The 5: Super Bowl Follow Up Failures.
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The one thing harder in the NFL than winning a Super Bowl is winning another one. When a team wins a Lombardi Trophy, the questions begin immediately on if it can repeat. There have been teams in the history of the NFL that look like world beaters, only to have that very next season come crashing down around their helmets. This season, the Baltimore Ravens are looking to get back to the Super Bowl. However, the Ravens may have undergone the most drastic transformation of any Super Bowl defending franchise. Their world championship defense has been gutted and players like Anquan Boldin and Vonta Leach are gone from the offense. This could be an all new era for a Baltimore dynasty or they could be a shadow of their Super Bowl selves. Will the Ravens be back in contention or just be another drop off team like these 5 Super Bowl Follow Up Failures.
- Denver Broncos – 1998 Season – Super Bowl 33 Champions. 1999 Season (6 – 10) Out of the Playoffs . Never had the loss of their quarterback hurt a Super Bowl champion so badly. The Denver Broncos were coming of back-to-back titles when Super Bowl 33 MVP quarterback John Elway announced his retirement before the 1999 NFL season. Brian Griese was given the keys to the Broncos kingdom and Denver sputtered in their Super Bowl title defense season. Not only did the Broncos lose the first 4 games on the 1999 season, they also lost their star running back Terrell Davis from an injury in Week 4. The Broncos missed the playoffs with a record of 6 – 10 in what has been called the worst ever season for a team defending a Super Bowl title.
- San Francisco 49ers – 1981 Season- Super Bowl 16 Champions. 1982 Season (3 – 6) Out of the Playoffs. The 49ers had won the first of their 5 franchise Super Bowl titles in the 1981 season led my Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana. If the next season was an indicator, it didn’t look like the 49ers would ever get back to another Super Bowl, never minding winning another one. With the 1982 NFL season being a strike season, shortened to 9 games, it didn’t help San Francisco get back on track for a repeat title. The strike lasted 57 days. The 49ers came back, but their consistency didn’t. San Francisco didn’t win one home game in the ’82 season. And even with a reconfigured playoff system for the strike season, the team couldn’t make it back with a record of 3 – 6.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2002 Season – Super Bowl 37 Champions. 2003 Season (7 – 9) Out of the Playoffs. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl 37, the next season could hardly be described as a victory lap. Tensions in the front office between head coach Jon Gruden and GM Rich McKay were boiling over and making their way into the press. Things got so ugly with the attitudes on the team that wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was deactivated by the team before the end of the season because of his sideline arguments. The Bucs also had a huge amount of injuries in their Super Bowl title defense season. Nearly a dozen starters ended up on injured reserve. The feeling of doom that Tampa Bay wouldn’t be returning to another Super Bowl was apparent early in the season. In game 5 that year, the Bucs blew a 35 -14 lead over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night to lose in overtime, 38 – 35. The Buccaneers were able to muster a 7 – 9 record in the 2003 season and missed out on the playoffs.
- Washington Redskins – 1987 Season – Super Bowl 22 Champions. 1988 Season (7 – 9) Out of the Playoffs. The 1987 NFL season was another strike season. The schedule was only shortened by one game, but weeks 4 through 6 saw replacement players take the field. The Washington Redskins were able to power their way to 11 – 4 record that year and win Super Bowl 22. It was the next year that had Washington hoping for another strike. Despite bringing back key players including Super Bowl MVP QB Doug Williams, the Skins could not get things going and Williams was eventually benched in favor of Mark Rypien. Injuries and a lack of performance led Washington to a 7 – 9 season and missing a playoff shot in their Super Bowl defending year.
- Oakland Raiders – 1980 Season – Super Bowl 15 Champions. 1981 Season (7 – 9) Out of the Playoffs. After the Oakland Raiders went 11 – 5 in the 1980 regular season and won Super Bowl 15, the next season started in turmoil. Raiders QB Jim Plunkett was the Super Bowl MVP and still found himself in a quarterback controversy to start the next season. Raiders owner Al Davis, who was already lobbying to move his team to L.A., also wanted a change in quarterbacks. Davis wanted to go with their draft pick from BYU, Marc Wilson. After the Raiders opened their Super Bowl title defense season with a record of 2 – 4, the switch was made. It did nothing to help the Raiders that year and they missed the playoffs with a 7 – 9 record.
