Best One-Year Wonder in NFL History?

[Oszuscik]

Who do you consider to be the best one-year wonder team in NFL history? A team that out of nowhere rose from the bottom for one season, and then promptly went back to obscurity the next year...

[Rupert Patrick]

The 1998 Falcons, followed by the 2001 Bears.

[Sonny9]

1989 Packers with Majkowskis big year going 10-6. They won a lot of close games.

they were 4-12 in 1988, 6-10 in 1990, and 4-12 in 1991

[ChrisBabcock]

1980 Falcons come to mind. Although the Grits Blitz of the late-70 sort of led up to this season.

[BD Sullivan]

The 2002 and 2007 versions of the Browns. The first was a playoff team that went 9-7 and should have won the WC game. They then went 19-45 the next four years until their fluke 10-6 non-playoff season, led by their equally-fluke QB Derek Anderson. Over the next decade, they went 38-122.

[lastcat3]

1980 Falcons come to mind. Although the Grits Blitz of the late-70 sort of led up to this season.

Yeah not sure the '80 Falcons really came out of nowhere. They were a playoff team in '78 and the '77 team while just barely missing the playoffs only allowed 9.2 ppg (that's an even better average than the '76 Steelers defense had).

[lastcat3]

Any time a team does this where they have just one season where they come out of obscurity I generally just say that that team got all the good dice roles for that particular year.

For my Front Office football league I am playing right now it would be the 2015 Jets. Strangely the 2015 Jets won the championship yet according to how good the Jets were around that time period they shouldn't have been anywhere near a championship in my game.

[Bob Gill]

Chicago Bears from 2000 to 2002: 5-11, outscored by 139 points; 13-3, outscored their opponents by 135; 4-12, outscored by 98. That's hard to beat.

Another team I often think of in this connection, though it's not a one-year blip: the Carolina Panthers from 2012 to 2018. In those seven consecutive seasons they went 7-9, 12-4, 7-8-1, 15-1, 6-10, 11-5, 7-9. If you graph that, it looks like radar of a guy on a pogo stick.

[lastcat3]

Chicago Bears from 2000 to 2002: 5-11, outscored by 139 points; 13-3, outscored their opponents by 135; 4-12, outscored by 98. That's hard to beat.

Another team I often think of in this connection, though it's not a one-year blip: the Carolina Panthers from 2012 to 2018. In those seven consecutive seasons they went 7-9, 12-4, 7-8-1, 15-1, 6-10, 11-5, 7-9. If you graph that, it looks like radar of a guy on a pogo stick.

I think that may have something to do with some inconsistent play on Cam Newton's part. For the most part the years they had good records he threw for over twenty touchdowns. In the years they didn't have good records he threw for less than twenty touchdowns.

[Reaser]

1925 Cardinals.

Previous: couldn't beat the good teams, won/loss/tied against average teams, beat the teams at the bottom of the 'standings' (the 1920's bottom of the standings teams ...)

1925: 'Win' championship (everyone is familiar so don't need to type it all out)

Post: Sell best player to cross-town rival, went back to what they were previously/arguably worse and spend the next 20 years with a few of those type of seasons but more mixed with bad teams and some more than bad teams.

Taking into account the whole picture, '25 Cardinals stick out, particularly for one season / one-year wonder.