Philadelphia Eagles and the 10 Most Overhyped Teams in NFL History

Some teams just fall short of the hype that was created for them by the media. Only one team can stand as champions at the end of the season, and very seldom is it the "best" team in the league that is crowned. 

Sometimes teams let the hype get to them, they fall short of expectations or teams just flat out underperform.

This is a list of the 10 most overhyped teams in NFL history. The teams are listed in no particular order.

1. 2011 Philadelphia Eagles

The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles have proven to easily be one of the most overhyped teams in NFL history. The Eagles are currently sitting at four wins and seven losses and are on their way to watching the playoffs from home. 

After major offseason acquisitions, the Eagles were favored by most on ESPN to make it to the Super Bowl and eventually win it. This was after backup quarterback Vince Young dubbed them the "Dream Team." 

The name caught on and the hype ensued. Then the panic meter slowly rose, until it went over the tipping point. Although not mathematically eliminated from contention, common sense shows us that with this type of play, the Eagles aren't going to make the playoffs.

From Super Bowl favorite to the toilet bowl, the 2011 Eagles are one of the most overhyped teams in NFL history.

2. 1968 Baltimore Colts

The 1968 Baltimore Colts finished the season 13-1, with their lone loss coming in the Super Bowl to the underdog Jets. Baltimore came into the Super Bowl with a 13-0 record, despite losing Johnny Unitas earlier in the season due to a muscle injury in his arm. 

The Colts were heavily favored in this game and were very hyped, even though quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed a Jets victory. Namath followed through and the Colts came up short, allowing the Jets to become the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl. The Colts went down as one of the most overhyped teams in NFL history.

3. 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After bringing home the Super Bowl in the 2002 season, the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have defended their title well; but they failed to even make the playoffs after being hyped early in the season as contenders once again. 

Quarterback Brad Johnson started all 16 games of the season, but the Bucs just couldn't get it done. They ended up putting almost half of their defensive starters on the bench due to injury and front office problems created a situation where football was put second and problems first. These problems equated to them finishing their season with a 7-9 record.

They were hyped as contenders at the beginning of the season and ended up not making the playoffs.

4. 1977 Denver Broncos

After starting the season 6-0, the 1977 Denver Broncos were considered heavy contenders and hyped as one of the best teams in the NFL that year. They finished the regular season 12-2 with their losses coming to the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys.

They got through to the Super Bowl, continuing the mass hype by defeating the Oakland Raiders 20-17 in a rematch of the regular season game. This set up the regular season rematch between the Broncos and the Cowboys. Although they lost to them in the regular season, the Broncos were thought to be better and had already avenged their only other regular season loss.

They were defeated 27-10 and fell short while being hyped. 

5. 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers

After winning the Super Bowl in 2005, the Steelers were expected to be even better. They had drafted Santonio Holmes in the first round and added some other key draft picks, even though they lost a few key free agents.

The first problem struck when Big Ben Roethlisberger was involved in a life-threatening motorcycle crash before the season even started. He wasn't at fault and was apparently near death due to a bleeding artery, but medics arrived soon enough to keep the young quarterback alive and on his way to a quick recovery. 

Then as the season got started, Big Ben had to have an emergency appendectomy, the result of which was a loss of 15 pounds and the blame for his lackluster play all season.

The Steelers then failed to reach the playoffs that year and were one of the most overhyped previous Super Bowl champions that didn't make the playoffs.

6. 1986 Chicago Bears

After the famous 1985 Bears season, and very few changes to the team in 1986 it seemed that they would be on their way to dominating the late 1980s.

They were supposed to shuffle their way to another Super Bowl in 1986. The team was practically crowned champions before the season started. 

The problems started when Jim McMahon came to training camp over 20 pounds overweight. He played in six of the first 12 games, but then was sidelined for the rest of the season from a separated shoulder. McMahon was only the beginning of the problems for the Bears.

Walter Payton had his usual great season, but it wasn't enough to make up for the awful play of the rest of the offense. Payton made them the 13th-best offense. Even with the 13th-ranked offense, they were the first team in NFL history to have the No. 1 defense two years in a row. 

The defense fell apart after the hype and were upset by the Washington Redskins in their first playoff game of the season.

Sometimes winning a Super Bowl can be the worst thing that can happen to a team for the next season, and the 1986 Bears easily remind us of that.

7. 1999 Denver Broncos

This team wasn't hyped in terms of being great, but how well they would respond after winning two straight Super Bowls and then losing one of the NFL's great quarterbacks John Elway to retirement. It created an interesting media buzz that made them one of the most overhyped teams in NFL history. 

They lost their first four games and the rest of the season followed much of the same pattern. They couldn't get their team going down the stretch and failed to make the playoffs, finishing last in the AFC West with a 6-10 record. 

Although they weren't overhyped because they were great, the hype created a giant buzz around the 1999 Broncos and they fell very short that season.

8. 2006 Dallas Cowboys

After Tony Romo took over for veteran Drew Bledsoe in the 2006 season and subsequently went 5-1 in the next six games. A big hype was created in Dallas. 

The team had gone out that season and grabbed Terrell Owens from free agency and after Romo replaced Bledsoe the two had quite the season.The signing of Ownes was one of the biggest offseason stories and put a hype around a Dallas. 

Once Romo became the starter they had a nice stretch of games, the one that created the hype was the win over the previously unbeaten Indianapolis Colts. Beating Peyton Manning was a big deal for Romo, and it gave Dallas fans and the rest of the nation false buzz about the Cowboys.

Although not a great team, they were expected to go pretty far in the playoffs. But they lost their first game because Romo botched a snap on a field goal with less than two minutes left in the game. That play sealed their fate, and the hype around the Cowboys that season hit a brick wall and ended.

9. 2004 Philadelphia Eagles

Another team that had hype created via the Terrell Owens phenomenon, the 2004 Eagles had everything going for it and was living up to the hype. T.O. continually promised the championship, especially during his driveway interview.

The Eagles had been getting better and better under coach Andy Reid and most thought this was the year the Eagles would get over the hump and win the Super Bowl. Although, only losing by three points to a very good Patriots team is was still nothing short of a failure due to the hype over the '04 Eagles.

10. 2002 St. Louis Rams

The 2002 season for the St. Louis Rams marked the decline of the hype and excitement around the greatest show on turf. Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk were the leaders of the offense that had been dubbed the greatest show on turf, but had a rough 0-5 start to the season, making it possibly the lamest show on turf for that season.

People still had hyped the Rams as a good team because just the year before they had made it to the Super Bowl after one of the worst starts by a team that had reached the Super Bowl. It was an overhyped season because Kurt Warner underperformed and star running back and now Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk rushed for less than 1000 yards for the second time in his career. 

The hype surrounding the team was too great compared to how the team performed, and they will go down as one of the most overhyped teams in NFL history.