Spots 7-12- Teams that would be Crown Jewls too, if only the Crown were big Enough:

7. Dolphins- 2 Trophies, 5 SB appearances, the only COMPLETELY undefeated team of the Super Bowl era, and one of if not the most consistently good team in the SB era. From the merger in 1970 to present, there have been VERY FEW rough patches for Dolphin fans. Add to that Shula, Bob Griese, Czonka, both the No-Name Defense and the Killer B's, and the greatness of Dan Marino, the Dolphins truly do shine through.
8. (3-Way Tie) Giants- 3 Trophies, 4 SB appearances, and greatness in the pre-SB era. The Giants are unique on this list- not one great era stands out above all others; rather, it's just been a great and consistent ride for the G-Men, much like the Dolphins, only longer (the Dolphins are just ahead due to a few bits, one being the 1972 season.) From Robustelli's era to LT's (the Original) to Strahan's, the Defense has always been great. Too many greats to name, and every 2 of their 3 SB wins have been great ones and legendary (Wide Right and the Giant Upset) so that helps... the G-Men stand tall.
8. (Three-Way Tie) Redskins- Three Trophies, 4 SB appearances, and, like the G-Men and Dolphins, great stretches of greatness. The Skins split the difference between the Giants and Dolphins- not quite as consistent as the Dolphins (there were some rough times... the last decade...) but around longer, and they've not as many defensive stars as the Giants, but they DO has their own legacy, from arguably the first great passer in Sammy Baugh to Goerge Allen's Men to Gibbs... and the BEST fight song in the NFL seals the deal. Hail to the Redskins indeed.
8. (3-Way Tie) Patriots- Like the Raiders at #6, this is a pick I HATE to make, but I can't ignore it- 3 Trophies, 5 SB appearances (matching the others at #8), and one of the "Dynasty Teams" of the Super Bowl era, the 00's Patriots. The Patriots are a relatively recent success compared to the others up here- an AFL team, mixed success in the 1970's, a SB that was lost in a BLOWOUT in the 1980's, lost one in the 90's... and then Brady's Bunch. He IS one of the best of all-time (where you put him is your choice... I personally put him top 20, maybe top 15), and that Patriots Defense was great over its run. Love the or hate them, Dynasty Teams DO have that prestige...
11. Broncos- I ALMOST put them just past the Pats, but as the Patriots are a Dynasty and the Broncos lost a LOT of SBs, it didn't seem quite right... still, with 2 Trophies and an impressive 6 SB appearances, the Broncos ARE a great franchise. The Orange Crush was the highlight early on, and then Elway... the GREAT Elway... those back-to-back wins in 1998-99, Terrell Davis, Shanahan... Shannon Sharpe. The Broncos- a painful history, yes, but a great one.
12. Colts- A VERY close choice here, eking out #13 just by a man... or Manning. 2 Trophies, 3 SB appearances, not to mention titles before those and winning "The Greatest Game Ever Played." In addition, the Colts have yet another thing going for them (what puts them over the top and lands them here)- they're one of the NFL franchises with not one but TWO equally or nearly equally legendary QBs. Staubach and Aikman... Bradshaw and Big Ben... Starr amd Favre... the most storied, perhaps, of these parings, due to their greatness and competition, Montana and Young- and Unitas and Manning, Peyton Manning. Think for a moment- if you chould choose, who would you start- the Original Great QB, still ranking near the top of "Best QB" lists, or Manning, the best pure passer ever (the ring puts him over Marino)? Add to all that good running games and receivers (Berry and Herrison) and good defenses, and the Colts are more than welcome at #12.

Spots 13-18, The Middle of the Pack

13. Browns- JUST by a HAIR do the Browns miss the 7-12 rankings... but still a great organization. A big decider on who got #12 still haunts Clevelanders today- 0 SB appearances, let alone wins. Add that to the move/name change into the Ravens, and the new team's struggles, and you have a VERY snakebit franchise... but still a great one with NFL titles before the Era and Automatic Otto and then Jim Brown, who I'd personally tie with Payton as the best backs ever (Sanders, Emmitt, and Tomlinson round out the top 5 in no particular order.) The 1950's were good to the team, and the 1980's proved to be a time of great expecations and play with Kosar and crushing defeats. Still, the good, and legendary coach Paul Brown, put the Browns, unlucky as they may be, at #13.
14. Rams- Ah, the Rams... so many great games my 49ers played against them in great rivalry matchups... now those matchups are but a shadow of their former selves, like the Rams. But the team has had a grat history nonetheless- 1 Trophy, 3 SB appearances, an old team with NFL titles (I believe) and a great many great players- the Fearsome Foursome (all the versions of it), Van Brocklin, Waterfield, Gabriel, Ferragamo, and of course Warner, not to mention his friends Bruce, Holt, and Faulk. A great team- and a once-great rivalry we had.
15. Eagles- The poor Eagles... they get no respect in the league, and they seemingly get little here from me... such a good franchise at #15? Sorry, but when you are around for as long as the Eagles and have 0 Super Bowls and but some NFL titles so long ago, especially when rivals Dallas, Washington, and New York all ahve 3 or more, your rtating WILL suffer. They've been to 2 Super Bowls, and lost them both- neither game ever really in the Eagles' grasp, and yet in both games they looked for a moment as though the might come back- there's something. Great players on both sides, and rowdy fans boost the rating- Fly Eagles, Fly.
16. (2-Way Tie) Vikings- The NFC Team in the "Most Pain in SBs Pairing," The Vikings have certainly had their share of hurt. Even through great teams under Bud Grant in the 1970's, with Fran Tarkenton, Joe Kapp, and the Purpe People Eaters, the Vikings could not win any of their three SB appearances in that decade (thier only appearances) and the team hasn't been to the Big Game since 1976. They cam SO CLOSE, though, in 1998, a GREAT team then, with John Randal, Cris Carter and a young Randy Moss... but they JUST missed the Super Bowl by a FG. Tough losses, but the Vikings have proved nothing if not resiliant.
16. (2-Way Tie) Bills- The AFC partern in the "Most Pain in SBs Pairing" (it didn't seem right to choose one team over the other- the Vikings and Bills are like soulmates when it comes to big-game bad luck), the Boys from Buffalo have had BIG ups and BIG downs. Their early history is rough, the silver lining being a pre-muder suspect O.J. Simpson smashing rushing records, and an owner who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. And then came the 1980's- Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett... and Scott Norwood, a good kicker with BAD luck. The Bills have a VERY special place in NFL folklore, being the only franchise to make it to the 4 SB appearances four years in a row and going 0 for 4. Wide Right, Cowboys, Cowboys II, and Redskins... Buffalo knows the meaning of Super Bowl Pain.
18. Chargers- The Bolts have had a common theme throughout most of their history, that being a blistering offense and an at times shockingly bad defense. With 1 SB appearance, a lopsided loss to the 49ers in SB XXIX, and many near-misses in the 1970's-1980's, the Chargers round out our list of the best Snakebit Teams. Dan Fouts, John Jefferson, Kellen Winslow, Ron Mix, the rest of Air Coryell, and the current crop with Phillip Rivers, Tomlinson, and the assortment of other Charger bakcs and receivers that always seem to chip in, the Chargers may not win the big games all the time (though a HUGE boost for winning one of the best ever, the 1981 Epic in Miami, winning 41-38 in OT) but they certainly make a great show of it.

The Trailing Teams (I'm screwing the numbers, I screwed it up anyway):

-Jets: The Jets... if not for one game, they might be so far down the list. Of course you have their one and only Trophy in their one and only SB appearance, Namath's Guarantee, the 16-7 upset of the Colts that might've saved the AFL and certainly save Namath and the Jets in rankings. Namath was a great QB, but had poor last years and more INTS than TDs, while the Jets... well, they're odd, the Jets. They'll be down for years, and then suddenly for about two or three year bursts (more on lucky occasions) they seem to suddenly become and elite team. What else can you say about the
J-E-T-S Jets but that- you never know WHAT to expect from them.

-Titans/Oilers: Another Snakebit franchise. The Oilers were always seemingly being put down by the Steelers or Bengals or someone, even with greats like Warren Moon and Earl Capbell, and then Super Bowl XXXIV as the Titans, with Steve McNair and Dyson coming up one yard shy. The Oilers/Titans- sometimes bad sometimes good, but always against the odds, it seems...

-Chiefs: How odd to have a SB winner so low, but since 1969, it hasn't been great for the Chiefs. 1 Trophy in two SB appearances, including the first one ever, losing to Green Bay 35-10, and a great leader in Stram and other greats liek Dawson, The Nigerian Nightmare, and DT. Add that to a fued witht the Raiders, and this team, lackluster as it's been over rough stretches, never loses spirit

-Ravens: A young franchise, but already one with some good games and a solid identity under its belt. 1 Trophy in their one appearance, and thanks to Ray Lewish leading the defense all these years, the Ravens have always been like a stone wall defensively. Add to that Jamal Lewis' great rushing seasons and now youn Joe Flacco passing, and this franchise could rise through the ranks rather rapidly.

-Lions: They've been woeful for so long (and even recently- rmeember 0-16?), and haven't won ANY real title since 1957. Still even with 0 SB appearances and all that losing tradition, the Lions still remain loveable losers at least. Barry Sanders and Bobby Layne are the great figurheads of the team, and even though they get blown out every year, the Lions' traditional Thanksgiving Day game is a classic tradition dating back many decades, one that makes the franchise even more endearing and on the NFL ought to keep.

-Buccanneers: Many losing seasons (including the winless one!) and then roughly a decade of defensive greatness behond Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and others... the Bucs are very un even. The one Trophy from the one SB win came in a Buc blowout... and between John McKay and John Gruden, you could say there's a tradition of angry coaches- and can you blame them?

And now- Counting down the Woeful Eight:

-Bengals: They don't call them the "Bungles" for nothing- 2 SB appearances, and while both were reasonably close, both were still losses to those great 49er teams of the 1980's. A boost for being founded by Paul Brown, and having Bill Walsh come out of there. Outside that, and their success this and a few other years, the Benglans have been Bungles indeed.-Panthers: They've had a few good seasons, including one GREAT SB appearance, and then some HORRID seasons, including a 1-15 (perhaps more of those.) Steroid allegations and the stain or Rae Caruth don't help either- not a terrible franchise, but certainly not one of the best.

-Falcons: One Super Season in 1999, that one season when they made the Super Bowl... and nearly every other year's been terrible. Michael Vick hurts the prestige BIG TIME. They've got a good team now, but still are struggling, true to form...

-Seahawks: One SB appearance, a good run in the first half of this decade, and some good outings with Jim Zorn, David Krieg, Curt Warner, Steve Largent, Hasselbeck, and Shaun Alexander.

-Cardinals: Until last season the epitomy of a sad, sad franchise. They at least have one very good SB appearance, and some good HOFers such as Larry Wilson. Still, from Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona, futility, thy name ahs often been "Cardinals."

-Saints: Oh, the poor Saints. This team has been through too much... both comical badness and serious (Hurricane Katrina.) At least the team with Brees and Co. is good now, and they have had a few good ones, and a Manning (Archie, father or Peyton and Eli.) And they have dedicated fans... even when they where bags over their heads. (0 SB appearances, by the way... just to be thorough.)

-Texans: This is really like saying a three-year old is ranked lower than Babe Ruth in terms of batting prowess. The Texans aren't even a decade old, have 0 SB appearances, and haven't even had a playoff appearance. Still, they've been surprising tough and at times competitive, and fan loyalty saves them from the bottom spot.

And the WORST franchise in the NFL of All Time is...

-Jaguars: Yes, they've been to the playoffs, they had Brunell and Fred Taylor, have Garrard and Jones-Drew... but so many bad seasons, 0 SB appearances, and almost no fan support land them here. Does anyone really care about this team? Think about it- between the great Dolphins and the Buccanneers, who are up and down but at least have had ups and have a solid fanbase and legacy, who cares about this team outside
Florida, or in it? "Jacksonville" Jaguars? Maybe not for long... the NFL and the team's not happy about the lack of fan support, and Los Angeles always looms...

There you have it, my rankings... discuss, at all?

Great article dude!! BUT The Steeleres, 49ers and Packers were build around teams whose players had no freedom of contract. The Dallas Cowboys who won Superbowls 27 & 28 were the same. In came free agency and the Cowboys lost in the NFC Championship game before winning Superbowl 30. Yes, Pittsburgh have won more Superbowls and the Packers are "Titletown, USA" but also remember that Dallas are playing the 50th Season this year. A World Championship on average every 10 Years. The Cowboys of Superbowls 27-30 are also the best team statistically ever (Read The Greatest Team Ever-The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty).

I'm not a huge American football fan, but I just skimmed this and could help but notice that you started this thread at 1:35 and finished at 3:58 with rather consistent in-between times of 20-30 minutes.

Just out of curiosity, did you actually spend 2 hour and 23 minutes on this? The article looks very nice, I'm just wondering if you - like me - are one of those who spends all night sitting on the computer (I work the graveyard shift)?

obiwan, how old are you? I only ask, because some of your teams are ranked far too high (and far too low) due to current bias it seems...

obi sounds 40+ yrs old.

I won't debate the overall ranking of the Steelers, but to claim they have "class" is ridiculous. That claim might have some validity for the teams in the 70s - but saying the recent Steelers are classy is about as far from the truth as you can get.

Very thorough. But, I didn't see the Carolina Panthers in there. Did I just miss it? If not, where do you rank them?

OK...

@SteevoKun- Yes, I DID spend 2 and a half hours+ on this... I love football THAT MUCH. I actually love it SO MUCH, I have Madden 09 for the PS3, and I spent DAYS fixing it so that now all 32 teams are "All-Time" Teams- that means Montana, Young, Rice, RC and Terrell Owens, Craig, Lott, Nomelini, Eric Wright, all on the same great 49er team... from Bradshaw's 70's teams to Big Ben's teams now, the steelers are the same, and the Raiders, Cowboys, Broncos have Elway and TD back, Chargers have Fouts back at the helm, Packers have Favre and Starr and his men... and then playing a season with those teams- AWESOME!

:D If you want the rosters, I'd gladly give them to you or folks on site- all you do is basically there are some players (Montana) that are in the game as grets and you add them first, then make created teams, and edit those players to have the names and gear and abilities oftheir namesake (did that for Young and Rice.)

It's GREAT... and if anyone cares, the 49ers lost Rice week 3 or so to a broken leg and missed the playoffs by one game but knocked Sammy Baugh's Redskins out on the final game to go 8-8... the Cowboys made it to the playoffs but were quickly crushed by the Rams, who got crushed by the Giants, who just barely lost to the Packers in a great game at Lambeau... the Steelers, Raiders, Chargers, and Patriots dominated the AFC, with the Titans just knocking the Dolphins out of the playoffs and the Browns getting in on Jim Brown's greatness... Raiders got KILLED by the Patriots, and a great shootout between the Pats and Bolts ended with the Chargers just edging Brady's Bunch, only to get manhandled by the Steelers in the AFC Championship.

Dynasty Bowl I: Packers vs. Steelers- Packers: 21 Steelers: 14 MVP- Henry Jordan, DT, Packers, with about 3 sacks... por Bradshaw...

:D

@fortknox and ag7433:

I'm about 24 days away from 19 years of age.

@dangermouse:

I think they have plently of class, what's wrong with Rooney?

@Shafto:

Do you REALLY think that, as great as they were, Aikam could beat Montana or Irvin best Rice (I'll give you Emmitt over Craig, but Craig's still good.) They shared Charles Hayley... and really- Larry Brown or Ronnie Lott? Or ANY STEELER's D PLAYER from the 70's, for that matter?

If I had to rank the Dynasties, I'd tie the Steelers and 49ers (best defense and best offense, both only to win 4 in a decade, Steelers have 4 in 6 while the 49ers have the biggest blowout in SB history, 55-10 over Elway's Broncos), put Lombardi's Packers next, then the Cowboys, and then the Patriots now... a good dynasty, but I can't seem them beating anyone of those dyansty teams, and THEY never LOST a Super Bowl.

@fortknox:

Who is too high? The Patriots? Yes... I said that, but again they ARE a dynasty team, and did have good teams (if sporadically) in the 70's, 80's and 90's... The 49ers? They have had GREAT TEAMS... they're not as good now (and I say that as a hardcore 49er fan) but when you have the best QB, a second HOF QB, a THIRD HOF QB (Y.A. Tittle) the best WR ever, a host of good WRs over the years, one of the great coaches ever in Walsh, a dynasty that won 4 SBs and was a FG away from a possible three-peat, and then great defensive players with Lott and Nomelini and Hacksaw and others, and 5 Super Bowl wins... they're that high. ;)

Who's maybe too low? The Browns and Vikings jump to my mind... maybe the Eagles... but the teams above them DID win the Big One, and they didn't... the Vikings have unfair comparisons maybe because of the Packers and Bears, the Browns have t hear about the Steelers, and the poor Eagles are in the most competitive and fierce division, and all three of its "brothers" have won at least 3 SBs... the Eagles, even with their being to NFL title games, haven't even BEEN TO 3 SBs...

@rhino86:

I missed them! I had them, must have accidentally deleted them... I had them between the Bengals and Falcons, sothey'd be #26 out of 32.

I will say of them here that they've had a couple GREAT seasons... and then a whole lot of TERRIBLE ones. Their one SB appearance was a loss, but it was a great showing, putting them ahead of the Falcons and Sehawks, and the Cardinals as well (who had a great showing in their one SB appearance, a loss... but as they've been around since the 1920's, they REALLY should have had more to brag about by now.) Steve Smith Delhomme, and a tough defense boost the team, but bad off-field issues (Rae Caruth, drug allegations, Julius Peppers getting caught for steroids) lower them again. A young franchise, so they could rise, but for now, they're in their place at #26.

id say that its a little difficult to rank all 32 teams since only half of them have been around since the AFL merger with the NFL and only 16 teams have been around for 50 years, but i would have to say that the teams that have the strongest case are those that have the most showings at a super bowl are the strongest teams (steelers, cowboys, 49ers and broncos are among the top) and other teams with no appearances are at the bottom (lions, browns, jaguars, saints, texans)

personally, though, i think the worst team is the browns. this is a team with no super bowl appearances, a very limited number of playoff showings and the team actually ceased to exist for a short period of time in the NFL! the only time the team has been strong was before the 66 season when they had probably the best team in the league and earlier with automatic otto and the other big name players that are now NFL legends.

Pottsville Maroons - greatest franchise ever.

I can't believe that the Lions and Buccaneers are higher than the Panthers. Since the Panthers existance they've done much better than the Lions. The buccaneers had a few good seasons rcently but I've been horrible in all the others.

Oh and by the way The Vikings have been to 4 SB's not 3.