A string of six straight playoff appearances and a historic streak of four straight AFC crowns had come to an end in 1994. The 1995 Buffalo Bills were looking to get back on track. They did. The Bills returned to the top of the AFC East, and while they were no longer one of the […]
The Dave Wannstedt era in Chicago was off to a promising start. In 1994, his second season, Wannstedt’s Bears made the playoffs and won a game. Midway through this season, it seemed like the 1995 Chicago Bears would continue the upward trend. But a late fade not only cost the Bears this ’95 season, it […]
The Lions were four years removed from their breakout NFC Championship Game appearance of 1991. They had made the postseason two times since, in 1993 and 1994, but were eliminated in the first round both times. The 1995 Detroit Lions, after a slow start, had all the markings of a team that was peaking at […]
It felt like the good times were back in Cleveland. After inheriting a 3-13 team in 1991, a young head coach named Bill Belichick had overseen steady improvement. In 1994, that led to a playoff appearance and advancement. The franchise’s most recent era of success—the Dawg Pound Days led by Bernie Kosar and Marty Schottenheimer […]
Dennis Green came to Minnesota in 1992 and reached the playoffs each of his first three years, including division titles in ’92 and 1994. The 1995 Minnesota Vikings were a respectable team that stayed in contention for the entire year. But in the end, this was the year Green’s playoff streak came to an end. […]
The city of Atlanta had seen playoff football only four times in their NFL history, and the most recent was 1991. June Jones, the architect of a spread-the-field passing game that is commonplace today, but was innovative back then, was hired as head coach in 1994. One year later, the 1995 Atlanta Falcons made the […]
The city of St. Louis had been without professional football since the Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988. In 1995, the Rams filled the void and began a 31-season journey as a Midwest franchise. The first edition of the St. Louis Rams started strong and gave the fan base hope. But a hard fall foreshadowed […]
The four years since Buddy Ryan’s dismissal following the 1990 season had been frustrating ones in Philadelphia. The Eagles played competitive football, going 36-28 in that span, but they had missed the playoffs three of the four years. Ray Rhodes was hired as the new head coach and the 1995 Philadelphia Eagles returned the postseason, […]
The 1995 San Francisco 49ers were coming off a breakthrough Super Bowl championship for quarterback Steve Young. Big personnel losses and an injury to Young represented some significant adversity, but the 49ers reached the season’s stretch drive in prime position to repeat. But disappointing losses ended those hopes and ushered in an era where the […]
There was optimism abounding in Green Bay. While it taken the Bart Starr era several years to find its footing, the Packers had contended to the last week of the regular season in 1981, then made the playoffs in the strike-shortened year of 1982. They had a dynamic passing game. The 1983 Green Bay Packers […]
Bart Starr’s coaching tenure wasn’t going well. The Hall of Fame quarterback took over his old team in 1975. The team appeared to turn a corner in 1978, when they nearly made the playoffs. But they plummeted to five-win campaigns in 1979 and 1980. The 1981 Green Bay Packers started much the same way and […]
For four straight seasons, the Buffalo Bills had been the gold standard of the AFC—four straight conference championships, a feat unparalleled in the Super Bowl era. They hadn’t won that final game of the year, but they were winning most everything else. All good things come to an end though, and the 1994 Buffalo Bills […]