Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

2 game postseason: 1952 Lions - had to play the defending champion Rams who had appeared in the last 3 title games, and then faced the Browns who had won 5 titles in the last 6 seasons.

3 game postseason: 1977 Broncos - faced arguably the top three franchises of the decade, Steelers-Raiders-Cowboys.

4 game post-season: 1985 Patriots

- at New York Jets (Wild Card)
- at Los Angeles Raiders (Divisional Playoff)
- at Miami Dolphins (AFC Championship)
- vs. Chicago Bears (Super Bowl XX)

2005 Steelers

Wild card: at Bengals (11-5)
Divisional: at Colts (14-2)
Championship: at Broncos (13-3)

Super Bowl XL: vs. Seahawks

Four of the top offenses in the NFL that year. Seahawks #1 offense in points and #2 in yards.

First wild card team to win three games on the road and win the Super Bowl.

1997 Broncos

WC Round: The 11-5 Jaguars, a team that knocked them off in Denver the year before in the Divisional Round. They had Pro Bowl QB Mark Brunell, two 80-catch guys in McCardell and Jimmy Smith, a two-headed RB tandem of Means and Little Man Stewart, and a solid defense that had 48 QB sacks.

Divisional Round: @the 13-3 Chiefs. First seed in the AFC, and a better team than the one that went 13-3 two years earlier.

AFC Championship: @the AFC Central Champ Steelers, who Denver lost to 35-24 in December. They may not have been as good as their 1994 and 95 teams, but QB Kordell Stewart had an efficient year (3,020 yards passing, 21 TD's, 476 yards rushing), and Jerome Bettis had 1,665 rushing yards.

Super Bowl XXXII: The defending champion Packers, led by the three-time MVP Brett Favre, and featuring Reggie White, Leroy Butler, Antonio Freeman, 1,000-yard rusher Dorsey Levens, and Mark Chmura.

1975 Steelers

Divisional: Baltimore Colts (10-4)
AFC Championship: Oakland Raiders (11-3)
Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys (10-4)

That might not seem too intimidating on the surface in terms of won-loss records, but latter two went on to win the subsequent two Super Bowls (with Hall of Fame laden rosters), while former entered the post season on a 9 game winning streak.

In terms of opposing quarterbacks, ran the gauntlet of Bert Jones (with a QB rating of 89.1, very good for the era) followed by Ken Stabler and Roger Staubach.

The 2010 Jets had to face four likely Hall of Fame quarterbacks in their prime. It was so difficult, they couldn't even make it to the fourth one. The four were Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers.

The 1971 Dolphins had to face the AFC favorite on the road on Christmas, but beat KC. They then faced the defending Super Bowl champs and then came up short against the Cowboys, who were on a nine-game winning streak.

Some Guy From Mars wrote:1975 Steelers

Divisional: Baltimore Colts (10-4)
AFC Championship: Oakland Raiders (11-3)
Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys (10-4)

That might not seem too intimidating on the surface in terms of won-loss records, but latter two went on to win the subsequent two Super Bowls (with Hall of Fame laden rosters), while former entered the post season on a 9 game winning streak.

In terms of opposing quarterbacks, ran the gauntlet of Bert Jones (with a QB rating of 89.1, very good for the era) followed by Ken Stabler and Roger Staubach.

1975 Cowboys
-at Vikings
-at Rams
-vs. Steelers

Surprised '07 G-men have yet to be mentioned...

at Tampa Bay vs a good (though, ok, not great) Gruden team
at 13-3 top-seed Dallas
at very bitter-cold Lambeau vs another 13-3, the last great Favre Packer team (last Favre Packer team-period)

and...

Super Bowl XLII vs 18-0 Belichick/Brady Pats!!

The '11 installment also remarkable but not as much. That 15-1 Packer team they beat was not all that (beating SF a notable achievement though) and the Pats were not much different. They had a bad defense and, by now, it seems that Coughlin/Eli had their number during this immediate time. I expected G-men to win that game going in.

JWL wrote:The 2010 Jets had to face four likely Hall of Fame quarterbacks in their prime. It was so difficult, they couldn't even make it to the fourth one. The four were Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers.

Remember it well. We were an 11-5 team and couldn't even get a damn postseason home game.

Beat Manning on the road, beat Brady on the road (and that Patriots team at that time was an absolute juggernaut. They were playing better than the 2007 Patriots team that entered the Super Bowl) they were on a 13-1 run entering the Jets game and had outscored their last 5 opponents 184-47 and the Jets go up to Foxboro with Sanchez and beat them. That game is really one of the great upsets in NFL history. Of all time.