Tampa Bay didn't join the NFL until 1976, and the Patriots had a winning record every year from 1976 through 1980 (they fell to 2-14 in 1981). And since Tampa Bay never played in the same division as New England (the Bucs played their first year in the AFC West, then moved to the NFC Central), I'd guess they probably didn't play each other very frequently.
Interesting tidbit . . . I did a little research on this, and it turns out that 1989 was the first year in which both the Patriots and Bucs had losing records!
At any rate, I have no doubt that there were some really bad teams back then, but if you go through each of the last 30 or so seasons since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule you'll find that there is no pattern at all to the frequency of downright abysmal teams.
Another interesting tidbit . . . The single worst game in the memories of a lot of NFL fans was the Monday night game in 1983 when the 8-7-1 Cardinals and the 3-12-1 Giants played to a 20-20 tie, in a game filled with dropped passes, missed tackles, and missed field goals (I believe both teams missed at least two field goals at the end of regulation or in overtime). I remember a sportswriter back then describing it as the most hideous game he'd ever seen -- and one which probably set the NFL back 20 years because it was on national television. LOL.
Now my memories of the 1970s might be a bit hazy but I remember that early 80s MNF game very well. I watched that game at the E-club at Camp Pendleton (I was still in the Marines then) and we were falling over each other, laughing at the ineptitude that was happpening on the field. I believe that is the epitome of “two teams trying not to win”. (All those pitchers of 3.2 beer made the game at least fun to watch.)
There was a definite pattern on who stank, in the 80s it was simple:
The AFC at best was OK, most of it stank.
The NFC Central, except for the Bears a couple of season, stank.
The NFC West, except for the Niners, stanks.
The Cardinals were involved in a lot of really bad games, the franchise stinks. Bad owners. But really anybody claiming any game that wasn’t Green Bay- Tampa Bay in the 80s the worst game ever is just wrong. The hard part about picking the worst game ever was that those two truly terrible franchises were in the same division and played two horrid games a year against each other, the mighty Bay of Pigs series. Of course most people didn’t watch those games, the league was never dumb enough to make them primetime, and CBS only showed them where they absolutely had to. But definitely one of those is the worst game in NFL history.