Best NFL team ever

[slickpoppa]

My pick: Da Bears of 85

[Edge34]

Just going to be quick about this because there doesn't need to be any argument about this.

1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

[Pepsquad]

[ QUOTE ]
Just going to be quick about this because there doesn't need to be any argument about this.

1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. You can't argue with a prefect season.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
Just going to be quick about this because there doesn't need to be any argument about this.

1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 1972 Dolphins were not as dominant as the 1985 Chicago Bears or 1962 Green Bay Packers.

The same people who obsess on the Dolphins perfect season are the same people who believe that BB/100 is the best indicator of poker skill.

[slickpoppa]

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Agreed. You can't argue with a prefect season.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sure you can. The dolphins played 2 fewer games.

[tech]

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1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

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If they had a playoff consisting of all the Super Bowl winning teams, the '72 Dolphins wouldn't even make the quarterfinals.

[Daliman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just going to be quick about this because there doesn't need to be any argument about this.

1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 1972 Dolphins were not as dominant as the 1985 Chicago Bears or 1962 Green Bay Packers.

The same people who obsess on the Dolphins perfect season are the same people who believe that BB/100 is the best indicator of poker skill.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 1985 CHicago bears were not as dominant as the 15-1 teams of the 70's SB champ steelers or the 1984 15-1 49ers.

[Kevin]

The 72 Dolphins opponents had a winning percentage under .400 and I think they only played a couple of teams with a winning record. If I recall correctly, they were actually underdogs against the skins in the SB

[Daliman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1972 Miami Dolphins. Perfect season. Super Bowl title. That is all.

[/ QUOTE ]

If they had a playoff consisting of all the Super Bowl winning teams, the '72 Dolphins wouldn't even make the quarterfinals.

[/ QUOTE ]

And you base this on what?

[Kevin]

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The 1985 CHicago bears were not as dominant as the 15-1 teams of the 70's SB champ steelers or the 1984 15-1 49ers.


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I thought that the best the Steelers ever did in the '70's was 14-2 in '79. I live north of PGH (transplant) and they have all said that this year's 15-1 team is the most regular season wins ever. I think they only played 14 games the first two SB championship seasons.

Agreed on the '84 49ers. They were strong on both sides of the ball and McMahon, Gault, McKinnon, etc., aren't names that create fear in many defenses. But, oh that D.

Around here they say that they best Steeler's team was '76 (the year Oakland beat Minnesota). Rocky and Franco were both hurt in the AFCC game and Oakland beat them. I don't know if it is urban legend, but they say that Oakland put the score of that game on their championship ring, not the SB score vs the Vikings.

[lastchance]

I don't think the 04' Pats are the best team of all time, but if they win the Super Bowl, they should be thrown into the ring.

[Daliman]

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The 72 Dolphins opponents had a winning percentage under .400 and I think they only played a couple of teams with a winning record. If I recall correctly, they were actually underdogs against the skins in the SB

[/ QUOTE ]

You recall incorrectly. How exactly is an undefeated team going into its 2nd consecutive SB going to be a dog. I'm fairly certain I remember them being a 7 point favorite.

Also, although I can't seem to pull it up on google, I'm also fairly certain the bears opponent's record's were pretty bad overall too. That has a tendency to happen when 94% of yer opponents have had an L hung on them or 2 by you, BTW.

Also, the Ravens SB team had a better defense, better special teams, and a comparable offense overall, although they had that run of no td's... Were it not for a Giant's KO return for a TD, it would have been the first shutout in super bowl history.

Also, they weren't playing NEAR the best team from the AFC. Marino dismantled them on MNF, and I think he would have done the same in the Super bowl. Alas, NE was always a thorn in their side those years. I was a Miami/marino fan then too, so take that for what it's worth. I DID make a TON of money on the Dolphins from that MNF game living in the Chicago area tho, and wore my Dolphins jacket with pride to school the next day.

[judgesmails]

If memory serves me, the 1996 Packers are the only team in NFL history to have the #1 rated offense and defense in the same season and their special teams were outstanding (Desmond Howard scored a bunch of touchdowns). And they won the Super Bowl that year.

[tech]

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And you base this on what?

[/ QUOTE ]

Watching a ton of old NFL games, mostly. They simply weren't as good as some other teams that came before and after them. Also, their schedule was weak. They had at least two games that they were lucky as hell to win. They never repeated. Etc.

Make no mistake though. I am not trying to take anything away from the '72 season. It was an unbelievable season, and they were the best that year. They are just not one of the teams I would put money on in a playoff of Super Bowl winners.

[IggyWH]

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I don't know if it is urban legend, but they say that Oakland put the score of that game on their championship ring, not the SB score vs the Vikings.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like a typical Yinzer Steelers fan who can't get over the good ole days of the 70's pulled one over on you :

http://www.superbowl.com/history/rings/game/sbxi

http://images.nfl.com/xxxvi/history/images/rings/sb11.jpg

Now the other side might have the AFC Championship game result but the picture clearly shows the Super Bowl score.

[IggyWH]

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I don't think the 04' Pats are the best team of all time, but if they win the Super Bowl, they should be thrown into the ring.

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No way...

You can't be the best team ever when you lose to the worst team in the NFL in that season. They also rarely "handled" anyone this season. Most of their games were close with just the better team winning. These Pats are damn good, but they are no where close to being the best team ever.

[tech]

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I don't think the 04' Pats are the best team of all time, but if they win the Super Bowl, they should be thrown into the ring.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that they would probably get beaten by some of the teams in the era before the salary cap, because the talent was so much more stacked on those teams. But I do not think there has ever been a more well-run organization from top-to-bottom then these Patriots. I am not a Pats fan, but man I wish other teams would do things the way NE does.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

SF w/ rice and montana.

[apd138]

Do you guys really think teams from the 70's would beat the modern Patriots? Aside from the fact that athletes now are larger, and faster there have also been many advances is schemes offensively and defensively. About the only thing these 70's teams would have on todays is toughness and heart. While the Patriots are not as dominant against todays competition as they were against theirs, I feel the Patriots would be even more dominant against teams from the past.

[bort411]

I'm new to OOT and I have to throw my hat in the ring, since the Bears will likely never be good again in my lifetime. In the 1985 playoffs, the Bears DEFENSE outscored opponents 23-10. The 10 points are inflated too, the result of an early Payton fumble in Bears territory and a pity "you're down by 41, Payton blew our shutout, and we've got celebrating to do, so we'll let you have one" TD in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

No other team has ever come close to such dominance.

[Lawrence Ng]

89 49'ers..

[Shajen]

85 Bears and it isn't even close.

If for nothing else that the "SuperBowl Shuffle".

EVERYONE in the entire country knew they were gonna win the SB. EVERYONE. Most dominate team ever.

Even the Ravens D of a few years ago didn't think they were better than the 85 Bears.

Whoever said 72 Dolphins needs to get their heads examined.

The O line for the Dolphins in 72 is about the size of an average RB these days. They would be destroyed.

Da Bearz.

[Toro]

Da Bears, 85, but they were a one year wonder.

[Kevin]

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Sounds like a typical Yinzer Steelers fan who can't get over the good ole days of the 70's pulled one over on you :


[/ QUOTE ]

Typical...they see me coming. Thanks for the link..I can't wait to pull this out the next time SuperBowl discussion comes up.

Kevin

[Clarkmeister]

"They also rarely "handled" anyone this season. Most of their games were close with just the better team winning. "

Give me a break. They led the NFL in point differential this year at 11.1 ppg, had the #2 scoring defense and the #4 scoring offense. Yeah, just eeking their way to victories. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Richard Tanner]

Not only that but I read in SI a while back that their schedule was really soft (something like playing only three teams with winning records).

Cody

[Clarkmeister]

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/football/teams/greatest.html

I don't agree with all their picks, but there are some very interesting selections in this article. 1999 Rams at #5 for example......

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you guys really think teams from the 70's would beat the modern Patriots? Aside from the fact that athletes now are larger, and faster there have also been many advances is schemes offensively and defensively. About the only thing these 70's teams would have on todays is toughness and heart. While the Patriots are not as dominant against todays competition as they were against theirs, I feel the Patriots would be even more dominant against teams from the past.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it should be implicit in these questions that you are judging the teams by their dominance with respect to their contemporaries. With modern training methods, teams today are obviously much better than they were 20 years ago.

[Kevin]

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You recall incorrectly. How exactly is an undefeated team going into its 2nd consecutive SB going to be a dog. I'm fairly certain I remember them being a 7 point favorite.

Also, although I can't seem to pull it up on google, I'm also fairly certain the bears opponent's record's were pretty bad overall too. That has a tendency to happen when 94% of yer opponents have had an L hung on them or 2 by you, BTW.


[/ QUOTE ]
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/football/teams/greatest.html

From the Article
"The Dolphins want recognition as the greatest team of all time simply because they went through the regular season and the playoffs undefeated, ending up with a 17-0 record. We don't deny this is a great accomplishment -- a singular one, in fact. But this is, ultimately, a thin argument.

Consider, for example, that the Dolphins played one of the easiest schedules in modern NFL history -- the opposition had a combined winning percentage under .400. Unlike the 1985 Bears, the Dolphins didn't stroll through the playoffs. They beat the Steelers in the AFC title game by only four points, 21-17, and were underdogs going into the Super Bowl against the Redskins , who they defeated 14-7. Undefeated underdogs? That means you're not beaten, but you are beatable. We salute the greatness of head coach Don Shula, QB Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris, Jim Kiick, Garo Yepremian, et al. But the Bears would have beaten them in a head-to-head matchup."

[Nottom]

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The same people who obsess on the Dolphins perfect season are the same people who believe that BB/100 is the best indicator of poker skill.

[/ QUOTE ]

Personally, I think BB/100 (over an extended period of course) is the only true measure of poker skill. Well I guess $/100 is probably a better number but they should obviously be related.

A better example would be those that say So-and-So is a great player because I saw him win blabity-blah tourney on TV last week.

[andyfox]

By definition, the undefeated Miami Dolphins team. What are you trying to do? Win every game, including the Superbowl. That's what they did. Nobody else has done it.