The 1985 Bears

**Avante** · 11-14-2014

how would today's pass happy offenses fare in the 70's given the different sets of rules?

I think they would have done great if that passing team also had a solid D. It wouldn't work too well if constantly trying to come from behind.

But.....as we saw with the Ravens and Seahawks, you win that TO battle, run/stuff the run you don't need to throw the ball all around.

**DeadlyDynasty** · 11-15-2014

The 1984 49ers were better and should be recognized more imo

**Pelicans78** · 11-15-2014

The 1987 Niners team was their best regular season team ever. Montana getting hurt may have cost them the Super Bowl. They had two epic games with the Saints who were 12-3 that year.

I just remember that Niners team beating the out of people late in the year. Rice was a monster throughout the year. But Montana got hurt and Young struggled in the playoff loss against the Vikings.

**JoeTait75** · 11-15-2014

1987 may very well have been the best 49er team of the decade. They were 1st in the NFL in both total offense and total defense and Jerry Rice caught 22 TD passes in 12 games. They played the Browns in a Sunday night game out in Candlestick that year and beat them 38-24 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. Montana and Rice took a blowtorch to the best secondary in football that night. The Browns were really good in 1987- the best Browns team since the merger, which admittedly isn't saying much. But they couldn't hang with that 49er team.

**Pelicans78** · 11-16-2014

Originally Posted by JoeTait75

1987 may very well have been the best 49er team of the decade. They were 1st in the NFL in both total offense and total defense and Jerry Rice caught 22 TD passes in 12 games. They played the Browns in a Sunday night game out in Candlestick that year and beat them 38-24 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. Montana and Rice took a blowtorch to the best secondary in football that night. The Browns were really good in 1987- the best Browns team since the merger, which admittedly isn't saying much. But they couldn't hang with that 49er team.

I remember that Sunday Night game. I was rooting hard for the Browns since the Saints were right behind the Niners in the NFC West standings. But Montana/Rice were unreal that game. That was a really good Browns team. Very good. A Super Bowl caliber team and the Niners won easily. But the Niners did that throughout the season.

The Niners and Saints had the two best records in the league at 13-2 and 12-3. They had two epic matches that season. The Saints defense kept the Niners in check and the Saints had a really good running game as well. The Niners won at the Dome earlier in the season 24-22 when Morten Andersen missed a 52 yard FG to win the game. The Saints then won their last 9 regular season games which included a win at Candlestick after the Saints blocked a 47 yard FG at the gun. The was the biggest Saints regular season win in history until 2000 (when Aaron Brooks led an upset win at the road at the Greatest Show on Turf Rams to help win the NFC West).

Then a 8-7 Vikings team which only made the playoffs when the Cardinals lost in the final week at Dallas ended up beating the Saints and the Niners in the playoffs.

**Avante** · 11-16-2014

I have a great book on football put out by SI.

This is how they ranked the great teams.

1.Cleveland Browns 1946-55, they played in the le game 10 years in a row winning 7. The only thing is they played in the All American Conference (as did the Niners)

2.Green Bay Packers 1960-1967

3.Pittsburgh Steelers 1972-1979

4.San Francisco 49ers 1981-1992

5.Chicago Bears 1932-43

6.Miami Dolphins 1970-1974

7.Canton Bulldogs 1922-1923

8.Oakland/LA Raiders 1967-1985

9.Green Bay Packers 1929-1932

10.Detroit Lions 1952-1957

I realize this is about "one" season, but what the .