This isn't me trying to bring up a painful memory, but to honor the great teams that had fantastic seasons but just fell short in the end. They are often relegated to the trash heap of history, which is unfortunate, because it diminishes what they DID accomplish. So for me, here's a short list...
1. 2007 Patriots. Forget the Super Bowl loss, this was one of the greatest teams of all time, period, end of sentence. One in the grasp call, one holding call, or one INT that goes through the hands of Asante, and this is hands down the greatest team ever to play the sport.
2. 1987 49ers. 13-2, with the #1 offense in points scored, #1 offense in yards gained, #3 defense in points allowed, and #1 defense in yards allowed. Montana, Craig, Rice, Clark, Haley, Lott. That team was phenomenal. Inexplicably got manhandled in the divisional round by Minnesota, however.
3. 1990 Bills. 13-3. #1 ranked offense. #6 ranked defense (points). Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Bruce Smith, et al. Lost the Super Bowl by the slimmest of margins. They'd go on to appear in three more straight SBs, an NFL record.
4. 2001 Rams. 14-2, #1 offense, #3 ranked defense (yards). Juggernaut. They'd already beaten NE earlier in the year. They had the MVP in Warner. Faulk. Holt. Bruce. Two years prior they'd won the Super Bowl.
5. 1986 Bears. 14-2, #1 defense (again), even though their offense wasn't great (13th in points, 7th in yards), but it was solid. Coming off their incredible SB-winning season the year before, they were still a wagon. Lost to a really good Redskins team in the divisional round.
6. 1968 Colts. 13-1, #2 offense, #1 defense. Lost to the Jets in SB 3. They were dominant, having gone 11-1 the previous year. Two years from then they'd win the Super Bowl against Dallas.
I'll stop there. Who else ya got?
edit: mistyped 1986 for the Bears. Obviously the ‘85 Bears won the SB.
1. 2007 Patriots. Forget the Super Bowl loss, this was one of the greatest teams of all time, period, end of sentence. One in the grasp call, one holding call, or one INT that goes through the hands of Asante, and this is hands down the greatest team ever to play the sport.
2. 1987 49ers. 13-2, with the #1 offense in points scored, #1 offense in yards gained, #3 defense in points allowed, and #1 defense in yards allowed. Montana, Craig, Rice, Clark, Haley, Lott. That team was phenomenal. Inexplicably got manhandled in the divisional round by Minnesota, however.
3. 1990 Bills. 13-3. #1 ranked offense. #6 ranked defense (points). Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Bruce Smith, et al. Lost the Super Bowl by the slimmest of margins. They'd go on to appear in three more straight SBs, an NFL record.
4. 2001 Rams. 14-2, #1 offense, #3 ranked defense (yards). Juggernaut. They'd already beaten NE earlier in the year. They had the MVP in Warner. Faulk. Holt. Bruce. Two years prior they'd won the Super Bowl.
5. 1986 Bears. 14-2, #1 defense (again), even though their offense wasn't great (13th in points, 7th in yards), but it was solid. Coming off their incredible SB-winning season the year before, they were still a wagon. Lost to a really good Redskins team in the divisional round.
6. 1968 Colts. 13-1, #2 offense, #1 defense. Lost to the Jets in SB 3. They were dominant, having gone 11-1 the previous year. Two years from then they'd win the Super Bowl against Dallas.
I'll stop there. Who else ya got?
edit: mistyped 1986 for the Bears. Obviously the ‘85 Bears won the SB.
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