Everything was about redemption for the 1997 Denver Broncos, both short-term and long-term. In the short-term, this was a team that had the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs in 1996 and lost in a big upset at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the long-term, 37-year-old quarterback John Elway had yet to win a […]
The 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars were in just their second season of existence. To no one’s surprise, they had gone 4-12 in their first year. To everyone’s surprise, they made a stunning late season push in 1996 to sneak into the playoffs. And to everyone’s shock, Tom Coughlin’s Jags then made it all the way to […]
After a surprise run to the AFC Championship Game in 1995, the Colts had to find a new coach. Ted Marchibroda, who had led this franchise to the postseason in both its Baltimore and Indianapolis iterations, called it a career. The front office tapped offensive coordinator Lindy Infante. While Infante had flamed out in a […]
Jim Kelly came to the Buffalo Bills in 1986, after a brief stint in the defunct United States Football League (USFL) out of college. Kelly’s tenure in Buffalo was the greatest in franchise history. By 1988, the Bills were a perennial contender. They won a historic four straight AFC crowns from 1990-93. Even though they […]
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 […]
The Denver Broncos had been the AFC’s defining franchise in the late 1980s, reaching three Super Bowls. They had gone to the AFC Championship Game as recently as 1991. But they slipped into a comfortable mediocrity. They missed the playoffs in 1992 and parted ways with head coach Dan Reeves. New head coach Wade Phillips […]
The Raider franchise spent 13 successful years in the city of Los Angeles, from 1982-94, a stretch that included a Super Bowl title in 1983. But the team never stopped being identified with their original home of Oakland. They came back in 1995. After going 16-16 the final two seasons in L.A., the Raiders got […]