The Worst Matchups in NFL History

by Chase Stuart on December 13, 2014

Johnson returns to Nashville

The Jets and the Titans play tomorrow, in a matchup of 2-11 teams that ranks as one of the worst in NFL history. If you’re watching this game, you’re either a diehard fan of both teams or are fascinated by the idea of a Chris Johnson revenge game (which is probably even sadder than being a fan of either team). It’s even worse than the Colts-Jaguars game of a few years ago, when the 2-13 Colts needed a loss in Jacksonville to the 4-11 Jags in order to secure the rights to Andrew Luck. Something similar could be on the line in Tennessee: with the Jets, Bucs, and Titans all 2-11 (not to mention the Jaguars and Raiders), there are three quarterback-needy teams in a draft with two marquee quarterbacks: Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. As a result, the loser of the New York/Tennessee game could ultimately be the long-term winner.

This will be the first matchup of 2-11 teams since a 2008 game between the Rams and Seahawks. That game turned out to be much less exciting for draftniks with the benefit of hindsight: St. Louis selected Jason Smith with the second overall pick, while the Seahawks drafted Aaron Curry fourth overall.

So what’s the worst matchup of teams in NFL history? You can’t use just winning percentage, and it’s hard to compare teams who have played a different number of games. One solution is to add 11 games of .500 ball to each team. For the Jets and Titans, that would make both teams 7.5-16.5, which translates to an adjusted winning percentage of 0.313. That would be tied for the 19th worst game in NFL history.

The worst? There’s a tie there, too, involving a pair of Colts teams a decade apart. In 1981, the 1-14 Colts defeated the 2-13 Patriots. Baltimore had an adjusted (after adding 11 games of .500 play) winning percentage of 0.250, while New England was at 0.288, for an average of 0.269. The win swung the first overall pick to the Patriots and dropped the Colts to second overall, although Kenneth Sims and Johnie Cooks didn’t change the fate of either franchise. Ten years later, the Colts were again 1-14 and were scheduled to play the 2-13 Bucs. The twist here: Tampa Bay had already traded the team’s first round pick in 1992 to Indianapolis in exchange for Chris Chandler in 1990. The Bucs defeated the Colts, and Indianapolis selected Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt with the first two picks. Spoiler alert: that didn’t change the fate of the franchise, either.

The table below shows the worst matchups in football history. Each game is listed from the perspective of the winner, and displays each team’s each team’s adjusted winning percentage and the average of the two adjusted records. Finally, I’ve included a linkable boxscore to each game.

Rk	Tm	Opp	Year	Wk	Tm Rec	Opp Rec	TmAdjW%	OppAdjW%	Avg	Boxscore	PF	PA
1	BAL	NWE	1981	16	1-14	2-13	0.25	0.288	0.269	Boxscore	23	21
1	TAM	IND	1991	17	2-13	1-14	0.288	0.25	0.269	Boxscore	17	3
3	NOR	NYJ	1980	15	0-14	3-11	0.22	0.34	0.28	Boxscore	21	20
4	NWE	CIN	1993	15	1-11	1-11	0.283	0.283	0.283	Boxscore	7	2
4	TAM	HOU	1983	13	1-11	1-11	0.283	0.283	0.283	Boxscore	33	24
6	SDG	IND	1986	13	2-10	0-12	0.326	0.239	0.283	Boxscore	17	3
7	BUF	CAR	2001	13	1-10	1-11	0.295	0.283	0.289	Boxscore	25	24
8	BCL	CHR	1947	13	1-10-1	1-11	0.304	0.283	0.293	Boxscore	14	7
9	HOU	IND	1986	12	2-9	0-11	0.341	0.25	0.295	Boxscore	31	17
9	NYJ	MIA	2007	13	2-9	0-11	0.341	0.25	0.295	Boxscore	40	13
11	CLE	BUF	1984	10	1-8	0-9	0.325	0.275	0.3	Boxscore	13	10
12	TAM	NOR	1977	13	0-12	3-9	0.239	0.37	0.304	Boxscore	33	14
13	CHR	BCL	1947	11	0-10	1-7-1	0.262	0.35	0.306	Boxscore	27	21
14	SFO	HOU	2005	17	3-12	2-13	0.327	0.288	0.308	Boxscore	20	17
14	GNB	DET	2008	17	5-10	0-15	0.404	0.212	0.308	Boxscore	31	21
16	PHI	PIT	1939	9	0-7-1	0-8-1	0.316	0.3	0.308	Boxscore	17	14
17	MIA	SFO	2004	12	1-9	1-9	0.31	0.31	0.31	Boxscore	24	17
17	CAR	IND	2011	12	2-8	0-10	0.357	0.262	0.31	Boxscore	27	19
19	MIA	BAL	2007	15	0-13	4-9	0.229	0.396	0.313	Boxscore	22	16
19	ATL	NYG	1966	10	0-9	1-7-1	0.275	0.35	0.313	Boxscore	27	16
19	SEA	STL	2008	15	2-11	2-11	0.313	0.313	0.313	Boxscore	23	20
19	ATL	NOR	1996	15	2-11	2-11	0.313	0.313	0.313	Boxscore	31	15
19	IND	CIN	1998	15	2-11	2-11	0.313	0.313	0.313	Boxscore	39	26
19	STL	SFO	1979	14	3-10	1-12	0.354	0.271	0.313	Boxscore	13	10
25	HOU	BUF	1971	13	2-9-1	1-11	0.348	0.283	0.315	Boxscore	20	14
26	CRD	PHI	1936	8	0-7	1-8	0.306	0.325	0.315	Boxscore	13	0
27	CIN	KAN	2008	17	3-11-1	2-13	0.346	0.288	0.317	Boxscore	16	6
27	STL	TAM	1986	16	3-11-1	2-13	0.346	0.288	0.317	Boxscore	21	17
29	PIT	PHI	1939	11	0-9-1	1-7-1	0.286	0.35	0.318	Boxscore	24	12
30	NYG	SEA	1976	12	1-10	2-9	0.295	0.341	0.318	Boxscore	28	16
30	GNB	IND	1991	13	2-9	1-10	0.341	0.295	0.318	Boxscore	14	10
30	SDG	OAK	1962	12	3-8	0-11	0.386	0.25	0.318	Boxscore	31	21
33	IND	BUF	1986	15	1-13	4-10	0.26	0.38	0.32	Boxscore	24	14
33	IND	TAM	1985	15	3-11	2-12	0.34	0.3	0.32	Boxscore	31	23
33	GNB	TAM	1986	15	3-11	2-12	0.34	0.3	0.32	Boxscore	21	7
33	NYJ	NWE	1990	16	4-10	1-13	0.38	0.26	0.32	Boxscore	42	7
37	NOR	ATL	1967	11	1-9	1-8-1	0.31	0.333	0.321	Boxscore	27	24
38	BDA	CHR	1947	9	1-6-1	0-9	0.368	0.275	0.322	Boxscore	7	3
39	BKN	CRD	1943	7	0-6	0-6	0.324	0.324	0.324	Boxscore	7	0
39	PIT	PHI	1968	7	0-6	0-6	0.324	0.324	0.324	Boxscore	6	3
41	CIN	HOU	1994	11	1-8	1-8	0.325	0.325	0.325	Boxscore	34	31
41	DET	CLE	2009	11	1-8	1-8	0.325	0.325	0.325	Boxscore	38	37
41	WAS	BAL	1950	10	1-8	1-8	0.325	0.325	0.325	Boxscore	38	28
41	CIN	IND	1997	11	2-7	0-9	0.375	0.275	0.325	Boxscore	28	13
41	NYJ	TAM	1976	10	2-7	0-9	0.375	0.275	0.325	Boxscore	34	0
46	SDG	NYJ	1975	13	1-11	3-9	0.283	0.37	0.326	Boxscore	24	16
46	TEN	HOU	2005	14	3-9	1-11	0.37	0.283	0.326	Boxscore	13	10
48	WAS	RAM	1994	17	2-13	4-11	0.288	0.365	0.327	Boxscore	24	21
48	GNB	DET	1979	16	4-11	2-13	0.365	0.288	0.327	Boxscore	18	13
48	JAX	IND	2011	17	4-11	2-13	0.365	0.288	0.327	Boxscore	19	13
51	DET	DAL	2001	17	1-14	5-10	0.25	0.404	0.327	Boxscore	15	10
51	CAR	IND	1998	17	3-12	3-12	0.327	0.327	0.327	Boxscore	27	19
53	SEA	SDG	2000	10	2-7	0-8	0.375	0.289	0.332	Boxscore	17	15

The Jets-Titans game definitely qualifies as one of the worst in recent memory. But if the Jets win this weekend, it probably won’t be the worst game of the year. Next week, the Titans face the Jaguars, who are 2-11 and are playing the Ravens on Sunday. If both AFC South teams lose, the matchup of 2-12 teams would produce adjusted winning percentages of 0.300, and tie for the 10th worst in NFL history. ^[1]It would come in 10th place on the list, but I’m excluding what appears to have been the worst game in AAFC history.

Update: It’s official. The Titans/Jaguars are both 2-12, making this the worst matchup of teams since 2007, the second worst since realignment in 2002, and tied for the 10th worst NFL matchup ever.

References[+]

References
↑1	It would come in 10th place on the list, but I’m excluding what appears to have been the worst game in AAFC history.

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