The Worst NFL Teams Trivia Quiz

Answer: New England Patriots

After suffering through 10 consecutive losses to open the 1971 season, the Bills finally recorded their first and only win of the year with a 27-20 victory over the New England Partiots. Coach Harvey Johnson, who would only spend that one season with the team, even tried to play the team's best player, O.J. Simpson at wide receiver. Buffalo averaged only 13 points per game while giving up 28. It wouldn't be until Lou Saban came to town the following season that the Bills would start to become competitive again.

After posting a 4-9-1 record in 1972, Saban led the team to three straight winning seasons in 1973 (when Simpson ran for 2003 yards), 1974 (when the team gained its first playoff berth since 1966, losing to Pittsburgh 32-14), and 1975 (8-6).

Answer: Cincinnati Bengals

On the final Sunday of the 1972 NFL season, the Houston Oilers hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and gave their suffering fans a piece of coal in their stockings for Christmas. It was in the form of this ugly loss as they allowed the Bengals to pummel them into submission, 61-17.
The anemic offense only mustered 11 points per game while the defense gave up 380 for an average of 27 per game. The Oilers' only win that season came in week three against the New York Jets, 26-20.

Answer: Sid Gillman

Referred to by many as "the father of modern football", Sid Gillman took over for Bill Peterson as coach of the 1973 Houston Oilers after the fifth game of that season. Despite his sterling resume, he was only able to lead the team to a single win (31-27 over the Colts in week eight) as Houston finished 1-13 for a second straight year.
Gillman had coached 10 years in the American Football League with the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers leading them to five Westen Division titles and one League championship (1963; 51-10 over the Boston Patriots) from 1960-1966. But, all his success could not carry over to the 1973 Oilers who allowed a whopping 447 points for the year (31 per game). Much of that could be attributed to his having to work with the players that his predecessor, Bill Peterson, left him. With a full year to prepare and put his own stamp on to the team, Gillman showed why he was such a genius as he led the Oilers to a 7-7 record in 1974, which was their best showing a 6-6-2 finish in 1969.
Gillman was replaced in 1975 by O.A. "Bum" Phillips, and with Gillman having set the table, Phillips promptly led the Oilers to a 10-4 finish. Sid Gillman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and continued to be involved with the game until his passing in January 2003.

Answer: 11

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were shutout a woeful 11 times over the course of two NFL seasons, making them arguably one of the the worst NFL teams in history. The 1977 team was even worse, offensively speaking, by scoring in the single digits four times to go along with six shutouts.

Answer: False

Dick Nolan was an assistant coach on Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys' squad for six seasons, until he landed the head coach's job with the San Francisco 49ers in 1968. It was a job he would hold until 1975. During his eight seasons in the Bay area, Nolan led the 49ers to three straight Western Division titles from 1970-1972.

In 1978, he took over the morbid New Orleans Saints, who had yet to enjoy a winning season. He made them respectable by becoming the first coach in their history to win eight games in 1979.

Unfortunately, 1980 brought the team's fans little to cheer about as the Saints got off to an 0-12 start, which cost Nolan his job. Assistant Coach Dick Stanfil took over for the last four games and led the Saints to their only win that year, a 21-20 win over the New York Jets in Week 15. Stanfil was replaced the next season by Bum Phillips.

Answer: Green Bay Packers

In week seven of the 1982 season, the Colts were able to forge a 20-20 tie with the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers. The team gave up 236 points in the nine games played, and the offense was shutout in back-to-back weeks losing 37-0 to the New York Jets in week 3, and 20-0 to Buffalo the following Sunday.

Answer: 5

The Cowboys had 28 seasons of stability and consistently winning football. Dallas had a turnover in ownership as Bum Bright, who had just purchased the team from Clint Murchison a few years earlier, gave way to Jerry Jones. Jones ousted coaching legend Tom Landry, and brought in Jimmy Johnson.

Although these two would eventually lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins in four years, 1989 was a season of growing pains. The Cowboy defense would allow their opponents to score 30 points on them for five straight weeks.

It was a sad time for Cowboy fans.

Answer: Steve Grogan

Grogan went 16 for 24 for 187 yards in the game. He threw one TD pass and had one intercepted. It was week two, and the Patriots defeated the Colts, 16-14.

Answer: 2

With a scoring average of almost 17 points per game, the 2008 Detroit Lions were a surprisingly effective offensive team despite their record. Other than a week five blowout to the Chicago Bears (34-7), and a week 16 drubbing to the New Orleans Saints (42-7), the Lions scored at least 10 points in 14 of their 16 games played.

Answer: True

Their defense surrendered at least 31 points in 11 contests, and allowed no less than 21 in all 16 games for a pathetic 33 points per game average. The team did manage two wins that season. However, both wins came against the New England Patriots 29-28 in week one, and 23-21 in week 16.