Every one of the NFL’s 32 teams has its signature moment. Hence, a look at the greatest performance by each franchise for one game.
An NFL team’s best game ever played. It sounds like a pretty broad subject. Which means the reasoning for each of the 32 choices here are different, to say the least. And don’t assume best means most important.
The factors that went into the selections were various and included such as the quality of the opponent, overall performance and efficiency. Keep in mind that football has gone through its share of eras and rule changes. For instance, turnovers were much more common than they are in today’s game.
Regardless, it’s another trip down memory lane for each of the NFL’s fan bases. And feel free to disagree, which is the real fun when it comes to these exercises.
SAN FRANCISCO – OCTOBER 6: Head coach Don Coryell and wide receiver Mel Gray #85 of the St. Louis Cardinals watch quarterback Jim Hart #17 warm up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on October 6, 1974 in San Francisco, California. The Cardinals defeated the Niners 34-9. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals: Week 12, 1975
Cardinals 31, Cowboys 17
It’s a franchise that was born way back in 1920 and has made its home in Chicago, St. Louis and currently the desert. The Arizona Cardinals have won a total of two NFL championships during their long stay in the league. The last came way back in 1947 when the team made the Windy City its home. Hence, this franchise owns the NFL’s longest current league title drought.
In 2008, the Cards reached their 1st and only Super Bowl, only to fall short to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Seven years later, the team set a franchise record with 13 wins but was eventually demolished in the NFC title game at Carolina.
But let’s go back to 1975, when the then-St. Louis Cardinals were under the command of head coach Don Coryell (a name you will hear later again in this piece) and feature such offensive standouts such as quarterback Jim Hart, running back Terry Metcalf and wide receiver Mel Gray. The offensive line was anchored by Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Dan Dierdorf.
That year, the Cards would win the NFC East (their home until 2002) with an 11-3 mark. And one of those victories was a convincing 31-17 conquest of the Super Bowl X-bound Dallas Cowboys. Coryell’s club rolled out to a 28-3 lead at intermission thanks to a pair of Hart-to-Gray TD passes, as well as a 30-yard scoring reception by Metcalf. St. Louis would fall in the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams. But Big Red looked pretty superior on a Sunday afternoon against the eventual conference champions.