The Houston Oilers came into existence in 1960 with the rest of the old American Football League. They won the first two AFL championships. In the late 1970s, they had the “Luv Ya Blue” teams of Earl Campbell that reached a pair of AFC Championship Games. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was […]
The 1996 Miami Dolphins were starting a new era in franchise history. The 26-year run of the legendary Don Shula ended after the 1995 season. Shula had won two Super Bowls, five AFC titles and made the playoffs in four of his final six years. But with the great quarterback Dan Marino getting older, the […]
After making the playoffs their first three seasons under Dennis Green, the Minnesota Vikings slipped to .500 in 1995. In 1996, they only modestly improved—but it was enough to get back into the playoffs and start another streak of postseason trips. The franchise was going through some tumult at quarterback. They had acquired the veteran […]
The Philadelphia Eagles came into 1996 building off a season where they won 10 games and advanced to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. That 1995 run was in the first year under head coach Ray Rhodes, who took over a team that had been around .500 the previous couple of seasons. In 1996, even […]
George Seifert enjoyed an exemplary coaching career with the San Francisco 49ers. He was an assistant in the Bill Walsh era that produced three Super Bowl titles, and the defensive coordinator for two of those championships. Upon taking over as boss in 1989, he won a Super Bowl of his own. He won another one […]
The Carolina Panthers entered the league in 1995 and promptly went a respectable 7-9, a remarkable level of success for a first-year franchise. It turned out that was no fluke—in 1996, the Panthers continued their rapid growth and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game. Carolina’s success was built around a veteran […]
With three Super Bowl championships in the previous four years, Dallas was already a dynasty. All of the key players were back in tow for another shot at the ring. The 1996 Dallas Cowboys were good and they had a few moments where flashes of their championship selves came shining through. But they also lacked […]
A playoff season in 1994 made it appear that the rebuilding program under head coach Bill Parcells and quarterback Drew Bledsoe had turned a corner. A disappointing regression in 1995 called that into question. Parcells, Bledsoe and the 1996 New England Patriots responded decisively–with a run to the Super Bowl, something the pre-Tom Brady franchise […]
From 1990 through 1997, Marty Schottenheimer led the Chiefs into the playoffs seven times. The one exception was 1996. It didn’t start out that way—right up until the end, the 1996 Kansas City Chiefs were well-positioned to continue the string of postseason appearances. But a late collapse left them out of the dance. READ ABOUT […]
The 1996 Washington Redskins were the team that played the franchise’s last season in the great venue of RFK Stadium. They looked poised to give the old stadium an appropriate sendoff, getting off to a strong start behind a power running game. But the muscle disappeared down the stretch and the Redskins missed the playoffs, […]
The 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers were a team in transition. The signature players on offense changed, but the success under fifth-year head coach Bill Cowher. Even though Pittsburgh didn’t repeat their AFC title run of 1995, they still continued their streak of qualifying for the playoffs each year under Cowher, and they won a game when they got there.