Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Regardless of who you think is the best (in my opinion the '92 Cowboys) I think it is telling what a lot of people seem to think salary cap did to the league. Most everyone has teams from the early and mid '90's (a period where free agency hadn't yet torn apart rosters) ahead of teams from the late '90's (when the salary cap was starting to take its hold on things). Even though I know parity is better for the league as a whole it does make you long for the days when teams were truly great and they had rosters that were about two to three times as talented as what we have seen during the current era.

lastcat3 wrote:Regardless of who you think is the best (in my opinion the '92 Cowboys) I think it is telling what a lot of people seem to think salary cap did to the league. Most everyone has teams from the early and mid '90's (a period where free agency hadn't yet torn apart rosters) ahead of teams from the late '90's (when the salary cap was starting to take its hold on things). Even though I know parity is better for the league as a whole it does make you long for the days when teams were truly great and they had rosters that were about two to three times as talented as what we have seen during the current era.

The flip side to that was you had teams that were truly terrible for seemingly forever and couldn't really get anything going rebuilding-wise. Bucs, Colts, Cardinals & Falcons are late 80s/early 90s teams that come to mind. For the 1990s itself, the Bengals and Rams were truly horrendous. Nowadays, every team has a chance to turn it around in 2 or 3 years if the team is managed right and gets the right GM/coaches and players in place. Not saying this is "better"... just is what it is.

Best 90s Teams That Did NOT Win Super Bowl

1994 Dall ... we all know why
1990 SF ... Joe Cool got injured
1997 GB ... nuff said
1998 Minn ... Great offense but so-so defense. Outscored everyone but Atlanta
1992 SF ... turnovers killed them against Dallas
1990 Buff ... overlooked the Giants ... players admitted it.
1996 Den ... rusty for Jax
1995 Pitts ... best Steelers team but no Bettis
1995 SF ... should have beaten Atlanta for home field advantage
1991 Buff ... best Bills team but doubt had crept in
1991 Dall ... Huge win streak but overlooked Det for Washington ... players admitted it

I am a Cowboys fan, but I like very much the 1991 Redskins. Maybe not flashy, but each week I felt back then that they were the superior team. Their two losses were by only 5 combined points.

1990 Giants- 13-3/20.9/13.2
1991 Redskins- 14-2/30.3/14
1992 Cowboys- 13-3/25.6/15.2
1993 Cowboys- 12-4/23.5/14.3
1994 49ers- 13-3/31.6/18.5
1995 Cowboys- 12-4/27.2/18.2
1996 Packers- 13-3/28.5/13.1
1997 Broncos- 12-4/29.5/17.9
1998 Broncos- 14-2/31.3/19.3
1999 Rams- 13-3/32.9/15.1

Washington '91, tied for best win-loss record, 4th best offensive performance, 3rd best defensive performance, probably top 3 toughest schedule out of these teams, not the most impressive playoff opponents but legit Super Bowl with sharp Bills team that was favored over them. The performance to appreciate here that gets lost in everything was the offensive line, who they lined up against that regular season from week to week and how great they played against them. Once you look closer that was quite a season long performance and maybe Jim Lachey was the rightful 1991 NFL MVP.

New York '90, 10-0 start, 13-3 finish, I feel like this was a harder earned 13-3 than the 92 Cowboys, 94 49ers, or 96 Packers had to go through to get theirs. The dog days of the NFC East with Philly, Washington, a surging Dallas, the San Fran MNF game, then the post season gauntlet this team had to make it through, ending the 3peat, taking down peak prime amazing Bills team in GOAT game of all time.

3. Denver '98
4. Green Bay '96
5. Dallas '95- a bit underrated, overlooked in favor of 92/93 teams but this team had Larry Allen, and played the tougher schedule. The 2 losses to Washington cost this team some legacy points I think, and that was from Norv Turner knowing more about the Cowboys offense than their head coach at the time even did. Had this Cowboys team been able to get to 13-3 or 14-2 they go down as the best of the 3 championship teams.
6. San Francisco '94, for a team loaded with as much talent and with such an easy schedule they had you figured they would have done better than 13-3 and 18.5 points per game allowed. Not the strongest Super Bowl opponent either.
7. Dallas '92- this team beat the better 49ers team and didn't have the Emmitt hold out, though I'm tempted to rank 93 over them for tougher schedule
8. Dallas '93- these teams are a little overrated
9. Denver '97- great playoff run and maybe strongest Super Bowl opponent for the win.
10. St. Louis '99- too easy of a schedule

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 2:34 pm Best 90s Teams That Did NOT Win Super Bowl

1994 Dall ... we all know why
1990 SF ... Joe Cool got injured
1997 GB ... nuff said
1998 Minn ... Great offense but so-so defense. Outscored everyone but Atlanta
1992 SF ... turnovers killed them against Dallas
1990 Buff ... overlooked the Giants ... players admitted it.
1996 Den ... rusty for Jax
1995 Pitts ... best Steelers team but no Bettis
1995 SF ... should have beaten Atlanta for home field advantage
1991 Buff ... best Bills team but doubt had crept in
1991 Dall ... Huge win streak but overlooked Det for Washington ... players admitted it

How about 1999 Jags?

Also, for 95 Steelers how good were Eric Pegram and Bam Morris? I see lower yardage per carry, but they also are a team that has historically power ran, and that's going to result in lower yardage per carry anyway.

Gary Najman wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:39 pm I am a Cowboys fan, but I like very much the 1991 Redskins. Maybe not flashy, but each week I felt back then that they were the superior team. Their two losses were by only 5 combined points.

Half their wins were against non-playoff teams (CIN, CLE, PIT, Phoenix 2x, Giants twice, Philly)

It’s easy to look like the superior team every week when you basically have a soft schedule and playing a historically overrated division.

ChrisBabcock wrote: ↑Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:26 pm

lastcat3 wrote:Regardless of who you think is the best (in my opinion the '92 Cowboys) I think it is telling what a lot of people seem to think salary cap did to the league. Most everyone has teams from the early and mid '90's (a period where free agency hadn't yet torn apart rosters) ahead of teams from the late '90's (when the salary cap was starting to take its hold on things). Even though I know parity is better for the league as a whole it does make you long for the days when teams were truly great and they had rosters that were about two to three times as talented as what we have seen during the current era.

The flip side to that was you had teams that were truly terrible for seemingly forever and couldn't really get anything going rebuilding-wise. Bucs, Colts, Cardinals & Falcons are late 80s/early 90s teams that come to mind. For the 1990s itself, the Bengals and Rams were truly horrendous. Nowadays, every team has a chance to turn it around in 2 or 3 years if the team is managed right and gets the right GM/coaches and players in place. Not saying this is "better"... just is what it is.

I don’t think it was “better” seeing the same teams in the spotlight over and over again. Basically the 49ers and Insert NFC East team here winning all the time got real boring real fast.

I don’t think it was “better” seeing the same teams in the spotlight over and over again. Basically the 49ers and Insert NFC East team here winning all the time got real boring real fast.

I agree.

Since someone keeps complaining about 1991 Washington winning against non play off teams but has never answered my question about what teams have won more games vs. playoff teams I decided to do a little exercise with the 1990s SB champions. The first number is what Pro Football Reference gives as their rating of each team, the second is their strength of schedule [lower number easier schedule] and then how many playoff teams each defeated with those teams listed in parentheses so that people can check behind me as I probably missed some]

90 nyg.      7.66.   - .09   4 [Phil, Mia, Wash 2x]
91 wash.    16.62     0.31.   5 [Det, Dall. Chic. Hous. Atl.]
92 dall.       9.95.   -.43   3 [Wash, Phil. KC]
93 dall'.       9.63   .45. 5 [GB, SF, NYG 2x, Minn.]
94 sf.          11.64   -1.43 3 [Det. Dallas. SD]
95 dall.        9.67.   .67 4 [GB SD Phil KC]
96 gb.        15.25. - .12. 4 [Phil, SF, Den, Minn.]
97 den.      10.71   -.86     2 [KC, NE]
98 den.     8.87. -3.13.     3[NE, Dall, Jack.]
99 stl.     11.87   -5.88       0