How did the Cards never win a playoff game in St Louis?

[GatorAZ]

Other than being a poorly run franchise in a tough division?

- From 1960-1978 they actually had a winning record overall

- Seven seasons of at least 9 wins (14 game season)

- Blown out by the Rams and Packers in two games and looked somewhat competitive with the Vikings in 74’ (based on the box score)

 

[PACardsFan]

No wild card teams back then. We were 9-3-2 one year & still fell a game behind the Cleveland Browns. The Browns were a powerhouse in the 60's. In 75, we were 11-3 & still had to go play the 12-2 Rams on the road in the playoffs. We lost 35-23 because we fell behind 28-0 in the 1st half.

 

[cardpa]

Other long time followers correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think they ever had a home playoff game while in St Louis. I think every playoff game was an away game.

 

[TruColor]

Other long time followers correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think they ever had a home playoff game while in St Louis. I think every playoff game was an away game.

True.

 

[WindCardinal]

There was never a playoff game at Sun Devil either.

 

[jmt]

Yeah we got hosed out of the playoffs several times in the 80s.

 

[Diverdan]

The ‘74 Viking loss wasn’t as close as the box score. We scored late to make it appear so, but we were dominated.

 

[AZCrazy]

The Vikings were the dominant NFC team in the mid 70's. Purple People Eaters and such. Cowpeople had runs in the early and late 70's. We were never better than 2nd best in the Conference.

 

[Harry]

They had no consistent defense. They had what I call a stars & holes defense. The Stars were too few and other teams exploited the holes. They got the name the Cardiac Cards because in most games they had to keep scoring and out score the other team to win.

Coryell begged them for defensive help but Dollar Bill would not pay for key players even at the trade deadline. One year the Cards desperately needed a safety, Washington had one, DB wouldn’t pay for it. Close but no cigar. This type of behavior frustrated the fans constantly. I believe this unwillingness to take a chance to win was why the fans revolted and the Cards left St Louis.

 

[PACardsFan]

They had no consistent defense. They had what I call a stars & holes defense. The Stars were too few and other teams exploited the holes. They got the name the Cardiac Cards because in most games they had to keep scoring and out score the other team to win.

Coryell begged them for defensive help but Dollar Bill would not pay for key players even at the trade deadline. One year the Cards desperately needed a safety, Washington had one, DB wouldn’t pay for it. Close but no cigar. This type of behavior frustrated the fans constantly. I believe this unwillingness to take a chance to win was why the fans revolted and the Cards left St Louis.

Sadly, this is the truth. Old man Bidwill was a decent man, but a horrible owner. The St. Louis era of Cardinal football wasn't without some fun times, but Bill had no clue or desire to put a defense on the field during the Coryell years. Charley Winner had some decent teams from the mid 60's to 1970. And Wally Lemm had a few good teams in the early 60's. Unfortunately, there were no wild cards back then or the Cardinals would have made the playoffs 5-6 times from 1960-1970. And they had some great players during that stretch also. Michael isn't the greatest of owners, but he's SIGNIFICANTLY better than his Dad. He does love this franchise & does everything he can to improve them.

 

[daves]

No wild card teams back then. We were 9-3-2 one year & still fell a game behind the Cleveland Browns. The Browns were a powerhouse in the 60's. In 75, we were 11-3 & still had to go play the 12-2 Rams on the road in the playoffs. We lost 35-23 because we fell behind 28-0 in the 1st half.

There was no Wild Card team in the 1960s, but there was one in each conference from 1970-77, and two thereafter (through 1989).

The Coryell years are when i became a fan, as the "Cardiac Cards" were always exciting to watch and as an NFC East team, they were on TV often in southeastern PA.

In 1974 the Cards won the NFC East at 10-4 by tie-breaker over Washington, whom they had swept - but had to play at Minnesota (also 10-4, but the Vikings had beaten the Cards in the regular season).

In 1976, the Cardinals became the only 10-win team ever to miss the playoffs during the era of 14-game schedules. Dallas won the NFC East at 11-3 and Washington got the only Wild Card at 10-4, having swept the Cards.

1977 signaled the end of the Coryell era, with the team starting 1-3, rebounding to 7-3, ten getting hammered in a memorable Thanksgiving game vs. Miami and losing out the rest of the slate, finishing the season by providing Tampa Bay with their second win ever and horst home win after starting 0-26. This was the end of the "Cardiac Cards" and the start of a long, bleak period in Cardinals history.

...dave