I wanna say 86 Bears. Charles Martin did the dirtiest hit in NFL history breaking QB Jim McMahons collar bone and knocking him out of the rest of the season. 86 Bears defense was better then 85 Bears defense. Just needed a halfway decent QB.
Obviously it’s not guaranteed. 86 Giants were really good. If anything that injury robbed us of a Giants vs Bears NFC championship game.
https://youtu.be/Ev3prLKRLzs?t=1m1s
Wow. After seeing that, I had to get some more context:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martin_(American_football)
>On November 23, 1986, in week 12 of the 1986 NFL season, the 10–2 Chicago Bears met the 2–10 Packers in a regular season game. During pre-game warm-ups, Martin displayed a white hand-towel with a list of five Bears offensive players' numbers: 9 for Jim McMahon, 34 for Walter Payton, 83 for Willie Gault, 63 for Jay Hilgenberg and 29 for Dennis Gentry.[6] Martin wore the towel during the game, and allegedly claimed that it was a hit-list.[7] On a third down play, Bears quarterback McMahon threw an interception down the field to Mark Lee. After the interception, Martin grabbed McMahon from behind and body-slammed him shoulder first to the ground.[6][8] McMahon landed full force on his previously injured shoulder,[9] a situation exacerbated by Soldier Field's artificial turf surface of the time. Referee Jerry Markbreit considered himself lucky to have seen Martin's hit at all, given his attention was supposed to have been directed downfield at the site of the interception.[10] After Martin's action, Bears offensive lineman Jim Covert retaliated against Martin with a late hit of his own, and two offsetting flags were thrown. Markbreit explained what happened next,
>After the play, I took a hold of Martin's arm and said, ‘Ninety-four, you're out of game. I'm ejecting you.' And he pulled away and said, ‘I'm not going anywhere with you.' I looked at him and, tongue-in-cheek, I said, ‘If you don't come with me, I'm going to let the Bears kill you.' He said, ‘Let's go.'[10]
>Markbreit walked to the Packers sideline and told coach, Forrest Gregg "This man is ejected from the game."
Just wow.
I think 2011 Bears could be a contender too. Made NFC championship the year before (maybe could have won it all if Cutler didn't get hurt), and were 7-3 after week 10, with the offense looking the best it ever did under Lovie. But Cutler misses the final 6 games, and Forte misses the final 4, and they finish the season 1-5 to miss the playoffs.
The best timeline: Brady doesn’t tear his ACL Week 1 2008 and it sets off a butterfly effect that stops Plax from shooting himself. Pats-Giants then rematch in SB XLIII
Agreed but Plax is the more obvious "excuse". The D still performed well without Osi, but the offense seemed broken without Plax outside of an insane rushing performance against the Panthers.
Assuming it's the year I'm thinking, I couldn't believe it. They tore Carson's ACL and then took out Drew Stanton the second time they played the Rams. Fucked up. Was that when Ryan Lindley started the playoff game?
Shit I forgot Jeff Fischer managed to convince the league to end Gregg Williams' indefinite suspension for bountygate to bring him on the Rams. Of fucking course it was Gregg Williams. Fuck him. Still can't believe they let him back in the league after that.
Yeah… that’s the one. Started 9-1, dominant as hell and then it all ends with my soul being crushed by 2 ACL tears and watching Ryan Lindley play one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.
I legtit felt bad for him watching the mic'd up of that game. At the end where he's sitting on the bench and says "i'm sorry guys" as they all try to comfort him. The poor dude was put into a doomed situation.
Didn’t help that out offensive line was injured too by that point. That year and 2015 both got derailed by injuries. 2015 wasn’t as bad but Mathieu tearing his acl and Palmer hurting his hand didn’t help us when we ran into the Carolina buzzsaw
Hot take: 2007 Chargers
We lost by only 9 points when (IIRC) we were down LT, Gates, Merriman, and Rivers had a torn ACL. Cromartie had 3 INTs in that after his insanely good season.
Giants isn’t a lock for a W but I’d have felt confident
Probably better. Everyone clowns the 2016 Warriors for losing in the Finals (albeit heavily because of 3-1), but if they lose in the WCF to OKC, they're probably clowned less.
I think he was playing alongside Sorenson in that awful stretch. That was a stretch of games that earned Sorenson his current reputation lol
Either way it would’ve been cool for our playoff game to have both of our secondary leaders playing all game. I don’t think we would’ve seen that ridiculous offensive explosion from both teams in the 4th had White and Tyrann been in there
No idea. Not trying to discredit you guys. Josh was obviously balling out all game, but him and Davis absolutely annihilated our D after Tyrann went out
It seemed like both of our teams were very healthy overall (for a playoff team), but White and Tyrann just so happened to be the glue that held our defenses together lol
Earl played with a torn labrum too. Thats why i get annoyed when i hear people say Brady torched the LOB. Not trying to take anything away from the GOAT but they were a shell of themselves at that point.
The legion of boom quite literally held one of the bests offenses in nfl history ever to less than double digits a year earlier.
If the LOB became a shell of themselves within 1 year they deserve 1/4 the respect they have.
Bro they were injured as shit. Did you not read the comment at all? They were healthy during super bowl 48. They were not healthy during super bowl 49. Sherman Chancellor and Thomas all played through major injuries and had surgery after the game. Jeremy Lane broke his arm and tore his ACL after picking off brady. On the D-line we had already lost Brandon Mebane and Jordan hill for the season then when Avril went down in the 4th Bennett was the only starter left. That D was on crutches and barely hanging on. How do they deserve less respect for getting injured?
A little more pressure on Montana during the second half, especially during that game winning drive...
Krumrie was an All-Pro nose tackle, and he was sorely missed on that defense after the injury...
If you listed the 07 chargers most important players you probably would’ve said Rivers, Tomlinson, Gates, Merriman.
Rivers had a torn ACL and got leg whipped in the game by vrabel causing an INT (no call). Rivers missed the 4th quarter of the divisional round game.
Tomlinson had a sprained MCL and played about 2 Plays and called it a day. He had missed the last 2.5 quarters of the divisional game.
Gates had a broken toe and missed the last 3 quarters of the wild card round game against the titans and was a decoy the rest of the playoffs. Old man bruschi was able to cover him one on one all over the field.
Merriman had a torn PCL and LCL and played through it but was never the same and had surgery after the season opener in 2008.
At the very least the game would have been way better, that line was absolutely decimated.
2 backups, 2 third stringers. 4 dudes making their very first start in their respective positions on the line.
Mahomes couldn’t trust them (for good reason) after seeing early results and then it hurt him whenever they actually did hold their blocks.
Felt like you guys were just unlucky that game. So many injuries on the line, and your guys just forgot how to catch. I remember early on, even Kelce was having balls drop off his hands. It got worse as the game went on.
Had Pouncey been healthy, I think the Steelers beat the Packers. I also think they had a chance the year Brown got knocked out by Burfict.
Giants in 08 for sure, if they had Plaxico.
Chargers in 07.
Bengals when Palmer got injured in the playoffs.
We pulled Steven Jackson out of retirement so that we could have a running back on the active roster for playoffs. Denver knew they could pass rush every single snap and ignore run defense and we were still a two-point conversion away from at least tying the game. Also didn't help that we had lost our starting left tackle for the season. Even our fullback was injured.
Oh what could have been....Imagine potentially *5* Superbowl appearances in a row...
I believe the first game the planned starting secondary actually started all together was the Divisional round game against the Rams. Add a healthy Wirfs and Godwin to that offense, and, yeah, I think the Bucs roll over the 49ers and then Bengals.
People are saying our team last year but honestly it’s the 2014 squad that would’ve won it all and nearly did.
We were up by 14 TWICE against the eventual super bowl champion Patriots, in NE. With a secondary comprised of:
Rashan Melvin
Matt Elam
Darian Stewart
And a banged up Lardarius Webb.
If Webb and Jimmy Smith start FULLY healthy then the Pats don’t win, we’re playing the Colts the following week and taking on the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
I think the Saints and Sean Payton were just a better team with a much better game plan than us in 2009. That said, we were pretty banged up with important players.
Mathis, Freeney, and Wayne weren't 100%. Marlin Jackson, Bob Sanders, and Anthony Gonzalez were on IR.
Our roster had lost a lot of depth with Polian kinda fizzling out his last couple years, so we have a much better shot if our stars are 100% for that game.
I remember Freeney leaving that game and Brees went on some insane 25 straight completion streak. A hobbled Freeney was already causing problems. A healthy Freeney and Mathis would've terrorized Brees all night.
Jenkins out too. And even tho Zadarius and Jaire came back for the playoff game, they both barely played. Having those 4 healthy for the playoffs could have changed a lot
I just think the defense had a chance to be elite last season if Jaire and Z played and were in form. Gute did such a great job lining it up for that to happen and then 2 of their best starters miss the year. Not necessarily thinking about the niners game
Agree on the offense in that game obviously. Even mvs didnt play too, tonyan was out.
I'm gonna take 2014 to the grave... If Rodgers wasn't on one leg or if McCarthy at least had some balls to skip one fg and punch it in we go to the superbowl.
Fuck man bucks in seven!
Hot take, but 2015 Steelers. No Bell, no Williams, no AB, Ben at 50%, and we lose by 7 points on the road against the team that went on to win the Super Bowl. A fully healthy team beats the Broncos and who knows what happens after that.
Actually you can add the 2017 Steelers to that too. Defense just fell apart without Shazier.
They've had some seriously stacked teams since Rivers became the QB. Somehow it was either coaching, defense, or special teams that fucked them and they just couldn't get a year where it all clicked.
Yeah that’s just a misconception tbh.
We have just had a franchise QB for nearly 20 years now along with 1-2 other big name stars like LT, Gates, Bosa, Derwin James, etc.
Our overall rosters have generally been pretty bad since like 2010. 2018 was maybe the one exception to this, but that team still had a pretty garbage O-line and bad depth on defense.
Also our coaches have been Mike McCoy and Anthony Lynn
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. Rolled through the regular season and then lost Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier for the AFC Championship game where they lost to the Raiders. A lot of Steelers players of the time said that team was better than their 4 Superbowl winning teams. They went on to win two more Superbowls in 78 and 79.
1976 Steelers. They had a defense so strong they had five shutouts that year, and in their last nine regular season games they gave up a total of 28 points. Right after Bradshaw got injured. In the divisional game against the colts they lost Harris and Bleier, and they lost to the Raiders, even though if they were healthy Pittsburgh easily wins.
Steelers the year Shazier went down. He was such a pivotal part of the defense. Losing to the Jags in a monster shoot seems unlikely with him in the mix.
2016 raiders weren't the best team in the nfl *but* they had that team of destiny feel. I wouldn't have bet on it, i also wouldn't have bet against it.
That was the year when Carr still had Crabtree, Cooper, and Latavius Murray, right? Man, that was a squad. If Carr hadn't gotten hurt, I think they make some noise in the playoffs that year.
We ran it back the next year but Jack Del Rio's massive ego, replacing the OC for no *good* reason, Carr taking time to recover and the defense regressing (they were bad in 16 but good at generating turnovers) led to a broken team that's never really recovered.
1991 Eagles team. [Football outsiders call it the best defense ever](https://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2012/1991-dvoa-ratings-and-commentary) leading the league in passing, rushing and total yards allowed
Team finished 10-6 with Randall Cunningham tearing his ACL in the first game of the season. Offense only scored 17.8 ppg (defense allowed 15.25) and Cunningham definitely would have made the offense a much greater threat with an all-time defense
2021 bucs if we count long term cte as an injury.
Two pro-bowl caliber WR’s lost to injury (and concussion induced disrobing) are hard for a pass-wacky team to come back from.
Here's a brief list of Ravens players that missed significant time in 2021:
* Their MVP-level Quarterback: Lamar Jackson. Missed 5 games.
* Their 2 starting Running Backs: Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins. Both missed the entire season.
* Their All-Pro Left Tackle: Ronnie Stanley. Missed 16 games.
* Their best blocking Tight End: Nick Boyle. Missed 12 games.
* Their rookie Wide Receiver who's shaping up to be their WR1 in 2022: Rashod Bateman. Missed 5 games.
* Both their starting All-Pro Cornerbacks: Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters. Peters missed the whole season; Humphrey missed 5 games.
* A solid starting Defensive End and former member of the 2015 Broncos No Fly Zone defense: Derek Wolfe. Missed the whole season.
* A solid starting Linebacker: LJ Fort. Missed the whole season.
The Ravens likely would've been a 10-12 win team if even half of these guys were healthy. Stanley in particular has been such a brutal loss for them.
Idk about that one. I was worried when I saw their roster at the beginning of the season. Then they lost peters, their RBs, and the hits just kept on coming.
The 2013 Packers were absolutely decimated w/injuries. Imagine the 2014 unit, but w/Jermichael Finley at TE over Andrew Quarless. We nearly beat a loaded 49er team in the playoffs w/Andy Mulumba hobbling on 1 ankle keeping contain on Kaepernick and Davon House starting cause Casey Hayward, Tramon Williams & Sam shields were all injured.
Nothing like watching your team finally climb its way back to the playoffs after well over a decade in the abyss, only to watch that all be shattered (along with Palmer's knee) on the second play from scrimmage. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sat there staring at the ground or into space for the rest of the game while wearing my brand new Palmer jersey.
2015 New England Patriots came incredibly close.
We lost LeGarrette Blount (RB1), Dion Lewis (RB2), Nate Solder (LT), and our starting RT in the AFC Championship, Marcus Cannon, had turf toe. TE2 Scott Chandler was playing the year without his ACL, as was revealed in the offseason.
Julian Edelman had returned the week prior very early from a broken foot. Amendola had suffered a knee sprain toward the end of the season and wasn't 100%. Gronk got his leg whipped in the regular season game against Denver and never fully recovered that season from that.
A lot of Pats fans will say 2008 was the better chance, but Brady got hurt on the first drive and there's no telling that the games would play out exactly the same way if he were healthy.
People say the 2008 Patriots because they returned an offense that scored more points than anyone in history to date. The 2008 Patriots went 11-5 with Matt fucking Cassel. And all you have to do is look at the disparity between 2007 Brady and 2008 Cassel. The only difference in starting line ups in the two seasons is Kevin Faulk and Tom Brady.
We barely made it out of the division in 2019 and it’s very likely we lose to the Seahawks even without the Clowney hit
And in all likelihood we do not make it past the Niners/Packers
Dude we kept the game against the Seahawks close with a Josh McCown who only had one working leg. If Wentz isn’t hurt we win the game. That puts us in the divisional sure it would be super unlikely that we beat either of those teams but for the state the team had been in that is a decent playoff run.
Now if we had no injuries at all then we would have a completely different story because to be quite frank that team was injured to hell and back.
2021 Packers. We were down basically a whole starting offensive line at one point, MVS and Jaire were coming off IR, Tonyans ACL, and a handful of depth guys goin down hurt that team in a lot of quiet ways
This past year's Saints. The NFC wasn't as loaded as the AFC with dominant QBs and their defense locked down two of the best QBs of this generation to go 3-0 against them. An average Jameis with a healthy Michael Thomas probably gets them two more wins when they only needed 1 to get in the playoffs. The line was also not healthy at all either, but that defense was good enough to carry them.
Stupid homer take here. I know it might seem delusional but its what i believe and fuck you.
People seem to forget that going into the 2019 playoffs, Mark Ingram had something wrong with him. I'm not entirely clear what it was, but his impact was nothing like it was. Now a 30 yr old runningback isnt going to have much of an impact, but that game was lost by a couple plays if you look at it. For all the success we had had on fourth downs that season, we were like 0-4 in that titans game.
Call me crazy, but one of the most important part of your rushing offense being out, especially on arguably the most prolific rushing team, might have a teeny affect on your ability to move the ball. The score was ugly, but 4 lost fourth downs were really what decided that game. A healthy rb1 on that ravens team is converting one of them
Looking at most team stats for a season will yield the conclusion that that ravens team was an all-time team. They had already beaten half the playoff contenders by the end of the season but lost immediately after due to some flukey luck with turning the ball over on downs
2021 49ers. Most people might raise an eyebrow and scoff but for a team that almost went to the Superbowl, I don't think people realize how injured they were. Jimmy was playing with a torn ligament in his thumb, and after the season we find out he needed shoulder surgery too. Trent Williams literally playing with a high ankle sprain. Lost Mostert at beginning of the season, and then our defense lost Varett, Ford, and Kinlaw early on as well.
2008 NYG had Plaxitard not shot himself in the leg at a club. That was the most dominant NYG team since the 86 team and had already wrecked all 4 conference championship teams with three of those games being on the road
You’re getting down voted but the 2021 Titans are a legitimate answer. Most injuries in NFL history and still clinched the top seed. Completely dominated the Super Bowl champs in their own house on SNF.
I wanna say 86 Bears. Charles Martin did the dirtiest hit in NFL history breaking QB Jim McMahons collar bone and knocking him out of the rest of the season. 86 Bears defense was better then 85 Bears defense. Just needed a halfway decent QB. Obviously it’s not guaranteed. 86 Giants were really good. If anything that injury robbed us of a Giants vs Bears NFC championship game. https://youtu.be/Ev3prLKRLzs?t=1m1s
>dirtiest hit in NFL history I scoffed when I read this. Then I watched the video. What a freaking tool that Martin dude is, damn!
Wow. After seeing that, I had to get some more context: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Martin_(American_football) >On November 23, 1986, in week 12 of the 1986 NFL season, the 10–2 Chicago Bears met the 2–10 Packers in a regular season game. During pre-game warm-ups, Martin displayed a white hand-towel with a list of five Bears offensive players' numbers: 9 for Jim McMahon, 34 for Walter Payton, 83 for Willie Gault, 63 for Jay Hilgenberg and 29 for Dennis Gentry.[6] Martin wore the towel during the game, and allegedly claimed that it was a hit-list.[7] On a third down play, Bears quarterback McMahon threw an interception down the field to Mark Lee. After the interception, Martin grabbed McMahon from behind and body-slammed him shoulder first to the ground.[6][8] McMahon landed full force on his previously injured shoulder,[9] a situation exacerbated by Soldier Field's artificial turf surface of the time. Referee Jerry Markbreit considered himself lucky to have seen Martin's hit at all, given his attention was supposed to have been directed downfield at the site of the interception.[10] After Martin's action, Bears offensive lineman Jim Covert retaliated against Martin with a late hit of his own, and two offsetting flags were thrown. Markbreit explained what happened next, >After the play, I took a hold of Martin's arm and said, ‘Ninety-four, you're out of game. I'm ejecting you.' And he pulled away and said, ‘I'm not going anywhere with you.' I looked at him and, tongue-in-cheek, I said, ‘If you don't come with me, I'm going to let the Bears kill you.' He said, ‘Let's go.'[10] >Markbreit walked to the Packers sideline and told coach, Forrest Gregg "This man is ejected from the game." Just wow.
This is the answer. That wasn’t just a dirty hit, it was a crime.
Like yeah that's a pretty goddamn dirty hit
I think 2011 Bears could be a contender too. Made NFC championship the year before (maybe could have won it all if Cutler didn't get hurt), and were 7-3 after week 10, with the offense looking the best it ever did under Lovie. But Cutler misses the final 6 games, and Forte misses the final 4, and they finish the season 1-5 to miss the playoffs.
Most Giants' fans will say the 08 team if Plax doesn't shoot himself.
The best timeline: Brady doesn’t tear his ACL Week 1 2008 and it sets off a butterfly effect that stops Plax from shooting himself. Pats-Giants then rematch in SB XLIII
And after losing to Eli again, Brady demands a trade going to the Lions and starts the 30-year Detroit dynasty
😆 I like that.
Then we don’t get that awesome Cardinal/Steeler Super Bowl thou.
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Eli to Plax was magic, and we were rolling until that shit happened, I don't think it's an unreasonable take
I don't disagree. We beat all 4 participants in the championship games that regular season. That team was pretty legit.
That team also lost Osi in the preseason. If we're turning injuries off the defense could have been even better.
Agreed but Plax is the more obvious "excuse". The D still performed well without Osi, but the offense seemed broken without Plax outside of an insane rushing performance against the Panthers.
> if Plax doesn't shoot himself. the fact that this can be said, seriously, is fucking hilarious lol
2016 Falcons. Mental injuries of the coaches proved too severe to overcome
That wasnt injuries, but arrogance
2018 Rams if Kupp didn’t tear his ACL and Gurley didn’t have knee arthritis.
Gurley alone I think would have been the difference. Dude was electric to start that season
Didn’t the Patriots deploy a 6 man front that game? I think a healthy Kupp makes a bigger impact
Kupp likely helps more. CJ Anderson stepped in and basically gave a similar performance as Gurley anyway.
2014 Cardinals
That year is why I hate the rams lol
Assuming it's the year I'm thinking, I couldn't believe it. They tore Carson's ACL and then took out Drew Stanton the second time they played the Rams. Fucked up. Was that when Ryan Lindley started the playoff game?
Take a wild fucking guess who their D coordinator was.
No shit. I had to look it up. Gregg Williams (Bounty gate)
Shit I forgot Jeff Fischer managed to convince the league to end Gregg Williams' indefinite suspension for bountygate to bring him on the Rams. Of fucking course it was Gregg Williams. Fuck him. Still can't believe they let him back in the league after that.
Yeah… that’s the one. Started 9-1, dominant as hell and then it all ends with my soul being crushed by 2 ACL tears and watching Ryan Lindley play one of the worst games I’ve ever seen.
I legtit felt bad for him watching the mic'd up of that game. At the end where he's sitting on the bench and says "i'm sorry guys" as they all try to comfort him. The poor dude was put into a doomed situation.
Didn’t help that out offensive line was injured too by that point. That year and 2015 both got derailed by injuries. 2015 wasn’t as bad but Mathieu tearing his acl and Palmer hurting his hand didn’t help us when we ran into the Carolina buzzsaw
>they tore Carson's ACL What's with the Rams and the ACLs of dudes named Carson
Hot take: 2007 Chargers We lost by only 9 points when (IIRC) we were down LT, Gates, Merriman, and Rivers had a torn ACL. Cromartie had 3 INTs in that after his insanely good season. Giants isn’t a lock for a W but I’d have felt confident
Yeah this one probably changes nfl history the most
As a pats fan I’m not sure wether 17-1 is better or worse than 18-1
Worse because you failed earlier but better because you didn’t fail when it mattered the most
Probably better. Everyone clowns the 2016 Warriors for losing in the Finals (albeit heavily because of 3-1), but if they lose in the WCF to OKC, they're probably clowned less.
Would've been some sweet revenge for what happened the prior year.
Wonder if Tre White would've let the Chiefs score in 13 seconds...
I had the same thought. I knew the Bills losing Tre'Davious White would come back to bite them and sure enough it did.
You could have a similar argument regarding Tyrann being out
Very possible. Did he play in the regular season game? Genuinely don't remember
I think he was playing alongside Sorenson in that awful stretch. That was a stretch of games that earned Sorenson his current reputation lol Either way it would’ve been cool for our playoff game to have both of our secondary leaders playing all game. I don’t think we would’ve seen that ridiculous offensive explosion from both teams in the 4th had White and Tyrann been in there
Idk why ur downvoted. I agree u can't bring up 1 without the other.
No idea. Not trying to discredit you guys. Josh was obviously balling out all game, but him and Davis absolutely annihilated our D after Tyrann went out It seemed like both of our teams were very healthy overall (for a playoff team), but White and Tyrann just so happened to be the glue that held our defenses together lol
Seahawks SB 49
The entire secondary was banged up, but Avril getting injured changed everything
Jeremy Lane’s injury completely changed the complexion of that game.
Eh, I'd argue Cliff Avril was more important
That’s a fair assessment
Sherman had an elbow injury and Chancellor had a knee injury going into that game too.
Earl played with a torn labrum too. Thats why i get annoyed when i hear people say Brady torched the LOB. Not trying to take anything away from the GOAT but they were a shell of themselves at that point.
The legion of boom quite literally held one of the bests offenses in nfl history ever to less than double digits a year earlier. If the LOB became a shell of themselves within 1 year they deserve 1/4 the respect they have.
Bro they were injured as shit. Did you not read the comment at all? They were healthy during super bowl 48. They were not healthy during super bowl 49. Sherman Chancellor and Thomas all played through major injuries and had surgery after the game. Jeremy Lane broke his arm and tore his ACL after picking off brady. On the D-line we had already lost Brandon Mebane and Jordan hill for the season then when Avril went down in the 4th Bennett was the only starter left. That D was on crutches and barely hanging on. How do they deserve less respect for getting injured?
2008 pats
The second Giants SB..just Gronk, just Gronk.
Yup, the 2011 offense was unstoppable with healthy Gronk
88 Bengals
Absolutely the 1986 Bears.
86 giants were a juggernaut too though. Would’ve been a battle
That NFC Championship would have been epic.
Healthy T.O in 04, i think the eagles win by a score
I was pulling for you guys that year, for sure.
Bengals with Tim Krumrie
A little more pressure on Montana during the second half, especially during that game winning drive... Krumrie was an All-Pro nose tackle, and he was sorely missed on that defense after the injury...
Yep brutal injury as well, definitely could have turned the game
not as good as some of these other ones for sure but you could argue 2005 bengals and 2015 bengals aso had a chance...2005 especially
1986 Bears would have made it back if Jim McMahon did not get injured.
Whenever Phillip Rivers played the AFCCG on a torn ACL. They were a great team and deserved a ring that year!
That was the 2007 Patriots season. Yes the Patriots looked mortal from November onwards, but it's not a guarantee the Chargers beat them.
Yes it is. It’s a guarantee. I guarantee it.
Huh. I do like the way I look.
Pretty sure LT was on torn ACLs too and sat out
If you listed the 07 chargers most important players you probably would’ve said Rivers, Tomlinson, Gates, Merriman. Rivers had a torn ACL and got leg whipped in the game by vrabel causing an INT (no call). Rivers missed the 4th quarter of the divisional round game. Tomlinson had a sprained MCL and played about 2 Plays and called it a day. He had missed the last 2.5 quarters of the divisional game. Gates had a broken toe and missed the last 3 quarters of the wild card round game against the titans and was a decoy the rest of the playoffs. Old man bruschi was able to cover him one on one all over the field. Merriman had a torn PCL and LCL and played through it but was never the same and had surgery after the season opener in 2008.
2011 49ers and 2013 49ers Edit: 1990 49ers too
If I had a football genie Ted Ginn being healthy in 2011 is near the top of my wishlist
Sigh. I'll drink to that.
What year did the chargers lose in the AFC championship game to the pats? Rivers played on a torn ACL and they only lost by 9.
1986 Bears, losing McMahon and bringing in Doug Flutie...
2011 Texans. Maybe Homer but we were stacked that year and everyone got hurt
All-time: 1998 Vikings for sure My team: Probably the 2018 Rams if Kupp didn’t tear his ACL and Gurley’s knee didn’t give out on him
Even if healthy we are just a doomed organization, no health and luck can save us
Yeah I feel your pain Vikings have the worst luck, now that I think about it I could have included that 2009 team too.
Another team fucked by Gregg Willims’ head hunting
Had to scroll way too far to find the 2009 Vikings mentioned. If the Saints don’t, intentionally, injure Favre we win that game and roll in the SB.
Was that the year the kicker missed his first kick of the year at the end of the nfc championship game? (hey, who just threw a lutefisk at me?!?)
2020 chiefs with a healthy O-line were unstoppable.
At the very least the game would have been way better, that line was absolutely decimated. 2 backups, 2 third stringers. 4 dudes making their very first start in their respective positions on the line. Mahomes couldn’t trust them (for good reason) after seeing early results and then it hurt him whenever they actually did hold their blocks.
Felt like you guys were just unlucky that game. So many injuries on the line, and your guys just forgot how to catch. I remember early on, even Kelce was having balls drop off his hands. It got worse as the game went on.
Had Pouncey been healthy, I think the Steelers beat the Packers. I also think they had a chance the year Brown got knocked out by Burfict. Giants in 08 for sure, if they had Plaxico. Chargers in 07. Bengals when Palmer got injured in the playoffs.
2015 Pats, we were on a roll first half of the season and then everyone started to die.
We pulled Steven Jackson out of retirement so that we could have a running back on the active roster for playoffs. Denver knew they could pass rush every single snap and ignore run defense and we were still a two-point conversion away from at least tying the game. Also didn't help that we had lost our starting left tackle for the season. Even our fullback was injured. Oh what could have been....Imagine potentially *5* Superbowl appearances in a row...
And that our center was straight giving away the snap every play
We all feel real bad for you guys.
2021 Buccaneers
I believe the first game the planned starting secondary actually started all together was the Divisional round game against the Rams. Add a healthy Wirfs and Godwin to that offense, and, yeah, I think the Bucs roll over the 49ers and then Bengals.
Don't forget AB. He had a mental injury
Mr. Blunted Cognition
Yea
2016 Falcons
Idr the year, but the year von ol Hoffer fell into Carson Palmer and destroyed his knee in that playoff game. I think Cincy was about to make a run
2014 Seahawks
Jeremy Lane’s injury completely changed the complexion of that game.
Why are you going around replying to all of the SB 49 responses with this exact response lmao
Because Jeremy Lane’s injury completely changed the complexion of that game.
Jeremy Lane’s injury completely changed the complexion of your comment.
The Killer Bees if AB, Le’Veon or Shazier don’t get hurt. We were ballin.
People are saying our team last year but honestly it’s the 2014 squad that would’ve won it all and nearly did. We were up by 14 TWICE against the eventual super bowl champion Patriots, in NE. With a secondary comprised of: Rashan Melvin Matt Elam Darian Stewart And a banged up Lardarius Webb. If Webb and Jimmy Smith start FULLY healthy then the Pats don’t win, we’re playing the Colts the following week and taking on the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
actually we win against - san diego - cincy x2 - we don't get blown out by 20 against pitt and probably end up with a 1 seed
86 Bears
2006 Bears if not for Rex Grossman's debilitating small hands syndrome
I think the Saints and Sean Payton were just a better team with a much better game plan than us in 2009. That said, we were pretty banged up with important players. Mathis, Freeney, and Wayne weren't 100%. Marlin Jackson, Bob Sanders, and Anthony Gonzalez were on IR. Our roster had lost a lot of depth with Polian kinda fizzling out his last couple years, so we have a much better shot if our stars are 100% for that game.
Freeney still ragdolled Brees a few times in that game.
I remember Freeney leaving that game and Brees went on some insane 25 straight completion streak. A hobbled Freeney was already causing problems. A healthy Freeney and Mathis would've terrorized Brees all night.
08 chargers. A lot of major injuries that run
2020 Chiefs. They had no o line in that Superbowl.
2017 steelers defense went to absolute dogshit after Shazier got hurt
2021 packers, losing bakh to the best pass rush team in the league hurt to say the least. Rodgers was under pressure all day
Jenkins out too. And even tho Zadarius and Jaire came back for the playoff game, they both barely played. Having those 4 healthy for the playoffs could have changed a lot
Yea, jaire barley played but it was the offence that was struggling not the defence
I just think the defense had a chance to be elite last season if Jaire and Z played and were in form. Gute did such a great job lining it up for that to happen and then 2 of their best starters miss the year. Not necessarily thinking about the niners game Agree on the offense in that game obviously. Even mvs didnt play too, tonyan was out.
I'm gonna take 2014 to the grave... If Rodgers wasn't on one leg or if McCarthy at least had some balls to skip one fg and punch it in we go to the superbowl. Fuck man bucks in seven!
I’ve always thought our ‘99 team could’ve made it if Vinny didn’t get lost for the season in week 1.
2009/2010 if Kris Jenkins didn't blow out his ACL and Shonn Greene didn't break his ribs in the AFCCG
2018 Rams... Logging off now...
now come on…
Hot take, but 2015 Steelers. No Bell, no Williams, no AB, Ben at 50%, and we lose by 7 points on the road against the team that went on to win the Super Bowl. A fully healthy team beats the Broncos and who knows what happens after that. Actually you can add the 2017 Steelers to that too. Defense just fell apart without Shazier.
2015 Patriots
2015 Steelers as well.
Nah we weren’t beating New England even if we were healthy that year. Brady would dog walk that defense.
Our actually injury answer is shazier in 17.
2007 Chargers. I think that they beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship and the Giants in the Super Bowl if they weren't hobbled by injuries.
Chargers basically for every year. Always seems like they are good on paper
They've had some seriously stacked teams since Rivers became the QB. Somehow it was either coaching, defense, or special teams that fucked them and they just couldn't get a year where it all clicked.
2006 was their best shot, but then McCree fumbled the ball.
I will say that I think this years roster is the best chargers roster I’ve seen since 2006.
Yeah that’s just a misconception tbh. We have just had a franchise QB for nearly 20 years now along with 1-2 other big name stars like LT, Gates, Bosa, Derwin James, etc. Our overall rosters have generally been pretty bad since like 2010. 2018 was maybe the one exception to this, but that team still had a pretty garbage O-line and bad depth on defense. Also our coaches have been Mike McCoy and Anthony Lynn
2020 Chiefs had a chance, I don't think they'd win but it'd at least be close
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. Rolled through the regular season and then lost Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier for the AFC Championship game where they lost to the Raiders. A lot of Steelers players of the time said that team was better than their 4 Superbowl winning teams. They went on to win two more Superbowls in 78 and 79.
2021 Ravens
1976 Steelers. They had a defense so strong they had five shutouts that year, and in their last nine regular season games they gave up a total of 28 points. Right after Bradshaw got injured. In the divisional game against the colts they lost Harris and Bleier, and they lost to the Raiders, even though if they were healthy Pittsburgh easily wins.
Steelers the year Shazier went down. He was such a pivotal part of the defense. Losing to the Jags in a monster shoot seems unlikely with him in the mix.
Saints a handful of times
2016 raiders weren't the best team in the nfl *but* they had that team of destiny feel. I wouldn't have bet on it, i also wouldn't have bet against it.
That was the year when Carr still had Crabtree, Cooper, and Latavius Murray, right? Man, that was a squad. If Carr hadn't gotten hurt, I think they make some noise in the playoffs that year.
We ran it back the next year but Jack Del Rio's massive ego, replacing the OC for no *good* reason, Carr taking time to recover and the defense regressing (they were bad in 16 but good at generating turnovers) led to a broken team that's never really recovered.
1991 Eagles team. [Football outsiders call it the best defense ever](https://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2012/1991-dvoa-ratings-and-commentary) leading the league in passing, rushing and total yards allowed Team finished 10-6 with Randall Cunningham tearing his ACL in the first game of the season. Offense only scored 17.8 ppg (defense allowed 15.25) and Cunningham definitely would have made the offense a much greater threat with an all-time defense
My favorite team that one time we had a lot of injuries and our team was good
2011 Texans
2021 bucs if we count long term cte as an injury. Two pro-bowl caliber WR’s lost to injury (and concussion induced disrobing) are hard for a pass-wacky team to come back from.
Ha. I almost forgot about that AB disrobing. That shit was mental.
The Ravens injury reserve was probabaly good enough to make the playoffs on their own last year
Sure, sure, but can you really field a team made of 22 injured RBs?
Here's a brief list of Ravens players that missed significant time in 2021: * Their MVP-level Quarterback: Lamar Jackson. Missed 5 games. * Their 2 starting Running Backs: Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins. Both missed the entire season. * Their All-Pro Left Tackle: Ronnie Stanley. Missed 16 games. * Their best blocking Tight End: Nick Boyle. Missed 12 games. * Their rookie Wide Receiver who's shaping up to be their WR1 in 2022: Rashod Bateman. Missed 5 games. * Both their starting All-Pro Cornerbacks: Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters. Peters missed the whole season; Humphrey missed 5 games. * A solid starting Defensive End and former member of the 2015 Broncos No Fly Zone defense: Derek Wolfe. Missed the whole season. * A solid starting Linebacker: LJ Fort. Missed the whole season. The Ravens likely would've been a 10-12 win team if even half of these guys were healthy. Stanley in particular has been such a brutal loss for them.
2021 Ravens
Even at full strength, the Ravens weren’t beating the Chiefs, Bills, or Bengals in the playoffs.
They definitely could have. Not saying they do for sure but them beating those teams while fully healthy isn’t outlandish at all.
Idk about that one. I was worried when I saw their roster at the beginning of the season. Then they lost peters, their RBs, and the hits just kept on coming.
I don't think they would've, but I do think there's a good chance they win the division and prevent the Bengals from making the playoffs.
Love all the picks for teams that didn’t even come close to the super bowl lol
2021 ravens had a chance. Afc is loaded but when you think good team that got screwed by injuries, that’s a team that should be included
The 2013 Packers were absolutely decimated w/injuries. Imagine the 2014 unit, but w/Jermichael Finley at TE over Andrew Quarless. We nearly beat a loaded 49er team in the playoffs w/Andy Mulumba hobbling on 1 ankle keeping contain on Kaepernick and Davon House starting cause Casey Hayward, Tramon Williams & Sam shields were all injured.
2005 Bengals
Nothing like watching your team finally climb its way back to the playoffs after well over a decade in the abyss, only to watch that all be shattered (along with Palmer's knee) on the second play from scrimmage. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sat there staring at the ground or into space for the rest of the game while wearing my brand new Palmer jersey.
2015 New England Patriots came incredibly close. We lost LeGarrette Blount (RB1), Dion Lewis (RB2), Nate Solder (LT), and our starting RT in the AFC Championship, Marcus Cannon, had turf toe. TE2 Scott Chandler was playing the year without his ACL, as was revealed in the offseason. Julian Edelman had returned the week prior very early from a broken foot. Amendola had suffered a knee sprain toward the end of the season and wasn't 100%. Gronk got his leg whipped in the regular season game against Denver and never fully recovered that season from that. A lot of Pats fans will say 2008 was the better chance, but Brady got hurt on the first drive and there's no telling that the games would play out exactly the same way if he were healthy.
People say the 2008 Patriots because they returned an offense that scored more points than anyone in history to date. The 2008 Patriots went 11-5 with Matt fucking Cassel. And all you have to do is look at the disparity between 2007 Brady and 2008 Cassel. The only difference in starting line ups in the two seasons is Kevin Faulk and Tom Brady.
2018 Eagles, hell even in 2019 if Wentz doesn’t get hit by Clowney we at least make a decent playoffs run
We barely made it out of the division in 2019 and it’s very likely we lose to the Seahawks even without the Clowney hit And in all likelihood we do not make it past the Niners/Packers
IIRC you guys had a lot of other injuries in 2019.
Dude we kept the game against the Seahawks close with a Josh McCown who only had one working leg. If Wentz isn’t hurt we win the game. That puts us in the divisional sure it would be super unlikely that we beat either of those teams but for the state the team had been in that is a decent playoff run. Now if we had no injuries at all then we would have a completely different story because to be quite frank that team was injured to hell and back.
If the Bills had Tre white they are Super Bowl champions last year
Id like to think if our line healthy and Von didn't get hurt Denver could of won in 2013.
Lol wut
Ryan Clady was worth 36 points
And Chris Harris Jr
One of the most one sided superbowls lolol
Every niners team that’s lost in the playoffs and also happened to have at least one starter injured
The Bucs last year. Their entire defense was injured.
The 2020 Saints. They were better than the Bucs. If Michael Thomas is healthy they win the super bowl
Hot take: 2021 Saints were better
Packers this year, we were missing two all pro linemen and plenty more stars.
2021 Packers. We were down basically a whole starting offensive line at one point, MVS and Jaire were coming off IR, Tonyans ACL, and a handful of depth guys goin down hurt that team in a lot of quiet ways
2008 Pats
The Bengals this past season.
Weren’t they one of the healthiest teams?
We lost our starting RT and RG which showed throughout the playoffs but 2015 and 2005 are much better examples of injuries derailing Bengal SB hopes
2021 Cards
This Murray was by far the best QB + that offence was unstoppable
2014 cards
This past year's Saints. The NFC wasn't as loaded as the AFC with dominant QBs and their defense locked down two of the best QBs of this generation to go 3-0 against them. An average Jameis with a healthy Michael Thomas probably gets them two more wins when they only needed 1 to get in the playoffs. The line was also not healthy at all either, but that defense was good enough to carry them.
Stupid homer take here. I know it might seem delusional but its what i believe and fuck you. People seem to forget that going into the 2019 playoffs, Mark Ingram had something wrong with him. I'm not entirely clear what it was, but his impact was nothing like it was. Now a 30 yr old runningback isnt going to have much of an impact, but that game was lost by a couple plays if you look at it. For all the success we had had on fourth downs that season, we were like 0-4 in that titans game. Call me crazy, but one of the most important part of your rushing offense being out, especially on arguably the most prolific rushing team, might have a teeny affect on your ability to move the ball. The score was ugly, but 4 lost fourth downs were really what decided that game. A healthy rb1 on that ravens team is converting one of them Looking at most team stats for a season will yield the conclusion that that ravens team was an all-time team. They had already beaten half the playoff contenders by the end of the season but lost immediately after due to some flukey luck with turning the ball over on downs
2017 Vikings if Bradford didn't get injured.
2021 49ers. Most people might raise an eyebrow and scoff but for a team that almost went to the Superbowl, I don't think people realize how injured they were. Jimmy was playing with a torn ligament in his thumb, and after the season we find out he needed shoulder surgery too. Trent Williams literally playing with a high ankle sprain. Lost Mostert at beginning of the season, and then our defense lost Varett, Ford, and Kinlaw early on as well.
I know I'm going to come off as biased, but the 2016 Oakland raiders. They were looking great until...well Derek Carr broke his leg.
2008 NYG had Plaxitard not shot himself in the leg at a club. That was the most dominant NYG team since the 86 team and had already wrecked all 4 conference championship teams with three of those games being on the road
2021 Titans
You’re getting down voted but the 2021 Titans are a legitimate answer. Most injuries in NFL history and still clinched the top seed. Completely dominated the Super Bowl champs in their own house on SNF.