The New England Patriots are one victory away from history. Should they beat the New York Giants on Sunday, February 3, they will complete only the second unbeaten season in the NFL since the merger with the AFL, and they will become the first 19-0 team in history. That has spurred a debate among football fans as to the best team in the Super Bowl era. Let me put my cards on the table--I am a longtime Chicago Bears fan, so when you see where I ranked the 1985 Bears in my "Top 10 Super Bowl Champs" list, keep that in mind.
So, here goes:
1) ***2007 New England Patriots (19-0): Obviously, if the Pats lose, this becomes moot, but if they do run the table, they're #1. I don't care what the competition was like. Even the best teams lose a game here or there, and the proof of that is in the fact that there aren't more unbeaten teams. This team will have maintained its focus for an entire season, when every other team was gunning for them.
2) 1972 Miami Dolphins (17-0): See my comment on the Pats above. The difference? New England will have played two more games and won them both.
3) 1989 San Francisco 49ers (17-2): By the end of the season, the 'Niners were unbeatable. The offense was every bit as scary as this year's New England team, and the defense could shut down any offense it faced, hence the three post-season wins by a combined score of 126-26 over the Vikings (41-13), Rams (30-3), and Broncos (55-10).
4) 1976 Oakland Raiders (16-1): How long ago this must seem for Raiders fans, given the current state of the team. John Madden coached this team to a 13-1 regular season record, and three victories later, Oakland was sitting atop the football world.
5) 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers (17-2): Nobody was beating this team; a dominant running game, a passing attack that featured three Hall of Famers (Bradshaw, Stallworth, Swann), and of course, the Steel Curtain on defense.
6) 1985 Chicago Bears (18-1): Everything came together for Da Bears in 1985. The D was magnificent, as it had been the previous year and would be again the next, but more importantly, Jim McMahon, who made the offense click, stayed healthy. As a result, Chicago steamrolled virtually every team it played, with the exception of that one hiccup Monday night in Miami against a fired-up Dan Marino and the rest of the Dolphins. In the post-season, Da Bears pancaked the Rams (24-0), Giants (21-0) and Patriots (46-10). Yikes..........
7) 1998 Denver Broncos (17-2): This Denver team was the antithesis of the Broncos teams that got flattened in the 1980s Super Bowls against the Giants, Redskins and 49ers. It could run the ball, and it was as physical a team as has ever played. By the team it ran into the overmatched, "just happy to be here" Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, it had stamped itself as an all-time great team.
8) 1984 San Francisco 49ers (18-1): A lot of people would say that this version of the 49ers was actually the best, and it would be hard to disagree. They were the first team to win 15 games during the regular season, and were never seriously challenged until the Super Bowl. The offense was as balanced as you will ever see, and the D could stuff anyone.
9) 1992 Dallas Cowboys (16-3): Another revelation: I absolutely detest the Dallas Cowboys, and always have. But, that said, you can't take away from this team's greatness. The defense was underrated, and do I really need to go through the laundry list of Hall of Famers on offense? The Super Bowl victory, 52-17 over the completely overmatched Buffalo Bills, was completely predictable.
10) 1986 New York Giants (17-2): They started the whole Gatorade shower thing. The G-men rode the incredibly accurate passing of Phil Simms, the power running of Joe Morris and hellaciously punishing defense to their first Super Bowl title.
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