Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

As I'm sure many of you know (and it may have been discussed on here already), Chiefs players voiced disrespect toward Tampa Bay upon their rain-drenched monsoon 0-3 season-finale road loss. They basically felt that had TB been in the AFC, and Chiefs been in NFC, a different story for both teams that season. What are all your thoughts on that? I'd say had Levy's Chiefs been in the NFC instead, specifically the Central division, their scrappy gritty respectability would have translated rather well in that division with not only a winning record, but a nice dog-fight with da Bears for the division title; and if they don't win it, then at least clinch themselves a date at the Vet as a wildcard. I would guess the Chiefs would have more than likely won the NFC Central, however. KC won twice as many games in '79 vs winning teams (4) than Chi-town did (2 - TB & Rams) even if those four wins were all against 9-7 teams - two vs Oakland, two vs Seattle apiece. Yes, the Levy-factor gets the nod with me over Sweetness.

However, that doesn't mean that I necessarily agree with KC's assessment that TB wouldn't have done well in the AFC West. They certainly don't win the division, but I think both they and Denver would have had themselves quite a nice dogfight for 2nd hence a date at the Astrodome as a wildcard. I guess it all would have come down to if TB would have also been able to split their season-series vs the top-seed Chargers (yet alone pitch a 7-0 shutout vs them as Denver actually did). That's really a tough call between both D-heavies but I'll take Denver without much reservation - better regular season body-of-work as well as giving Oilers at the Dome quite the gruff.

Very end of day, I think both teams were evenly-enough matched, but Bucs were still the better team than KC with or without Mother Nature. Not by much, but still better IMO. And remember this...Tampa Bay originally was in the AFC West (for just one year their inaugural season in '76 before switching with Seattle the very following year). This then leads to yet another what-if....how would also-respectable/gritty/scrappy 9-7 Patera's Seahawks have done vs Bears had they still been in the NFC Central in '79?

74_75_78_79_ wrote:This then leads to yet another what-if....how would also-respectable/gritty/scrappy 9-7 Patera's Seahawks have done vs Bears had they still been in the NFC Central in '79?

The Seahawks were never in the NFC Central. They were in the NFC West in '76. Not that their division really mattered, scheduling wise.

Reaser wrote:

74_75_78_79_ wrote:This then leads to yet another what-if....how would also-respectable/gritty/scrappy 9-7 Patera's Seahawks have done vs Bears had they still been in the NFC Central in '79?

The Seahawks were never in the NFC Central. They were in the NFC West in '76. Not that their division really mattered, scheduling wise.

OUCH!!! HUGE mistake! My apologies. Thought both switched off. Hey...I'm sure had they still been in that division in '79 that they Rams and Saints would have made for a nice three-way race. The fact that they were in the NFC West in '76 (now that you reminded me) made for a nice distant-precursor of how things are right now for what it's worth. Thanks for that reminder and, by the way, 'Hawks are still truly defending-Champs to me. Just a simple bump early on in the road before they get right back on track. Rams loss was merely an upset and had they RUN more vs Dallas......

RWilson IS truly their undisputed leader, but with Lynch he should NEVER have to be asked to do too much more than he has to. They'll get it back together.

The 1979 Chiefs had two costly home losses, in Week 2 against the Browns and Week 8 against the Giants:

*Against the Browns, they trailed 20-0 late in the third quarter, but roared back to take a 24-20 lead with 2:19 to go. However, Brian Sipe took the Browns 76 yards over eight plays in just 1:27 to win 27-24.

*Against the Giants, they had a 10-0 lead at the half, then took a 17-14 lead with 3:28 left. After holding the Giants, they had the ball on their 22, when rookie running back Mike Williams fumbled. Harry Carson ran it for the the winning touchdown. KC even had one final shot: they got the ball down to the NYG 10, and on the final play of the game, Mike Livingston's pass to J.T. Smith was incomplete. What made it more painful for KC was that they had a 463-226 advantage in yardage, but Williams' fumble was the Chiefs' fourth of the game.

If they win those, they're 9-7, and given Tampa Bay's collapse down the stretch, they very likely could have won under normal weather conditions.

74_75_78_79_ wrote:'Hawks are still truly defending-Champs to me. .

Until proven otherwise.

I agree, I think they'll be fine. No panic here.

Even though the NFL was geographically challenged from the 1970s-2000s (Atlanta and New Orleans in the West, St. Louis in the East), had the Bucs been flipped to the AFC they would have more than likely still gone to the Central Division. The Bucs were in the NFC Central from a marketing standpoint. Retirees from Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee flocked to Tampa Stadium. Retirees from Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati would have done the same.

I love the 1979 Bucs as most of you know, but they would have been lucky to win 3-4 divisional games in the AFC Central. Their offense was too limited to compete against the Steel Curtain and Luv Ya Blue defenses. Also, even though their defense was number one in the league, they could struggle against pass happy teams and that is what the up and coming Browns could be.

Remember, in 1980 the Bucs went 1-3 against the AFC Central...they beat the Bengals 17-12 but lost to the Steelers (24-21), Oilers (20-14) and Browns (34-27). This is with pretty much the same roster as 1979. I've watched old videos of these games and read the game books. They were very tightly contested games and quite physical, but the Bucs just lacked something to put them over the top at the end.

I am not taking anything away from the Buccaneers. Their performance in two very gritty playoff games speaks for their validity. However, I don't know if they could have sustained their success against the AFC Central.