Best Team Ever: NFL

[Big Sexy]

The NBA version of this series of threads didn't get many responses, but there are a lot more NFL fans on this forum so hopefully this goes better.

It seems like every decade the NFL has been dominated by a certain team. The 50's were dominated by the Lions and Browns, 60s by the Packers, 70's by the Steelers, 80's by the 49ers, 90's by the Cowboys, and this last decade by the Patriots. There have also been some other teams that have had amazing seasons like the undefeated '72 Dolphins and the '85 Chicago Bears.

My pick for the greatest NFL team ever is the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. This team finished the regular season with a 14-2 record and their two losses were by a combined 5 points. Joe Montana was the MVP after throwing for over 3500 yards with 26 touchdowns and only 8 picks. Jerry Rice had close to 1500 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns, John Taylor had over 1000 receiving yards, Roger Craig had close to 1500 all purpose yards, and even the backup quarterback Steve Young had over 1000 yards passing with 8 touchdowns and only 3 picks. The offense led the league in total yards and scoring. Defensively they were 3rd in the league in fewest points allowed. They had a solid d line led by Pierce Holt who had 10.5 sacks. The linebackers were as tough they came with guys like Charles Haley, Bill Romanowski, Matt Millen, and Keena Turner. And of course they had hall of fame safety Ronnie Lott to lead the secondary along with Eric Wright at corner.

The 49ers stormed through their first 2 games of the playoffs beating the Vikings 41-13 and the Rams 30-3. Then in Super Bowl 24 they beat the John Elway led Broncos 55-10. To this day it is the most lopsided victory in Super Bowl history. The 49ers also became the first team to ever score 2 touchdowns in every quarter of the game and their 8 touchdowns total is a Super Bowl record. The 49ers won their 3 playoff games by a combined 100 points. They absolutely dominated everyone in the playoffs.

So who do you think is the greatest team in NFL history?

 

[Rokitka]

We should give a little love to the 07-08 New England Patriots. Granted, they're recent so it's going to take time before they're looked back as one of the greatest teams, but with a season that not only included Tom Brady capturing the single-season TD Passes record with 50, but also Randy Moss capturing the single-season TD Receptions record with I believe 23, that alone signals a great team. Add in their defensive factors and one of the best offensive lines the league, they were a game away from perfection.

 

[Big Sexy]

We should give a little love to the 07-08 New England Patriots. Granted, they're recent so it's going to take time before they're looked back as one of the greatest teams, but with a season that not only included Tom Brady capturing the single-season TD Passes record with 50, but also Randy Moss capturing the single-season TD Receptions record with I believe 23, that alone signals a great team. Add in their defensive factors and one of the best offensive lines the league, they were a game away from perfection.

As great as their season was they couldn't finish it off. Anything less then a championship for a team like that has to be considered a failure. I'd rather be on a 9-7 wild card team that won the Super Bowl over a 16-0 team that couldn't get the job done in the Super Bowl. I don't think you can be the best ever when you weren't even the best team in a particular season.

 

[Lil Wes]

1985 Chicago Bears.

Regular season record: 15-1. FYI, they squashed Montana and San Francisco's all world offense one week.

Super Bowl Champions after blowing through the playoffs with ease. Shutouts against the Giants and Rams, and slaughtered the Pats in the Super Bowl

Offensively, they were 2nd in the league in points (456, 28.5 per game) had Walter Payton in the backfield, during his prime. Enough said.

Defensively, led by Ditka and Ryan, they had the best unit ever fielded. A D Line that consisted of Richard Dent, Steve McMicheal, The Fridge, and Dan Hampton racked up a total of 37.5 sacks. That's not all, a sick LB corp led by Mike Singletary accounted for 10 sacks, and 8 interceptions. The secondary grabbed 20. They had 9 players All pro players, 5 of them 1st team.

No team had as much production while destroying teams left and right like the Bears did in 85.

 

[Tenta]

Sexy, a terrific pick for a thread, and I'm still struggling to think this one out. But the first team that comes to mind has to be perhaps the most dominant teams in our, or any other, generation.

The 1985 Chicago Bears

Handpicked by George Halas, they were a tough group of mismatched characters, from rock-and-roll rejects to merry pranksters. They were cocky and confident of their talent and abilities- recording a victory video, the "Super Bowl Shuffle," even before the playoffs started-but were justifiably so. They believed that it was their destiny to win the Super Bowl and came playing with a chip on their shoulder.

The Bears finished off the 1985 NFL season with a record of 15-1, scoring 456 points and allowing the opposing teams with only a score of 198. The 1985 season was the team's 66th regular season and their 16th post-season in the NFL. That season was considered to be the greatest season in any team's history. They defeated three of their post season opponents by a score of 91-10 on their way to Super Bowl XX victory, as well as their ninth NFL Championship. The '85 playoffs saw the might and force of the team, scoring 24-0 over the Rams, 21-0 over the New York Giants, and finally the historical 46-10 defeat of the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Anchored behind arguably the best defense in history (Some will try to tell you that defense actually would come around fifteen years later, via way of the Baltimore Ravens. I say, name two players on that Ravens defense besides Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa.) The Bear's defense alone had six All Pro players for that year of 1985. Most teams are lucky to even have two or three players make it to the All Pro team. The Bears has six on only one side of the damn football. That should tell you just how dominating the defense was. The team currently has three inductions into the NFL Hall of Fame, and it's a damn crying shame that players such as Richard Dent and Jimbo Covert are not enshrined yet.

This time was the embodiment of a smash mouth game. Led by their in your face coach, this team brought pain and punishment to every team that they trounced. They surely are the most dominating team ever in the NFL, and deserve the spot as the best NFL Team ever.

 

[NSL]

We should give a little love to the 07-08 New England Patriots. Granted, they're recent so it's going to take time before they're looked back as one of the greatest teams, but with a season that not only included Tom Brady capturing the single-season TD Passes record with 50, but also Randy Moss capturing the single-season TD Receptions record with I believe 23, that alone signals a great team. Add in their defensive factors and one of the best offensive lines the league, they were a game away from perfection.

As a Giants fan, I love seeing this.

No team had as much production while destroying teams left and right like the Bears did in 85.

You're close to right. But, good effort.

I'll go with the 1986 Giants. No one wanted to play them. The offensive line was so good, they didn't need any stars on offense, but we had Bavaro and Simms anyway. Joe Morris and OJ Anderson were nice touches also. There's also no better linebacking corps than the one the Giants fielded that season. They finished 14-2, won their playoff games by a 66-3 score, and then beat Elway in the Super Bowl. LT won MVP and Defensive Player Of The Year, and Parcells won Coach Of The Year.

To top it off, they also started the Gatorade shower, and had 8 Pro Bowlers.

 

[Tenta]

I'll go with the 1986 Giants. No one wanted to play them. The offensive line was so good, they didn't need any stars on offense, but we had Bavaro and Simms anyway. Joe Morris and OJ Anderson were nice touches also. There's also no better linebacking corps than the one the Giants fielded that season. They finished 14-2, won their playoff games by a 66-3 score, and then beat Elway in the Super Bowl. LT won MVP and Defensive Player Of The Year, and Parcells won Coach Of The Year.

To top it off, they also started the Gatorade shower, and had 8 Pro Bowlers.

Ah, the 1986 Giants, a great team, and admittedly, one of my favorites. I myself am a Giants fan, NSL, so I love this team myself. However, here's where we differ:

While that Giants team had eight pro bowlers to it, The 1985 Bears had eight all pros names to the team. I, and this is only my opinion, take far more stock into an All Pro berth, as it's the best of both conferences, and while the NFC was abnormally strong at this period, I still consider the title of an All-Pro far more valid than the Pro Bowl member.

As for the LT DPOTY award, LT was a beast. I loved watching old footage of an LT game. However, Mike Singletary was just as dominating a prescence, if not more so, than any linebacker, especially during this 1985 season. The guy won a DPOTY award himself, and to the best of my knowledge, led a defense that allowed fewer points than that Giants team. They allowed 11.5 PPG. That's an otherworldly stat. That defense had six fucking all pros. Ditka, just like Parcells, won COTY, and he was as much a mastermind for his team as Bill was with that '86 Team. Over a career, Bill had more success, but in terms of a one year stint, Mike led his team to a 15-1 record, demolishing everyone in their path, including a dominant 49ers, Rams, and that exact same Giants team.

Payton also won the NFC Offensive Player of the Year. Not exactly a MVP stat, but still pretty damn conference in, again, perhaps the strongest conference in the history of pro football.

Trust me, I love me some 1986 Giants.... But I must consent to Bears fans that their 1985 Team was superior

 

[Rokitka]

As great as their season was they couldn't finish it off. Anything less then a championship for a team like that has to be considered a failure. I'd rather be on a 9-7 wild card team that won the Super Bowl over a 16-0 team that couldn't get the job done in the Super Bowl. I don't think you can be the best ever when you weren't even the best team in a particular season.

Championship or not, it's undeniable that the Patriots were the best team in the NFL that year. They had beaten the Giants in the last regular season game of the season, so its not as if the Giants were the one team the Pats couldn't overcome. Sure, the Giants get their due for winning the Super Bowl but to say they were a better team than the Patriots that year is just absurd.

 

[KillBill]

Pats were the best team that year, Giants played the better game. You can't argue the numbers, they were dominant. I think the 2009-2010 Pats will make another run, they are more stacked than they were that year.

 

[X]

I thought this was a discussion of the best team ever, and not just the best CHAMPIONSHIP team ever? Luck is a feeble little bitch, and inferior teams go over their superiors every single year. Think of it in MMA terms. If some nobody KO's Chuck Liddell, does that make that man a better fighter than Chuck? No, obviously not. Luck plays a big role in sports, and especially in that Super Bowl. It's not as though the Giants were dominating the Pats or something in that game, it was a nailbiter from start to finish. I think it's fairly fucking obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes and a brain that when you look at the factual statistics from that season, the Patriots were the superior team.

I'd venture to call the 07-08 Patriots the greatest NFL team of all time. You could argue for a team like the '84 49ers or the '85 Bears, and I wouldn't fault you for that either though. But I'm a New England boy, and I have to go with the Pats. I'm going to say it right now, and I don't give a shit if some of you may think I'm being "sacrilegious", that years Brady-Moss connection is the greatest QB-WR tandem in football history. That's right, I said it. Sorry Montana, Young, & Rice, but you don't compare to the greatness that was the Brady-Moss connection that year. Every game those two would light up the field like they were playing Madden on Beginners or something, it got to the point where when me and friends would get ready for every Sunday's game, we would fully expect to see Moss with 2-3 TDs and 100+ yards every game, and atleast 3 TDs from Brady every game. And they delivered. It was just astounding how dominant they were that year, and I don't think that tandem's accomplishments will ever be matched, ever. I can't describe to you how awesome it was watching Brady throw a TD to Moss and simultaneously break the QB TD record and the WR TD record with one long, beautiful pass. Even if we didn't win the Super Bowl that year, there will rarely be a team as good as that one. And the scary thing? We might be even better this year than we were that year!

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Since xfear has finally made a convincing argument for my true choice, I'll pick another. I'm very surprised that no one has made a case for the '62 Packers. What a team: Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Max McGee and Boyd Dowler, a great offensive line, the power sweep, and a defense that held opponents to less than 11 points per game.

The preseason foreshadowed what would come. The Pack got through the six-game exhibition schedule without a loss. Then they got going for real, winning their first four regular season games by the lopsided combined total of 109-14. The Packers added six more wins before losing their 11th game. In their Nov. 11 contest against Philly, they racked up 628 yards on offense, while holding the Eagles to only 54.

They went 13-1 in the regular season, and won the NFL Championship game over the New York Giants, 16-7. The Giants had the second best offense in the NFL (behind the Packers), and the tough Packers defense held them to a single touchdown. The Packers lost one game, to the Detroit Lions, by only twelve points. The Lions were third in points, and second in stopping the opponent from scoring. The Lions were a very good team that year, and lost only three games by a combined score of eight points. Their only loss was to a team that was eight points from being undefeated. I'd say that's a pretty damn good loss.

The Packers led the NFL in points scored and allowed the least. Bart Starr led the NFL in passing yards and Jim Taylor led in rushing. Willie Wood intercepted an amazing 9 passes that year. They had a slew of all-pro players, and some made the all-decade team. The Packers were dominant, and undoubtedly one of the greatest teams of all-time.

 

[KillBill]

I'd venture to call the 07-08 Patriots the greatest NFL team of all time. You could argue for a team like the '84 49ers or the '85 Bears, and I wouldn't fault you for that either though. But I'm a New England boy, and I have to go with the Pats. I'm going to say it right now, and I don't give a shit if some of you may think I'm being "sacrilegious", that years Brady-Moss connection is the greatest QB-WR tandem in football history. That's right, I said it. Sorry Montana, Young, & Rice, but you don't compare to the greatness that was the Brady-Moss connection that year. Every game those two would light up the field like they were playing Madden on Beginners or something, it got to the point where when me and friends would get ready for every Sunday's game, we would fully expect to see Moss with 2-3 TDs and 100+ yards every game, and atleast 3 TDs from Brady every game. And they delivered. It was just astounding how dominant they were that year, and I don't think that tandem's accomplishments will ever be matched, ever. I can't describe to you how awesome it was watching Brady throw a TD to Moss and simultaneously break the QB TD record and the WR TD record with one long, beautiful pass. Even if we didn't win the Super Bowl that year, there will rarely be a team as good as that one. And the scary thing? We might be even better this year than we were that year!

My thoughts exactly. In the post above yours, I also said I thought they'd be better. The funny thing is, is that like 2 years earlier, I was having an arguement with a friend, (who's a Giants fan, go figure), about who was better, Manning or Brady. I said Titles mean more, so Brady, he said stats are more important, so Peyton. I remember telling him that if Brady had the weapons that manning had, he'd have the same stats. I guess I was wrong, because when Brady got those weapons, he was even better than Manning.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

The 1999 St. Louis Rams.

DUDE. 33 points scored per game, 41 touchdown passes from the QB, 15 points per game allowed (4th in the NFC), and won one of the greatest Superbowls ever played by defeating the Titans.

Greatest team ever? Maybe, maybe not. But certainly the most exciting and most fun to watch.

 

[NSL]

As for the LT DPOTY award, LT was a beast. I loved watching old footage of an LT game. However, Mike Singletary was just as dominating a prescence, if not more so, than any linebacker, especially during this 1985 season.

Singletary more dominating? The single back offense was created to prevent LT from breaking any more legs. It was there so an extra man could be there to stop LT from getting to the ball carrier, and it still failed. There wasn't anything he couldn't do on the field. Banks, Johnson, and just about anyone else that lined up on defense with him, was instantly better. There's a reason the argument for greatest LB ever gets settles by "OK, Butkus is the greatest inside, LT outside".