FOX Sports ranks 2007 Patriots as the THIRD greatest NFL team of all time?

What about the 1998 Broncos?

You know what? You're right. I forgot about them.

Is it just me, or did it get a lot less crowded in here?

Anyway, yeah. The 1998 Broncos were a great team. I'd put them up there somewhere. They were dominant that year.

Nobody loves you,man. It's OK..........nice post.

can't believe your agreeing with me.

If I think you're right about something, I'll say so. I'm honest. It's all good.

They beat the great Brett Favre and the Pack.

Were you even alive in 1988? :D

Unfortunately, I have been around a lot longer than that.

ha. Not you. TC is in hs

TC is a young man. He may not have been, but he does look a little older than 20.

No really, he can't be 20. He is in high school....UNLESS he stayed back 3 or 4 times..Anything is possible.

I don't think they can hold TC back. He's too honory.

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, the Pats are definitely the best if they win.

----

With a win...they can't be anything but #1 on the list.

i totally agree with this article. That niners team was best ever. position by position niners players would play over pats.... starting with montana over brady and finishing with walsh over belichick

20-0 n they aint the best..WTF???...were not gonna get into that winning by a greater margin BS r we??

oh ya
if they go 20-02

20-0

19-0 is what it is. I'd have to put Pats on top if they complete the mission on Sunday.

only 20-0 if you somehow want to include an AFC pro bowl win as a patriots win too. That just means they had the greatest season ever. clearly the undefeated dolphins season was the greatest season but so much of that is circumstances. very few outside miami would consider that team the best ever. the niners team that went 15-1 and dominated through the superbowl was the best team ever.... at least in my opine

Yes, that 20-0 would be hard to do unless you want to throw in the first game of next season.

those margins the niners won by were enourmous......pats usually win by the skin on their teeth......

NFC used to smoke the AFC pretty good. Not that way anymore. Those 49'er teams were bad-assed.

or the last game of the preseason. i didn't check but i'm sure they won that by fifty points too ;)

Can we make it official? 20 just sounds better than 19.

Fine 20-0 but the niners team is still better. only one loss that year and just dominant on both sides of the ball, much better on D and comperable on O with this pats team

Well, we can throw the 20-0 thing out now.

And the 3 Superbowl's by the Raider's, one of them didn't make it. I wonder why.

The 1976 team was probably the best of the three Raiders Super Bowl winners, IMO. The 1980 team was a Wild-Card entrant that got hot late, and the 1983 team was a big underdog against the Redskins (that Marcus Allen run is legendary!).

I was thinking about this at work today..since billing is not very fun..And I was thinking that the rules were a lot different in 1972 and now. I don't think there should even be a comparison to the greats of then to the greats of now. There are a few reasons, and you can disagree if you want. I am open to that.

First of all, the game has become EASIER in some ways and HARDER in others. For example. The orange touchdown markers are a new thing in football. I can't remember when they became a rule, but who thinks that it is semi way too easy to score this way? I do. I mean they don't really even cross over the TD plane sometimes, they just fall outside the sidelines..but somehow that is a TD. Whatever. And Defenders have it harder. They can't get away with the same things that they used to be able to do. Defenders have to be VERY careful not to hit the QB at certain times of the game. That rule, the 'late hit personal foul' rule just started pretty recently. The QB was fresh meat before that time. This gives the offense an advantage, making it easier for the offense and harder for the defense. I think this must be a common debate because the rules are VERY different from what they used to be. Keep in mind football is a relatively new sport. I have people that I work with that saw the first superbowl...Image that!

Pink, good post (as usual) and it got me thinking (which can be dangerous).

I think a major difference in the NFL over the last forty years has been the end of bump-and-run coverage. I believe it was 1978 (I turned four that November) when the rules were changed to where cornerbacks could only bump-and-run within the first five yards. Prior to that, corners could beat the crap out of receivers (before the ball was thrown) no matter where on the field they were. On slant routes, linebackers would destroy potential receivers that dared come into their zone (the middle of the field).

In today's NFL, in order to promote a wide-open game and more scoring since 1978, the receivers don't need to worry about getting hit after five yards if they don't have the ball. The whole dynamic has changed, tilting the odds in favor of the offense (I don't believe Wes Welker, no disrespect to him, would grab 112 receptions and be the force he is today if this were 1977). I think that one rule change has been the biggest change in the NFL since restrictions were lifted on the forward pass in 1933.

I think the many of the roughing penalties, especially against the passer, have gone too far. I understand that the NFL is a business and that quarterbacks are marketed to sell the league and, as such, need to be kept "safe" from serious injury, but, some of the calls are ridiculous. It's a grey area, and it's never going to be perfect.

~51

Correct! Think about the point spread back then to now!! Totally different! But just because it got easier for the offense to score, this does not necessarily say that the game got easier. I mean, the defense used to make it impossible to score with the plays and the rules that were around back then. So there can be no comparison past the late 80's in my opinion because the game played today is different from what it was back then; a new and formulating sport to now an evolving sport that is far more advanced.

And not to take away from the players back then...I mean these guys worked regular jobs and did the NFL on the side...They were rough and tough. Duck tape and all. They were real american guys playing for fun and a dream. I beleive in that still.

oh by the way. I was born in 78..Hey!! that was a good year.

The best part of those yrs were the defenses. They look like they'll kill u. And by the way. Why isn't Lester Hayes in the Hall of Fame?

He grabbed a lightpole somewhere and he had so much stickum on his hands, they couldn't pry him loose to get him to Canton. That guy was a hell of a player. Remember watching him when the Raiders were really good.

2007 New England Patriots: The 43rd greatest team of the Super Bowl era.

It may have been better for the Pats if NY would have won the first game. I think they may have been a little overconfident, although I am not sure why. It was a close game the first time around. It's weird that all of the Pats Super Bowl games have been decided by 3 points.

I was wondering how long that was going to take. So many premature predictions, including historical team rankings! 17-0 is this teams legacy. I'm sure Morris Mercury is still laughing.

The lowest wildcard seed ever to win a Super Bowl. Amazing. I sure didn't think that they would do it.

The 2005 Steelers were a 6 seed, weren't they?

Looks like winning a Super Bowl is pretty much a prerequisite to getting on this list. Has to be tough to win all of the games leading up to the Super Bowl and then losing to the lowest seed in the playoffs. Was still a great season for the Pats, but the Giants defense played one hell of a game.

THE OAKLAND RAIDERS WERE THE ONLY TEAM THAT COULD HANG WITH THE STEELERS & IT SHOW IN EVERY SUPER THE STEELERS PLAYED & WON. THEY HAD BARELY BEAT THE RAIDERS TO GET THERE. WHEN THE RAIDERS BEAT THE STEELERS THAT WAS OF OF THE BEST OF ALL TIME TEAMS 1976 , ALSO 1980. THE COULD HAVE PLAYED WITH ANY TEAM, ANY ERA!!!
ELLIOT G.

I agree the 1976 Raiders team was awesome. The 1980 team was not, IMO. In fact, the 1983 team that destroyed the Redskins was better than the 1980 wild-card team.

Well, it did take the Immaculate Reception to win one of those games for the Steelers. How lucky can you get?

Well now its official the Patriots are the greatest team to NOT win a championship. i guess that makes them the 43 best team ever.

Well put, well put