In a matter of 60 minutes the Patriots went from being discussed among the Greatest Teams in NFL history to being discussed among the Greatest Teams to not win a Super Bowl ring. It is amazing that we are now having this discussion about a team that has known nothing but post season success the last 7 seasons. This is a discussion we would expect to have about Dan Marino’s Dolphins or Peyton Manning’s Colts, not Tom Brady and the invincible Patriots.
I have charted the Patriots the entire season. I ranked their 6-0 start and there 12-0 start. Both were in the top 5 since 1960. I saw no reason to talk about their 16-0 start as it was obviously the best in NFL history. Now we get to rank their historic demise and not their historic achievement. Where do the 2007 Patriots rank among the best single season teams not to win a title?
I decided to use the same criteria in determining the best teams not to win the Super Bowl as I do the best teams to win one. My test for whether a team is an all time dominant team is pretty simple. 1) Were they the best team in their conference for the Regular Season and win at least .750 of their games? 2) Did they win the Super Bowl? 3) Did they finish first in either scoring offense or defense? 4) They were in the top 5 in the other category? If the answer is yes to all four questions then they were an All Time Dominant Team. The 1962 Packers, 1972 Dolphins, 1978 Steelers, 1984 49ers, 1985 Bears, 1989 49ers, 1991 Redskins, 1996 Packers, and 1999 Rams all accomplished this feat. Furthermore the 1994 49ers were 1st in scoring offense and 6th in scoring defense finishing out of the top 5 by less than 10 points
I didn’t select multiple teams from a dynasty, but rather took the best one. I put the 1984 49ers, 1989 49ers, and 1994 49ers in the discussion seeing that even though it was the same franchise many of the key players were different. Those were my 10 best single season teams since 1960 heading into this weekend, but not necessarily in that order.
I think it is a strong set of criteria when differentiating the various Super Bowl winning clubs. While you can argue about the 1998 Broncos, 1993 Cowboys, and 2004 Patriots it takes a lot of the subjectivity out of the debate and includes most of the teams that everyone always talks about.
Therefore I did the same thing for the teams that almost made it. I took into account the regular season. While the 1994 Cowboys had a great team, they were the second seed in the NFC and lost to the favored 49ers at San Fran. That doesn’t make them a top 10 disappointment. To make this list you had to have the best record in your conference that season and win more than .750 of the regular season games. I also looked at scoring offense, scoring defense, margin of victory. All of the teams on this list had point differentials of over 10.0 points per game. All had scoring offenses and defenses that were both in the top 10 for that season. Here is my list of the top 10 teams that almost made history:
5 Honorable Mentions: 1967 Oakland Raiders, 1973 LA Rams, 1984 Miami Dolphins, 1990 Buffalo Bills, 2006 San Diego Chargers
10) 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars
W-L: 14-2 Points Scored: 24.8 ppg (6th of 31) Points Allowed: 13.6 ppg (1st of 31) Point Differential: 11.2 (2nd of 31)
Summary: They could beat everyone but Tennessee that season. If you take out the two regular season losses to Tennessee they beat their other opponents by 14.8 points per game. They featured a dangerous running game, solid QB, strong receivers, and the best defense in terms of points allowed. They had previous experience having played in the AFC Championship Game in the 1996 season. They had suffered setbacks in the 1997 and 1998 playoffs. This was their best team and this was their time. When they beat Miami 62-7 in the divisional round a Super Bowl appearance seemed to be a formality, especially seeing the Titans needed a Music City Miracle to escape with a home win over Buffalo in the Wild Card Round. That was until the Jags lost to the Titans 33-14 in the AFC Championship Game for the 3rd time that season. The Jags would not win another playoff game until they beat Pittsburgh in 2007. The Titans would go on to lose a very close game to the Rams in the Super Bowl leaving some unfinished business at the 1 yard line.
9) 1967 LA Rams: W-L: 11-1-2 Points Scored: 28.4 ppg (1st of 16) Points Allowed: 14.4 ppg (1st of 16) Point Differential: 14.4 ppg (1st of 16)
Summary: This is a forgotten almost great team in NFL history. They finished the season first in points scored, first in points allowed, and first in point differential. That is a very hard feat to accomplish even if there were only 16 teams in the league. After suffering a loss to San Fran in Week 4 and tying Baltimore and Washington in consecutive weeks after that they went on an 8 game winning streak. This team featured the Fearsome Foursome, 3 of which were named All Pro. Roman Gabriel was a Pro Bowl QB. The offense featured 5 Pro Bowlers and Charley Cowan who was named All Pro, but was not selected to the Pro Bowl. Due to no Wild Cards the Rams didn’t even have to go up against the second best team in the NFL which was the Baltimore Colts. The Colts were 11-1-2 as well and finished second in Points Scored, Points Allowed, and Point Differential. Due to the NFL’s playoff rules the Rams had to travel to Green Bay for the first round of the playoffs. In the Lombardi era that was a death sentence. Despite losing only one game by a field goal and having beaten the Packers by 3 points just 14 days prior, the Rams were smoked by the 9-4-1 Packers 28-7 in the first round of the playoffs. The Packers would go on to win the Ice Bowl and Super Bowl II. While the Rams had some solid squads after 1967 they would not make the Super Bowl until the 1979 season years after these players were a distant memory.
8) 1983 Washington Redskins W-L: 14-2 Points Scored: 33.8 (1st of 28) Points Allowed: 20.7 (11th of 28) Point Differential: 13.1 (1st of 28)
Summary: Expectations were sky high this season. Even though 1982 was a strike shortened season the 1982 Redskins still brought home the Lombardi Trophy. They had a very similar team in place for 1983. They set a then NFL record for points with 541 points. The offense featured Joe Theisman, John Riggins, Art Monk, and The Hogs. Their defense was not spectacular but got the job done. They lost 2 games by one point each and were riding an 11 game winning streak into the Super Bowl, which included a 51-7 destruction of the LA Rams. However, someone forgot to tell the Raiders they didn’t have a chance and Marcus Allen’s famous 74 yard touchdown run helped lead the Raiders to a 38-9 victory over the heavily favored Redskins. The 12-4 Raiders were a solid team, but no one expected the Redskins to crash and burn like this. The Redskins would not return to the big stage until the 1987 season and by then Theisman and Riggins were no longer on the team.
7) 2001 St Louis Rams
W-L: 14-2 Points Scored: 31.4 ppg (1st of 31) Points Allowed: 17.1 ppg (7th of 31) Point Differential: 14.3 ppg (1st of 31)
Summary: This wasn’t as good as the Greatest Show on Turf Team that exploded onto the scene in 1999. While there offense still scored a lot of points they weren’t as good as 1999 mainly because they turned the ball over too much. Warner had 22 interceptions or one pick every 24.8 attempts as opposed to the 13 interceptions or 1 interception every 38.4 attempts he had in 1999. Marshall Faulk was still the most dangerous back in the league. Bruce and Holt were fantastic receivers. Lovie Smith had been brought in to improve the defense from the team that was among the worst in the league in 2000. The result was a team that forced a lot of turnovers and made a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball. No one gave the Patriots a chance to win the Super Bowl. Tom Brady was not the All-Pro he is today. The Rams lost the Super Bowl on a field goal 20-17. The Rams were never the same. Warner would throw only 4 touchdowns over the next two years before ushering in the Marc Bulger era. They have not been in the playoffs consistently since. The Patriots would begin their run of 3 Super Bowls in 4 years.
6) 1992 San Francisco 49ers W-L: 14-2 Points Scored: 26.9 ppg (1st of 28) Points Allowed: 14.7 ppg (3rd of 28) Point Differential: 12.2 ppg (1st of 28)
Summary: The 49ers were adjusting to life after Joe. After finishing 28-4 in the regular season in 1989 and 1990 the 49ers had made the switch to Steve Young. Joe Montana would miss the better part of 2 seasons with injuries. Steve Young led the 1991 49ers to a 10-6 record, but they missed the playoffs. However, they finished 1991 as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. In 1992 they picked up where they left off in 1991. Steve Young was the MVP of the league and led an offense that featured Jerry Rice, Ricky Waters, John Taylor, and Brent Jones. The defense ranked 3rd in the league. This looked like a team headed for the Super Bowl. In the last game of the regular season the 49ers had everything wrapped up and decided to play Joe Montana in a meaningless second half. It was his first game for Montana since the 1990 Championship Game loss to the NY Giants. He went 15-21 for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 picks. Suddenly the MVP of the league was in a local media QB controversy with arguably the greatest QB of all time. The 49ers offense never really looked the same that season. They struggled to beat the 9-7 Washington Redskins 20-13 before bowing out to 13-3 Dallas 30-20. Steve Young played like a guy looking over his shoulder. To Dallas’s credit they went on to crush the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in the Super Bowl. It would propel Dallas to 3 Super Bowl titles in 4 seasons. This 49ers team may have been the victim of running into a buzz saw that they simply weren’t capable of competing with. Dallas was a great team. Joe Montana was traded to Kansas City the next season and Steve Young would eventually escape The Shadow and win the Super Bowl 2 seasons later. However this was a fantastic team that not only got caught up in the pressure of winning it all but with the pressure of having a legend sitting on the bench. It would have been interesting to see how those playoffs would have gone had Montana just not played a meaningless second half against the Lions.
5) 2005 Indianapolis Colts
W-L: 14-2 Points Scored: 27.4 ppg (1st of 32) Points Allowed: 15.4 ppg (2nd of 32) Point Differential: 12.0 ppg (1st of 32)
Summary: This is the strangest team on the list. It was a team with two identities. Indy was coming off a season in which Peyton Manning had 49 touchdown passes. When the defense held 4 of their first 5 opponents to less than 10 points this team looked poised for greatness. However, the offense struggled in those games. Then the defense slipped but the offense kicked into high gear. They would start the season 13-0. Peyton Manning and the offense were still explosive. The defense looked better than any previous Manning team. The team had been battled tested in the playoffs having lost to New England in the AFC Championship Game 2 years prior. New England and Pittsburgh were both down this year. It appeared to be the Colt’s time. A couple things happened toward the end of the season. After losing to the Chargers 26-17 the Colts rested a lot of their players. It becomes the old debate. What is better, Momentum or Rest? They didn’t look very sharp in the Divisional Round against Pittsburgh. The scored only 3 points in the first 3 quarter of the game and lost 21-18 to a team they had beaten 26-7 just 5 games prior. The other thing that happened is that Tony Dungy’s son tragically committed suicide at the end of the season. This really put a damper on what should have been a terrific season. To the Colts credit the Steelers would go on to capture the Super Bowl. The Colts also bounced back in 2006 and were able to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Indianapolis. This was arguably the best team of the Peyton Manning era to date and unlike the 2007 version it was clearly the best team in the NFL. The fact that the 05 Colts didn’t even get a playoff win to show for this season was a very disappointing turn of events.
4) 1998 Minnesota Vikings W-L: 15-1 Points Scored: 34.7 ppg (1st of 30) Points Allowed: 18.5 ppg (6th of 30) Point Differential: 16.2 ppg (1st of 30)
Summary: This is where the list starts to get to be easy. You can argue about where a lot of the other teams rank. You can say that I should have put this team on the list or left this one off of it. To me these four are clearly the top ones on the list. I started with the 1998 Vikings because they had the worst defense of the top 4 teams, had the lowest point differential of the top 4 teams, and were the only one that didn’t qualify for the Super Bowl. The Cowboys, 49ers, and Packers had been the class of the NFC since 1992. While the Vikings had been good, they were never able to do anything in the playoffs. However one first round pick changed everything. The Vikings were probably the most feared offense prior to the 2007 Patriots. People will look at the Greatest Show on Turf. Others will look at the 83 Redskins. While those teams were great, they didn’t score 556 points in a season nor did they have Randy Moss at receiver. The rookie came in and turned the league into his own playground. He had a Thanksgiving game where he had only 3 catches but they went for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chris Carter and Jake Reed were excellent receivers. Randall Cunningham enjoyed an unexpected rebirth. Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard combined for 1666 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Even though the Patriots scored more points, I believe this offense was much more balanced. On defense they were led by John Randle, Ed McDaniel, Dwayne Rudd, and Robert Griffin. While the defense did give up yards, they forced a lot of turnovers and were always playing with a 2 touchdown lead. The kicker was perfect on the season. It seemed this team had no weaknesses. The Vikings lost only one game on the season which was a 28-24 game at Tampa Bay. When the playoffs started the Vikings trashed the Cardinals 41-21. A Vikings vs. Broncos Super Bowl appeared to be in the works. However, the Falcons managed to keep the game close and when Gary Anderson missed his first field goal of the season the Falcons capitalized. They forced the game into overtime by scoring a touchdown and the Falcons would go on to beat the Vikings 30-27 in OT. While the Vikings would make the NFC Championship Game in 2000 they never got as close as they did in 1998. The Falcons would go on to be destroyed by the Broncos in the Super Bowl. They would not be relevant again until 2002 when they became the first road team to win a playoff game in Green Bay. That was with Michael Vick and mostly different players than the 1998 Falcons.
3) 1969 Minnesota Vikings W-L: 12-2 Points Scored: 27.1 ppg (1st of 16) Points Allowed: 9.5 ppg (1st of 16) Point Differential: 17.6 ppg (1st of 16)
Summary: This was hard. I couldn’t decide which team to put where. While the Colts had a slightly better record, the 1969 Vikings were 1st in scoring offense, defense, and point differential. They had scored 50 points on 3 different occasions in 1969, but also managed to hold their opponents under 10 points a game. The started and ended the season with a loss, but won 12 straight games in the middle. While Fran Tarkenton is the famous Viking QB from this era he had been traded to the NY Giants a few years earlier and had not yet returned to the Vikings. While they were 12th in passing yards they ranked 2nd in passing touchdowns. They were in the top 5 in rushing offense. The Purple People Eaters were as ferocious of a defensive front four as the league has ever seen. Alan Page and Carl Eller are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Jim Marshall started 270 consecutive games for the Vikings. Bud Grant was the Head Coach. While the Vikings only beat the Rams 23-20 in the opening round of the playoffs they destroyed Cleveland 27-7. Then they played their worst game of the season and for the second straight year the NFL was upset in the Super Bowl by the AFL. The game was never close and the Chiefs dominated with a 23-7 victory. I think because the Vikings went on to be dominated in 3 more Super Bowls this team gets looked at a another Minnesota disappointment. While the Vikings also had a better QB and some great teams from 1973-76 when they lost those other 3 Super Bowls none of them were quite as statistically dominant as the 1969 team. This team had everything in place to be among the greatest champions in NFL history. Unfortunately for them they were not able to capitalize on the moment and turned the ball over too much to compete with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
2) 1968 Baltimore Colts W-L: 13-1 Points Scored: 28.7 ppg (2nd of 16) Points Allowed: 10.3 ppg (1st of 16) Point Differential: 18.4 ppg (1st of 16)
Summary: The Baltimore Colts had some very good teams in the Unitas era. They won back to back NFL Championships in 1958 and 1959. Their 1967 team may have been the best team in the history of the NFL to not qualify for the playoffs. However, this was by far their best product. I think people get too caught up in that the NFL had this false perception that they were better than the AFL. This team should have been favored to destroy the Jets whether that power struggle were present or not. They had a 7 game stretch where they posted 3 shutouts and allowed only 32 points. They scored 27 or more points in 10 of their 14 games. They also had 10 games where they allowed fewer than 10 points. 11 of their 13 regular season wins were by double digits. This was as dominant of a team as the NFL ever saw. After defeating Minnesota 24-14 in the opening playoff round they avenged their only loss to Cleveland in the NFL Championship game by defeating them 34-0. This team was ridiculously good. Although Johnny U is the quarterback people think of from the 60s Colts, Earl Morrall was playing most of the season for the injured Johnny Unitas. Morrall was an All-Pro. Tom Matte was the Pro Bowl running back. John Mackey and Willie Richardson were both All Pro Targets. The defense was littered with All Pros, most notably Billy Ray Smith Sr. and Mike Curits. Yet when the heavily favored Colts played the Jets they threw 4 interceptions and turned the ball over 5 times. The result was a Joe Namath guarantee, equality for the conferences, and a 16-7 loss. It is still arguably the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. The Colts switched conferences in 1970 and won the Super Bowl for the AFL. Many of these players were still on that team. However, nothing was as disappointing as losing the game that prevented them from joining the immortal.
1) 2007 New England Patriots W-L: 16-0 Points Scored: 36.8 ppg (1st of 32) Points Allowed: 17.1 ppg (4th of 32) Point Differential: 19.7 ppg (1st of 32)
Summary: I know that I talk about allowing things to shake out and not getting caught up in the moment. By putting them number one I am not saying that Super Bowl XLII was the greatest upset in the Super Bowl era. I still believe Super Bowl III was the biggest upset. I think the gap between the 1968 Jets and Colts heading into that game was greater than the gap between the 07 Giants and Patriots heading into their game. That is a different discussion. What I am saying is that I think the 2007 New England Patriots are the best team to not win a Super Bowl. I think you could put the 1968 Colts, 1969 Vikings, or the 1998 Vikings higher than the Patriots. There could be legitimate arguments for doing so. But considering everything that is in play I think the 2007 Patriots are the best team to not finish off their season with a title. Here are 8 reasons why:
1) Tom Brady – Nobody considers Joe Theisman, Randall Cunningham, Joe Kapp, or Earl Morrall to be among the greatest QBs of all time. Tom Brady is not only a First Ballot Hall of Fame QB, but enjoyed arguably had the best statistical season in the history of the NFL. 398 completions, 578 attempts, 68.9 completion percentage, 4806 yards, 50 touchdowns, and only 8 interceptions. His interception total of 8 was lower than his yards per attempt of 8.3. He was ridiculously good this season. The quarterback is the face of the franchise and none of 10 teams on this list had a better QB.
2) Randy Moss – Randy Moss had arguably the best receiving season of the Super Bowl era. He had 98 catches for 1493 yards and an NFL record 23 touchdowns. No one since Jerry Rice’s 1987 season had had more than 18 touchdowns in a single season.
3) Bill Belichick – You are talking about a guy who had a 14-2 record as the coach of the Patriots in the playoffs since 2001. He has 3 Super Bowl rings. He was looking to join Chuck Noll as the only Head Coach to go 4-0 in the Super Bowl. He is in the discussion for best Head Coaches ever.
4) 3 previous Super Bowl Titles – No one on the list had more than 1 previous title other than the 1992 49ers. Joe Montana was not the 49ers QB that season nor were a lot of the key players from the previous Super Bowl teams still with the 49ers. While some of the 2007 Patriots were not present for the other 3 titles the Head Coach, QB, and many of the other core players were on some if not all of those previous Patriots teams.
5) 589 points scored – It was an NFL record for points scored in a single season. The Patriots averaged 41.1 points in their first 10 games of the 2007 season. Only 5 teams (Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, Jaguars, and Packers had 411 or more points over the entire 16 game season).
6) 274 points allowed – On paper it was the 4th best defense in the NFL. 274 points allowed in 16 games is not All Time Great, but it was still pretty good. The defense saved them in the Chargers game and almost saved them in the Super Bowl.
7) 18-0 – The closest anyone had come to the 1972 Dolphins were the 1985 Bears who went 12-0 before losing their first game. They finished that season 18-1. The 1998 Broncos and 2005 Colts started 13-0 and finished 14-2. No one had come as close as the Patriots did this season.
8) The Super Bowl was competitive – While the 2007 Giants will not go down as an all time great team, unlike the 1968 Colts and 1969 Vikings who were manhandled in the Super Bowl, the Patriots had the Giants down to their last play. The Patriots were for all intents and purposes beaten on a 32 yard circus catch that will go down as one of the greatest in the history of the Super Bowl.
While all of the other teams have some compelling story lines no one brings that body of work to the table. There is nothing the Patriots or anyone else in the NFL can do going forward to diminish that body of work. It will be interesting to see how history remembers these 2007 Patriots. The standard for excellence is winning the Lombardi Trophy. The 2007 Patriots came up short in that regard.
Clearly there are Super Bowl winners that are not as good as the 2007 Patriots. The same can be said for a lot of the other teams on my list. Some years the bar is higher than others. Some will say that how the Patriots are viewed will be determined by how long their accomplishments stand the test of time. If 18-0 to start a season, 50 touchdown passes, 23 touchdown receptions, and 589 points still stand in 50 years that will speak volumes about the 2007 Patriots. I disagree. No one had ever done what the Patriots did prior to this season. They will have either a) Changed the way the game was played forever or, b) Done something that happens once in a lifetime. Either way that it was an impressive season.
The fact of the matter is that all of the teams on this list had some shortcomings. For the 83 Redskins, 98 Vikings, and 05 Colts the defense wasn’t quite good enough even if the scoring numbers suggested otherwise. For the 2001 Rams they turned the ball over too much. For as dominant as the Patriots were in 2007 they still had 2 short comings: 1) They were too slow on defense. While the Patriots were very strong on the defensive line and the corners, but they were very slow in the middle of the defense. In particular Bruscki, Harrison, and Seau. While that translated into good redzone defense because the field was shorter people were able to figure out how to move the ball downfield and keep the Patriots offense on the sideline in the second half of the season. 2) They just didn’t have enough offensive scoring balance. While the Brady and Moss show was fun to watch, they just didn’t get enough scoring out of the other offensive players. Almost half of Brady’s TD passes were to Moss. Their starting tailbacks only accounted for 9 rushing touchdowns. Stallworth was for the most part nonexistent. Wes Welker had a fantastic season, but from Week 11 to Week 17 he had 1 touchdown catch. Once teams figured out how to limit Moss and contain the other players it was possible to keep up with the Patriots. People weren’t afraid of the Patriots in the second half of the season like they were in the first half of the season.
In the first 10 games the Patriots averaged an unbelievable 41.1 points per game. They started off the season on fire, peaked from Week 6 to Week 11 when they scored over 48 points in 4 out of 5 games. Everyone was in the endzone. The average score those weeks was 45.8 to 18.4. The only reason it was that close is the 24-20 game against the then undefeated Indianapolis Colts is averaged into that total.
After Week 11 they never really were the same dominant team. Sure they won all of their games, but the competition wasn’t as good either. They won by an average of 29.6 to 19.5. That was a far cry from the beginning of the season. As people started to figure out some things about the Patriot’s offense the games got a lot closer. They beat the Eagles without McNabb by only 3 points. They beat the Ravens by only 3 points without McNair. They beat the Giants by only 3 points and trailed in that game by 12 points. The once victorious Dolphins shutout the Patriots in the second half in New England. The Patriots only beat the Jets 20-10 in New England. The Patriots won their 2 playoff games by a combined score of 52-32. They just didn’t progress very well over the course of the season.
The only good games they played after Week 11 considering the competition was the regular season game against the Steelers and the wildcard game against the Jaguars. The Steelers game was close at the half and the Jaguars game was competitive well into the 4th quarter.
Had they won the Super Bowl, I would have struggled to put them over the other gigantic single season teams because of how the Patriots finished the season combined with how ordinary they had looked in the playoffs. While those teams did not have the same beginning to the regular season the Patriots did they were much better in the postseason. Those teams got better as their seasons progressed.
The media and Patriots fans did a very good job of protecting this team. If you dared say the Patriots weren’t playing that well people would remind you that they were undefeated and in the midst of a historic season. You were labeled a Patriot hater. With the Patriots not losing it was pretty hard to argue against that.
I think history will remember the 2007 Patriots as arguably the best passing offense in the history of the NFL along with the 1984 Dolphins and 2004 Colts. Seeing they put up 50 touchdown passes and 589 points it is hard to argue with that. I think people will remember them as the greatest team not to win the Super Bowl. Finally, I think history will remember them in the conversation of top 25 single season all time great NFL teams. Similar to how history regards the 1991 UNLV Running Rebels in college basketball; too good in the regular season to overlook, but not good enough to be among the very elite without a title.
Just as Vegas losing by 2 points in the Final Four doesn’t prevent them from being a historic team; it seems hard for me to believe that the 2007 Patriots won’t be either. People aren’t going to forget about the 2007 Patriots because they didn’t win a ring. The Patriots were a handful of plays from completing a perfect season. I don’t think 3 or 4 plays take a team from being a in the discussion of Greatest Teams of All Time to absolutely nothing. I don’t believe history can hinge that much on just a few plays.
That said I think the Patriots failed miserably in joining the debate for the very Best Teams in NFL History. That standard is much different. The 2007 Patriots are not the Best of the Best. They are not on par with the other dominant teams of the last 50 years. While the 1962 Packers, 1972 Dolphins, 1978 Steelers, 1984 49ers, 1985 Bears, 1989 49ers, 1991 Redskins, 1994 49ers, 1996 Packers, and 1999 Rams might not have had a strength as good as Brady and Moss they didn’t have the weaknesses in the middle of the defense that limited the Patriots over the second half of the season. They weren’t as reliant on one offensive weapon in Randy Moss. These teams were more unstoppable because they had better overall balance on both sides of the football. While that better balance may not have translated into as many regular season wins it translated into the more important achievement, postseason dominance and the Lombardi Trophy.
That probably would have been the case had the 2007 Patriots won the Super Bowl. While they would have had the best record of any of the all time great teams they also would have had the least balance. The only difference is that it would have created a screaming match with Patriots fans about how 19-0 made them the best ever. The Patriots losing the Super Bowl makes that debate a slam dunk. While history doesn’t hinge on one or two plays there still is a very thin line between mortality and immortality.
What are your thoughts? Did I get it right that the Patriots are still a historic team, just not an All Time Great Team? Does their failure to win the Super Bowl make them a distant memory next season? Are they the Greatest Team to not finish their season with a Super Bowl Trophy? Let me know your thoughts.
I like the format, and flow of the article, I like that you explained how you did it, and with just enough stats without going overboard...it was an easy and enjoyable read.
tellinitlikeitis - Thank you for the post I am glad you enjoyed the article.
Moseby - I'm looking forward to your comments on the article.
Reverend - Thank you for the post. That 1998 Viking team was unbelievably good. I saw that first hand when they smoked the Packers twice that season. I was not born when the 68 Colts or 69 Vikings lost. Until this 2007 Patriot team that was the best team I saw that did not win the Super Bowl.
Very good read, very well done. I agree with just about all of it, but even as a Niner fan I have to say the '92 Niners lost to the better team that year. The '92 Cowboys are one of the best teams ever. Don't really think Joe had much to do with the Niners losing that year.
congrats to the giants!!!
and to tyree for his crazy catch...has he removed the glue from the top of his helmet yet? LOL
cant believe Pats didn't finish with the ring...won't matter by next year though - they'll be back!
still a great team that had a great year & that will never change.
GO PATS!!!
Last edited by crookedcopssuk on February 6th at 3:18 PM.
Just to be picky, the correct term is "for all intents and purposes", not "for all intensive purposes", which you used in the 2007 Loseriots part (8). Other than that a good article, but the Giants are a better team than you give them credit for.
NFC EAST...the best division in the nfl! in the last three years the nfc east is 109-83 while the only other division comin close is the afc south with a 108-84 record in the last 3 years. and whos in that division u might ponder? another MANNING....WOOHOO! GIANTS RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ninerfan101 - I agree with that. I think that the 92 Cowboys were the better team. It is hard to argue losing to a team by 10 that then destorys the Bills 52-17.
I was not saying the only reason they lost was because of the Joe Montana contraversy. What I was saying is that it would have been interesting to see if Steve Young had played better in the postseason without that distraction.
Chances are it probably would not have made a difference, but you never know.
crookedcops - I agree. Pats had a great year but came short. That doesn't mean they are 100% failure. Thanks for the post.
Headly66 - If that is the only error I made without an editor, I don't feel too bad. Thank you for spotting it. How much credit do you want me to give the Giants? I said they were better than the 68 Jets. Do you think they are an all time great team? I certainly don't.
Rizzo27 - Congrats on your Giants winning. NFC East has had a very good division the last 3 years. Now if we could only get NBC and ESPN to show the other 7 divisions once in a while.
i like it how Dallas has 13 representatives in the probowl, but New England's seven selections should have been the life of the party. With an expected Super Bowl victory to cap the NFL's first 19-0 record, the Pro Bowl would have been an extended celebration.
haha! and the Giants got one...Osi baby! and he's laughin all the way to the bank. ProBowl= 101 l/o/$/e/r/s and 1 winner. yeah baby! VICTORY IS SWEET! GIANTS RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very well done. I would add my 1976 Steelers, just as about everybody on the Dynasty Era Steelers and even Art Rooney himself said that it was the best Steeler team ever. The defense played out of their mind, shutting out opponents 5 times and allowing 28 points combinded over the final 8 games of the season. They blew out the Colts in Baltimore in the Divisional Round, but lost to the Raiders in the AFC Title Game due to the fact they their top 3 running backs were all hurt. As for the '05 Colts, they got beat by the Steelers because they didn't come to play that day, and got a brake on a ridiclous overturning of the Polamalu interception, or that game wouldn't have even been close.
And The Pats are def number 1, but i think 98 Vikings are number 2. Up untill Moss's stint with the Pats, I had never seen a team so electric on offense. I wasn't around for the 60s or the 70s or even the 80s, so my timeline comes up short. But as of now, where Randy goes, Touchdowns follow.
Again congrats on the post getting it's own picture
The Patriots definitely peaked early in the season but were a good enough team to kind of trudge through the rest of the regular season and playoffs. If they could have continued their level of play throughout the entire year many more records could have fallen and we may have been talking about one of the best teams ever. As it stands today they aren't even the best team to go 18-1. Belichick knows he missed a chance at immortality and its too bad. After "spygate" runs its course he may not even be the best coach to win 3 Superbowls.
Go Saints in 08!
Last edited by saintslifer on February 6th at 5:51 PM.
The Patriots finished the season with a record of 18-1. Had they lost a game in week four and won the Superbowl they would have still been 18-1 and everyone would have deemed them one of the greatest teams of all time. All teams strive to win the Superbowl, but it is still just one game. The greatest team lost to the luckiest team to ever play in the Superbowl. The Giants can be credited with the greatest escape by a quarteback and the greatest catch by a receiver all in the same play. I say they were very lucky as well as victorious.
bensilv227
The Superbowl is THE GAME. It's the culmination of a season of hard work and preparation. If a team looses 5 games and wins the Superbowl no one remembers the loses. If a team wins 18 games and looses 1 anyone who knows anything about the NFL knows what game that lose was in. The Patriots players and coaches know they won't get another chance at going undefeated it's just too tough. You have to be a great team get some breaks and have a little luck. That all happened to the Patriots this year until they ran into the Giants in the Superbowl. The Giants had the benefit of playing an awesome defensive game and getting the breaks they needed to win, and a little luck never hurts ask the Patriots.
saintslifer- couldn't agree with you more, maybe if old Bill didn't have all of his starters in during the 4th quarter of their blow outs running up the score and wearing themselves out, they would've had a lot better shot in the post season. LOL I'm still sad about the Packers losing, who cares about the Super Bowl. :)
X2Ment - Good point. As good as Randy Moss has been, no one wants to be on two teams that combined to score 1145 points, go 34-3 but not win a Super Bowl. That might not be his only shot, but was definatley his best shot.
Rizzo27 - Thanks for the post. The Pro Bowl voting is a joke. It's all about reputation and big markets. As a Packer fan there are always 3 or 4 players I feel get snubbed from our sqaud. Woodson and Barnett come to mind this year.
Patsfan#1 - That's why its a team game. Too many people focus on the QB and not the whole team. Imagine how #4 felt playing behind 2 rookie guards and a first year starting center last year. Not so much fun.
TheSupposed - Thank you for the post. I thought about the 76 Steelers, but quickly dismissed them. 1) Despite their 14.6 point differential which was best in the AFC, 3 AFC teams finished with a better record. Pittsubrgh was just 10-4, 2)That was Oakland's year. They were 13-1 and had been kicked around by Miami and Pittsburgh for the entire decade. They had to break through sometime.
I think the 76 Steelers are in the discussion of best defenses not to win a Super Bowl. I'm not so sure if they are one of the best teams when compared to these other teams which clearly dominated their seasons better than the 76 Steelers.
NJVikings5 - Thank you for the post. I was happy to see that I was on the NFL page as well. I think you can make legitimant arguements for 1-4. I try not to go just with the recent teams and research the numbers on the older ones. While the Vikings clearly had a more dominant offense, the 68 Colts and 69 Vikings had much better defesnes. I've seen different people switch those around. You are really splitting hairs there.
Last edited by StreetCred on February 6th at 7:00 PM.
Rizzo27 - Congrats on winning the Super Bowl. Just remember how much crow the Pats fans are eating because of all the talking their fans did. Karma is a #$%#*$.
Saintslifer - Thanks for the post. I haven't been talking about that much because I want to wait and see where that goes. If it comes out they did tape the Rams walkthrough that is going to have larger ramifications than Spygate ever could have had.
Bensilva - Thanks for the post. You could make the arguement the Patriots were the lucky ones. They played horrible in the AFC title game. Yet they were playing against a one legged QB, not LT, and a hurt Gates. Won by 9 points??? What would have happened had they played the Colts. Then they didn't draw either the Cowboys or the Packers.
Fact is they had not been playing sharp football since December. They were lucky not to lose and eventually it caught up with them. Had they played the way they were capable of the Giants wouldn't have been in position to make that play.
Silverblack - Thank you for the post. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
Sls - Thank you fro the post. I don't think this was the best Super Bowl since XIII. I think XXIII (Cincy & San Fran), XXV (Buf & NYG), XXXII (GB & Den), XXIV (Ten & SL), XXXVI (SL & NE), XXXVIII (Car & NE) were all pretty classic.
I think you are forgetting about a lot of very good Super Bowls. Why do you think this one was better than all those?
Saintslifer - I agree. The Super Bowl is why you play the game. You can't equate losing that to a regular season game.
Sneeky Pete - Same here. I would have liked to have seen the Pack get a shot at the Pats.
This article was great! Really well put. It made for easy and interesting reading. And even though I have never been a Pats fan I would have to agree with you putting them #1. Hope to read more of your stuff in the future.
SO SORRY bout that didn't realize this went in the other direction never would have kept hitting the damn button lmao!!!! geez now I feel like a stoner n I wasn't even in Boston roflmao!!
Last edited by gettnstartd on February 6th at 8:22 PM.
good article--but there should be mention of the best team I ever saw--The 1976 Raiders,Stabler &Co.
They would have gone to the superbowl again the next year,had the Refs' ruled correctly on Rob Lytle's fumble which the Raiders recovered,but the ref's gave to Morton's Broncos.
And I am astonished to realize that I, as a Bears fan, didnt remember that the 1985 Bears and the 2007 Patriots are the only 2 teams to go 18-1...
In my opinoin, we were greater because of 2 reasons:
1) our 1 loss was NOT the superbowl...and
2)Who was it we beat in the superbowl?....ah yes...the patriots...lol...
But I will admit that this 2007 Patriots team played one hell of a season...I think I even said it way back in week 6 or 7...New York and Indy were the only teams I thought who even had a REMOTE chance of beating them...
I would've liked to have seen Indy beat San Diego, and then Beat NE, and then having it been Indy vs NY. I honestly think that would've been a great superbowl...
Of course, the ultimate superbowl, would be somehow Greenbay becoming AFC and then it being Chicago vs Greenbay and Chicago winning, but...yeah, that obviously would never happen...
*Edit* Whoops...I forgot about the 84 niners...they went 18-1 also...
Last edited by justblaze2256 on February 6th at 10:50 PM.
Gettnstarted - I was wondering why you posted so many times. It keeps my comments number up, so i guess I don't care, lol. I'm deleting it so that it is easier for people to read the comments. Thank you for reading my article, i'm glad you enjoyed it.
Mcenja - Thanks for the post. The 76 Raiders were a very good team. I don't think they are a top 10 all time NFL team, but they were very good.
The 77 Raiders were good too. However, they were the wild card that year and had the 4th best scoring differential in the NFL at 8.6 ppg. They were good, but not nearly good enough to make my list.
Justblaze - Thanks for the post. I think the 85 Bears are the best team in the Super Bowl era. I think their defense was insane. Patriots looked good at the beginning of the season but they definatley slowed toward the end. Had they been in a tougher division they may have lost a game. It was a great season, but not All Time Great.
Last edited by StreetCred on February 7th at 10:21 AM.
Nice break down of the 07 patriots. A couple of things I would have like to have seen in your post.
1. Some of those second half victories came by what one would say "luck of the bounce" and mental break downs by opposing defenses i.e. the Giants end zone pass interference in the Super Bowl that put the Patriots on the one yard line that made the game that much closer then it may have been (What would have happened if that never did?). No one will ever know but that type of thing happened allot with these 07 Patriots and should be mentioned.
2. The Patriots were basically one dimensional, Brady and his laser arm would score quickly and often leaving the Patriots defense in far to long in to many games and over a course of a 16 game season along with their ageing defensive backs that had to have taken a toll on their stamina. What was the time of possession deferential and how much of a factor do you think it had?
3. Though you skimmed the surface of the lack of others on offense that did not make much of a contribution, the 07 Patriots did not have a running game that scared to many opposing defenses. How did the Patriots running game stack up to the rest of the league?
All in all a good read and accurate break down of the 07 Patriots.
Last edited by dolfan1972 on February 6th at 11:45 PM.
Someone noted that the Giants were the luckiest team ever, that is absolutely not true. They were doing exactly what it took to beat the Patriots throughout the playoffs. Many people picked the outcome to be the Giants victorious simply because of the defensive front. The fact is, if San Diego was healthy, (I am not a fan of SD), they would have beat the Pats and most likely the Giants. At the end of the day, the Pats were ripe for the pickin, their luck finally ran out, i.e. the sencond half of the season.
Well done. Nice article that corresponds with good reasoning. Maybe Fox should hire you to replace some of the writters they have that continually put out their miserable dribble! LOL! Have a great day!
EVERYONE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT THE PATRIOTS COULD OF MADE HISTORY WITH A PERFECT SEASON OF 19-0...BUT OTHER TEMAS HAVE BEEN PERFECT...WHAT ABOUT A NFC WILDCARD TEAM GOING ALL THE WAY TO WIN A SUPERBOWL..NO THAT'S HISTORY..
I don't think the Pats will be remembered as the best passing team of all time simply because they were trying so hard to beat the records. Brady started the year off great but while forcing passes trying to get to 50 TD's Brady's completion percentage, yards per attempt, and rating all suffered. Plus, they were throwing deep while playing with big leads on sub par teams, i,e; the teams in their division. When Manning was in the second to last game of his record breaking season, they had the ball deep with a little time left to go. He hadn't tied the record yet and they didn't go for it. They kneeled on the ball and ran out the clock. Yes, he did beat the 48 TD's the next game but watching them you could tell that it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't get it. With the Pats you could tell that they really wanted that stuff and were alienating there fans by running up the score on beaten, mediocre teams. I think Brady's best games were against the Dolphins and the Skins. Who at the time were terrible. All in all it was a great passing season but he finished with a lower rating, yards per attempt, and half his TD's went to one guy. Manning had three receivers with ten TD's and a higher rating. He gets my vote for the best year.
Dude, great job on this. Lot of work, reads great too.
Only team I might throw in, probably as an honorable mention, were the 15-1 Steelers from 2004. Roethlisberger was only a rookie, and they should have lost to the Jets in the divisional round if their place kicker could have made a chippy, but they were still 16-1 going into the AFC title game versus the Pats...which Cowher once again lost at home.
I say that and I'm a Steelers fan, that team made me believe Pitt would NEVER win a title under Cowher. Seems they had to take the hard way, and become the first team to ever win three on the road in the playoffs.
I'm sick of you 49er fans that want to put your 84 team on top of the 72' Dolphins. Yes you had an ALL-STAR team -the Highest Paid team in the League bought by an owner Eddie DeBartolo who didn't mind losing money while he won Super Bowls. You guys also had Like the Steelers and Raiders a bunch of known Steroid users. So you robbed many good players from other teams and did a lot of steroids and STILL could not go Undefeated like the FINS from 72' who by the way were first in Offense AND Defense and led in the most categories than any other SB team--you fail to mention this-the only thing people like to mention about the 72' Phins is their competition..they can't help it if the rest of the NFL is no competition for them -it is not their problem..besides they still have to play the playoffs and beat all the teams w/ the best records which they did. Bottom line they accomplished the Most ..they may not have had the Most "Superstars"..or they may have been "No Names" but guess what they never lost a single game and so they Accomplished the Most ...If the Patriots went 19-0 they would have won more games and Accomplished it all this season but they did not.
Well Done.
Being a Steeler fan from the past I might have liked to see a Steel Curtain team on the list but oh well. Remember the league changed some rules that opened up the game forever because of those teams.
after all of this and the brady season, still stands that only 2 quarterbacks with 4000 yards passing in the regular season have won the superbowl. PEYTON MANNING and KURT WARNER.
What about the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers? 15-1 lost in AFC title game. I know they were as good as the Patsy's this year or some of the others listed, but they should be at least honorable mention
