Do you think the '76 Pats would have defeated the Vikings in the Super Bowl had they met?

[Actual Pats Fan]

What could have been if a Super Bowl was won in that period...
The franchise would have had a huge benefit

Media denigration and public ridicule of the Patriots was in high gear for years already by 1976. The Fairbanks led Patriots had an outstanding team hidden two years prior losing twice to the Bills by a total of three points and thus missing the playoffs and finishing .500, and the next season with a deceptive 3-11 record. The Super Bowl victory stolen from them would not only have been historic, more significantly it would have shoved all of the asinine arrogance of local and national media, opponents and their fans directly in their faces to an even greater extent than they did a quarter century later, if that's possible for any of you to believe.

What the Dreith-led crew did that day is a Diabolus ex machina, which protected the status quo and aborted exposure of the snob superiority of the controlling power of the league for what it was(and still is, unless we've forgotten two stolen first round draft picks, etc.).

That the Patriots would have accomplished this despite their toxically cheap owner would have made it even more impressive.

By contrast, when the Broncos were suddenly good for the first time a year later, national media went berserk about it by mid season.

 

[scott99]

Yes.

The '76 Patriots had a great run game, one of the best in the history of the NFL. They also had a great TE (Russ Francis) and WR (Stanley Morgan). The defense was very impressive as well.

At that point in time the top AFC teams were far superior to any NFC team, including the Vikings.

Stanley Morgan was not on the 1976 team, drafted in 1977.

I believe the Pats would’ve beaten the Vikings if they got to the SB. That Oakland game was my first experience of pain as a Pat’s fan, but not my last, with 2007 being the worse as a Pat’s fan. But that 1976 ripoff was bad.