Behind the Numbers 12.07.07: Greatest Teams of All Time

Posted by Chris Widner on 12.07.2007

The PHU (Patriots Haters Union) will unite after reading this. But before they do, take a look at my top 5 teams of all-time.

10 weeks to figure the patriots out
they find a way to win
16-0 isn't as big to them as is everyone else
Super Bowl or bust
greatest team ever?

Top 5
1) Patriots barely escape Baltimore The Patriots Haters Union are delighted as the Patriots struggled for the second straight week. What makes this even better is that the Patriots made the plays when they counted, Bart Scott freaks out and now the PHU is claiming the refs gave the game away. You can have your feelings on the defensive holding call, but Bart Scott screwed up. The refs didn't make him flip out, he lost it on his own. Boneheaded move costs his team the game.
2) Ref calls Samari Rolle "boy" The PHU just gets better and better. Samari Rolle is making a huge stink of being called "boy." That's right, the PHU is so obsessed with bitching about every Patriots win that they've resorted to tattling. Was it right for the ref to do this (if he did)? No, but does it really deserve this much attention? The NFL is beginning to look like an episode of The View. The Patriots are mean (because they play hard all the time) and the refs are hurting Rolle's feelings. Let's send him an autographed picture of the View cast and a box of tissues. Seriously, namecalling?
3) Derrick Ward done for season with broken leg This is a real shame as Derrick Ward came from nowhere to be a solid replacement for Tiki "Put the Cameras on Me" Barber. The Giants have decent depth at running back but Ward will be missed. Expect good things from him next year, though.
4) Travis Henry not suspended Every stoner in America rejoiced when this came out. Henry appeals his suspension claiming he failed a test because of second-hand smoke. That must have been one hell of a party to get that ripped. Now it's back to running the rock and meeting new baby mamas for Henry. You'd have to be stoned to believe his story.
5) Zach Thomas done for season It keeps getting worse for the Dolphins. Like most of the Dolphins' fans, Zach Thomas is done for the season due to migraine headaches. Can you blame him?

Unless you are a member of the PHU (Patriots Haters Union) you can agree when I say that the Patriots are enjoying a fantastic season. Ok, Bill Belichick isn't enjoying the season but there's nothing you can do to help that. For the past 2 weeks the Patriots have struggled against some excellent sub-500 teams, but somehow grabbed the W late in the 4th quarter. Of course the PHU is implying that the game was fixed, but these same people are making comments like "I hope the Steelers snap Tom Brady's neck and he's done for good" so I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that these people have serious emotional issues and aren't the most trustworthy of people. The Patriots were absolutely dismantling teams at the beginning of the year, so with 2 tough games in a row against teams with losing records the critics are wondering if the league has found out how to beat the Patriots. Have they found the Patriots' weaknesses? Of course they have, the Ravens had 11 games worth of film to dissect but they still couldn't come out on top. The biggest weakness for the Patriots is the aging linebacker corp. With Roosevelt Coleman out for the season the rest of the corp is going to have to step it up and stay healthy. Sure, they're slower than other linebacking corps, but you're still talking about Seau, Bruschi, Thomas, Vrabel, et al. If that's your weakness you're just plain nasty. So while teams are going to attack the middle of the field more, the Patriots have excellent veterans that will know how to respond. Like the entire Patriots team these players are great.

Many people are saying that this week, against Pittsburgh, will be the real test for the Patriots. That's right, because the Cowboys, Colts, Redskins, and Browns (not to mention others) have been a cake-walk for the rest of the league. Hate the Patriots all you want but if you can't see that this team might be the greatest of all-time you need to reconnect with reality. Thinking the Ravens were going to pull off the upset, I was having some fun trash talking my brother-in-law. There are few people that love the Patriots as much as he does. So you can imagine how fun it was to push his buttons thinking that the Ravens had it. But I'll admit that when the tables turned and I was left eating my words, I actually enjoyed it. If the Patriots weren't so great, my Cowboys would be the team to beat this season. So you'd think I'd be hoping for the Patriots' downfall as much as anyone else. But in a league made for parity when you have a team this dominant, it's just fun to watch. Even if they don't go 16-0 you are probably looking at the greatest team of all-time and it's fun to watch such excellent execution. Speaking of 16-0, the PHU needs to understand that the Patriots really do not care about that record. They've won their division and now they're looking for home-field advantage for the playoffs. They only need to win 2 more games to achieve that goal. Do you really think that they'll be starting Tom Brady and the gang in week 16 if they have home-field wrapped up? I highly doubt it.

For this team it is Super Bowl or bust. If they go 16-0 and lose in the playoffs it will be a disappointing season. 16-0 looks pretty but the bling of a Super Bowl ring looks even better. If they do win the big one this team will have to go down as the greatest team of all-time. But since the Super Bowl is a few months off, let's take a look at the greatest teams of all-time. And before we get started, no I did not forget the 72 Dolphins. They had a very easy schedule and did not dominate like the teams listed below. 17-0 is a neat mark but I'll take these 5 teams over the 72 Dolphins any day.

5) 1996 Packers The Packers of 96 were an amazing team. They had the #1 defense in the league to go along with MVP Brett Favre and the #1 offense. Favre passed for almost 4,000 yards and 39 touchdowns, absolutely shredding defenses. The average score during their regular season games was 28-13. When it came playoff time they were even better and ran over the competition with a 17 point average winning margin.

4) 1994 49ers Steve Young quickly showed that he was more than capable of replacing Joe Montana by leading the #1 offense in the league for the 3rd year in a row. They averaged 31 points a game during the regular season and, like all great teams, played even better during the playoffs, averaging over 43 points a game during the playoffs. As a young Cowboys fan they brought me close to tears after the 38-28 defeat of Da Boys in the NFC Championship game. They went on to lay a serious beating on the Chargers in the Super Bowl by a score of 49-26.

3) 1999 Rams What an awesome game Super Bowl XXXIV was. You had the Rams, led by former grocery clerk Kurt Warner, fighting off an incredible comeback from the Titans. And who could forget that last moment when Kevin Dyson stretched as far as he could to fall inches short of a touchdown to force the game into overtime? The Rams were "The Greatest Show on Turf" for good reason. They averaged 33 points a game during the regular season with Warner passing for 41 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards to go along with Marshall Faulk's incredible season rushing and receiving for more than 1,000 yards each. They were so good that Az-zahir Hakim actually looked like a very good player. The defense was not any easier as they were ranked #4 overall, giving up only 15 points a game.

2) 1991 Redskins Playing one of the toughest schedules in recent memory, the 91 Redskins walked over the competition to a 14-2 regular season record. Mark Rypien threw for over 3,500 yards and 28 touchdowns. Having talent like Gary Clark and Art Monk (both 1,000 yard receivers) makes playing quarterback very fun. They continued their dominance during the playoffs, destroying their first opponents before handling the Bills decisively. The Bills lost 4 Super Bowls in a row, but they were an excellent team. When your team can dominate such excellent competition they deserve their spot in the top teams of all-time.

1) 1985 Bears This should be a surprise to few people as the 85 Bears were something else. The average score during the regular season was 28-12 as this defense was shutdown all the way. Their offense is rarely mentioned even though Walter Payton had over 2,000 total yards that season. During the playoffs? Try 2 shutouts and outscoring the competition 91-10. They actually got to coast through the 4th quarter as they were up 44-3 over the Patriots after 3 quarters. That is the definition of dominance.

I'm looking forward to seeing the readers' Top 5 teams of all time. Let me know what you think. [e-mail]