Teams falling off a cliff that were surprising

[7DnBrnc53]

What teams' collapse was surprising to you?

For example, the 1990's Rams. They made the 1989 NFC Title Game, then surprisingly fell off a cliff in the 90's (until the end of the decade).

[Rupert Patrick]

The Jacksonville Jaguars after the 1999 season. They looked like they were going to dominate the AFC for a few years, and I've never understood what happened to them.

2013 Texans - They were 10-6 in 2011, 12-4 in 2012, 2-14 in 2013. Started the season 2-0, lost their next 14.

The 2003 Steelers were another mystery, going 6-10, but as a result of their poor season they got Ben Roethlisberger, which worked out well.

1980 Saints - There were some people that predicting the Saints to snag a Wild Card in 1980, or possibly pass the Rams and win the NFC West, and they wound up going 1-15.

2017 Giants - From 11-5 in 2016 to 3-13.

The 2000 Rams defense. In 1999 they gave up 242 points, in 2000 they gave up 471, but in 2001 they gave up 273.

[7DnBrnc53]

What about the 1974 Falcons? Was that a surprise, or was their collapse expected?

[BD Sullivan]

What about the 1974 Falcons? Was that a surprise, or was their collapse expected?

For years, they always followed a good year with either a bad or mediocre one.

[Rupert Patrick]

What about the 1974 Falcons? Was that a surprise, or was their collapse expected?

For years, they always followed a good year with either a bad or mediocre one.

It wasn't until 2008-2009 that the Falcons finally had back-to-back above-.500 seasons for the first time in franchise history.

[RRMarshall]

The 1974 Atlanta Falcons have always fascinated me. They had the long steady build from their inception in 1966 and missed the playoffs by a game in 1973 and were seemingly on the verge of being a good team for many years. Then with the same assemblage of talent they not only fell off the cliff in 1974 their offensive futility was staggering. Their high watermark for points in a game that season was 17, and they were shut out 3 times. The offense perked up a bit the second half of the 1975 season but they attempted ONLY 10 FGs that year, which has to be some kind of postmerger season record.
But my vote goes to the 1987 SD Chargers who started the season 8-1 and then lost 6 straight. They didn't have another winning seaon for 5 years.

[Rupert Patrick]

The 1974 Atlanta Falcons have always fascinated me. They had the long steady build from their inception in 1966 and missed the playoffs by a game in 1973 and were seemingly on the verge of being a good team for many years. Then with the same assemblage of talent they not only fell off the cliff in 1974 their offensive futility was staggering. Their high watermark for points in a game that season was 17, and they were shut out 3 times. The offense perked up a bit the second half of the 1975 season but they attempted ONLY 10 FGs that year, which has to be some kind of postmerger season record.
But my vote goes to the 1987 SD Chargers who started the season 8-1 and then lost 6 straight. They didn't have another winning seaon for 5 years.

The 1975 Falcons 10 FG attempts are the fewest by any team in any season (1982 excepted) since 1959, and the 10 FG's attempted against the 1975 Baltimore Colts are the fewest attempted against any team (1982 excepted) since 1960.

[Todd Pence]

The St. Louis Cardinals were 31-11 from 1974-76 and started off the 1977 season with a 7-3 mark, including a win over Dallas. They dropped their last four, prompting Don Coryell's departure, and were 16-32 over the next three seasons.

[Rupert Patrick]

The St. Louis Cardinals were 31-11 from 1974-76 and started off the 1977 season with a 7-3 mark, including a win over Dallas. They dropped their last four, prompting Don Coryell's departure, and were 16-32 over the next three seasons.

It was that 55-14 Thanksgiving whipping at the hands of the Dolphins that they never recovered from, and three weeks after that, lost to Tampa Bay to end the season.

[rhickok1109]

I guess maybe it wasn't that big a surprise, but the 1973 Packers were certainly a major disappointment to their fans.

In 1972, Dan Devine's second year as head coach, they made the playoffs with a 10-4 record, behind the powerful running of John Brockington and MacArthur Lane and a surprisingly good defense. Personally, I had my doubts about a team that averaged only about 9 pass completions a game. Scott Hunter was at his best handing the ball off to one of his running backs.

Sure enough, defenses did a better job of stopping the Packer running game in 1973 and Hunter was exposed when he had to throw more. There had been hopes that he would improve in his second full year as a starter, but Devine really didn't give him a chance. As it turned out, Hunter started only 5 games that year, Jim Del Gaizo started 3, and Jerry Tagge started the last 6. They combined for 6 TD passes and 17 INTs. The defense was still pretty good, but they were out there for an awful lot of plays and they were often defending a short field. The result was a 5-7-2 record and Devine was gone after a 6-8-0 record in 1974.