The massive beatdown that the Magic just handed the Hawks, along with the other playoff sweeps, got our minds churning about the biggest beatdowns to ever take place in the postseason. We scanned the history books (or in this case, Wikipedia) and came up with 10 pulverizing postseason performances from the 4 major pro sports... and 1 European treat. Without further adieu, hide the women and children, here comes the pain.
10) 2007 World Series - Boston Red Sox 4-0 Colorado Rockies
-Rocktober came like a flash... and then died a quick and painful death. The Rockies entered the 2007 Series winning 21 out of 22 games including sweeps in the NLDS and NLCS. They ended up getting swept themselves by the Red Sox. The Sox set the tone in the Series by winning Game 1 13-1 and then outscoring the Rocks 29-11 in the entire series. This series comes in at #10 because of 2 1-run games in Game 2 and the closeout in Game 4. Here's the final out as Jonathon Papelbon striking out someone named Seth Smith for the final out...
9) 1983 Stanley Cup Finals - New York Islanders 4-0 Edmonton Oilers
-This was one of those rare instances in sports where two dominant eras cross paths (yes, the Islanders were good a long, long time ago). The New York Islanders won their 4th straight Stanley Cup and established themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history by beating the young, talented Oilers. The Islanders held Wayne Gretzky, in his first Finals appearance, to 0 goals and 4 assists. Duane and Brent Sutter and Mike Bossy led the Islanders in a comprehensive sweep - outscoring Edmonton 17-6 in the series with no game being closer than 2 goals. The Oilers would start their own dynasty the next season. They beat the Islanders and ended their historic run with a 4-1 victory in the '84 Finals, evidently with the help of some soft elevator music in the final game.
8) 1932 World Series - New York Yankees 4-0 Chicago Cubs
-The 1932 World Series is known for one thing - Babe Ruth's called shot at Wrigley Field. Whether it is fact or fiction, it is symbolic of the merciless beatdown the Yanks laid on the Cubs. The Bronx Bombers featured 10 Hall of Famers, including Ruth in his last World Series. They scored 37 runs in 4 games and outscored the Cubs by an average of 4.5 runs per game. It is tied with the A's sweep of the Giants in 1989, but those teams also had an earthquake to deal with. Plus, when you lay a beatdown on a team, and let them know it's coming ahead of time like the Bambino did - you earn a spot on our list.7) Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 49ers 55-10 Denver Broncos
-The biggest blowout in Super Bowl history came at the close of the 1989 season and was a fitting end to the Niners' run of dominance in the 80's. San Fran scored at least 2 TDs in each quarter and set numerous records in the game outgaining the Broncos by 294 yards. Joe Montana threw for 297 yards and 5 TDs (3 to Jerry Rice) while John Elway was 10/26 for 108 yards and 2 INTs. It gets the edge over Super Bowl XX and XXXVII of the total beatdown from start to finish, and here's the video proof.
6) 2001 NBA Western Conference Finals - Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 San Antonio Spurs
-The '01 Lakers are arguably the best NBA team of the millenium, and they were a total of 15-1 in the playoffs, which included a sweep through the entire Western Conference and the once champion Spurs. The Lakers won games of 29, 19, and 14 points and the Spurs, with homecourt advantage, never finished within 7 points of Kobe and Shaq. Until this year, it was the most lopsided sweep in NBA playoff history. The Spurs and Lakers would go on to dominate the 2000's in the NBA with a total of 7 titles and play more memorable series than this, but this was definitely the biggest beatdown. Check out Kobe going off in Game 3...
5) 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs 1st Round - New Jersey Devils 4-0 New York Rangers
-This was the most anticipated series of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs first round. The Rangers were back in the playoffs after a 9 year drought, and the Devils won their division after being down 19 points earlier in the year. The compelling series turned into a whitewash with the Rangers leading only once the entire series, briefly in Game 4. The Devils won the first 2 games 10-2 at home before going to MSG and continuing the hammering winning Game 3 3-0 and Game 4 4-2. New Jersey was also able to knock Rangers star Jaromir Jagr out of multiple games during the series. The Devils would lose in the next round, but at least they took their local rivals to the woodshed. And what's better than a Youtube compilation of the series starring... Dean Martin! I'm serious.
4) 2009 Champions League Round of 16 - Bayern Munich 12-1 Sporting Portugal (aggregate)
-OK, so we cheated a little bit, but you had to expect at least one entry to come from world sports. The 1st Round of the Champions League knockout stage saw German champs Bayern Munich face Sporting Lisbon of Portugal. The Portugese were underdogs, but hosted Bayern in the first leg of a 2 game aggregate series. Bayern responding by winning 5-0 in Portugal, putting the series away in the first game. They didn't take pity in the 2nd leg by winning 7-1 in Munich and finishing up the biggest blowout in CL history. To put this in perspective, imagine your favorite NFL team playing a home and home total points series in the Wild Card Round. Let's say a goal stands for a touchdown. You lose 35-0 at home and then have to face the indignation of traveling on the road knowing defeat is inevitable only to get blown out by an even worse 49-7 score. Yea, that's a painful beatdown. We'll let the highlights of the 2nd leg speak for themselves, since we don't speak German.
3) 1991 AFC Championship - Buffalo Bills 51 Oakland Raiders 3
-This game was the first of four straight victories in the AFC Championship by the Bills, and was by far the most lopsided. After each team's opening drive, the Bills led 7-3, then would go on to score 44 unanswered points, including a 41-3 score at halftime! Sometimes, dominance is in the eye of the beholder, and other times stats tell the story. This would be one of the latter cases. Raiders QB Jay Schroeder (yeah, who would have thought) was intercepted 5 times while Marcus Allen was held to only 26 yards on 10 carries. Meanwhile, the Bills had over 500 yards of offense in one of the most lopsided single-game defeats in playoff history. Here now, the extended highlights, and listen for the smart analysis from none other than Bill Walsh!
2) 2010 NBA Playoffs Second Round - Orlando Magic 4-0 Atlanta Hawks
-The inspiration for our Top 10 was the recent whooping laid on the Atlanta Hawks by the Orlando Magic. First, the Magic set a record for total margin of victory in the NBA Playoffs with a +101 differential. Game 1 alone was won by the Magic by 43 points! But it wasn't just the clear dominance of Dwight Howard and the Magic, it was the way the Hawks rolled over and died as a team. Hawks players were openly questioning whether they could even beat the Magic almost as soon as the series started. Their coach, Mike Woodson, openly questioned the effort of his team. To top it all off, Joe Johnson called out his team's fans saying, "We could care less if they show up." Wow. It's one thing to be undermanned in a 7-game series, or to be totally outplayed, or even swept. But, the level of soul-sapping domination by the Magic was impossible to watch for even the most sadistic sports fans. The Game 1 highlights are enough to do this series justice...
1) 1940 NFL Championship - Chicago Bears 73-0 Washington Redskins
-But, #1 on our list goes to the single worst beatdown in NFL history and playoff history. The 1940 NFL Championship, in the era before the Super Bowl, was the latest installment in the rivalry between the Bears and Redskins. But, this time Bears coach George Halas had an extra trick up his sleeve for Sammy Baugh and the 'Skins... the T-formation. The tone was set on the Bears second play when Bill Osmanski ran for a 68-yard touchdown (sprung by a crushing block by George Wilson) and the Monsters of the Midway just didn't stop.
They led 28-0 at the half, then scored 26 and 19 in the next two quarters for record domination. Chicago had 8 interceptions (including 3 returned for TDs) and racked up over 500 yards of offense and 300 yards rushing. The game got so bad, officials had to plead with George Halas to run or pass for his extra point, for risk of losing the last game ball on a kick. When you have to change the rules during the game because of too many touchdowns... that's an all-time beatdown.
Those are our all-time playoff beatdowns. Do you agree with our rankings, did we miss out on any? Let us know by leaving a comment below or following us on Twitter @RSS_Sports. Until next time, it's bye for now!
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