Why 1976-1978 team was not able to win a Super Bowl ?

From ownership to coaching, the whole franchise was a total joke...like the radiers are today. Guys just collecting paychecks.

There was no team in history like the '76 Pats. Greatest running game of all time, one of the great running QB's of all time, one of the great OL's of all time, terrific receivers, Mike Haynes, Fairbanks. They just knocked your block off. A rare, rare team that became the best in the league after a 3-11 season in '75.

They were better than the Raiders in '76. Beat them 48-17 in the regular season and had them 21-10 in the 4th qtr of a road playoff game. Cunningham's shoulder injury led him to run out of bounds instead of getting the 1st down that probably wins the game. Then all the other nightmare plays: Vilapiano & Francis, Dreith & Sugar Bear, etc. It was really too much to bear.

They never recovered from that loss.

40yrpatsfan said:

There was no team in history like the '76 Pats. Greatest running game of all time, one of the great running QB's of all time, one of the great OL's of all time, terrific receivers, Mike Haynes, Fairbanks. They just knocked your block off. A rare, rare team that became the best in the league after a 3-11 season in '75.

They were better than the Raiders in '76. Beat them 48-17 in the regular season and had them 21-10 in the 4th qtr of a road playoff game. Cunningham's shoulder injury led him to run out of bounds instead of getting the 1st down that probably wins the game. Then all the other nightmare plays: Vilapiano & Francis, Dreith & Sugar Bear, etc. It was really too much to bear.

They never recovered from that loss.

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I'd still take the '04 version, and it's not even close.

RayClay said:

Bocce?....

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calcio, calcio, calcio...
soccer, soccer, soccer...

plus tennis, and perhaps bocce too...

i play bocce twice a year when i go in the summer to the sea...

DegeneratePatsFan said:

I'd still take the '04 version, and it's not even close.

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I wasn't comparing '76 to any other Pats team, just saying that were a very unique and powerful bunch. Anyone that didn't see them or doesn't recall them may not appreciate what they were like. Tremendously athletic. It was amazing that in the era of the Steelers, Cowboys, & Raiders, they appeared out of nowhere to be such a force. But they were star-crossed and didn't win a thing.

The '04 team completed a 2-year run of 34-4, which is probably the best winning pct in history over 2 seasons. And they won ALL the big ones. So there's no argument about which was the more accomplished team.

> By the way, does anybody remember what a huge game this was at the time?
> I remember that the Cowboy's were like a mythical team at the time

Yes. I was 9 at the time, but I still remember that feeling of desperately holding onto a lead over the better opponent, only to see it slip away in the last moments... *again*. I think my dad was referring to the refs when he used to say "You can't beat Dallas in Dallas."

Back then, it felt like it only took one bad or non-called penalty, or incorrect call whether a receiver had both feet in bounds in the endzone, and there went the Pats chance of winning the big games.

buile said:

> By the way, does anybody remember what a huge game this was at the time?
> I remember that the Cowboy's were like a mythical team at the time

Yes. I was 9 at the time, but I still remember that feeling of desperately holding onto a lead over the better opponent, only to see it slip away in the last moments... *again*. I think my dad was referring to the refs when he used to say "You can't beat Dallas in Dallas."

Back then, it felt like it only took one bad or non-called penalty, or incorrect call whether a receiver had both feet in bounds in the endzone, and there went the Pats chance of winning the big games.

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for us older fans, there was ALWAYS that cloud, similar to what the Seahawks had before they went to the SB last year. You always knew something bad would happen in a big game. For me, what turned that around was probably the 1985 playoff win at the Raiders. We buried a lot of ghosts during those playoffs. There wasnt a SB win, of course until 2001, but after 1985 I never felt like there was a black cloud over them. If they lost, it was because they played a better team. Browns in 1994, Packers in 1996, those were better teams.
But that stretch from 1976 through 1984 they put us through agony. Very talented teams who ripped your heart out.
remember in 1977 when the playoff system doomed us?
all we had to do was beat Miami and Baltimore. Well, we beat Miami, then the Colts lose to Detroit. we all think this is good, right? well, the Colts losing actually doomed us as it ruined the 3 way tie scenario where the Patriots would have won the division. instead it created, at best a 2 way tie with Miami we the Patriots couldnt win.
only the Patriots. eliminated because their rival lost!
1978 - Fairbanks/Sullivan drama ruins everything
1979 - late season choke
1980 - we start 6-1 and collapse
1984 8-4 until the collapse
on and on it went
but the win over the Raiders in 1985 changed the feeling. Before that i was just happy we won a playoff game at NY.

Chuck Sullivan was responsible for the Patriot's decline after 1976.

Chuck Fairbanks came to agreement with John Hannah and Leon Gray

with new contracts after the 1976 season but was overruled by Chuck

Sullivan. These players sat out some early games on a special

reserve list. The Pats lost a couple of early games and did not make the

playoffs. They made the playoffs again in 1978 but lost to Houston

31 to 14. Chuck Fairbanks did not coach that game. He was fired

because he announced his intention to coach Colorado U. before

the game. Chuck Sullivan in 1979 traded Leon Gray to Miami.

In 1980, there were contract disputes with Sam Cunningham and Michael

Haynes. Shortly thereafter, Sam Cunningham was no longer with the team.


Around 1984, Michael Haynes was traded to Oakland.

3 to be 4 said:

for us older fans, there was ALWAYS that cloud, similar to what the Seahawks had before they went to the SB last year. You always knew something bad would happen in a big game. For me, what turned that around was probably the 1985 playoff win at the Raiders. We buried a lot of ghosts during those playoffs. There wasnt a SB win, of course until 2001, but after 1985 I never felt like there was a black cloud over them. If they lost, it was because they played a better team. Browns in 1994, Packers in 1996, those were better teams.
But that stretch from 1976 through 1984 they put us through agony. Very talented teams who ripped your heart out.
remember in 1977 when the playoff system doomed us?
all we had to do was beat Miami and Baltimore. Well, we beat Miami, then the Colts lose to Detroit. we all think this is good, right? well, the Colts losing actually doomed us as it ruined the 3 way tie scenario where the Patriots would have won the division. instead it created, at best a 2 way tie with Miami we the Patriots couldnt win.
only the Patriots. eliminated because their rival lost!
1978 - Fairbanks/Sullivan drama ruins everything
1979 - late season choke
1980 - we start 6-1 and collapse
1984 8-4 until the collapse
on and on it went
but the win over the Raiders in 1985 changed the feeling. Before that i was just happy we won a playoff game at NY.

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nice post, thks

I KNOW that had we not been screwed in Oakland in 76, we would have won the SB that year.

It broke my heart and I carried the scar until 2001, then it mended, and I got over it finally.:rocker:

PATSNUTme said:

I KNOW that had we not been screwed in Oakland in 76, we would have won the SB that year.

It broke my heart and I carried the scar until 2001, then it mended, and I got over it finally.:rocker:

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Sure, with what would have been their next opponent, Pittsburgh, crippled with the loss of both Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, and the pretender Vikings after that, the Patriots should have rolled to their first SB that year. But you know what, I saw that Sugar Bear Hamilton on Stabler replay again the other night and Sugar Bear did go after Stabler's helmet with his hands. He didn't cold**** him or anything, but the hands were there. The Sugar Bear man has to live in infamy somewhat there. Of course, Vrabel hit Kurt Warner harder in XXXVI on the Law INT-TD, but there was no call. 3 SB wins now make 1976 just legend.

Even though the '76 club was not as good as BB's teams, I often wonder what might have happened if they had won and won a Lombardi.

Would Sullivan have been:

a) smart enough; and
b) been able to recapitalize the club by bringing in some new partners
had they won?

Would they then have had the resources to pay Gray, Haynes and the others?

Would Fairbanks then have not gotten so discouraged to return to college football?

How many Lombardi's could they have accumulated then?

All the might have beens...

AzPatsFan said:

Even though the '76 club was not as good as BB's teams, I often wonder what might have happened if they had won and won a Lombardi.

Would Sullivan have been:

a) smart enough; and
b) been able to recapitalize the club by bringing in some new partners
had they won?

Would they then have had the resources to pay Gray, Haynes and the others?

Would Fairbanks then have not gotten so discouraged to return to college football?

How many Lombardi's could they have accumulated then?

All the might have beens...

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very interesting questions...what could have happened infortunately we will never know but good post

probably anyway we could have had a better success but who knows