Tough Sports Trivia: Franchises of the NFL | 10 Questions

Answer: Baltimore Colts

1953 under the head coaching endeavors of Keith Molesworth was the franchise's first season. With that 3-9 record, the Colts tried a new head coach in Weeb Ewbank. It brought them the same record in 1954. The franchise won their first championship in 1958 by defeating the New York Giants.

The 1968 season brought them their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl III, but lost to Joe Namath's "guarantee" and the New York Jets. The franchise moved to Indianapolis in 1984.

Answer: 1968

The Bengals' first season was in 1968 in the AFL, and they didn't fare well with a 3-11 record under head coach Paul Brown. The team made the playoffs for the first time in 1970 during the merger by going 8-6, but lost to the Colts in the Division Series 17-0.

The team took their first AFC crown and saw their first Super Bowl for the 1981 season. They were led by the arm of Kenny Anderson, the legs of Pete Johnson, and the hands of Cris Collinsworth. They just couldn't put it all together in the big game, and lost to the 49ers 26-21.

Answer: Scott Mitchell

The others were Lion quarterbacks at some point, but never threw for over 2500 passing yards for them in a season. In 1995, Mitchell was in his second season with the Lions after playing in three for the Dolphins. He exploded for 4338 passing yards along with throwing 32 touchdowns. Most of his passes went to Herman Moore and Brett Perriman.

The Lions went 8-6 and made it to the playoffs as a wildcard team, but lost to the Eagles 58-37.

Answer: 1929

The Packers under the helm of Curly Lambeau went 12-0-1 in 1929, and won the title over the New York Giants who were 13-1-1. Eight of their 12 victories in the season were via shutout, and they also defeated the Giants in the season 20-6.

Answer: Chicago Bears

The 1934 Bears went a perfect 13-0 to win the NFL Western Division. They went up against the 8-5 New York Giants, winners of the NFL East, but then lost 30-13 in the championship game. The Bears were led by the legendary coach George Halas at the helm, and the running backs of Beattie Feathers and Bronko Nagurski.

Answer: Cleveland Browns

The running back was Jim Brown who was way ahead of his time. He rushed for 12,312 yards in only nine seasons from 1957-1965. In eight of those seasons he led the league. Brown also caught 2499 yards worth of passing in his career. During his tenure with the Browns, they could pull off only one NFL Championship in 1964. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Answer: Boston Braves

They were the Braves for only one season in 1932 and went 4-4-2 under head coach Lud Wray. 1933 saw the franchise as the Boston Redskins and finished 5-5-2. They moved and the Washington Redskins name came in 1937, when they found their first NFL Championship over the Chicago Bears 28-21. That team was led by Hall of Fame legend Sammy Baugh. Sammy died in December 2008.

Answer: New Orleans Saints

On November 8, 1970, Tom Dempsey kicked a 63-yard field goal against the Detroit Lions. He was in his second NFL season. Ironically, Tom was 18 of 34 in the field goal department in that season. After his record-setting season of 63 yards, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1971. He also played for the Rams, Oilers, and Bills.

Answer: Dallas Cowboys

The game was played in Miami in January. Both teams were loaded with stars. The Steelers had QB Terry Bradshaw, RB Franco Harris, WR John Stallworth, DL Joe Greene, LB Jack Ham, WR Lynn Swann, and DB Donnie Shell. The Cowboys countered with QB Roger Staubach, RB Tony Dorsett, TE Billy Joe Dupree, DB Cliff Harris, WR Tony Hill, DL Harvey Martin, DL Randy White, and DL Ed Jones. The game came down to two late fourth quarter touchdown passes from Staubach, then the Steelers recovered a Cowboy onside kick to stop the scoring. The MVP of the game was Terry Bradshaw.

Answer: Philadelphia Eagles

Unfortunately, Randall Cunningham was on the losing end of 72 sacks in 1986. He was in his second season in the NFL, and had been sacked only 20 times in his previous season of 1985. He went another six seasons of being sacked at least 40 times, including 60 in 1992. The Houston Texans broke the Eagles record in 2002 by allowing 76 sacks of QB David Carr.