1984 49ers = Overrated

[Brian wolf]

Haha ... we are all having some bragging rights fun and discussion on this forum and good debate is welcome for me.

As for the Broncos, if they are considered an average, multiple AFC Champion, then Dan Reeves should be in the HOF. Elway should be considered the greatest QB of all time. I think he is already the most physically gifted to ever play. The defenses and special teams don't get enough credit for being resourceful, opportunistic and mostly well-coordinated.

The Broncos in early 1992 came within four points of beating a Buffalo team on the road with eight overall HOF members including five players to almost reach the SB.

Homefield advantage always motivated these teams.

[Brian wolf]

Parcells played not to lose?

Other than Simms-to-Bavaro in NY, his teams had no major weapons. They ran the ball with tough runners to give their defense enough rest to bury opponents. Won everywhere he went, putting out fires from terrible teams, including his own Giants from 1983.

The Redskins coached themselves? With three different QBs winning SBs ... none a HOF? Offenses that could run or throw, a slow but opportunistic defense, offensive linemen that could maul teams with only one member in the HOF? Lucky I guess ...

[7DnBrnc53]

Then how do you explain better Cleveland/Houston rosters losing to basically an average 1 man team?

Simple. The Oilers were chokers with no killer instinct, and the Browns (in their first two AFC Title losses to Denver) made key mistakes and were too conservative at times.

[Brian wolf]

The Oilers couldn't win away from the dome. Cleveland's defense never had a pass rush to get to Elway. You can only cover receivers for so long. Warren Moon probably has the worst road winning pct as starter of any HOF QB ...

[CSKreager]

Then how do you explain better Cleveland/Houston rosters losing to basically an average 1 man team?

Simple. The Oilers were chokers with no killer instinct, and the Browns (in their first two AFC Title losses to Denver) made key mistakes and were too conservative at times.

Denver had no killer instinct either. They were a waste of time under Dan Reeves, propped up by the Mile High mystique and Elway 4th quarter bullshit

[Brian wolf]

Where does Elway rank for you CS ?

[Bryan]

Where does Elway rank for you CS ?

I'm guessing above Steve Fuller?

As for Denver always beating Cleveland/Houston, I have three thoughts:

1) You had two of the worst postseason coaches in Schottenheimer & Glanville, three if you include Pardee. But...

2) In a few of the games, two against Cleveland and one against Houston, the Broncos got a bit lucky. Maybe having Elway made you "lucky", but it wasn't Denver just dominated every game.

3) Denver had a finesse defense with Collier & Phillips, and Cleveland and Houston kind of had finesse offenses that didn't match up well. If teams had two weeks to prepare for Denver (in the SBs), then they could find the chinks in the armor so to speak. But the AFC teams didn't have that time.

[JWL]

Jeez. Every team sucked in the 1980s.

[7DnBrnc53]

Denver had no killer instinct either. They were a waste of time under Dan Reeves, propped up by the Mile High mystique and Elway 4th quarter bullshit

What Elway 4th quarter BS? The Drive? The Drive II against Houston?

Also, if the Broncos didn't have killer instinct, it wasn't as noticeable because the Reeves Broncos didn't have half the talent of the 1991-93 Oilers.

[lastcat3]

The 1984 49ers IMHO are the most overrated team in NFL history

People talk about the 72 Dolphins easy schedule. Look at the 84 49ers and THEIR schedule. I mean, half of their wins came against teams with .500 or worse records.

Awful AFC Central, worst Saints/Falcons pairing of that era, mediocre Eagles, Bucs/Lions/Vikings

No wonder their entire secondary made the Pro Bowl- they basically feasted on a buffet of QB mediocrity outside of Simms/Theismann until the SB

But worst of all was their attitude- they seemed emotionless, played with no joy, came off as robots. They somehow made an 18-1 season seem as exciting as a tax return.

There’s a reason why the 85 Bears had the same record and became legendary- they were cool. The 49ers just lacked an it factor and came off like they did not enjoy playing football.

Not only are the 84 49ers overrated (although I know someone who makes a good case for them being better than the 89 49ers), but the NFC as a whole was overrated from 1984-96 (which is why I call that the Super Bowl Myth era. Overrated NFC Teams were mythologized by blowing out average to weak AFC competition, with few exceptions).

You seem really bitter towards the NFC of that era to the point that you try to downplay how good some of those teams were. I get that you were probably an AFC fan but anybody who tries to argue against how loaded some of those NFC teams were during that era is simply in denial. San Francisco had a stacked roster for close to fifteen years with one of the best quarterbacks in the league at that time to go along with probably the best receiving groups and one of the best defenses in the league year in and year out. Washington was an excellently coached team that had a ton of extremely good (though not great) players. New York also had an excellent coaching staff and had a stacked defense in an era where teams still won championships with defense. Chicago had one of the most dominant defenses the league has ever seen for about a two or three year period. Jimmy Johnson had a great eye for talent and was also an extremely good motivator of young players and built up a stacked roster of young players.

I get the feeling that you are a little bitter because those late '90's Bronco teams are kind of forgotten about because they fell inbetween that NFC run of dominance and the Patriots dynasty.