For this thread, the poster team would be the 1976 Patriots.
After they lost in the 1976 AFC Divisional Round to the Raiders, they never really showed the promise of that season again. They did make the playoffs in 1978, but they lost their coach to Colorado, and the playoff game to the Oilers.
It took that franchise to 1985 to do anything significant in the playoffs, and they are remembered for being sacrificial lambs to the 85 Bears, and a drug scandal that broke after SB XX.
Losses that prevented a team from realizing potential
Losses that prevented a team from realizing potential
Last edited by 7DnBrnc53 on Wed Mar 11, 2026 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Losses that prevented a team from realizing potential
2007 Browns. Had they beat Cincinnati in week 16 + gotten in the playoffs, I would've given them a real shot against a wildly overrated Charger team that struggled to put away a Tennessee team that had the worst passing game ever for a playoff squad.
Essentially the 21st century equivalent of the '89 Packers- unlike other memorable one-hit wonders (2001 Bears, '98 Falcons) they flashed serious potential for one year and couldn't duplicate it.
Essentially the 21st century equivalent of the '89 Packers- unlike other memorable one-hit wonders (2001 Bears, '98 Falcons) they flashed serious potential for one year and couldn't duplicate it.
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Re: Losses that prevented a team from realizing potential
How about Raheem's 2010 Bucs? If they simply not lose that OT match to Detroit 3rd-last week, they not only get in at 6th-seed, but Green Bay gets boxed out! What did happen to them the following year? Why did Morris get instantly canned, yet alone never get another shot yet?
Re: Losses that prevented a team from realizing potential
Another poster child for this thread: The 1980 Falcons. Their loss to Dallas in the Divisional Playoffs that year was a watershed moment that started them on a downward spiral.
Leeman Bennett was fired two years later after a loss to the Vikings in the first round of the SB tourney, and it took the franchise 16 years to be true SB contenders (the 1991 and 95 WC teams were frauds).
Leeman Bennett was fired two years later after a loss to the Vikings in the first round of the SB tourney, and it took the franchise 16 years to be true SB contenders (the 1991 and 95 WC teams were frauds).