Worst Team in NFL History

[larrymcg421]

It's time to dust this baby off..

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=12757

Yep, I'm finishing a dynasty I started over three years ago. Better late than never?

This was a tournament I simmed with WhatifSports.com's matchup engine. I picked the worst 32 NFL teams since 1960 and set up a standard bracket style tournament. The difference was, you move on if you lose and you get eliminated when you win. Therefore, the very worst team in NFL history will be the team that loses in every single round.

Here were the previous results

The 1st Round

1976 Bucs 34, 1965 Steelers 3
1970 Patriots 24, 1960 Cowboys 14
1974 Colts 27, 1982 Colts 24
1975 Saints 14, 2001 Panthers 12
1977 Chiefs 17, 2000 Chargers 14
1978 49ers 44, 1996 Jets 10
1979 Lions 24, 1991 Colts 21
1981 Colts 26, 1990 Patriots 25
1989 Cowboys 27, 1983 Oilers 19
1985 Bills 31, 1980 Saints 28
1986 Buccaneers 20, 1973 Oilers 9
1994 Oilers 30, 1971 Bills 24
1999 Browns 28, 1969 Steelers 14
2002 Bengals 27, 1968 Bills 16
1961 Redskins 26, 1967 Falcons 9
1962 Raiders 27. 1966 Giants 9

2nd Round

1965 Steelers 52, 1960 Cowboys 6
1982 Colts 24, 1983 Oilers 21
2001 Panthers 35, 1966 Giants 14

[larrymcg421]

Round 2, Game 4: 2000 Chargers at 1967 Falcons

How they got here:

The 2000 Chargers had some good fortune when Ryan Leaf was knocked out early in the 2nd half. However, replacement Jim Harbaugh didn't play much better, throwing two INT's on his first two possessions and the defense could not stop the mesmerizing offense of the 1977 Kansas City Chiefs.

The 1967 Falcons were unable to stop 1961 Redskins WR Fred Dugan and the offensive line couldn't protect the QB against a Redskins pass rush that wouldn't have scared a Pop Warner team.

The Game

Unfortunately, injuries don't carry over week to week in this dynasty, so the Chargers were still stuck with Ryan Leaf at starting QB. He proceeded to stink up the place as expected by throwing 6 INT's. Amazingly, the Chargers still had a chance to win it, thanks to a truly pathetic Falcons run defense that allowed Terrell Fletcher and Robert Chancey to run for 139 yards on 19 carries. The Chargers led 17-7 late in the 1st half, but Atlanta quickly tied it up with 10 pts. in 47 seconds. The Falcons then stung the Chargers with a 4 play, 80 yard TD drive to start the 3rd quarter. The Chargers had some chances late, thanks to a Seau INT, but Leaf threw 4 of his INT's in the 2nd half, dooming the Chargers to a 27-24 loss.

That's right, Leaf fans. His career will last for at least one more week.

[larrymcg421]

2000 San Diego Chargers at 1967 Atlanta Falcons
Fulton County Stadium

Final - 9/5/2006	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
2000 San Diego Chargers	10	7	0	7	24
1967 Atlanta Falcons	0	17	7	3	27

Play by Play: [ 1st Quarter ] [ 2nd Quarter ] [ 3rd Quarter ] [ 4th Quarter ]

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
SAN	10:07	TD	Jermaine Fazande 1 yd. run (Carney kick)	7-0
SAN	3:56	FG	John Carney 44 yds.	10-0
2nd Quarter
ATL	13:36	TD	Tommy McDonald 7 yd. pass from Johnson (Traynham kick)	10-7
SAN	4:56	TD	Jermaine Fazande 2 yd. run (Carney kick)	17-7
ATL	1:33	TD	Ray Ogden 15 yd. pass from Johnson (Traynham kick)	17-14
ATL	0:46	FG	Wade Traynham 33 yds.	17-17
3rd Quarter
ATL	12:34	TD	Junior Coffey 21 yd. run (Traynham kick)	17-24
4th Quarter
ATL	11:51	FG	Wade Traynham 34 yds.	17-27
SAN	6:00	TD	Freddie Jones 2 yd. pass from Leaf (Carney kick)	24-27

[MikeVic]

This seems familiar to me...

Go Ryan Leaf!

[Izulde]

If the 2K Chargers win it all, we'll know without a doubt that Ryan Leaf was the single worst draft pick in history.

[larrymcg421]

Round 2: 1996 Jets at 1968 Bills

The 96 Jets got hammered by the 1978 San Francisco 49ers when they couldn't find a way to stop ... Steve DeBerg. Jets starter Frank Reich had a terrible game aside from a 49 yard TD pass to Keyshawn Johnson. Keyshawn says that if they just keep throwing him the ball, then the Jets will win this tournament. I'm not sure he understands the format.

The 68 Bills played a very tough game considering they were matched with a Bengals team that really underachieved and probably had more talent than most of the teams in this tourney. In the end, an 81 yard Jon Kitna to Peter Warrick TD Pass did them in.

The Game

The Jets completely dominated this game at the start. However, turnovers and poor 3rd down conversions made them settle for two Nick Lowery FG's for a 6-0 lead. Buffalo responded when WR Richard Trapp took a short pass and outran the Jets defense for a 66 yard TD. Suddenly the Bills had a 7-6 lead. They added to the lead with a quick FG right before the half. After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the JEts finally got on the board again with another Lowery FG. They still trailed 10-9. Buffalo responded with a quick FG drive set up by a 17 yard draw and 36 yard sweep, making the score 13-9 with 9:46 left. The inept Jets offense goes 3 and out on the next possessiona nd Buffalo answers with another FG drive, this one taking up 5:30 of the game clock and giving the Bills a 16-9 lead with only 1:52 left. Reich, with memories of the infamous comeback against the Oilers from only three years agom sets up the two minute offense and gets the ball moving. Several completions put the ball at the Bills 38 with 40 seconds left. After an ill-conceived running play, Reich misfires on three straight attempts and the game is over. Bills win 16-9.

[larrymcg421]

Round 2: 1991 Colts at 1969 Steelers

How they got here:

1991 Colts

The Colts lost a tough one against the 1979 Detroit Lions. After falling down early, some great running by Eric Dickerson led them back to a 21-17 lead. However, the defense could not hold as Lions backup QB Scott Hunter threw for a TD with 53 seconds to go. Colts QB Jeff George went looking for a coach to yell at, but none could be found on the sidelines.

1969 Steelers

Some of the future Steelers greats were in place by 1969, but they did not show up in round 1. 1999 Browns QB Tim Couch had a field day against the Steelers secondary and despite a couple of long plays, the offense was nonexistent in a pretty embarassing defeat.

The Game

These two miserable teams actually produced a pretty exciting game. The first three quarters were uneventful as Indianapolis drove for a TD in the 1st, , Pittsburgh answered with a FG in the 2nd, and the Colts got their own FG in the 3rd for a 10-3 lead. In the 4th, some hard running by Willie Asbury leads the Steelers to a TD that ties it up with 13:31 to go. Two big catches by Jessie Hester put the Colts in position for a FG which they hit with 6:07 to go to take a 13-10 lead. The Colts defense doesn't make it back on the field, so it seems, as an inept Steelers offense goes on a 12 play, 75 yard drive, resulting in a Bill Nelsen TD pass for a 17-13 lead with 1:36 left. A great kickoff return by Clarence Verdin gives the Colts the ball their own 46. The Colts take advantage as George hits Hester for 15 and Bill Brooks for 16. The ball is now down to the Steelers 20 with :50 to go. 3 straight plays go nowhere and the Colts face 4th and 10 from the same spot. George heaves it into the end zone and Jessie Hester comes down with it to give the Colts a dramatic 20-17 victory.

1991 Indianapolis Colts at 1966 Pittsburgh Steelers
Pitt Stadium

Final - 9/15/2006	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1991 Indianapolis Colts	7	0	3	10	20
1966 Pittsburgh Steelers	0	3	0	14	17

Play by Play: [ 1st Quarter ] [ 2nd Quarter ] [ 3rd Quarter ] [ 4th Quarter ]

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
IND	4:15	TD	Bill Brooks 10 yd. pass from George (Biasucci kick)	7-0
2nd Quarter
PIT	9:55	FG	Mike Clark 41 yds.	7-3
3rd Quarter
IND	6:06	FG	Dean Biasucci 20 yds.	10-3
4th Quarter
PIT	13:31	TD	Roy Jefferson 9 yd. pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)	10-10
IND	6:03	FG	Dean Biasucci 44 yds.	13-10
PIT	1:36	TD	Gary Ballman 4 yd. pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)	13-17
IND	0:12	TD	Jessie Hester 20 yd. pass from George (Biasucci kick)	20-17

[JeffW]

Originally Posted by Izulde

If the 2K Chargers win it all, we'll know without a doubt that Ryan Leaf was the single worst draft pick in history.

He wasn't... and they were definitely not the worst team ever. I don't think they were even the worst team in 2000:

W L T PF PA

Cleveland Browns 3 13 0 161 419

Arizona Cardinals 3 13 0 210 443

San Diego Chargers 1 15 0 269 440

They won the fewest games and they were definitely terrible, but they were unlucky to go 1-15 from a probability standpoint(anyone know how to do Pythagorean W-L projections for NFL).

[larrymcg421]

(Trying to set the record for longest time to complete a dynasty...)

Round 2: 1996 Jets vs. 1990 Patriots

How they got here....

The 96 Jets got steamrolled by a miserable 49ers team. They oddly seem to have some talent on paper, but even in this sim, it didn't do much for them. Reich had a terrible afternoon. It will be interesting to see if he gets another chance or Neil O'Donnell will get the start. Just one of the many decisions the brilliant Rich Kotite will have to mull over.

The 90 Patriots lost a 26-25 heartbreaker to a previously winless Baltimore Colts squad (0-8-1 in 1981). Marc Wilson threw for 300 yards and 3 TD's, but the miserable defense gave up two 100 yard runners and made Bert Jones look like a solid QB.

The Game

Wow. Just because the teams suck doesn't mean we don't get some exciting contests. This was close from the beginning, although both teams had trouble punching it in the end zone. The first 7 scores of the game were all field goals, giving the Patriots a 12-9 lead early in the 4th. Frank Reich, who had a solid afternoon, led a scoring drive midway through the 4th and finally punched it in the end zone on a TD pass to Webster Slaughter, giving them a 16-12 lead. With one last chance to get eliminated, the Patriots had to rely on backup QB Tommy Hodson (as Marc Wilson was knocked out early on). Only 33 seconds left, Hodson his Fryar for a 34 yard gain, and then with 2 seconds left, he hit Fryar again with a miracle 29 yard TD pass for the 19-16 victory. Sorry Jets fans, but they'll live to play another day.

Final - 8/19/2007	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
1996 New York Jets	6	3	0	7	16
1990 New England Patriots	3	3	3	10	19

Scoring Summary 1st Quarter NEW 11:13 FG Jason Staurovsky 33 yds. 0-3 NE2 7:29 FG Nick Lowery 42 yds. 3-3 NE2 2:56 FG Nick Lowery 46 yds. 6-3 2nd Quarter NE2 2:14 FG Nick Lowery 48 yds. 9-3 NEW 1:13 FG Jason Staurovsky 48 yds. 9-6 3rd Quarter NEW 7:38 FG Jason Staurovsky 25 yds. 9-9 4th Quarter NEW 13:32 FG Jason Staurovsky 41 yds. 9-12 NE2 5:51 TD Webster Slaughter 6 yd. pass from Reich (Lowery kick) 16-12 NEW 0:02 TD Irving Fryar 29 yd. pass from Hodson (Staurovsky kick) 16-19 Team Statistics 1996 New York Jets 1990 New England Patriots First Downs 17 19 - Rushing 6 5 - Passing 11 13 - Penalty 0 1 3rd Down Eff 3/12 6/15 4th Down Eff 0/0 0/0 Rushes-Yards 27-118 29-104 Avg Rush 4.4 3.6 Comp-Att-Int 16-29-0 16-35-2 Passing Yards 155 238 Sacks-Yards 3-16 2-12 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0 Punts-Avg 5-44.8 3-39.3 KR-Avg 6-17.5 5-22.0 PR-Avg 3-8.0 5-6.4 Penalties-Yard 4-20 5-25 Time of Possession 30:54 29:06 1996 New York Jets Individual Stats 1990 New England Patriots Individual Stats Rushing Att Yds 20+ L TD '96 Adrian Murrell 19 92 1 32 0 '96 Frank Reich 2 14 0 14 0 '96 Richie Anderson 4 9 0 5 0 '96 Reggie Cobb 2 3 0 2 0 Rushing Att Yds 20+ L TD '90 John Stephens 18 59 0 15 0 '90 Marvin Allen 10 41 0 15 0 '90 George Adams 1 4 0 4 0 Receiving Rec Yds 20+ 40+ L TD '96 Wayne Chrebet 5 63 0 0 19 0 '96 Jeff Graham 4 46 0 0 17 0 '96 Keyshawn Johnson 3 32 0 0 13 0 '96 Richie Anderson 2 20 0 0 12 0 '96 Webster Slaughter 1 6 0 0 6 1 '96 Adrian Murrell 1 4 0 0 4 0 Receiving Rec Yds 20+ 40+ L TD '90 Irving Fryar 4 96 3 0 34 1 '90 Hart Lee Dykes 4 59 1 0 29 0 '90 Cedric Jones 2 24 0 0 13 0 '90 Marv Cook 2 24 0 0 13 0 '90 Greg McMurtry 1 19 0 0 19 0 '90 Eric Sievers 1 14 0 0 14 0 '90 George Adams 1 9 0 0 9 0 '90 John Stephens 1 5 0 0 5 0 Passing Comp. Att. Yards TD INT '96 Frank Reich 16 29 171 1 0 Passing Comp. Att. Yards TD INT '90 Tommy Hodson 11 27 183 1 2 '90 Marc Wilson 5 8 67 0 0

[larrymcg421]

Round 2: 1980 Saints at 1968 Bills

How they got here:

The Saints offense put up decent numbers in the first round, with Archie Manning throwing for 289 yards and 2 TD's, and Wes Chandler catching 8 passes for 104 yards and 2 TD. Unfortunately, their defense was abysmal, allowing 476 yards of total offense to the 85 Bills, including a 169 yard running day by Greg Bell and 199 yards of receiving by Jerry Butler.
1968 Bills

The Bills managed to keep it close against the 2002 Bengals. Behind a varied running attack, they led 16-13 with 13:55 left int he 4th quarter. However, the pass defense lost Peter Warrick twice in the 4th quarter and Jon kitna found him both times.

The Game

Archie Manning propelled the Saints to an early 14-0 lead by running and throwing for TD's in the 1st quarter. A strong running kept the Bills in it, but Manning found Wes Chandler for a 70 yard TD early in the 4th quarter for a 21-7 lead. At this point, the Bills benched the ab ysmal Dan Darragh (4-27 for 60 yards, ouch) and inserted Tom Flores, who led two TD drives int he last 5 minutes, tying the game on a 12 yard TD pass with 6 seconds left. The game went to OT where all the Bills effort was undone by poor special teams play, giving the Saints a short field to work with and 8 plays later the game was over.

Final - 8/23/2007	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT1	Total
1980 New Orleans Saints	0	14	0	7	6	27
1968 Buffalo Bills	0	0	7	14	0	21

Scoring Summary 2nd Quarter NEW 7:41 TD Archie Manning 5 yd. run (Ricardo kick) 7-0 NEW 0:46 TD Ike Harris 17 yd. pass from Manning (Ricardo kick) 14-0 3rd Quarter BUF 6:57 TD Bob Cappadona 12 yd. run (Alford kick) 14-7 4th Quarter NEW 8:03 TD Wes Chandler 70 yd. pass from Manning (Ricardo kick) 21-7 BUF 4:54 TD Max Anderson 11 yd. run (Alford kick) 21-14 BUF 0:06 TD Richard Trapp 13 yd. pass from Flores (Alford kick) 21-21 OT 1 NEW 10:12 TD Tony Galbreath 8 yd. run 27-21 Team Statistics 1980 New Orleans Saints 1968 Buffalo Bills First Downs 24 17 - Rushing 10 9 - Passing 14 8 - Penalty 0 0 3rd Down Eff 12/21 5/14 4th Down Eff 1/1 0/1 Rushes-Yards 51-160 27-136 Avg Rush 3.1 5.0 Comp-Att-Int 17-29-0 10-35-1 Passing Yards 273 144 Sacks-Yards 2-9 1-4 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0 Punts-Avg 5-39.0 7-41.6 KR-Avg 5-26.0 4-25.3 PR-Avg 7-5.3 5-10.6 Penalties-Yard 4-25 0-0 Time of Possession 42:10 22:38 1980 New Orleans Saints Individual Stats 1968 Buffalo Bills Individual Stats Rushing Att Yds 20+ L TD '80 Chuck Muncie 14 47 0 11 0 '80 Jimmy Rogers 9 41 0 12 0 '80 Tony Galbreath 12 28 0 8 1 '80 Wayne Wilson 8 18 0 8 0 '80 Jack Holmes 5 18 0 15 0 '80 Archie Manning 1 5 0 5 1 '80 Mike Strachan 1 2 0 2 0 '80 Wes Chandler 1 1 0 1 0 Rushing Att Yds 20+ L TD '68 Max Anderson 12 87 1 26 1 '68 Bob Cappadona 8 25 0 12 1 '68 Ben Gregory 5 22 0 9 0 '68 Dan Darragh 1 2 0 2 0 '68 Haven Moses 1 0 0 0 0 Receiving Rec Yds 20+ 40+ L TD '80 Wes Chandler 6 132 1 1 70 1 '80 Ike Harris 3 51 0 0 18 1 '80 Jack Holmes 1 27 1 0 27 0 '80 Tinker Owens 1 23 1 0 23 0 '80 Henry Childs 3 20 0 0 8 0 '80 Tony Galbreath 1 13 0 0 13 0 '80 Brooks Williams 1 12 0 0 12 0 '80 Jimmy Rogers 1 4 0 0 4 0 Receiving Rec Yds 20+ 40+ L TD '68 Richard Trapp 3 55 1 0 26 1 '68 Haven Moses 3 32 0 0 14 0 '68 Monte Ledbetter 1 30 1 0 30 0 '68 Max Anderson 1 16 0 0 16 0 '68 Bob Cappadona 1 10 0 0 10 0 '68 Paul Costa 1 5 0 0 5 0 Passing Comp. Att. Yards TD INT '80 Archie Manning 17 29 282 2 0 Passing Comp. Att. Yards TD INT '68 Tom Flores 6 8 88 1 0 '68 Dan Darragh 4 27 60 0 1