1972 Dolphins

Jay Z
Posts: 937
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:42 pm
Location: Madison WI

Re: 1972 Dolphins

Post by Jay Z »

Shipley wrote:Interesting no one has mentioned any teams from the 50s as candidates for the greatest list even though there were three back-to-backs (1952-53 Lions, 1954-55 Browns, 1958-59 Colts).
League was too deep at the time for single teams to dominate. Browns went 11-1 in 1951 and 1953 but lost the championship. Generally the distance between the top and bottom was less because only 12 teams. It's why Unitas got released, why Willie Davis and Henry Jordan just sat the bench for the Browns. Too much talent, the losing teams could still give the winners a battle. Changed after the AFL and expansion, that sort of talent was no longer freely available.
JuggernautJ
Posts: 1379
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:14 pm
Location: NinerLand, Ca.

Re: 1972 Dolphins

Post by JuggernautJ »

Shipley wrote:Interesting no one has mentioned any teams from the 50s as candidates for the greatest list even though there were three back-to-backs (1952-53 Lions, 1954-55 Browns, 1958-59 Colts).
We did discuss the '58-'59 Colts (vs. the '68 team) above.

I was trying to include one of the great Browns teams and thought the 1948 version representative of them all... an Undefeated Champion seemed like the best choice but later, NFL versions may be preferred by others.

I absolutely love the 1950's Lions but I don't know that I would consider any of their teams to be in the very first tier of all-time teams. Maybe the '52 version? It is hard for me to be objective on this one...

As back-to-back champions the 1948-'49 Eagles were also (obviously, by virtue of their championships) the best of their (limited) time but are they amongst the beat teams ever? Probably not.
User avatar
Bryan
Posts: 2509
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:37 am

Re: 1972 Dolphins

Post by Bryan »

Jay Z wrote:League was too deep at the time for single teams to dominate. Browns went 11-1 in 1951 and 1953 but lost the championship. Generally the distance between the top and bottom was less because only 12 teams. It's why Unitas got released, why Willie Davis and Henry Jordan just sat the bench for the Browns. Too much talent, the losing teams could still give the winners a battle. Changed after the AFL and expansion, that sort of talent was no longer freely available.
Agree with this. In 1957, you had 12 teams and 8 HOF QBs...and the title game was Tommy O'Connell versus Tobin Rote.
Lee Elder
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:55 pm

Re: 1972 Dolphins

Post by Lee Elder »

Brian wolf wrote:In my view JuggernautJ ... 1966 Packers, 1967-68 Colts, 1976 Raiders, 2003-04 Patriots ...
With respect, I can't agree with you on the 67-68 Colts. They were 2-1-1 against the Rams those seasons, only made the playoffs once and never won the title.
Brian wolf
Posts: 2981
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:43 am

Re: 1972 Dolphins

Post by Brian wolf »

Youre right Lee ... the best teams of all-time won their respective championships but I put that team out there because of how CLOSE they got. Had the Colts beaten the Jets, not only would people be talking about how great that 68 team was but I believe there never would have been a perfect 72 season for the Dolphins because Shula would have still been coaching in Baltimore. Rosenbloom would have never traded his team and Irsay would have never had his hands on them to leave town in the middle of the night.

Had the Colts won SB III, everyone would have been talking about that two-year period where Shula had the team undefeated after the first 13 games of the 1967 season and then undefeated their last 11 games of 1968. The team instead, lost those last games of those years after doing the same thing in 1964, a team that won 11 straight games before losing two out of their last three games, including the Championship ... So close but yet so far. Bryan was right, maybe the top NFL teams during 68-69 were overrated, due to the talent and great teams in the AFL but that two-year period for Baltimore was indeed high quality, which is why I put the 68 team as one of the greatest runner-ups. Teams have letdowns and unfortunately, the Colts had some of the worst letdowns at the worst times, in NFL history ...
Post Reply