Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 6:27 pm Haha ... I thought I liked stirring the pot!

CS might have me beat ... bad opponents or not, the Niners were the first team to win 15 games in a regular season and still won it all, shutting out Da Bears and making Marino run for his life.

If any 15-1 team is overrated it's the 2011 Packers, who fell on their face at home in the divisional against a 9-7 Giants team.

In some ways the 1984 SF team set a pattern for beating the AFC's teams in the SB, by building incredible depth on both sides of the ball. You had to beat them physically, like the Steelers did, to succeed.

CSKreager wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 4:56 pm The 1984 49ers IMHO are the most overrated team in NFL history ...

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.

Bob Gill wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 9:28 pm

CSKreager wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 4:56 pm The 1984 49ers IMHO are the most overrated team in NFL history ...

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.

I think that's kind of ridiculous, but I think you did mention a really overrated team: the 1985 Bears. They went 15-1 (winning a weak division in a walk) and routed an 11-5 AFC team quarterbacked by Tony Eason and coached by Raymond Berry; the 49ers went 15-1 and trounced a 14-2 team with Dan Marino (in his best year) at quarterback and Don Shula as coach. To my mind, those accomplishments are not remotely similar. It seems like you're giving them extra points for making a rap commercial, which is kind of the definition of overrated because it has nothing to do with what happens on the field.

CSKreager wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 4:56 pm 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.

7DnBrnc53 wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 4:54 am

CSKreager wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2024 4:56 pm 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).