It’s the 1968-69 Baltimore Colts, hands down. Numbers make the case.
January 12, 1969. The scoreboard read, “NY Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7.” The Jets had done the impossible: they had just beaten the mighty Baltimore Colts, a team that many thought to be (up to that time) the best team in NFL history.
The Jets were heavy underdogs despite having a 12-3 record, including a 27-23 win over defending AFL champion Oakland in the AFL Championship game. But New York had won only two games going away that year (against Boston and Miami), and they had played only five of fifteen games against teams with winning records.
Colts beat the Browns in the 1968 NFL Championship game (photo, sliceoflife.com)
Baltimore was a different story. Ranked #1 in defense and #2 on offense, the Colts had outscored opposing teams 460-158. The defense had three shutouts and didn’t allow a TD in six games.
That offensive-defensive dominance showed in wins against the Steelers 41-7, 49ers 42-14, Falcons 44-0, Cardinals 27-0, and Giants 26-0. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect season was a 30-20 loss to the Cleveland Browns. But later, Baltimore avenged that defeat by humiliating the Browns, 34-0, in the NFL Championship game.
In addition to the Colts’ strength, many analysts and fans believed the Jets played in an inferior league. The AFL hadn’t faired well in two prior SB match-ups, losing to the Packers both times–Kansas City in Super Bowl I and Oakland in Super Bowl II. Neither game was close.
So how were these Jets able to upset the seemingly unconquerable Colts? Some claimed ‘the fix was on.’ Others thought the Colts were overconfident. And some felt that the Jets didn’t get the credit they deserved.
Whatever the reason, the 1968 Colts aren’t remembered as the best team in NFL history NOT to win the Super Bowl. Instead, the prevailing view is that Baltimore lost in one of the biggest upsets in football history.
But redemption would come. Baltimore won the big game two years later as the Jets went 4-10 that year. Don Shula, the Colts’ head coach in 1968, wasn’t with the team in 1970. In 1972, he coached the Miami Dolphins to a perfect 17-0 season–and the only undefeated season in NFL history.
For my money, the 1968-69 Baltimore Colts are the best team, ever, to lose the Super Bowl.
