.

I've always wondered what "the rest of the story" was with Middleton. He has that great season, has nice receiving numbers as well, and the Packers go and draft a running back -- Eddie Lee Ivory -- with their first round pick the following spring. Although Ivory never did much, Middleton faded into obscurity. Was there a drug problem, did he spend too much time reading his press clippings? Or was it just that 284 carries was way more than the team was comfortable with, and that he was the kind of back who needed that sort of workload?

In the 1979 opener, he injured his knee, toe and ankle and he battled various injuries the entire year. The next season, Ivory came back after blowing out his knee as a rookie and became the main back. The following year, the Packers picked up John Jefferson, with Gerry Ellis and Harlan Huckleby doing most of the running

[JWL]

1998 Jets

[JuggernautJ]

How about three hits and an epic crash?

I'm sure you guys can come up with other examples but I would be hard pressed to remember as meteoric a trip through the NFL as was made by Coach Jim Harbaugh.
Taking over a 49ers team that had been mired in mediocrity (to be kind) for years and 6-10 the previous season and going to three consecutive NFC Championship games was incredible to watch. And his fall from grace and crash landing was as astonishing to behold as his rise.

One can only wonder "What might have been?" had management personalities not taken precedence over this coaching phenomenon.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/c ... arbJi0.htm

[74_75_78_79_]

Each of the first nine times the Falcons made the playoffs was followed by not making the playoffs the following year. It wouldn't be until the 10th time in 2010 that they would make a return the following season (and yet again in 2012 - all, of course, under Mike Smith). Any other such 'streak' that could somewhat come close?

[JohnH19]

Timmy Smith, the unfortunate Greg Cook, and Rudy Bukich's 1965 season in which he won the league passing championship.