This topic seems really interesting to me, because I think and feel like it’s all or nothing. This year could be expected to provide motivation, or they might not recover because they missed the spotlight, attention, story, memory, opportunity, and drive of a Super Bowl appearance.

Plus, they lost a 17 point lead. That’s a pretty crushing story and momentum shift.

Lions disappoint next year as they suffer from teams scouting their system.

lol idk, that’s never stopped any dynasty in NFL history before. Patriots only made it to the Super Bowl against the Rams before they then won three later during the Bush era, and then again before the pandemic. The difference is that they at least reached the superbowl.

It’s really psychological more than anything in my experience and according to the data I used to collect. I remember the New Orleans saints were bad just about every year, but I found that statistically and technically they were pretty solid at the beginning of one season. The thing was they had quite a few big plays go against them in those games, and they didn’t have a good record or score when they lost. Then they statistically collapsed and became demoralized for the rest of the season. That was very clear from the media about them too. They were the most statistically inconsistent team in the NFL that year according to my data. No comparison even.

Also I’ll never forget the 16-0 Patriots losing to the 8-8 Giants.

Sorry, the Patriots lost against the Packers, not the Rams. They beat the Rams. They were in the NFL’s best division though before the dynasty, so it was very hard to get a good record, a bye week, or home field advantage, or any home games at all in the playoffs during that era. So, it wasn’t like they were (edit: weren’t) one of the better teams in the NFL already, but obviously the Brady era was a different level. That was their first Super Bowl win, the packers were their second appearance. They went (Edit: to) one Super Bowl against the Bears in like (19)85 I think. They got blown out. They were never really good otherwise before the late 90s.

My guess is that it'll play out like the 2016 Falcons. They choked in their biggest game, were good the following year but not quite as good, and then were out of the playoffs in 2018. I hope they have a longer run than that, but Goff is going to hit 30 next year. And unless something weird happens to the Packers they're going to be even better than they were this year. The Bears also might have something to build on depending what they do in the draft. The Vikings might also have something to say if they re-sign Cousins and he stays healthy (a big ask for a 36-year-old quarterback coming off a torn achilles).