Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Tommy Maddox playing pretty great against the Ravens in '03 only for Steelers to then stumble all year to 6-10. Dallas wallops Steelers at the 'Burgh in '97 (maybe Aikman's best game) only to finish a surprise 6-10 themselves. Jets beat Chargers in '83, but not only did SD turn out not so good but neither did Jets themselves. Oilers beat defending 14-2 AFC champ Miami in '85 en route to 5-11. What other of many examples out there?

1969 Steelers, 1920 Muncie Flyers

The 1967 Buffalo Bills came back from a 17-0 deficit in the 4th quarter to beat the New York Jets 20-17 in their season opener. They went 4-10 for the season.

The Bills had won AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965. They had lost the AFL Championship game to Kansas City in 1966.

Oilers beat defending 14-2 AFC champ Miami in '85 en route to 5-11.

Houston also creamed Green Bay in Week 1 in 1986, and ended up having a bad season again.

Also, Carolina won their opener in Minnesota in 2001, and never won another game the rest of the year.

1993 Redskins

Two from '81...Oilers, now under Biles, win at Rams but it didn't end there. They won at Cleveland the next week en route to a 4-2 start that also included a win vs Bengals. Would only win three more games rest of season. The other from '81 is Bert Jones & Co going to the Schaef and beating a Pats team that finished 10-6 (7 Pro Bowlers) the year before. 15 weeks later, 'toilet bowl'.

I guess Marion Campbell winning at SF in his '83 debut with Philly shouldn't really qualify being that the jury was still out on SF being that they followed up their "out of nowhere" SBXVI victory with a 3-6 finish in '82. In either event, like '81 Oilers, it didnt end there for the 'Birds would also start 4-2 (all victories on road). Would only win one more game from there.

Tommy Maddox playing pretty great against the Ravens in '03 only for Steelers to then stumble all year to 6-10.

I remember someone on Sportsbeat (Stan Savran, I think) saying a few days after that win that the Steelers were one of the best teams in the AFC, and that they had a good chance in KC (they got waxed in Arrowhead in Week 2).

Speaking of 2003, another team with a great opener was the Bills. They signed Lawyer Milloy from NE, and then waxed them 31-0 at home in Week 1. By season's end, they were 6-10.

2001 Jaguars- week 1 whitewash of the Steelers 21-3.

Jacksonville finishes 6-10, Pittsburgh 13-3.

1970 - Boston Patriots (2-12) beat the playoff bound Dolphins, 27-14 in Shula's' regular season Miami debut. The '70 Patriots scored the fewest points in the NFL (149). They also gave up a league leading 361 points (Miami went on to surrender an AFC low 228 pts).

How about promising opener for a player - Neil O'Donnell, (yes, another one from) 1997? Along with his SBXXX counterpart Troy Aikman earlier that day, Neil perhaps played his best ever game at the Kingdome. Just a few weeks later, however, benched for Foley.