Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Throughout the mid-80s to the very early 90s, the NFC was a strong conference with a lot of quality depth and contenders.

But for one year, that depth was a different story.

By 1994, it clearly became Dallas/San Francisco and everyone else. (And with post-Jordan NBA and MLB/NHL lockout/strike, you could argue that the Cowboys and 49ers didn't just tower over the NFL, but all of sports.)

It was a change of pace considering that for two years, DAL/SF weren't exactly running away from everyone else

In 1992, the Eagles/Saints in their respective divisions were a tough out; didn't nail down their divisions until week 16

In 1993, the Giants stayed with Dallas stride for stride all the way until week 18 and to a lesser extent San Francisco didn't overtake a Saints team that started 5-0 until just before Thanksgiving

But in 1994, there weren't any such teams. I don't think anyone really took the NFC Central playoff teams super seriously. The '94 Vikings, #3 seed, weren't exacty the 1993 Giants in terms of best of the rest.

It was a far cry from past seasons. The '85 Bears still had to navigate a tricky NFC (Giants/Rams/49ers, Dallas' last hurrah under Landry, Washington was in transistion but still won 10 games). The '91 Redskins again made it through an NFC minefield by comparison to the AFC (Jets/Raiders made playoffs with single-digit wins, 10-6 PHI/SF did not). Detroit/Atlanta, regardless of schedule easiness, still won double-digit games.)

The next year, Green Bay would emerge and it became a trifecta for the next few years in the 90s.

But how did it go from stacked NFC to a not-so-stacked NFC save for two teams that season?

How did all that NFC depth basically detoriate?

(And interestingly, the AFC from 1989/1991 had more quality teams. By 1995-1996, the NFC invincibility gap was starting to wane a bit as those SB's were not the blowouts we were accostumed to and then the '97 Broncos finally busted it down)

Parity. Pete Rozelle had achieved his goal. Yes, Dallas and San Francisco were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league, but underneath them were lots of above-average teams with no powerhouses. It wasn't just the NFC, the AFC was completely devoid of any dominating teams. (Pittsburgh was the closest to the Niners and Cowboys, but they were still well behind them.) But the NFC was so close that it's hard to remember exactly which order the Central teams finished in. (I believe it was MIN/GB/DET/CHI.) I think it was simply the league achieving parity, and free agency certainly had a lot to do with that.

This could just be the way I personally remember things, but if I recall correctly it was Dallas - San Francisco and then everybody else in the NFL. They were clearly the top two teams in the NFL during those three years that they played in the NFC Championship. The Packers beat the 49ers in 1995 and it was really surprising, but Brett Favre was a catalyst and Reggie White was incredible - LeRoy Butler was really important in that defense as well.

The three years before that -- it was Dallas and San Francisco. It may have stayed like that for another couple of years if not for free agency - as pointed out above. Although Jay Novacek retiring would have hampered the Cowboys even without free agency, IMHO. White came to GB as a free agent - I don't think the Packers get to the SB without him. They also signed Sean Jones and Mike Prior. Prior wasn't a starter but he made some important plays.

Green Bay was the team everybody identified as the one that will rise to eventually challenge both...but they weren't ready for it in 1994 yet. Minnesota was decent but were not really taken seriously as a legit contender. Same with Detroit and Chicago. Decent clubs, but roadkill for Dallas/SF in a big spot. Though I did always enjoy those Barry Sanders/Wayne Fontes Lions teams. Fontes was such a sympathetic figure. Beleaguered...but the team seemed to love him

Crazy Packers Fan wrote:Parity. Pete Rozelle had achieved his goal. Yes, Dallas and San Francisco were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league, but underneath them were lots of above-average teams with no powerhouses.

I think this was the time where Rozelle's goal had not been achieved. The Cowboys had essentially rebuilt themselves by having their own draft picks as well as Minnesota's for three years. Kind of like how they would always wind up with the top pick in the 1970s even though they were going to the Super Bowl every other year. That kind of gave the Cowboys an unfair advantage over everyone else. The Niners were allowed to circumvent the salary cap and completely retooled their roster before the 1994 season. Not surprising that they were so dominant in retrospect.

The Vikings had the talent to go all the way but never could get their secondary in top gear. Dennis Green would get impatient with his QBs as well and Warren Moon couldnt stay healthy enough his final season with the team, to get them over the hump.