While the NFL has certainly changed since its inception in 1920, one thing has remained constant: great teams.
The NFL has never gone through a period without at least one great team. That remains true today, although one could argue there has never been more parity in the league when you consider that the two teams that played in the 2024 Super Bowl — the Eagles and Chiefs — combined to win zero playoff games in 2025.
If history has taught us anything about the NFL, it’s that another great team is just around the corner. If the Chiefs and Eagles are unable to rebound from last year’s struggles, that could lead to more good news for the Seahawks, the defending champions who won it all after missing the playoffs the previous season. It’s also worth noting that the Rams, Bills, Ravens and Bengals are viable contenders this season given what they have at quarterback.
Before the 2026 season begins, we decided to take a trip down memory lane by naming the NFL’s best teams by decade, starting with the 1920s. And while trying to decipher which team was the best is largely an arbitrary task, each team’s lasting impact on the game can’t be argued or debated.
1920s: Canton/Cleveland Bulldogs
The NFL did not hold a championship game until 1933, so from 1920-32, the league’s champion was determined by which team had the best winning percentage during the season, with ties omitted from the equation.
In 1920, the Akron Pros became the first NFL champion by virtue of their 8-0-3 record. Two years later, the NFL’s first dynasty, the Canton Bulldogs, became the first team to win 10 games in a season (they went 10-0-2) while joining the Pros as the only other franchise to finish undefeated. A truly dominant team, the Bulldogs allowed just three scores the entire season.
Canton was even better in 1923, posting an 11-0-1 record while outscoring opponents 246-19. After moving to Cleveland in 1924, the Bulldogs won a third straight NFL title with a 7-1-1 record.
The Bulldogs’ best player was Guy Chamberlin, a Pro Football Hall of Fame end who also served as the team’s coach and part owner. In 1921, while playing for George Halas’ Chicago Staleys, Chamberlin returned an interception 90 yards for a score in a win over Buffalo in a game billed as the unofficial championship game.
“Chamberlin was the best two-way end I’ve ever seen,” Halas once said. “He was a tremendous tackler on defense and a triple-threat performer on offense.”
1930s: Green Bay Packers
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Curly Lambeau, the Packers co-founder, capped his Hall of Fame playing career by leading the 1929 Packers to a 12-0-1 record and the franchise’s first title. Lambeau, who continued to serve as the Packers’ coach, helped Green Bay successfully defend its title in 1930 and 1931. The Packers won two more championships during the 1930s (1936 and 1939) while becoming pro football’s second dynasty.
Halas’ Bears, who captured their first championship in 1932, became the first winner of an official NFL Championship Game when they posted a 23-21 win over the Giants at Wrigley Field. The game-winning score was a touchdown pass from Bronko Nagurski, who shared a backfield with fellow Hall of Famer Red Grange.
The Giants got revenge in 1934 when they posted a 30-13 win over the Bears in a championship nicknamed “The Sneakers Game” after Giants end Ray Flaherty told coach Steve Owen during the first half that sneakers would provide better traction after freezing rain from the previous night froze the Polo Grounds field. Owen quickly enlisted his friend Abe Cohen — a tailor who also assisted on the Giants sideline — to retrieve sneakers from Manhattan College’s basketball team.
Decades before they upset the previously undefeated Patriots, the Giants upset a Bears team that — like the 2007 Patriots — had won its previous 18 games. New York’s upset was fueled by a 27-point fourth quarter that remains an NFL championship game record. It’s safe to say the Giants’ sneakers played a big role in Big Blue’s fourth-quarter outburst.
New York won its second title in 1938 after posting a 23-17 win over Lambeau’s Packers at the Polo Grounds. One of the Giants’ best players during those years was Hall of Fame halfback Tuffy Leemans, who won the NFL rushing title as a rookie in 1936.
1940s: Chicago Bears
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Chicago’s decade of dominance started with a 73-0 shellacking of Washington in the 1940 title game that remains the largest margin of victory in NFL title game history. The Bears’ 73 points remain the most scored in a championship game.
Ironically, the only title Chicago didn’t win from 1940-43 went to Washington in 1942. Washington’s second championship run was spearheaded by Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh, who led the NFL in completion percentage eight times during the decade while also leading the league in passing yards and touchdown passes twice.
Speaking of quarterbacks, the Bears’ dynasty was anchored by Hall of Famer Sid Luckman, who also played safety in addition to being one of the era’s best quarterbacks. In a win over the Giants in 1943, Luckman became the first quarterback to throw seven touchdown passes in a game.
The Eagles closed out the decade with consecutive NFL title game shutout wins over the Cardinals and Rams, respectively. Philadelphia was led by Hall of Fame halfback Steve Van Buren, who won four rushing titles over a five-year span.
1950s: Cleveland Browns
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Before joining the NFL, the Browns dominated the short-lived All-America Football Conference. During their four years in the league, Cleveland won the championship each season while posting an overall record of 47-4-3. Still, not many expected the Browns’ dominance to continue once they joined the NFL.
The Browns kept winning, though, starting with a 35-10 win over the defending champion Eagles in their first NFL game. Cleveland won the NFL title that season after recording a 30-28 win over the Rams in the championship game. Per usual, the Browns were led by Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham, who threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 99 yards on 12 carries.
A consummate winner, Graham led the Browns back to the NFL title game in each of the next five seasons before retiring after the 1955 season. After falling short against the Rams in 1951 and Bobby Layne’s Lions in 1952 and 1953, Graham capped his career with title game wins over Detroit and Los Angeles in 1954 and 1955. Including his time in the AAFC, Graham played for a title in each of his 10 seasons, winning seven.
The Giants and Colts largely dominated the second half of the 1950s, and the two franchises met in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, the first overtime contest in NFL history. In what has been hailed as the greatest game in NFL history, the Colts prevailed 23-17 on the strength of Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, who connected 12 times for 178 yards.
1960s: Green Bay Packers
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The growing popularity of the NFL — largely attributed to the 1958 title game — motivated the creation of the American Football League in 1960. In an effort to differentiate itself from the more established NFL, the AFL featured teams with creative names, colorful uniforms and rules that encouraged more passing and higher-scoring games.
While the AFL developed a niche following, the NFL was still king of professional football. Its best team, the Green Bay Packers, dominated the decade by winning five titles, including three straight championships from 1965-67.
The Packers, led by Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, also won the first two Super Bowls in convincing fashion. Green Bay’s two Super Bowl wins came after close, hard-fought wins over Tom Landry’s Cowboys in NFL championship games, with the second coming in the legendary “Ice Bowl.”
The Oilers and Bills won a combined four of the first six AFL titles. The Chiefs, who won the 1962 AFL title as the Dallas Texans before moving to Kansas City, faced the Packers in the first Super Bowl after defeating the Bills in the 1966 AFL title game. Kansas City was outmatched that day, but it made history three years later by upsetting the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, the final game played before the AFL-NFL merger.
You can’t talk about pro football in the 1960s without mentioning Super Bowl III, the game that changed pro football forever. After the first two Super Bowls went as expected with Packers blowouts, the AFL champion Jets made good on quarterback Joe Namath’s stunning guarantee by upsetting the NFL champion Colts, who entered as 18.5-point favorites. The Jets’ win further elevated both the Super Bowl and pro football.
1970s: Pittsburgh Steelers
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The NFL experienced another decade of incredible growth during the 1970s, unofficially passing baseball as America’s pastime. Dynasties largely dominated the era, especially the Steelers, who won a record four Super Bowls in a six-year span.
Those Steelers teams were built through successful drafts, especially the 1974 rookie class that included five future Hall of Famers: receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, center Mike Webster, linebacker Jack Lambert and safety Donnie Shell.
Pittsburgh’s loaded rosters also featured three Defensive Player of the Year winners in Joe Greene, Lambert and Mel Blount, along with Super Bowl IX MVP Franco Harris and two-time Super Bowl MVP Terry Bradshaw, who became the first and only Steeler to win league MVP in 1978.
Pittsburgh dominated during an era that also included Tom Landry’s Cowboys, Don Shula’s Dolphins, John Madden’s Raiders and Bud Grant’s Vikings.
The Cowboys won two Super Bowls during the decade but also lost two to Pittsburgh, including Super Bowl XIII, the first Super Bowl played between two franchises that had already won multiple titles. Miami lost to Dallas in Super Bowl VI before responding with back-to-back Super Bowl wins while compiling a 32-2 record over that span. The 1972 Dolphins remain pro football’s only perfect team.
The Dolphins’ reign atop the NFL ended when the Raiders beat them in the divisional round of the 1974 playoffs. Oakland, however, didn’t get over the hump until 1976, when it defeated the rival Steelers in the AFC title game before dismantling the Vikings in Super Bowl XI.
1980s: San Francisco 49ers
- Runner-up: Washington
- Honorable mention: Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
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This decade in the NFL was as exciting as it was unpredictable. It started with the NFL’s first wild-card Super Bowl champion, the 1980 Raiders, who were led by former No. 1 overall pick Jim Plunkett after his career resurgence in Oakland. Three years later, Plunkett quarterbacked the Raiders to an upset win over defending champion Washington in what became the AFC’s final Super Bowl victory until 1997.
The NFC’s utter dominance over the AFC — the conference won eight of the 10 Super Bowls played during the 1980s — largely defined the decade, along with the emergence of the 49ers, who won four Super Bowls behind Bill Walsh’s innovative West Coast offense.
San Francisco was led by quarterback Joe Montana, the first three-time Super Bowl MVP. Montana was at his best in the biggest moments, throwing 11 touchdowns without an interception across four Super Bowls. The same could be said of Jerry Rice, whose 215 receiving yards in Super Bowl XXIII remain a single-game record.
San Francisco’s dominance was briefly interrupted by Washington, the Giants and the Bears. Washington won two notable Super Bowls during the decade: a 27-17 win over the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII that capped a brilliant playoff run by running back John Riggins, and a 42-10 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII that included a record 35-point second quarter. The game’s MVP was Doug Williams, who became the first Black starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl.
The Bears and Giants each won their first Super Bowl during the 1980s. The 1985 Bears — who capped an 18-1 season with a 46-10 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX — remain one of the most popular teams of all time. The Giants’ first Super Bowl win was punctuated by Phil Simms’ single-game completion percentage record (88%).
1990s: Dallas Cowboys
- Runner-up: Denver Broncos
- Honorable mention: San Francisco 49ers
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The 49ers started the decade by nearly becoming the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls, but the Giants upset them one game short of another Super Bowl appearance in a game that saw Montana sustain a brutal hit from Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall. The Giants then upset the Bills in the only Super Bowl decided by a single point.
With Montana sidelined for the entire 1991 season, Washington won its third Super Bowl in nine years under Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. The following season, the Cowboys became the third straight NFC East team to win it all after bludgeoning the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas successfully defended its title a year later while handing Buffalo a fourth consecutive Super Bowl loss. Both of Dallas’ championships also came at the expense of the 49ers, who lost to the Cowboys in consecutive NFC title games.
The architect of Dallas’ dynasty was coach Jimmy Johnson, who made 51 trades from 1989-92. The biggest deal sent running back Herschel Walker to the Vikings in exchange for a bounty of draft picks that helped jumpstart the Cowboys’ rebuild. One of those picks became Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher who won league and Super Bowl MVP honors in 1993.
Johnson shockingly left Dallas after the 1993 season, opening the door for the 49ers to temporarily dethrone the Cowboys as the NFL’s best team. Dallas did return to the mountaintop in 1995, although it wasn’t as dominant as before. The Cowboys haven’t returned to an NFC title game — let alone a Super Bowl — since beating the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.
Brett Favre’s Packers continued the NFC’s dominance after defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, but they couldn’t stop Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis and the Broncos from finally breaking through for the AFC in Super Bowl XXXII. Davis and John Elway then led Denver to a repeat title in 1998, Elway’s final season.
2000s: New England Patriots
- Runner-up: Pittsburgh Steelers
- Honorable mention: Indianapolis Colts
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Like the 49ers dynasty before them, the Patriots seemingly came out of nowhere to take the NFL by storm during the 2000s. Ironically, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady grew up a 49ers fan and was in the stands when San Francisco kicked off its dynasty by upsetting the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC title game.
Brady, who replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe two games into the 2001 season, led the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles over a four-year span. The first Super Bowl win was a massive upset over a high-scoring Rams team that had won it all two years earlier. The upset was a byproduct of Brady’s late-game poise and a defense that flustered the Rams’ prolific “Great Show on Turf” offense by constantly pressuring Kurt Warner and roughing up his receivers and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk.
While the Patriots were declared a dynasty after the 2004 season, they didn’t win another Super Bowl during the decade. In 2007, they came up a few plays short of joining the 1972 Dolphins as the NFL’s only perfect team.
Brady’s biggest rival, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, finally got over the hump in 2006 after leading Indianapolis to a thrilling comeback win over the Patriots in the AFC title game. A year earlier, Manning’s Colts were upset in the playoffs by the Steelers, who ultimately became the first No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh won a record sixth Super Bowl three years later after outlasting a gritty Cardinals team in Super Bowl XLIII.
2010s: New England Patriots
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The 2010s marked the first full decade of the Super Bowl era in which only one team won multiple Super Bowls. After another Super Bowl loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, the Patriots ended their decade-long drought by upsetting the defending champion Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Seattle, a year after routing Manning’s Broncos in the Super Bowl, came one yard away from winning back-to-back titles.
From 2014-18, the Patriots won three Super Bowls and four AFC titles while cementing their status as the NFL’s greatest dynasty. Brady and Bill Belichick also earned unofficial recognition as the greatest quarterback and coach of all time.
Manning and the Broncos denied New England another Super Bowl appearance during that stretch after defeating the Patriots in the 2015 AFC title game. Denver then upset the Carolina Panthers in Manning’s final game.
The decade also included notable runs by the Packers and Chiefs. Green Bay, led by four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers, won Super Bowl XLV and advanced to the NFC title game in 2014, 2016 and 2019. The Chiefs closed the decade by winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl in 50 years.
2020s: Kansas City Chiefs
- Runner-up: Philadelphia Eagles
- Honorable mention: Los Angeles Rams
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Kansas City started the decade with another Super Bowl appearance, albeit a loss to Brady and the Buccaneers. The Chiefs were upset a year later by the Bengals in the AFC title game, but they regained their championship footing in 2022 by defeating the Eagles in one of the highest-scoring Super Bowls ever.
In 2023, the Chiefs made history by winning the second Super Bowl decided in overtime. Kansas City also became the first team since the 2003-04 Patriots to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
In 2024, Kansas City became the first reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champion to return to the Super Bowl. But the Chiefs were blown out in Super Bowl LIX by the Eagles, who dominated from start to finish.
The Rams, who defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, have enjoyed consistent success this decade under coach Sean McVay. Los Angeles came within one game of the Super Bowl last season before losing to the eventual champion Seahawks.
