The 10 greatest seasons by an NFL team
Ten seasons from the Super Bowl era, ranked on what they won and how. Nine ended with a title. One didn't, and it's here anyway.
This is a let's-have-an-argument list. Ten seasons, ranked on what the teams did: the record, the margins, the playoff run and who they beat along the way. Only the Super Bowl era counts, from the 1966 season on, so nothing before it is eligible. Nine of the ten won the Super Bowl. One lost it and is here anyway, for reasons its write-up lays out. If you think a team is too high, too low or missing altogether, say so. That's the point of the exercise, and every case below is there to be argued with.
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1
1972 Miami Dolphins
17-0, won Super Bowl VII
Seventeen games, seventeen wins, and more than half a century later nobody has matched it. That's the argument, and it's a hard one to beat. Miami went 14-0, beat Cleveland 20-14 and Pittsburgh 21-17 in the playoffs, then beat Washington 14-7 in Super Bowl VII. It did most of that without its starting quarterback. Bob Griese broke his ankle in Week 5, and Earl Morrall started the last nine regular-season games and won them all. Griese came back in the AFC title game and started the Super Bowl. Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to rush for 1,000 yards each. The case against is the schedule: only two regular-season opponents had winning records, and none made the playoffs. The '85 Bears were probably more dominant. But 17-0 isn't an opinion. Until somebody else goes unbeaten, the Dolphins stay on top.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1972 Dolphins season · NFL.com · Pro Football Hall of Fame · Hall of Fame: Csonka and Morris · Dolphins 1972 schedule · NBC Miami · CBS Boston · Wikipedia: last undefeated teams.
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2
1985 Chicago Bears
18-1, won Super Bowl XX
If the question were simply which team was most dominant, this might be the answer. Chicago started 12-0 and allowed 198 points, the fewest in the league, and Buddy Ryan's 46 defense also allowed the fewest yards and forced the most takeaways. January was worse for everyone else. The Bears shut out the Giants 21-0 and the Rams 24-0, the first team with back-to-back playoff shutouts, then beat New England 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. The Patriots ran for seven yards. Three playoff games, 10 points allowed. What keeps them second is one Monday night in December: a 38-24 loss at Miami, of all places. A defense that good still lost once. The team at No. 1 never did.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1985 Bears season · Bears 1985 schedule · ChicagoBears.com: NFC title · ChicagoBears.com: Super Bowl XX · Patriots.com: Super Bowl XX · Seahawks.com.
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3
1989 San Francisco 49ers
17-2, won Super Bowl XXIV
The best postseason on this list, and a fair claim to the best ever. San Francisco beat Minnesota 41-13, the Rams 30-3 and Denver 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV, a 126-26 total, and that 45-point margin is still the largest in any Super Bowl. Joe Montana, the league MVP, threw 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions across the three games. The 49ers were defending champions and did it in George Seifert's first season as head coach. They went 14-2, and the two losses came by a combined five points. Why only third? The Bears lost once and gave up 10 points in January. This team lost twice.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1989 49ers season · 49ers 1989 schedule · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XXIV · UPI · NFL.com: Montana's 1989 playoffs · 49ers.com · Fox Sports.
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4
2007 New England Patriots
18-1, lost Super Bowl XLII
The one team here that didn't win the Super Bowl, and the best regular season anyone has played. New England was the first team to go 16-0. It scored 589 points, a record at the time, and its point differential of plus-315 is still the best in NFL history. Tom Brady threw 50 touchdown passes and Randy Moss caught 23, a single-season record that still stands. Then came Super Bowl XLII, a 17-14 loss to the Giants decided by David Tyree pinning a pass against his helmet and Plaxico Burress catching the winner with 35 seconds left. That loss is why the Patriots aren't in the top three, not a reason to leave them off. One defeat by three points, on one of the strangest catches ever made, doesn't cancel 18 straight wins. The fair knock: the Eagles and Ravens both came within three points late in the season.
Sources: Wikipedia: 2007 Patriots season · NFL.com · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Moss · Patriots.com: Super Bowl XLII · Giants.com · NBC Sports · Boston Globe · Patriots.com: Ravens.
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5
1984 San Francisco 49ers
18-1, won Super Bowl XIX
The 49ers team that gets lost behind the one that came five years later. San Francisco went 15-1, losing only 20-17 to Pittsburgh in October, and allowed 227 points, the fewest in the league. In the playoffs it beat the Giants 21-10 and shut out the Bears 23-0, holding the next two Super Bowl champions to 10 points combined. Then came Dan Marino, the league MVP, who had thrown a then-record 48 touchdown passes. The 49ers sacked him four times and won Super Bowl XIX 38-16, with Joe Montana passing for 331 yards. Why fifth? The 1989 team won its playoff games by 100 points combined. This one won its by 56.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1984 49ers season · 49ers 1984 schedule · NFL.com 1984 standings · 49ers.com: Super Bowl XIX · CBS Sports · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Marino · Sports Illustrated.
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6
1991 Washington
17-2, won Super Bowl XXVI
The most complete team on the list, and probably the most overlooked. Washington started 11-0, finished 14-2 and outscored opponents 485-224, leading the league in scoring and allowing the second-fewest points. The Hogs up front gave up nine sacks all season. Mark Rypien threw 28 touchdown passes, then won Super Bowl MVP. The playoffs weren't close: 24-7 over Atlanta, 41-10 over Detroit, and a 24-0 lead over Buffalo 16 seconds into the second half of Super Bowl XXVI before a 37-24 final. Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings have it as the best team they've measured. What holds it at sixth is two losses, including the 24-21 defeat by Dallas that ended the 11-0 start, and a Super Bowl won by 13 after leading by 24.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1991 Washington season · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XXVI · NFL.com · Commanders.com · Football Outsiders · FootballDB 1991 results.
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7
1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
17-2, won Super Bowl XIII
The best of the Steel Curtain teams, and the one the NFL's own panel ranked third all-time when the league turned 100. Pittsburgh went 14-2 in the first 16-game season and allowed 195 points, the fewest in the league. Terry Bradshaw was the league MVP, then threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns in Super Bowl XIII, both records for the game at the time. The playoffs opened with 33-10 over Denver and 34-5 over Houston, and the 35-31 win over Dallas made the Steelers the first franchise to win three Super Bowls. That last score is the counterargument. Pittsburgh led 35-17 with under seven minutes left before two Dallas touchdowns made it close, and Dallas's Jackie Smith dropped a wide-open touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1978 Steelers season · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XIII · Steelers.com: ranked among the best · Steelers.com: Super Bowl XIII · Steelers.com: 1978 playoffs · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Bradshaw · CBS Sports.
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8
1996 Green Bay Packers
16-3, won Super Bowl XXXI
Green Bay scored the most points in the league, 456, and allowed the fewest, 210, the first team to do both since the 1972 Dolphins. Brett Favre was the league MVP with 39 touchdown passes. In the playoffs the Packers beat San Francisco 35-14 and Carolina 30-13, then New England 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI. Desmond Howard's 99-yard kickoff return made him the first special teams player named Super Bowl MVP, and Reggie White had three sacks. The title was Green Bay's first in 29 years. The knock is the 13-3 record. No team ranked above this one lost more than twice.
Sources: Wikipedia: 1996 Packers season · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XXXI · Packers 1996 schedule · Patriots.com: Super Bowl XXXI · Sports Illustrated · Packers News.
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9
2013 Seattle Seahawks
16-3, won Super Bowl XLVIII
The case starts with one night, and it's a strong one. Denver arrived at Super Bowl XLVIII having scored 606 points, the most in NFL history, with Peyton Manning throwing a record 55 touchdown passes. Seattle scored on a safety 12 seconds in, led 22-0 at halftime, returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown and won 43-8. It wasn't a fluke. The Seahawks went 13-3, allowed the fewest points and yards in the league and forced the most takeaways, the first team to lead all three since the '85 Bears. The counterargument is the road to that night. They beat New Orleans by eight, then needed Richard Sherman's tip in the end zone, caught by Malcolm Smith, to hold off San Francisco 23-17.
Sources: Wikipedia: 2013 Seahawks season · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XLVIII · Seahawks.com · Seahawks.com: playoff games · NFL.com: NFC title · ESPN · DenverBroncos.com.
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10
1983 Los Angeles Raiders
15-4, won Super Bowl XVIII
The weakest regular season on the list and one of its most overwhelming playoff runs. The Raiders went 12-4, losing twice to Seattle and 37-35 at Washington. Then they won three playoff games by a combined 106-33. Only the '89 49ers and '85 Bears on this list won theirs by more. They beat Pittsburgh 38-10, beat Seattle 30-14 in the AFC title game, and met Washington in Super Bowl XVIII. Washington was 14-2, the defending champion, and had scored a then-record 541 points. The Raiders held that offense to nine. Derrick Jensen blocked a punt and fell on it in the end zone, Jack Squirek returned an interception for a touchdown with seven seconds left in the half, and Marcus Allen, the MVP, ran for a then-record 191 yards, 74 of them on one touchdown. The 38-9 final was the widest Super Bowl margin up to then.
Sources: Wikipedia: Super Bowl XVIII · Wikipedia: 1983 Raiders season · Raiders.com: Super Bowl XVIII · Raiders.com: 40th anniversary · Commanders.com · AP via Fox News · CBS Sports.