Best and Worst

[SWC75]

(I started putting this together when both the Packers and Colts were “perfect”)

With the Packers and the Colts charging toward perfection in opposite directions the question naturally comes up: how do they rate vs. the best and the worst teams in pro football history?
One way to look at that is to look at their won lost records.

Eight teams have completed the regular season without being defeated. The first four of them played before the NFL split into divisions and began having championship games and all played ties:
1920 Akron Pros 8 wins 0 losses, 3 ties
1922 Canton Bulldogs 10 wins 0 losses 2 ties
1923 Canton Bulldogs 11 wins 0 losses 1 tie
1929 Green Bay Packers 12 wins 0 losses 1 tie
Two Chicago Bear teams won all their regular season games but lost in the NFL title game:
1934 Chicago Bears 13-0-0 Lost to the New York Giants, 13-30 in the title game.
1942 Chicago Bears 11-0-0 Lost to the Washington Redskins 6-14 in the NFL title game.
One team from the All-America Conference ran the table:
1948 Cleveland Browns 14-0-0 Beat the Buffalo Bills 49-7 in the AAFC title game.
And one team did it in the NFL:
1972 Miami Dolphins 14-0-0 Beat the Cleveland Browns, 20-14, the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17 and then the Washington Redskins 14-7 in the Super Bowl.
Then there was:
2007 New England Patriots 16-0-0 Beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-20 and the San Diego Chargers 21-12 but lost to the New York Giants 14-17 in the Super Bowl.
Now we have the Packers and it will be interesting to see how far they can go.
　
On the other end of the scale we have the teams that lost all their games. Many of the early teams that went winless also went out of business before their schedule was completed. I’ll include teams from the pre championship games era only if they played as many games as the team that “won the pennant”, (there were none). From the first championship game, (1933), I’ll include them unless they clearly played less games than the other teams and don’t appear in the next year’s standings.
1942 Detroit Lions 0-11-0
1943 Chicago Cardinals 0-10-0
1944 Brooklyn Tigers 0-10-0
1944 Card-Pitt 0-10-0
(The Cardinals and Steelers combined their team for the 1944 season. It didn’t help.)
1960 Dallas Cowboys 0-11-1
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0-14-0
1982 Baltimore Colts 0-8-1 (strike shortened year)
2008 Detroit Lions 0-16-0

But what about the teams that lost or won only 1-2 games? Some of those teams were pretty good teams, too. How do we evaluate them. How about going beyond the won-loss record to look at point differentials?

Here are the teams in NFL history that have outscored their opposition by at least 10 points per game, in chronological order. I have included post season games in the computation, (allowing the 1940 Bears to make the list, among other teams that had big post season victory margins). I have excluded exhibition games, (including the “playoff bowl” between second place teams in the 1960’s), and games against non-league opponents, (of which there were many in 1920’s that nonetheless showed up in the team’s final record as reported by most sources).
　
And here are the teams that have defeated their opponents by an average of at least ten points a game, in chronological order:
1920 Akron Pros +10.6
1920 Dayton Triangles +10.0
1921 Buffalo All-Americans +15.2
1922 Rock Island Independents +18.1
1922 Canton Bulldogs +14.1
1923 Canton Bulldogs +18.9
1924 Cleveland Bulldogs +18.8
1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets +15.5
1925 Pottsville Maroons +18.8
1925 Chicago Cardinals +11.8
1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets +11.0
1927 New York Giants +13.6
1928 Detroit Wolverines +11.3
1929 New York Giants +15.1
1929 Green Bay Packers +13.5
1930 New York Giants +12.4
1931 Green Bay Packers +14.6
1934 Detroit Lions +13.8
1934 Chicago Bears +13.1
1936 Green Bay Packers +11.2
1936 Detroit Lions +11.1
1936 Chicago Bears +10.7
1938 New York Giants +10.1
1939 Washington Redskins +13.5
1939 Chicago Bears +12.8
1940 Chicago Bears +13.3 (they had been +7.8 before beating the Redskins 73-0)
1941 Chicago Bears +22.8
1942 Chicago Bears +23.7
1942 Washington Redskins +11.1
1943 Chicago Bears +15.1
1944 Philadelphia Eagles +13.6
1944 New York Giants +11.3
1945 Philadelphia Eagles +13.9
1946 Cleveland Browns +19.4
1947 Cleveland Browns +15.7
1947 Chicago Bears +10.2
1948 Philadelphia Eagles +18.9
1948 Chicago Bears +18.7
1948 San Francisco 49ers +17.6
1948 Cleveland Browns +16.1
1948 Chicago Cardinals +13.0
1949 Philadelphia Eagles +16.6
1949 Cleveland Browns +13.7
1949 San Francisco 49ers +13.2
1950 Cleveland Browns +12.4
1950 Los Angeles Rams +11.8
1951 Cleveland Browns +13.2
1951 Los Angeles Rams +10.6
1952 Detroit Lions +12.9
1953 Cleveland Browns +14.2
1953 Philadelphia Eagles +11.4
1953 San Francisco 49ers +11.3
1953 Los Angeles Rams +10.8
1954 Cleveland Browns +16.9
1955 Cleveland Browns +11.9
1958 Baltimore Colts +14.2
1959 Baltimore Colts +10.6
1960 Cleveland Browns +12.1
1961 Houston Oilers +17.6
1961 Green Bay Packers +13.7
1961 San Diego Chargers +11.3
1962 Green Bay Packers +18.4
1962 Dallas Texans +10.6
1963 San Diego Chargers +12.3
1963 Green Bay Packers +11.6
1963 New York Giants +10.9
1963 Chicago Bears +10.7
1964 Baltimore Colts +11.7
1964 Buffalo Bills +11.4
1966 Dallas Cowboys +13.3
1966 Green Bay Packers +12.8
1966 Kansas City Chiefs +10.7
1966 Cleveland Browns +10.3
1967 Oakland Raiders +15.6
1967 Baltimore Colts +14.0
1967 Los Angeles Rams +12.1
1968 Baltimore Colts +17.2
1968 Dallas Cowboys +15.6
1968 Oakland Raiders +14.4
1968 Kansas City Chiefs +11.1
1969 Minnesota Vikings +14.9
1969 Kansas City Chiefs +12.6
1970 Minnesota Vikings +12.6
1970 Detroit Lions +10.0
1971 Dallas Cowboys +13.2
1971 Baltimore Colts +10.6
1972 Miami Dolphins +13.6
1972 Pittsburgh Steelers +10.6
1973 Miami Dolphins +14.4
1973 Los Angeles Rams +13.3
1973 Dallas Cowboys +10.8
1975 Pittsburgh Steelers +14.1
1975 Minnesota Vikings +12.9
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers +13.3
1977 Dallas Cowboys +11.6
1978 Pittsburgh Steelers +11.4
1978 Dallas Cowboys +10.9
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers +10.5
1979 San Diego Chargers +10.1
1983 Washington Redskins +11.9
1984 San Francisco 49ers +16.0
1984 Miami Dolphins +12.2
1985 Chicago Bears +17.8
1986 New York Giants +11.4
1987 San Francisco 49ers +11.4
1989 San Francisco 49ers +15.2
1990 Buffalo Bills +11.7
1991 Washington Redskins +16.9
1992 Dallas Cowboys +12.4
1992 San Francisco 49ers +10.7
1993 San Francisco 49ers +11.2
1993 Dallas Cowboys +10.1
1994 San Francisco 49ers +14.3
1994 Dallas Cowboys +10.1
1995 San Francisco 49ers +11.1
1996 Green Bay Packers +15.7
1997 Denver Broncos +11.2
1998 Minnesota Vikings +15.4
1998 Denver Broncos +13.4
1999 St. Louis Rams +16.2
1999 Jacksonville Jaguars +11.9
2000 Baltimore Ravens +12.0
2000 Oakland Raiders +10.8
2001 St. Louis Rams +13.7
2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers +11.5
2004 New England Patriots +11.1
2005 Indianapolis Colts +11.1
2005 Seattle Seahawks +10.5
2006 San Diego Chargers +10.9
2007 New England Patriots +17.5
2007 Indianapolis Colts +10.8
2009 New Orleans Saints +11.4
2010 New England Patriots +11.6
The All-Time Top 25:
1- 1942 Chicago Bears +23.7
2- 1941 Chicago Bears +22.8
3- 1946 Cleveland Browns +19.4
4- 1923 Canton Bulldogs +18.9
4- 1946 Philadelphia Eagles +18.9
6- 1924 Cleveland Bulldogs +18.8
6- 1925 Pottsville Maroons +18.8
8- 1948 Chicago Bears +18.7
9- 1962 Green Bay Packers +18.4
10- 1921 Rock Island Independents +18.1
11- 1985 Chicago Bears +17.8
12- 1948 San Francisco 49ers +17.6
12- 1961 Houston Oilers +17.6
14- 2007 New England Patriots +17.5
15- 1968 Baltimore Colts +17.2
16- 1954 Cleveland Browns +16.9
16- 1991 Washington Redskins +16.9
18- 1949 Philadelphia Eagles +16.6
19- 1999 St. Louis Rams +16.2
20- 1948 Cleveland Browns +16.1
21- 1984 San Francisco 49ers +16.0
22- 1947 Cleveland Browns +15.7
23- 1996 Green Bay Packers +15.7
24- 1967 Oakland Raiders +15.6
25- 1968 Dallas Cowboys +15.6

Some great runs:
Chicago Bears 1939-1948
+12.8, +13.3, +22.8, +23.7, +15.1, +8.6, -4.3, +8.8, +10.2, +18.7
Philadelphia Eagles 1944-1949
+13.6, +13.9, +1.0, +4.5, +17.5, +18.8
Cleveland Browns 1946-1955
+19.1, +15.7, +16.1, +13.7, +12.4, +13.2, +6.7, +14.3, +16.9, +11.9
Green Bay Packers 1960-1967
+9.2, +13.6, +18.4, +11.7, +6.9, +6.6, +12.8, +9.8
Dallas Cowboys 1966-1978
+13.3, +6.8, +15.6, +8.1, +5.1, +13.2, +3.6, +10.8, +4.4, +6.5, +6.7, +11.6, +10.9
Oakland Raiders 1967-1976
+15.6, +15.7, +10.9, +0.3, +4.7, +7.4, +7.4, +7.4, +7.3, +8.9
Minnesota Vikings 1969-1976
+14.9, +12.6, +6.5, +3.5, +7.9, +7.5, +12.9, +8.1
Miami Dolphins 1970-1978
+4.6, +8.5, +13.6, +14.4, +7.3, +9.6, -0.1, +8.3, +6.5
Pittsburgh Steelers 1972-1979
+10.6, +7.9, +9.1, +14.1, +13.3, +1.8, +12.8, +11.8
San Francisco 49ers 1983-1998
+7.6, +16.0, +8.9, +4.8, +12.1, +4.2, +15.2, + 7.2, +9.6, +10.7, +11.2, +14.3, +11.1, +7.4, +6.3, +8.4
Dallas Cowboys 1992-1995
+10.6, +8.6+, +10.1, +9.7
New England Patriots 2001-2011
+5.9, +2.2, +6.6, +11.1, +2.9, +8.8, +17.5, +6.3, +7.2, +11.6
Indianapolis Colts 2003-2010
+7.3, +9.0, +11.1, +5.4, +10.8, +5.0, +5.7, +2.8

 

[SWC75]

And here are the worst teams in NFL history. These are the teams that averaged being beaten by at least 10 points per game. I have excluded teams that apparently disbanded prior to the end of the season. Early schedules were irregular but I assumed that if a team played at least 10 games, they completed their season.
1923 Oorang Indians -18.8
1929 Minneapolis Red Jackets -13.7
1930 Frankford Yellow Jackets -11.5
1930 Newark Tornados -11.6
1933 Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers) -12.8
1934 Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers) -12.9
1935 Philadelphia Eagles -10.8
1936 Philadelphia Eagles -12.9
1937 Cleveland Rams -12.0
1939 Brooklyn Dodgers -10.1
1939 Chicago Cardinals -15.5
1940 Pittsburgh Steelers -10.7
1941 Pittsburgh Steelers -15.7
1941 Cleveland Rams -11.6
1942 Detroit Lions -20.5
1942 Chicago Cardinals -10.1
1943 Brooklyn Dodgers -16.9
1943 Chicago Cardinals -14.3
1944 Card-Pitt “Carpets“-22.0
1945 Pittsburgh Steelers -14.1
1945 Chicago Cardinals -13.0
1946 Detroit Lions -15.3
1946 Miami Seahawks -15.1
1947 Baltimore Colts -15.0
1947 Chicago Rockets -11.6
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers -11.4
1948 Detroit Lions -17.3
1948 Chicago Rockets -16.9
1948 Boston Yanks -16.5
1948 Green Bay Packers -11.3
1949 New York Bulldogs -17.9
1949 Green Bay Packers -17.9
1949 Baltimore Colts -14.1
1950 Green Bay Packers -13.5
1950 Baltimore Colts -20.8
1951 Green Bay Packers -10.1
1951 New York Yanks -11.8
1952 Dallas Texans -20.4
1953 Baltimore Colts -14.0
1953 Chicago Cardinals -12.3
1953 Green Bay Packers -11.5
1954 Washington Redskins -18.8
1954 Chicago Cardinals -13.7
1954 Baltimore Colts -12.3
1958 Green Bay Packers -15.8
1959 Washington Redskins -13.8
1960 Dallas Cowboys -16.0
1960 Washington Redskins -10.9
1961 Washington Redskins -15.6
1961 Oakland Raiders -13.8
1961 Denver Broncos -11.3
1961 Dallas Cowboys -10.3
1962 Oakland Raiders -11.2
1962 Minnesota Vikings -11.1
1962 New York Titans -10.4
1963 Los Angeles Rams -10.0
1963 San Francisco 49ers -13.8
1963 Denver Broncos -12.3
1963 New York Jets -10.7
1964 Denver Broncos -12.4
1964 New York Giants -11.3
1965 Pittsburgh Steelers -13.9
1966 New York Giants -17.0
1966 Atlanta Falcons -16.6
1966 Denver Broncos -13.2
1966 Miami Dolphins -10.6
1967 Atlanta Falcons -17.6
1967 Miami Dolphins -13.4
1967 Denver Broncos -10.9
1967 New Orleans Saints -10.4
1968 Atlanta Falcons -15.6
1968 Boston Patriots -12.6
1968 Buffalo Bills -12.0
1968 Pittsburgh Steelers -10.9
1968 Philadelphia Eagles -10.6
1968 Denver Broncos -10.6
1969 Pittsburgh Steelers -13.3
1970 Boston Patriots -15.1
1970 New Orleans Saints -12.5
1971 Buffalo Bills -15.0
1972 New England Patriots -18.1
1972 Houston Oilers -15.4
1972 Philadelphia Eagles -14.8
1972 New Orleans Saints -10.4
1973 Houston Oilers -17.7
1973 San Diego Chargers -14.1
1973 New Orleans Saints -10.6
1974 Atlanta Falcons -11.4
1975 New Orleans Saints -13.9
1975 Chicago Bears -13.4
1975 New York Jets -12.5
1975 San Diego Chargers -11.1
1975 Cleveland Browns -11.0
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -20.5
1976 New York Jets -15.3
1976 Seattle Seahawks -14.3
1976 Atlanta Flacons -10.0
1977 Buffalo Bills -10.9
1978 Baltimore Colts -11.4
1980 New Orleans Saints -12.3
1980 New York Giants -11.0
1981 Baltimore Colts -17.1
1981 New Orleans Saints -10.7
1982 Baltimore Colts -13.7
1982 Houston Oilers -12.1
1983 Houston Oilers -10.8
1984 Minnesota Vikings -13.0
1984 Buffalo Bills -12.8
1984 Houston Oilers -12.3
1984 Indianapolis Colts -10.9
1985 Buffalo Bills -11.3
1985 Atlanta Falcons -10.6
1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -14.6
1986 Indianapolis Colts -10.7
1986 Green Bay Packers -10.3
1987 Atlanta Falcons -15.4
1989 Dallas Cowboys -11.8
1990 New England Patriots -16.6
1990 Cleveland Browns -14.6
1991 Indianapolis Colts -14.9
1991 Cincinnati Bengals -10.8
1991 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -10.4
1992 Seattle Seahawks -10.8
1993 Indianapolis Colts -11.3
1996 New York Jets -10.9
1998 Cincinnati Bengals -11.5
1998 Philadelphia Eagles -11.4
1999 Cleveland Browns -13.8
1999 Cincinnati Bengals -11.1
1999 New Orleans Saints -10.9
2000 Cleveland Browns -16.1
2000 Arizona Cardinals -14.6
2000 Cincinnati Bengals -10.9
2000 San Diego Chargers -10.7
2000 Atlanta Falcons -10.1
2002 Cincinnati Bengals -11.1
2003 Arizona Cardinals -14.3
2004 San Francisco 49ers -12.1
2005 San Francisco 49ers -11.8
2005 Houston Texans -10.7
2005 New Orleans Saints -10.2
2006 Oakland Raiders -10.3
2007 St. Louis Rams -10.9
2007 Miami Dolphins -10.6
2008 Detroit Lions -15.6
2008 St. Louis Rams -14.6
2008 Cincinnati Bengals -10.0
2009 St. Louis Rams -16.3
2009 Detroit Lions -14.5
2009 Oakland Raiders -11.4
2010 Carolina Panthers -13.3
2011 St. Louis Rams -13.4
2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -12.9
2011 Indianapolis Colts -11.7

The Bottom 25
1) 1944 Card-Pitt “Carpets“-22.0
2) 1950 Baltimore Colts -20.8
3) 1952 Dallas Texans -20.4
4) 1942 Detroit Lions -20.5
5) 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers -20.5
6) 1923 Oorang Indians -18.8
6) 1954 Washington Redskins -18.8
8) 1972 New England Patriots -18.1
9) 1949 New York Bulldogs -17.9
9) 1949 Green Bay Packers -17.9
11) 1973 Houston Oilers -17.7
12) 1967 Atlanta Falcons -17.6
13) 1948 Detroit Lions -17.3
14) 1981 Baltimore Colts -17.1
15) 1966 New York Giants -17.0
16) 1948 Chicago Rockets -16.9
16) 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers -16.9
18) 1966 Atlanta Falcons -16.6
18) 1990 New England Patriots -16.6
20) 1948 Boston Yanks -16.5
21) 2009 St. Louis Rams -16.3
22) 1960 Dallas Cowboys -16.0
23) 1958 Green Bay Packers -15.8
24) 1941 Pittsburgh Steelers -15.7
25) 1961 Washington Redskins -15.6
25) 1968 Atlanta Falcons -15.6
25) 2008 Detroit Lions -15.6
　
So, who were the “Carpets“? During the war, teams were having trouble staying in business with the best players in the service and fans with other things on their mind. The Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to combine operations to save money and improve their teams. And they could use improvement. The Cardinals had been 0-10, (-14.3). The Steelers had done the same thing the year before with the Eagles and the “Steagles” had gone 5-4-1. But that was mostly due to the Eagles, who were embarking on the greatest period of their history, (see above). The Cardinals and Steelers decided to call their combined 1944 team “Card-Pitt”, (“Card” because there were two teams in Chicago). Now you might have though a team that used the best players from two teams would be reasonably competitive but their training camp was described as “the largest collection of lousy football players in history”. It was almost as if they had the depth chart upside down and started the worst players rather than the best ones. The result was a winless team that lost it’s games by the greatest margin in NFL history. Since they were being walked all over game after game, people started calling Card-Pitt the “Carpets” and it was a good name for the worst team of all time.

The “Oorang Indians” were a team created by one Walter Lingo, a friend of Jim Thorpe’s who owned the Oorang dog kennel. To advertise his business, he purchased an NFL franchise for $100 and had Thorpe organize an all-Native American team. Thorpe and two other famous players from the Carlisle Indian school, Joe Guyon and Pete Calac. But they were well past their primes and the rest of the team wasn’t very good. They also played no home games, just road games. The result was another one of the worst teams in NFL history. But not the worst. That title clearly belongs to the Carpets.

So how do the teams this year rate? The worst teams are “in the book”, since they didn’t make the playoffs.
St. Louis -13.4
Tampa Bay -12.9
Indianapolis -11.7
None of these teams came anywhere near to the “bottom 25”.

The top teams, of course are in the playoffs and the book is not yet closed on them. But here is how they stood going into the playoffs:
New Orleans +13.0
Green Bay +12.9
New England +10.7
None of those teams are anywhere near the top 25, (interesting the cut off for both the top 25 and bottom 25 is the same: +/- 15.6). New Orleans won their first playoff game by 17 points. They have now outscored their opposition by 225 points in 17 games. The Super Bowl would be their 20th game. To outscore their opposition by 15.6 points per game on the season they would have to get to +312, meaning they’d have to win their next three games by a total of 87 points, (29 per game).

Basically, there were no historically great or terrible teams in this NFL season, just some very good ones and some very bad ones.

 

[SUintheVille]

Goodness sake SWC. Those are unbelievable stats and info. Where do you find all of this? Ever thought of congregating all your many statistical sports posts over time together into some sort of book?

 

[SWC75]

Goodness sake SWC. Those are unbelievable stats and info. Where do you find all of this? Ever thought of congregating all your many statistical sports posts over time together into some sort of book?

Pro Football.com ahs all the necessary info, although I have earlier books on it. This forum provides me with enough of an outlet.