You know, I thought about that one too. Hard to say 2-7 was fun but I know what you mean. 4 of their 7 losses were by 6 points or less and they had 4th quarter leads three straight games they couldn't put away. You're right, the defense was old then and maybe that's why they blew so many early leads. They were particularly long in the tooth at DT with Brooks, Fanning and Cody Jones... and Jim Youngblood was suddenly declining.
I'll never forget watching that opening day debacle at Green Bay... 23-0 to 35-23... The Raiders game was a crusher. Then their win in the finale @SF felt somehow meaningful.
I can recall there was such excitement going into that year after the horrendous QB play in 1981 (Haden and Pastroni put up perhaps the worst combined passing stats in team history to that point) with them not only acquiring Bert Jones but getting Ferragamo back. Wendell Tyler had a very good year.
But they had a lot in place so that, once Robinson arrived and Dickerson was drafted, they were able to bounce back well in '83.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2020 08:47AM by LMU93.