The best 1 win team in NFL history

[sheajets]

Not sure why this crossed my mind, but of the below sorry lot (I've kept it to 14 and 16 game seasons only so 1961 to present day) which team do you feel was the best, perhaps was plagued by injuries or historically unlucky. If kept it to 14 and 16 game seasons only, 1961 and onward

1961 Redskins 1-12-1
1962 Rams 1-12-1
1966 Giants 1-12-1
1967 Falcons 1-12-1
1969 Steelers 1-13
1969 Bears 1-13
1971 Bills 1-13
1972 Oilers 1-13
1973 Oilers 1-13
1980 Saints 1-15
1989 Cowboys 1-15
1990 Patriots 1-15
1996 Jets 1-15
2000 Chargers 1-15
2001 Panthers 1-15
2007 Dolphins 1-15
2009 Rams 1-15
2016 Browns 1-15

Left off the winless expansion Bucs just because what's the point. Unless someone here wants to argue they may be better than one of the teams here

[ChrisBabcock]

I created this thread a few years back...

http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... f=5&t=4387

These were my rankings of just the 1-15 teams...

1. 2001 Panthers... only really got blown out once, to the GSOT Rams
2. 1980 Saints
3. 1996 Jets
4. 2007 Dolphins
5. 2016 Browns... It seemed they were actually playing respectably until November. Then some bad losses started piling up and it looked as though 0-16 would be possible. I predicted the win over the Chargers though. A team that was in free fall at that point. Isaiah Crowell had a decent year. I think they’ve found a featured back with him.
6. 1989 Cowboys... Only team on this list who’s lone win came against a team with a winning record. (10-6 Redskins)
7. 2000 Chargers... Inept rushing attack of Fazande, Fletcher & co. combined for 3.0 ypc
8. 2009 Rams... scored above 17 only twice. Steven Jackson actually had a really good year despite getting in the endzone only 4 times.
9. 1990 Patriots

.......and the suckiest 1-15 team of all time. *drum roll*

10. 1991 Colts... scored in double digits in only FIVE games

[rhickok1109]

I think one you left may be the best of all, at least in terms of personnel: The 1958 Packers.

They went 1-10-1, the worst record in Packer history, but they had Jim Ringo, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor. and Ray Nitschke on the roster.

[BD Sullivan]

The 96 Jets had six games which they lost by less than a touchdown, including three of those by a FG or less. They were "led" by Rich Kotite, who left and was replaced by Parcells, who nearly got them to the playoffs with a 9-7 record--then got them to the AFC title game the next year.

[lastcat3]

Rich Kotite is an interesting case. He actually had some pretty good years with the Eagles and if it wasn't for Cunningham getting injured in '91 they likely would have given the Redskins all they could handle in the division that year. In '92 the team started out the year looking like they would get to the Super Bowl but became a little inconsistent as the year went on. Though Kotite was using a lot of Buddy Ryan's players he still seemed to have the team play at a higher level than Buddy did when he was at Philly. If the Eagles underachieved under Kotite as much as the Jets did than the Eagles should have won three Super Bowls in four years instead of the Cowboys.

So was Kotite likely just not trying when he was with the Jets? Maybe he was able to be more successful in Philly because he was an assistant coach under Buddy prior to becoming the head coach and it was a team he was far more familiar with than he was with the Jets? Also it may have been a mistake naming him the GM of the Jets and he may have been able to do a better job if he was strictly able to focus on coaching?

[7DnBrnc53]

7. 2000 Chargers... Inept rushing attack of Fazande, Fletcher & co. combined for 3.0 ypc

Jermaine Fazande...That was one of those guys that Beathard would draft in the second round during his "trade out of the first round and find gems in the second to be a genius" phase the last several years of his career. He traded WR Tony Martin to the Falcons the year before to get that pick (1999 second-rounder).

In 2000, his going away present was telling Mike Riley that Tom Brady wasn't even good enough to be a sixth-round pick (not that Brady would have definitely been great in SD or anywhere else, but he was better than a sixth-rounder when he came out).

[BD Sullivan]

7. 2000 Chargers... Inept rushing attack of Fazande, Fletcher & co. combined for 3.0 ypc

Jermaine Fazande...That was one of those guys that Beathard would draft in the second round during his "trade out of the first round and find gems in the second to be a genius" phase the last several years of his career.

Gil Brandt went through a similar phase when he was declared a genius by the media, although he was intent on drafting guys like Rod Hill, Aaron Mitchell and Jeff Rohrer to show that lesser-known players could thrive in the Cowboys system.

[Saban1]

Don't know who was the best one win team, but the 1966 New York Giants may have been one of the worst. They set a record for giving up the most points in a season (501) that was not broken until the NFL went to a 16 game season. In 1966, the NFL regular season was 14 games. I think that it was a Baltimore Colts team that broke the record, but needed 16 games to do it. Don't know if anyone else broke that record.

It could have been worse. In their last game, the Giants played Dallas at home. The Cowboys, having the Eastern Conference wrapped up, rested their starting quarterback, Don Meredith, and had their two backup quarterbacks start each half. Quarterback Jerry Rhome played the first half and quarterback Craig Morton played the second half for Dallas. Despite that, the Giants still lost, 17 to 7. If Dallas needed to win, they probably would have scored more than 17 points with Don Meredith playing quarterback. Dallas won 52 to 7 the first time they played in 1966.

Here are some of the scores of the 1966 New York Giants losses:

72 to 41 to the Washington Redskins.
55 to 14 to the Los Angeles Rams.
52 to 7 to the Dallas Cowboys
49 to 40 to the Cleveland Browns.
47 to 28 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
35 to 17 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
31 to 3 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
28 to 7 to the Cleveland Browns.
27 to 16 to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons were a new franchise in 1966 and their record was 0 and 9 when they played the Giants.

[BD Sullivan]

Don't know who was the best one win team, but the 1966 New York Giants may have been one of the worst.
49 to 40 to the Cleveland Browns.

Giants (as monstrous underdogs on the road) had a 40-28 lead over the Browns--and managed to give up three touchdowns in that span.

[sheajets]

Feel a bit embarrassed remaking this thread(when the original I myself participated in and totally forgot). About 8 years ago I was in a bad wreck and suffered a very bad concussion. Sometimes I still have lapses like this. Frustrating