The NFL is a sports league with a deep and fascinating history. Since being founded in 1920, the NFL has showcased some of the most dominating and amazing players in the history of the game. Still, the NFL is a team sport. So today we are looking at 14 of the greatest teams to ever play the game.
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers
Get your Terrible Towel out and prepare to dole out some eating disorders to teams looking to chow down on a Super Bowl. The 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers were the peak point of a dominant decade for the Steelers. In ’79 Pittsburgh would go 12 – 4, win the Super Bowl, and score 10 Pro Bowl noms for their players.
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers
1999 St. Louis Rams
Are you ready for the Greatest Show on Turf? If you ate a sandwich every time that the Rams scored a highlight reel touchdown then your total cholesterol would be through the roof and bulimia would be a thing of the past. The Rams went 13 – 3 and won Super Bowl XXXIV behind QB Kurt Warner and Hall of Fame talents Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruse, and Torry Holt.
1999 St Louis Rams
1992 Dallas Cowboys
Newer NFL fans may not understand the obsession with Dallas from most national fans, but the ’90s would explain it clearly. Dallas was a dynasty in the ’90s and no year was more entertaining to watch than 1992. Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmit Smith and the rest of the Cowboy’s faithful would go 13 – 3 with a dominant Super Bowl win over Buffalo, 52 – 17.
Emmitt Smith And Anthony Smith
1972 Miami Dolphins
We’ll get some flack for this and rightfully so. The 1972 Dolphins were undefeated on the season – sweeping the regular season as well as the playoffs. Still, the Dolphins landed in the Super Bowl as underdogs before barely beating the Washington Redskins. Miami had an easy schedule but they still had to win out, so they make our list.
1972 Miami Dolphins
1966 Green Bay Packers
Don’t worry cheeseheads, we’ve got you. The 1966 Green Bay Packers came into the year as defending Super Bowl Champions. The Pack would go on to score a 12 – 2 record en route to destroying the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, 35 – 10. QB Bart Starr landed an MVP award in his 11th season — not too shabby. Starr would be the best QB in Packer Super Bowl history until a guy named Brett Favre stepped up to the plate in 1996 to bring the Cheeseheads another Lombardi Trophy.
1966 Green Bay Packers
1985 Chicago Bears
The Monsters of the Midway have turned more into house mice of late. Still, 1985 was unquestionably the peak of Chicago football when the Bears trotted out the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ en route to a huge win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl thanks to their historically strong defense. What shines above even their dominance on defense was just how cocky the team was as a whole. Can you imagine a team releasing a video like ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ before even playing a game together during the regular season of that year? QB Jim McMahon led the team with a moxy that was contagious and, we admit, the Hall of Fame level defense certainly helped back him up.
1985 Chicago Bears
1994 San Francisco 49ers
From Joe Montana to Steve Young, things stayed great in San Fran. The 49ers finally got out of Montana’s shadow thanks to a 13 – 3 season that featured 10 Pro Bowlers. Steve Young and the 49ers would go on to destroy San Diego in the Super Bowl. Yeah, we guess Steve Young was pretty good for the 49ers too.
1994 San Francisco 49ers
1991 Washington Redskins
QB Mark Rypien was one of the most prolific passers in the league while the Redskins showcased the strongest secondary in all of football. The Redskins outscored opponents by a total of 485 – 224 before romping through the post season, beating Buffalo 37 – 24 in the Super Bowl.
1991 Washington Redskins
1998 Minnesota Vikings
It’s tough to list teams that didn’t win the Super Bowl in the top 10, but this Vikings squad deserves it. The Vikings went 15 – 1 in the regular season behind QB Randall Cunningham and rookie wide out Randy Moss (1,313 yards, 17 TDs). The Vikings would lose in OT at the Super Bowl when their previously perfect kicker hooked his first miss of the year. Talk about heart breaking.
1998 Minnesota Vikings
1989 San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco would go 14 – 2 during the regular season before knocking out the most dominating playoff run in the history of the league. During the postseason the 49ers would outscore their opponents 126 – 26. QB Joe Montana set NFL records under center and Jerry Rice would land yet another Pro Bowl in his storied career.
1989 San Francisco 49ers
1942 Chicago Bears
You are probably scratching your head a little bit at this point but don’t worry, we’ll break it down. The 1942 Chicago Bears may not have won a Super Bowl ring but they ended up showcasing one of the best regular seasons in the history of the league. The ’42 Bears led the league pretty much every offensive category while averaging 34 PPG. Chicago also allowed only 8 PPG to opposing teams on the year, leading the league. The Bears would go undefeated all the way to the championship game where they would end up losing to the Washington Redskins.
1942 Chicago Bears
1998 Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos won their second straight Super Bowl in 1998 when Hall of Fame QB John Elway closed out his career in style. Denver went 14 – 2 during the regular season before turning things up a notch in the playoffs. Running back Terrell Davis would run for 2,008 yards and become only the fourth player to have done it. The Broncos would go on to crush the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII and it would be the last game of John Elway’s career. The Broncos wouldn’t make it back to the Promised Land until 2013 when a QB by the name of Peyton Manning would go on to bring Denver back.
1998 Denver Broncos
2007 New England Patriots
Right, yes, we hear you: the Patriots ended up losing the Super Bowl in 2007, so how can they make it on our list? Well, for starters the Patriots went 16 – 0 while averaging 39 PPG as a team. The Pats never came close to losing a game until the Super Bowl where a ‘helmet catch’ did them in.
2007 New England Patriots
2004 New England Patriots
If you hate the Patriots then you probably should have quit reading this list at #3. New England has been one of the most dominant teams in the history of the NFL and it makes sense that two of their squads would make our list. 2004 saw QB Tom Brady and Coach Belichick would defend their 2003 Super Bowl win with a dominant offense, a crushing defense, and a destructive margin of victory. 2004 also featured one of the most exciting Super Bowls that we can remember when New England edged out Philadelphia, 24 – 21.
2004 New England Patriots
