“Upon further review” is a recurring segment in which This Given Sunday analyzes quirks and fascinating tidbits from the NFL’s history books.
The NFL has almost always possessed an even number of teams. As a result, we can have multiple weeks during the regular season in which every team is in action.
But for three years at the turn of the century, with the Cleveland Browns back in the NFL and the Houston Texans yet to arrive, the 31-team league was forced to give one team a bye in Week 1 and another a Week 17 bye.
And thus in 1999, the San Diego Chargers played 16 straight weeks after sitting out Week 1, and the Browns played 16 straight weeks before getting a bye to finish a non-playoff campaign.
Neither the Chargers nor the Browns made the playoffs. In fact, Cleveland went 2-14. The players had a chance to clean out their lockers early after an abysmal season.
In 2000, the Cincinnati Bengals played 16 straight weeks after sitting out Week 1, and the Browns once again had a Week 17 bye to conclude a 3-13 season. Cincinnati finished 4-12.
And in 2001, Arizona Cardinals had a Week 1 bye en route to a 7-9 campaign, while it was the Chargers’ turn to have a bye to finish the season. They went 5-11.
In other words, the only six teams in NFL history to be forced to play 16 straight weeks went a combined 29-67. No winning records, no playoff appearances.
