Factoid
I heard a sportswriter from a Philadelphia paper on the radio today. He was talking about the Eagles’ decision to trade Donovan McNabb and made the comment that they won more games than any other NFC team in the decade without ever truly getting over the hump (just the one Super Bowl appearance, which they lost).
I had to check it. It hadn’t occurred to me that Philadelphia had outperformed all other teams in the NFC – at least in terms of wins.
The overall numbers are below. The Colts and Patriots, not surprisingly, are the top two. Then, there’s the two Pennsylvania teams, each with a win-loss record of 103-56-1 (these teams were also involved in the only two ties of the decade – the Steelers in a shootout with Atlanta, and the Eagles in that controversial game at Cincinnati, when McNabb admitted that he didn’t realize that games could end in ties).
So the Eagles, despite their 103 wins, managed just one Super Bowl loss in the decade. The other three teams with over 100 wins (Indianapolis, New England and Pittsburgh) all won at least one Super Bowl in the decade; Pittsburgh won two and New England three.
Of the four other teams with 90-plus wins, surprising, they managed only one Super Bowl appearance between them. The Ravens played against the Giants (and won). But the other three teams with 90-plus wins all got shut out in the decade, not even making it to the big game – Denver, Tennessee and Green Bay.
WINS IN THE LAST TEN YEARS
All teams played 160 regular-season games except Houston, which joined the league in 2002 (and has played 128 regular-season games).
W L T Pct.
115 45 0 .719 Indianapolis
112 48 0 .700 New England
103 56 1 .647 Philadelphia
103 56 1 .647 Pittsburgh
95 65 0 .594 Green Bay
93 67 0 .581 Denver
92 68 0 .575 Baltimore
91 69 0 .569 Tennessee
88 72 0 .550 NY Giants
85 75 0 .531 San Diego
84 76 0 .525 Minnesota
83 77 0 .519 New Orleans
82 78 0 .513 Dallas
82 78 0 .513 Seattle
81 79 0 .506 Chicago
80 80 0 .500 NY Jets
79 81 0 .494 Carolina
79 81 0 .494 Miami
79 81 0 .494 Tampa Bay
76 84 0 .475 Jacksonville
75 84 1 .472 Atlanta
71 89 0 .444 St. Louis
70 90 0 .438 Kansas City
70 90 0 .438 Washington
68 91 1 .428 Cincinnati
68 92 0 .425 San Francisco
66 94 0 .413 Buffalo
62 98 0 .388 Arizona
62 98 0 .388 Oakland
49 79 0 .383 Houston
57 103 0 .356 Cleveland
42 118 0 .263 Detroit
—Ian Allan
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Posted by DAVID DIGREGORIO | Jul. 22 at 12:12 AM
The NFC east was a down division for some of those years, making it much easier for them. The Eagles fans frustration with the Eagles failure to win the SB, along with McNabb's inaccuracy on short passes, made them eager for his departure. I remember radio shows where the question was would you rather have the Eagles long term success, or a SB win with several down years. People preferred the SB win.