Teams That Had A Chance To Three-Peat And Failed

SI Staff | Aug 1, 2016

Teams That Had A Chance To Three-Peat And Failed /

Teams That Had A Chance To Three-Peat And Failed

2013-14 Miami Heat (Lost 4-1 in NBA Finals to San Antonio)

One has to think back to 2002 to find the most recent three-peat champion in North America major team sports, but not nearly as far to find the most recent failed attempt. That would be the 2013-14 Miami Heat, who made it back to the Finals but lost four games to one to San Antonio. One of the more memorable moments in the series was LeBron James experiencing heat-related cramps in a San Antonio Spurs arena that lacked air-conditioning in Game 1.

2010-11 L.A. Lakers (Swept in second round by Dallas)

Phil Jackson's quest for an unprecedented fourth three-peat as a coach ended with an embarrassing sweep out of the playoffs by Dallas in the second round. Jackson did not return the following season and the Lakers haven't been back to the Finals since he led the 2009-2010 team to a back-to-back title.

2005 New England Patriots (Lost in divisional round to Denver)

After winning Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX, Bill Belichick seemed to have assembled the first dynasty of the free agency era. But the departures of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, and injuries throughout the season (New England started 45 players in 2005, a record for a division champion) put the Pats at a severe disadvantage. New England finished 10-6 after a 4-4 start, and beat Jacksonville in the wild-card round of the playoffs, but was fairly trounced by the Broncos in Denver in the divisional frame.

1999 Detroit Red Wings (Lost in second round to Colorado)

Detroit's hopes for a three-peat were fueled by the trade deadline acquisitions of blueliners Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson, forward Wendel Clark and goalie Bill Ranford, a first-place finish in the Central Division, and a sweep of Anaheim in the first round. Then the Red Wings ran out of steam against their bitter rivals, the Colorado Avalanche, who stormed back from a two-games-to-none deficit to win the next four, including three in Detroit. Ranford, who started the series in place of Chris Osgood, was strafed in a 5-3 Colorado win in Game 3 that turned the tide of the series.

1999 Denver Broncos (Missed playoffs)

This one is pretty simple: John Elway retired, and his replacement, Brian Griese, couldn’t match the production or leadership of the Hall of Fame quarterback. Denver finished 6-10, the worst record ever for a team defending its Super Bowl title.

1995-96 Houston Rockets (Swept in second round by Seattle)

1996 Houston Rockets.jpg — Christobal Perez/AP

The Rockets made a return trip to the playoffs in their three-peat bid and swept the Lakers in the first round. Unfortunately for them, they were swept themselves in the second round by Gary Payton, Sean Kemp and the Seattle SuperSonics.

1994 Toronto Blue Jays (Strike wiped out World Series)

The two-time defending World Series champion Blue Jays were 55-60 and in third place in the East when the MLB went on strike. Paul Molitor and his teammates were unlikely to catch the first-place Yankees, whom they trailed by 16 games. The Blue Jays wouldn’t make the playoffs again until 2015.

1994 Dallas Cowboys (Lost in NFC title game to San Francisco)

The Cowboys of the early 1990s looked like the kind of dynasty that could have gone through the entire decade— except for the fact that owner Jerry Jones wanted credit for the team-building that head coach Jimmy Johnson had done. Things came to a head after the Cowboys demolished the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, and Johnson departed. The 1994 Cowboys did make it back to the NFC title game, but were unable to get past the 49ers, the one thing they had done consistently under Johnson's auspices.

1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins (Lost in second round to New York Islanders)

Mario Lemieux missed 24 games after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease but returned to lead the Penguins on a 17-game winning streak, which still stands today. Pittsburgh headed into the playoffs with the league's best overall record (56-21-7), yet lost in a Game 7 series in the second round on an overtime goal by the Islanders' David Volek.

1990-91 Detroit Pistons (Lost in conference finals to Chicago)

The Bad Boys reached the Eastern Conference Finals for a fifth consecutive season in their three-peat bid, but their attempt to make a fourth consecutive Finals was derailed by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who would go on to win three NBA titles in a row.

1990 San Francisco 49ers (Lost in NFC title game to New York Giants)

The 1989 49ers thrashed the Broncos 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV, and things looked good for the following season. The '90 team finished with a 14-2 record and rocked the Redskins in the divisional round of the playoffs, but came up just short in the NFC championship game against the Giants. San Francisco led the game 13-9 as the fourth quarter began, but an injury to Joe Montana and two Matt Bahr field goals sealed the deal, and the Giants were off to Super Bowl XXV.

1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers (Swept in Finals by Detroit)

As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made his farewell tour across the league, the two-time defending Lakers won their first 11 games of the 1989 playoffs, but then lost four games in a row to the Detroit Pistons in the Finals.

1988-89 Edmonton Oilers (Lost in first round to L.A. Kings)

Coming off back-to-back titles, the Oilers shocked the world by trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings before the season started. They proceeded to lose to those very same Kings in a first-round series that went to a Game 7, that after having owned a 3-1 series lead.

1985-86 Edmonton Oilers (Lost in second round to Calgary)

Calgary took the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to a Game 7, and with the scored knotted at 2-2 in the third period, Edmonton’s Steve Smith tried to make a pass behind his own goal, but it ended up hitting netminder Grant Fuhr and deflecting into the goal for what proved to be the game-winner.

1980 Pittsburgh Steelers (Missed playoffs)

The 1980 Steelers didn't get back to the big game for a reason other than injuries -- now it was about age and attrition. They finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1971, as the team's braintrust uncharacteristically failed to restock the team with equivalent talent to the likes of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, and Joe Greene. It was the end of a dynasty.

1979 New York Yankees (Missed playoffs)

After two straight 100-win seasons and World Series titles, the 1979 Yanks took a step back with 89 wins as Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage battled injuries and catcher Thurman Munson died after a plane crash. Things were so bad early on that George Steinbrenner fired manager Bob Lemon and brought Billy Martin back. New York also was a victim of a strong AL East, which had three teams with 90 or more wins. Had the Yankees been in the AL West, they would’ve finished first.

1977 Cincinnati Reds (Missed playoffs)

The Big Red Machine had a decent potential three-peat series, but were unable to capture the magic of the previous two seasons. The Reds went 88-74, second in the NL West, and scored 55 fewer runs than the prior season.

1975-1976 Philadelphia Flyers (Swept in second round by Montreal)

The Flyers’ 51-13-16 record in the regular season was the best in team history, but the team was ousted in four games by Montreal.

1976 Pittsburgh Steelers (Lost in AFC title game to Oakland)

The 1976 Steelers may have actually had a better team when healthy than the ones that won Super Bowls IX and X -- especially on defense, where the Steel Curtain pitched five shutouts in a 14-game regular season. They started 1-4 as Terry Bradshaw was hurt, rebounded to finish with a 10-4 mark, but lost the AFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl XI champion Raiders without the injured Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier.

1974 Miami Dolphins (Lost in divisional round to Oakland)

The 1972-73 Dolphins went 22-2 in the regular season and established the only undefeated season in modern NFL history. The 1974 Dolphins were still very good, finishing the regular season with an 11-3 mark, but they lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Raiders in the "Sea of Hands" game when Ken Stabler hit Clarence Davis for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the game.

1969-70 Montreal Canadiens (Missed playoffs)

For the first time in 22 years, the Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs, this after back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and four titles in the past five seasons. The Canadiens would make amend in 1970-71 (pictured) as Henri Richard (center) and Jean Beliveau (left) recovered from the injuries that slowed them and Jean-Claude Tremblay, John Fergus, and Serge Savard the previous season.

1969-70 Boston Celtics (Missed playoffs)

The Celtics went from starting Bill Russell at center to sending out Henry Finkel (29), so, no, there was no way they were going to three-peat in 1969-70. Winners of 11 of the 13 previous NBA titles, Boston missed the playoffs for the first time in 20 years, going 34-48.

1968 Green Bay Packers (Missed playoffs)

The Packers won the first two Super Bowls in decisive fashion, but VInce Lombardi retired as the team's head coach after the 1967 season to take an administrative role. There wasn't enough talent on the team for the Pack to stay consistent for new head coach Phil Bengston, and the 1968 Packers finished with a 6-7-1 record.

1967 Montreal Canadiens (Lost 4-2 in Cup Final to Toronto)

In the final season before NHL expansion, the Canadiens were knocked off by a franchise that as of 2016 hasn’t even been back to the Cup Finals. Toronto’s Over-the-Hill gang won 4-2.

1963 New York Yankees (Lost in World Series to L.A. Dodgers)

After 104 regular season wins, the Yankees were stunned by the Dodgers in the World Series. Sandy Koufax outdueled fellow ace Whitey Ford twice in the series and the Dodgers swept the defending champs. The Yankees would make the World Series again in 1965, only to lose in seven games to the Dodgers.

1956 Detroit Red Wings (Lost 4-1 in Cup Finals to Toronto)

The 1955 Red Wings (pictured) gave Detroit its third title in four seasons, each one over the Montreal Canadiens. The 1956 team enjoyed a 4-2 lead over Montreal through two periods of Game 1 of the Cup Finals, but Montreal responded with four goals in the third period to take a 1-0 series. Detroit scored only five goals over the next four games, losing the series 4-1.

1950-51 Minneapolis Lakers (Lost in first round to Rochester)

The Lakers made it all the way back to the playoffs by winning the Western Division with a 44-24 regular season record. But star George Mikan fractured his leg before the Western Division Finals and Minneapolis lost three games to one to eventual NBA champion Rochester. Mikan would lead the Lakers to a three-peat over the next three seasons, giving the franchise five titles across six seasons.

Published Aug 1, 2016

SI STAFF