Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Yes, I'm making this one a top-12 due to there being five above-500 teams which didn't make the playoffs - two 10-4s (Cards & Cincy), two 9-5s (Browns & Broncos), and those sack-happy Forty Niners (DC'd by Sgt Rock himself) who started the season at 6-1.

Two-time-defending-Champ Steelers (killer down the stretch) & best-record Raiders ought to be top-2, but I'm sure some may wanna stick Pats (who beat both albeit early) or even the Colts in there. And then you have your regulars in the NFC: 11-3 Dallas, 11-2-1 Vikes, 10-3-1 Rams and wildcard 10-4 Washington in George Allen's final playoff year.

1. Steelers... 1-4 start. But after that... WHOAH
2. Raiders
3. Patriots... won their last 6. Handed Oakland their only loss of the year.
4. Redskins... won their last 4 including wins over Dallas and St. Louis
5. Rams
6. Cowboys
7. Broncos... 5-1 finish
8. Colts
9, Cardinals... quality late season wins over the Rams and Colts. Swept by Washington though. Air Coryell was about to fizzle out.
10. Vikings... 11-2-1 padded by a soft schedule. Tie with Rams and beat the “lowly” Steelers early in the year but nothing impressive after that. Lost to 49ers during their 2-5 skid.
11. Bengals
12. 49ers... 6-1 tease before a 2-5 finish. Did beat Vikings as mentioned above. Delvin Williams is one of my favorite historical players that I know next to nothing about. If that makes any sense at all.

If the NFC had the playoff format of a few years later or a decade plus later, no way in hell does Minnesota get to the SB that year IMO.

Lot of good NFC teams missed out on the playoffs that would have been dangerous Wild Cards (And this was a year after Dallas went from NFC WC to the SB).

Not saying they'd have beaten PIT/OAK/NE, but it probably would have been a closer game than the real life SB in Pasadena.

The 10-point swing early in the NFC Championship probably was a psychological dagger for the Rams--given their postseason history with the Vikes.

1) Steelers
2) Raiders, almost made them '1b'
3) Patriots
4) Cowboys, defending-NFC champs, almost made them '3b'
5) Bengals
6) Cardinals
7) Colts
8) Redskins
9) Vikings
10) Rams
11) Broncos
12) Browns

Decided to treat StL & Wash like 1991's SF/Atl, giving the one that got swept the higher ranking. '76 Cards may very well have been better than either '74 & '75 when they actually made the playoffs. They split with Dallas, beat a then 6-1 SF team, won at LA, and also beat Colts in penultimate game. Very dangerous team had they gotten in. However I'll place Bengals above them if only due to they being more balanced. Cincy with their #6 offense in points-scored and #5 D in yards-allowed beat Denver, swept Browns, beat Rams, and gave hot Steelers all they could handle in that gritty 7-3 slugfest! As the case with StL, the Colts had quite an O once again! That ought to also place them above Washington as well.

Redskins sweep Cards and that's all. Their finale over Big D...yes, Dallas's first team was in but they really didn't seem to need that game quite as much as Washington did. Dallas already had division. Yes, they were playing for top-seed; but with Cards beating G-men in early game, Redskins had to win just to get in-period. Vikes & Rams again with the soft schedules! Tied each other but I'll give Vikes nod due to their 11 wins as opposed to Rams' 10; and also Minn simply being a better playoff team and usually having their way vs Rams past so many years. Broncos anihilating Browns in their game ought to dictate the final two spots. A fine defensive (or at least pass-rushing) masterpiece by Sgt Rock, but SF's 2-7 finish has to box them out.

EDIT - SF's 2-5 finish

Just watched Week #13 MNF halftime highlights (damn, I miss those) during the Bengals/Raiders game in which the Raiders would end up killing them instead of..."allowing them" to win so they could "avoid" Steelers in playoffs.

Browns beat Oilers at home. Had to break the ice on the field before the game. Sipe to Paul Warfield for a TD! Browns win, 13-10.

Sweetness breaks Sayers' single-season record in the Kingdome rushing for 183 yards but no TDs. Avellini, however, passed for three of them; two of them to James Scott. Hey! Why's he wearing Ditka's #89?

James Harris's Rams torch Falcons, 59-0, at home!

Colts at Cards! Two defense highlights for Big Red - both 4th Q - John Zook sticking Bert Jones hard from the blind side, forcing a fumble, and later Ken Reaves making a big INT deep in Cards' territory to help seal the win! No, that's not the former-Chicago Bulls player who ended up coaching basketball at Carver High Sch ol. That would be Ken Reeves (two e's).

Craig Penrose starting for Denver at home vs KC connecting with Haven Moses a few times. Former-Jets kicker (SBIII), Jim Turner, kicks game-winner to barely beat Chiefs, 17-16.

Fouts and Joiner seen together at the Murph vs SF (and, yes, in their blue jerseys). Tied 7-apiece in OT, Mercury Morris scores the game-winning TD for SD!

Bills at Miami with Strock at QB. OJ records his 6th 200-yrd game including a 75-yrd TD run up the left. Miami's Freddie Solomon, however, the even bigger star of the game! A 79-yrd punt-return for a TD, a 53-yrd reception for a TD, and a 59-yrd TD run!

I guess they didn't show highlights for every single game. Not that it matters, all the others not exactly suspenseful - especially Steelers 42 Bucs 0. Then again, they did show that Atl/LA devastation.

So...anyways...should I now (despite this very Week #13 defeat) place SF at #11 over Denver, boxing-out Cleveland who - let's face it - had themselves a pretty easy schedule down the stretch (and would get throttled at Arrowhead in finale)?