Toughest 80's Super Bowl loss to take ?

[dbfansincefeb87]

Hi all , new to the forum , just a question , if I had limited time say in a press room to John Elway what I’d want to ask him is ‘ of the three super bowl losses in the 80’s which one did he find the toughest to take ? ‘

The first to the Giants , where he said afterwards ‘ we all wanted it for Tom ’ , the retiring Tom Jackson .

The second to the Redskins and the 35 point 2nd quarter where none of those five td’s came from defence special teams or a short field .

Or the third to the 49ers and the record deficit where they were never in the game .

For me it was the second to the Redskins and the shell shock of that second quarter , has he ever been asked this and if so what was his answer ? and whats yours , thanks .

[rst08tierney]

49ers because of the score but it still wasn't like losing to Baltimore in 2012

[ArchAngel]

I honestly thought we could beat the Giants, considering how well we played them earlier during the regular season. Unfortunately, Dan Reeves refusal to get a top flight running back doomed our chances. Add some bad officiating on top of everything and it was a hard game to win.

[WYBRONCO]

The 49ers game was kind of expected, they were really good that year. The Giants game was very disappointing because they should not have beaten Denver that badly, did not like Phill Simms very much after that game. The Redskins game was the worst for me. Going up 10-0, then watching Timmy Smith run all over us and Doug Williams completely owning our defense, that was awful.

[Spice 1]

The 49ers game was kind of expected, they were really good that year. The Giants game was very disappointing because they should not have beaten Denver that badly, did not like Phill Simms very much after that game. The Redskins game was the worst for me. Going up 10-0, then watching Timmy Smith run all over us and Doug Williams completely owning our defense, that was awful.

Doug Williams Career Playoffs:
Completion % - .402
Yards Per Game - 158.6
Touchdowns - 9
Interceptions - 11

Doug Williams against Broncos in Super Bowl:
Completion % - .620
Yards - 340
Touchdowns - 4
Interceptions - 1

[Hadez]

Super Bowl required game - Loss to Wash

Worst playoff loss...maybe worst loss period...losing again Jax. It was probably needed for the team to evolve into back to back Champs but man it hurt at the time.

[Axemaster]

For me, it was the Redskins. I still say they were better then Washington. Timmy Davis? That QB?????!!!???? Wow. Denvers defense just LAID DOWN after jumping up 10-0. The Giants game was actually competitive, Sims was almost perfect that day. San Fran? No one was gonna touch them. They were one of the greatest teams of all time in 1989. Elway would probably say the same who knows?

[Sam_Z]

For me, it was the Redskins. I still say they were better then Washington. Timmy Davis? That QB?????!!!???? Wow. Denvers defense just LAID DOWN after jumping up 10-0. The Giants game was actually competitive, Sims was almost perfect that day. San Fran? No one was gonna touch them. They were one of the greatest teams of all time in 1989. Elway would probably say the same who knows?

I’ve heard so many accounts from so many players “they were sooo good”. You’re right nobody was taking them down. Montana, Rice, Walsh that’s be the equivalent to Mike Shanahan as HC, with youthfuls in Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson!

Shanahan ran a different system than PFM but their football minds together could had gone undefeated for multiple seasons and won atleast 8 Super Bowls in 16 seasons!

Shanahan really should had taken Drew Brees over Willie Middlebroojs and Pail Toviessi. Trade back garnering more picks and take a chance with a youthful Brees.

Those picks were so forgetful I can’t even remember how to spell their names.

[East Coast Fan]

For me it was the Giants game, they had the chance to put them down early and screwed it up! Couldn't score early from about 4 yards out, then Karlis missed a field goal, had a completed pass to TE Clarence Kay that was ruled incomplete, the very next play Elway is sacked for a safety, and later on they made an announcement after halftime that they looked at it and deemed it WAS a catch! :brick::hammer:

[samparnell]

In SB XXII, Denver's D had no answer for Joe Gibbs' Counter Series.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Watching Joe Montana make our secondary look like a college team was painful to me. It’s still the most lopsided defeat in superbowl history (45 point margin) and the most points ever scored by a team, 55.

[dbfansincefeb87]

Looking back at it now maybe the Redskins offensive onslaught shouldn’t have been that surprising as the Browns put up was it 4 straight td’s ? in the championship game two weeks earlier ,

also maybe Pat Bowlen should have brought in a new head coach after 87 or 88 to emphasis more physical football , interesting to know if Bill Belichick would have left the Giants and accepted the hc job here if it was offered to him as from that footage of him walking around Giants stadium before it was demolished he was really fond of that organisation .

thanks for your responses btw

[Dennis.1960]

Tough question.

Giants: I was confident we could beat them. We nearly did at Giants stadium a few weeks before the SB and probably would have pulled that game out were it not for Elway getting intercepted late on a screen pass that I believe went for a pick 6 and sealed the game. Of course, going into SB halftime up 10 - 9 when we could have easily been up 20 - 9 left the door open. Who would've thought average QB Phil Simms would have the perfect game?

Redskins: Up 10-0, which I was super excited about...but...there was a huge problem even before the 35 pt 2nd quarter that we can't blame on the D...namely the game ending injury of Dave Studdard. Our biggest, best and most nasty OL who was lined up against their best pass rusher, Dexter Manley. Once Studdard left the game we couldn't stop Manley and Elway began running for his life. Unless we were going to shut them out the rest of the way, no way we win with 10 points and an offense that couldn't run or pass.

49ers: This was the worst by far. I never expected us to bounce back and win the AFC after such a poor showing in '88, so I was super pumped about that. As far as the SB, you never want to think your team doesn't stand a chance, but I knew we'd have to play a perfect game and even still would need a lucky break or two. As soon as I heard this SB was played in a dome my heart sunk. I always felt that we were an excellent outdoor natural grass team but only average in domes or an astroturf - mostly because our wideouts and RB's were never the kind of speed demons who could burn defenses on turf. Anyway, I recall our 1st offensive series began with Bobby Humphrey dropping a shovel pass - a play we used to great success all year - then their 1st drive was a TD with rice splitting Atwater & Smith while they couldn't even hit him and everything going downhill from there fast. It's like they were playing in the SB and we were having a pre-season walk through leading to 55 points and the biggest margin of victory in SB history - and me living in 49er land. They were already my most hated sports franchise ever, this day just sealed the deal

[CanDB]

Tough question. Hard to Imagine that we lost by 19, 32 and 45 points in those games, for a total of 96 points!!!!

I kind of wrap them up in a container and have basically thrown it as far away as I can....though it is always good to remember when we win Super Bowls as a reason to appreciate what we have. Kind of a sweet after the sour. In that regard, and not the topic, but The Seattle loss bugs me the most...because it was more recent, but also because of how we seemed to disappear after being so good during the season.

But back to the topic, if I had to pick one, it was Washington, because we were up by 10.....and then we were terrible!! That second quarter was so bad I think I have mentally suppressed it. 35 points!!!

[Saddletramp]

All of them.