How would you rank odd / unusual seasons?

[Lee Elder]

I suppose that you could point out something out of the ordinary in every season. This is an interesting exercise!

The 1969 season was a little different. The Jets won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1968 season in January of 1969 and you wondered what was going to happen next.

The Packers were no longer a factor. In fact, Vince Lombardi coached the Redskins that year. John Unitas was healthy again but the Colts did not reach the playoffs. The NFL champion Vikings were a bit out of the ordinary because their QB, Joe Kapp, had a different style of play. The Vikings had that stellar defense and played home games in a frozen stadium where both teams stood on the same sideline. It marked the fifth straight year the NFL's Western Division champs won the league title.

The entire AFL season was an afterglow from Super Bowl III. But the Jets did not return to the championship game. In fact, in retrospect, Joe Namath played his final post season game that year, losing to KC. Then the Chiefs matriculated the Vikes into a disaster and won Super Bowl IV easily.

If you don't classify the 1969 season as odd, then I guess you have to say there were some significant changes which got their start that year.

[Jay Z]

1967 for me ... The owners wanted realignment and extra revenue from a new playoff format that changed the postseason for the first time since 1933(other than playoffs for the division). With an extra bye week, the AFL Raiders might have taken advantage of the Packers in the SB but didnt capitalize, as the Packers stayed sharp throughout ... In 68 and 69 however, I believe the AFL took advantage of the extra week off compared to the NFL playoffs.

AFL didn't have an extra week off between AFL Championship Game and Super Bowl in 1969. They took two weeks off between their first round and the AFL Championship Game.

EDIT - Also both Jets and Colts had two weeks off before SB III.

[Brian wolf]

In 1968, the Jets and Colts played their final regular season games on 12/15 with both teams being victorious. The Jets had a bye the following week, while Baltimore had to play and beat the Vikings on 12/22. Both teams of course won their Championship games on 12/29 and had two weeks off for the SB, which should have helped the Colts more but did that extra week off waiting for the Raiders-Chiefs playoff winner, benefit the younger Jets ?

In 1969, the NFL oddly had the AFL playoffs start during the final week of the NFL season. While the Chiefs defeated the Jets, the Vikings lost its last regular season game. The following week, the Chiefs got a bye while the Vikings would play and beat the Rams in the divisional playoff. Both teams played the next two weeks with the Chiefs winning it all. I am convinced that extra week off while the Vikings played the Rams, helped enable the Chiefs to be victorious ...

[Brian wolf]

My point Jay Z was that both the Jets and Chiefs had bye weeks during the NFL playoffs both seasons ... That is why I consider Weeb Ewbank as one of, if not the best big-game coach because of his ability to utilize his bye weeks for rest and preparation before going 4-0 in SB/Championship games ... Had Namath not thrown into 30 mile an hour winds with a gimpy Maynard at receiver, I think Weeb and the Jets would have beaten KC in 1969 but the Chiefs handled the conditions better and deserved their win ...

[Bryan]

I suppose that you could point out something out of the ordinary in every season. This is an interesting exercise!

I think that at the time, probably moreso than in retrospect, the 1972 season was one of the most odd.

*Chiefs, Colts and VIkings all falling back to average

*Steelers being good for first time in franchise history

*Dolphins going undefeated

*Packers being good unexpectedly, and never really good again until Favre.

*Someone other than Vikings/Cowboys representing the NFC in the Super Bowl for only time between 1969-1978

*Immaculate Reception

[7DnBrnc53]

*Chiefs, Colts and VIkings all falling back to average

Not only did Baltimore and KC fall back to average, it turned out to be the end of the glory days for the current crew. The Colts didn't return to the playoffs until 1975 (with a new crew), and the Chiefs kept falling until Marv Levy came on in 1978. He did start to turn them around slowly, but he was fired by the meddlesome team president. Then, after more losing (with one outlier WC berth in 86), Schottenheimer brought back the winning to KC.

Also, besides the Steeler emergence, 1972 also saw the Broncos hire a coach in John Ralston that would start building an eventual SB participant.