Is the 2003 Vikings collapse the worst in NFL history?

[Football_Bachelor08]

Typically when teams start out hot and fizzle out as the season wears on, it's usually due to the schedule getting tougher, relying too much on close calls, or key players suffering untimely injuries.

None of these were the case for the '03 Vikes, who started 6-0 and actually played well against top tier teams and didn't lose any key players to injury. 

If anything, there schedule got easier. 5 of their 7 losses down the stretch were to teams with losing records, four of whom finished 4-12.

I can't think of another late season collapse that happened due to a team playing down to its competition. To me, this one is the most inexcusable.

Edited July 4 by Football_Bachelor08

[iknowcool]

2009 Broncos might rival them.  Josh McDaniels was making a lot of people look foolish those first 6 weeks.  Defense was lights out.  Kyle Orton & the offense were playing well.  During their 6-game stretch, they beat the Bengals, Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers.  All won 10+ games and their respective division.  They finished 8-8.

Of teams that still made the playoffs, maybe the 2008 Giants.  That was a damn good team, certainly one of the better teams off the top of my head to go one-and-done in the playoffs.  They were 10-1 before Plaxico shot himself.  They lost 3 of their final 4 and couldn't do anything against Philly in the playoffs.  I'd say that squad was better than the ones that won the Super Bowl (07 and 11).

[Football_Bachelor08]

37 minutes ago, iknowcool said:

2009 Broncos might rival them.  Josh McDaniels was making a lot of people look foolish those first 6 weeks.  Defense was lights out.  Kyle Orton & the offense were playing well.  During their 6-game stretch, they beat the Bengals, Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers.  All won 10+ games and their respective division.  They finished 8-8.

Of teams that still made the playoffs, maybe the 2008 Giants.  That was a damn good team, certainly one of the better teams off the top of my head to go one-and-done in the playoffs.  They were 10-1 before Plaxico shot himself.  They lost 3 of their final 4 and couldn't do anything against Philly in the playoffs.  I'd say that squad was better than the ones that won the Super Bowl (07 and 11).

For playoff teams, my choice would be the 2021 Cardinals. The division was theirs to lose when the Rams lost 3 in a row in November, then they just fell apart. The collapse included an embarrassing shellacking by Detroit and ended with another shellacking at the hands of the Rams.

[Soko]

The Steelers started 11-0 a couple years ago. Lost 4/5, then got bounced in the first round, giving up 48 points to a division rival in Cleveland, which IIRC was their first playoff win since returning to Cleveland.

Last year’s Philly team was an epic collapse, maybe not the worst ever. But starting 10-1, losing 5/6, then getting blown out against a pretty undermanned Bucs team…not pretty.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

It's bad, but not really. I think the season before where the Saints started 9-4, and bottomed out to 9-7 losing their final three games to the likes of the Vikings, Bengals, and Panthers (both games at home) was just as bad, if not worse. One win, and the Saints make the playoffs. This was a team that beat 12-4 Green Bay, and swept the eventual champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Both the Saints, and Vikings in those years had lackluster defenses though, and lacked the killer-instinct which ultimately led to the firing of Mike Tice, and Jim Haslett when the bottom eventually fell out in both their tenures. 

1987 Chargers going 8-1, and finishing 8-7 (losing six straight with their only loss up to that point on opening day) missing the playoffs is pretty horrible. 

[Football_Bachelor08]

52 minutes ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

It's bad, but not really. I think the season before where the Saints started 9-4, and bottomed out to 9-7 losing their final three games to the likes of the Vikings, Bengals, and Panthers (both games at home) was just as bad, if not worse. One win, and the Saints make the playoffs. This was a team that beat 12-4 Green Bay, and swept the eventual champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Both the Saints, and Vikings in those years had lackluster defenses though, and lacked the killer-instinct which ultimately led to the firing of Mike Tice, and Jim Haslett when the bottom eventually fell out in both their tenures. 

1987 Chargers going 8-1, and finishing 8-7 (losing six straight with their only loss up to that point on opening day) missing the playoffs is pretty horrible. 

I forgot about the '02 Saints. Then again, so did NFL Network since they weren't included on the Worst Collapses list.

[7DnBrnc53]

1 hour ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

1987 Chargers going 8-1, and finishing 8-7 (losing six straight with their only loss up to that point on opening day) missing the playoffs is pretty horrible. 

That Charger team opened up 1-1, but was a play away from starting 0-2:

 

What helped them was that they won all three of their strike games (@Cin, @TB, @Raiders by a combined total of 11 points). That gave them momentum for a little while when they came back (winning their next four games), but the bottom fell out the last six weeks. This was a team that probably wouldn't have been in this position if the strike didn't happen.

 

Edited July 5 by 7DnBrnc53

[FrantikRam]

15 hours ago, Soko said:

The Steelers started 11-0 a couple years ago. Lost 4/5, then got bounced in the first round, giving up 48 points to a division rival in Cleveland, which IIRC was their first playoff win since returning to Cleveland.

Last year’s Philly team was an epic collapse, maybe not the worst ever. But starting 10-1, losing 5/6, then getting blown out against a pretty undermanned Bucs team…not pretty.

 

The Eagles last year was a wild example.....most of the same roster that came close to winning it all. Lost at home to the Cardinals down the stretch....

[Football_Bachelor08]

19 hours ago, FrantikRam said:

 

The Eagles last year was a wild example.....most of the same roster that came close to winning it all. Lost at home to the Cardinals down the stretch....

In hindsight, we probably should have seen it coming since they were living on the edge even before they fell apart.

[BroncoSojia]

On 7/4/2024 at 3:10 PM, iknowcool said:

2009 Broncos might rival them.  Josh McDaniels was making a lot of people look foolish those first 6 weeks.  Defense was lights out.  Kyle Orton & the offense were playing well.  During their 6-game stretch, they beat the Bengals, Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers.  All won 10+ games and their respective division.  They finished 8-8.

Of teams that still made the playoffs, maybe the 2008 Giants.  That was a damn good team, certainly one of the better teams off the top of my head to go one-and-done in the playoffs.  They were 10-1 before Plaxico shot himself.  They lost 3 of their final 4 and couldn't do anything against Philly in the playoffs.  I'd say that squad was better than the ones that won the Super Bowl (07 and 11).

2008 was worse. We needed one win our in last 3 games to win the division and we lost all 3. The last game of the season was a 53-21 blowout loss to the Chargers and afterwards, Mike Shanahan was fired.

[iknowcool]

6 minutes ago, BroncoSojia said:

2008 was worse. We needed one win our in last 3 games to win the division and we lost all 3. The last game of the season was a 53-21 blowout loss to the Chargers and afterwards, Mike Shanahan was fired.

They looked like a team on the rise too.  People were high on Cutler at the time, Clady and Royal were very good their rookie year, it didn't matter who was at RB for them, and of course Brandon Marshall.  I wonder how differently things play out long-term if they make the playoffs that year.

[7DnBrnc53]

41 minutes ago, iknowcool said:

They looked like a team on the rise too.  People were high on Cutler at the time, Clady and Royal were very good their rookie year, it didn't matter who was at RB for them, and of course Brandon Marshall.  I wonder how differently things play out long-term if they make the playoffs that year.

That loss turned out to be the beginning of the end for the franchise. They brought in McChild for about two years, and then in 2011, they brought in the franchise killer, John Elway.

His tyranny was held in check for a few years because of Peyton (and Bowlen and Adam Peters were still there). However, after all of them left, the franchise hasn't made the playoffs since (he isn't in an official capacity today, but his FO and his nephew are still there, and they have been drafting the same crappy types of players since 2017. He still has influence over that organization because the new owners are too stupid to get rid of him and that FO).

Edited July 6 by 7DnBrnc53

[Football_Bachelor08]

1 hour ago, BroncoSojia said:

2008 was worse. We needed one win our in last 3 games to win the division and we lost all 3. The last game of the season was a 53-21 blowout loss to the Chargers and afterwards, Mike Shanahan was fired.

Firing Shanahan was a move I always thought was a bit impulsive, even with tha collapse in mind.

I can't picture Shanahan trading Cutler for Kyle Orton.

[BroncoSojia]

2 hours ago, Football_Bachelor08 said:

Firing Shanahan was a move I always thought was a bit impulsive, even with tha collapse in mind.

I can't picture Shanahan trading Cutler for Kyle Orton.

I honestly believe that if we kept Shanahan around with Cutler his whole career, he would've been a borderline HOFer as a player. The issue was that Mike was also GM of the team and he was terrible at drafting and bringing in FAs. On top of cycling through defensive coordinators and refusing to abdicate personnel responsibilities, Bowlen felt he had to go. Afterwards, Bowlen apparently learned nothing from the Shanahan situation and gave McD full control over the team shortly after hiring him, which led to Cutler being traded.  

[INbengalfan]

On 7/4/2024 at 11:09 PM, Soko said:

The Steelers started 11-0 a couple years ago. Lost 4/5, then got bounced in the first round, giving up 48 points to a division rival in Cleveland, which IIRC was their first playoff win since returning to Cleveland.

Last year’s Philly team was an epic collapse, maybe not the worst ever. But starting 10-1, losing 5/6, then getting blown out against a pretty undermanned Bucs team…not pretty.

Ryan Finley and that meme are legendary from that MNF game when the Bengals beat them.

 

Agreed on Philly for sure as well, and I'd throw in Jax last season as well.  That collapse was epic, and coupled with Gardner Minshew throwing behind Moss on fourth and goal against the Texans, allowed the streaking Texans to slip into the playoffs and win a game.