So I was studying up about football to become a better supporter of the Carolina Panthers and I noticed something. The Carolina Panthers are the only active team in the NFL without back-to-back winning seasons.
Source:A Tally of Winning and Losing Seasons in the NFL
With a 7-9 record last year, and a predicted 8-8 record this year, it looks like they won’t start a winning streak any time soon.
So what interesting trivia fact can you share about your NFL team?
The Kansas City Chiefs have not drafted a quarterback who has won a game for them since Todd Blackledge in 1983 (7 picks before Jim Kelly, 20 picks before Dan Marino).
Tom Landry was a defensive back for the New York Giants, and had 32 career interceptions (including 3 that he returned for touchdowns).
Before the “Squish the Fish” game for the AFC title in 1986 that sent them to their first Super Bowl, the Patriots had *never *won a game in Miami in 18 previous tries.
The Bears have the NFL record for largest blowout victory (and largest shutout), 73-0 over the Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship game.
The Denver Broncos have never been shutout in a home game for their entire history since 1960 (includes the AFL games)
I’m not a Broncos fan, but they once played in a game where the other team (Oakland) scored in every possible way (touchdown, PAT, safety, and field goal) before the Broncos ran an offensive play.
On September 22, 1968, the New York Jets defeated the Patriots despite the fact that the Patriots scored an illegal touchdown against them (a player advanced the ball when it should have been ruled dead).
Just curious: How did Oakland score a safety without a Denver offensive play? Some bizarre snafu on the kickoff?
I can’t find anything about the game, but I would assume the Denver return man was tackled in the end zone or stepped out of bounds while still in the end zone. Either of those results in a safety.
I would argue that Oakland scored every possible point value (1, 2, 3, and 6), not every possible way since they did not complete a two-point conversion after a touchdown.
But that’s all a quibble. That’s a very interesting piece of trivia.
Is stepping out of bounds in the end zone a safety? Not sure. Getting tackled in the end zone on a kickoff would be a touchback, no? (Unless to runner came out of the end zone and got tackled back in.)
Sorry, still trying to understand this.
Stepping out of the end zone and being tackled in it with possession of the ball are both safeties. If a kick returner comes out and gets pushed back in, the ball is marked at the point forward progress stopped.
Well then I was wrong on many counts. Thanks for fighting my ignorance!
Also a safety is charged if the runner leaves the end zone and either:
I’ve seen both of these things happen in games at the college level.
Are you sure about #1? If the defense / kicking team recovers a fumble in the end zone, that’s a touchdown.
The defense/kicking team is not the receiving team.
Depends on when this was. 2 point conversion was not an option in the NFL until 1994. I’m not sure of the date of this game, so I can’t say whether it applies here though.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have never had cheerleaders.
RealityChuck didn’t say when the game was played, but Oakland and Denver were together in the old AFL before they merged with the NFL in 1970.
In the AFL, two-point conversions were allowed… though I can’t imagine why a team with a lead would ever bother attempting a two point conversion early in a game.
It wasn’t always attempted - if the holder fumbled the snap and ran or passed it in, that would be 2 points. IIRC the NFL rule is that you have to be trying for 2 to get 2 - line up in kick formation and you can only get 1, no matter how you do it.
I can’t seem to find this rule anywhere (my Google-fu is weak today), do you have a cite?