This has been a miserable year to be a Philadelphia sports fan. The Flyers barely finished above .500 and missed the playoffs. The Sixers continued their tanking ways and nearly had the worst record in the NBA. The Phillies had the worst record in baseball.
So Eagles, all the pressure is on you. Really. As of now, with the Eagles sitting at 2-3, the combined winning percentage of this year’s Philadelphia pro sports teams is .371. That’s the worst combined percentage since the Flyers became a franchise in 1967. Philadelphia is also in danger of not having a playoff team in a given year for just the second time since the Flyers existed.
But the good news is there’s still plenty of football left. The Eagles can change Philadelphia’s fortune. Billy Penn looks at the other two worst sports years in Philadelphia history and how the Eagles can avoid it.
1972
- 1972 Phillies: 59-97
- 1971-72 Flyers: 26-38-14
- 1971-72 Sixers: 30-52
- 1972 Eagles: 2-11-1
- Overall winning percentage: .377
A lot of mediocrity across the board. The Flyers had a rebuilding season and were primed to make the playoffs every year for nearly the next two decades. The Sixers were reeling after a long period of sustained success and preparing to fall off a cliff the next season. And the Phillies and Eagles were awful. They’d had worst seasons in their history but not much worse.
1973
- 1973 Phillies: 71-91
- 1972-73 Flyers: 37-30-11
- 1972-73 Sixers: 9-73
- 1973 Eagles: 5-8-1
- Overall winning percentage: .381
1973 was really the year of the Sixers. They set an NBA record for losses in a season and paced the rest of the city. The Flyers actually made the playoffs this year, losing in the NHL semifinals. So despite the awful winning percentage, 1973 wasn’t quite so bad across the board.
This year
- 2015 Phillies: 63-99
- 2014-15 Flyers: 33-31
- 2014-15 Sixers: 18-64
- 2015 Eagles: 2-3 (so far)
- Overall win percentage: .371
2014 was also a really bad year. But the Flyers made the playoffs, and the Eagles went 10-6. Actually, since 1994, at least one Philadelphia pro sports team has made the playoffs in a given year. 2015 really is shaping up to be a historically awful season.
To prevent it from being the worst, the Eagles must go at least 9-7. If they go 9-7, the overall winning percentage for this year’s teams will be .380, barely ahead of 1972 and just behind 1973. An 8-8 record or a losing record makes it the worst year ever.
