We’re back.
In our first installment of this mini two-part series, we broke down the previous 48 Super Bowl champions, ranked the ten best and proceeded to give you teams 10 through 6.
Now we’re back with the rest of this list. Remember, we are focusing on the team’s season, not their performance in the Super Bowl.
Once again, keep in mind that all 48 champions are worthy of high praise but we think we have the best of the very best.
5. 1996 Green Bay Packers (16-3); won Super Bowl XXXI: Mike Holmgren’s club had been building towards a championship since he took over as head coach in 1992 and all the pieces finally came together in his fifth season on the job. Led by quarterback Brett Favre (the league’s MVP) and eventual Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White, the Packers handily outscored the opposition during the regular season by a combined 456-210—leading the NFL in both points scored and points allowed. Green Bay was especially impressive in the playoffs, handling both the San Francisco 49ers and upstart Carolina Panthers before defeating Bill Parcells’ young New England Patriots at the Superdome in Super Bowl XXXI.
4. 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers (15-2); won Super Bowl X: One year after surprising some by winning Super Bowl IX, the Steelers made it clear that they were the best team in the league courtesy of a point differential of plus-211. Following a surprising home loss in Week 2 to the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh reeled off 11 consecutive victories, including a clean sweep of the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals (11-3) and Houston Oilers (10-4), the former also headed to the playoffs. Chuck Noll’s club dispatched of the upstarts Baltimore Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs, survived a brutal battle with the rival Raiders at frozen Three Rivers Stadium in the AFC title game and then rallied to beat the wild card Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X thanks in part to the aerial wizardry of wide receiver Lynn Swann.
3. 1985 Chicago Bears (18-1); won Super Bowl XX: Many would argue that this was the best single-season defensive performance by a team in league annals (let the arguments from Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Seattle, etc. begin). Mike Ditka’s club made a run at the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ unparalleled accomplishment of a perfect season and fell a bit short but from start to finish it was evident that ’85 would be the Bears’ year. Running back Walter Payton led the ground attack, Hall of Famers such as Richard Dent, Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton spearheaded the defense and these “Monsters of the Midway” would shut out the New York Giants (21-0) and Los Angeles Rams (24-0) in the playoffs on their way to humiliating the Patriots at the Superdome in Super Bowl XX.
2. 1973 Miami Dolphins (15-2); won Super Bowl VIII: Can you actually be better than undefeated? One year after their legendary 17-0 campaign of ’72, Don Shula’s Dolphins had meshed into a well-oiled machine and were dominant on a weekly basis, dropping only two games all season on their way to a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. A disciplined defensive unit featuring Hall of Fame middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti made life easier for quarterback Bob Griese and company as Miami limited 15 of its 17 foes (including playoffs) to 17 or fewer points, and outscored the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings a combined 85-33 in the postseason.
1. 1989 San Francisco 49ers (17-2); won Super Bowl XXIV: Off their come-from-behind Super Bowl XXIII victory and the subsequent retirement of head coach Bill Walsh, some 49ers felt “The Genius” perhaps got too much credit for the team’s overall success and that’s certainly debatable. Led by new coach George Seifert as well as Hall Fame performers such as Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott, the Niners used this as motivation to dominate the league in 1989, losing two games by a total of five points (to the Rams and Packers), while demolishing the Minnesota Vikings (41-13), Los Angeles Rams (30-3) and Denver Broncos (55-10) in the postseason by a combined 100 points. San Francisco’s 45-point victory in Super Bowl XXIV remains the most lopsided game in the series’ 48-year history.