Before leaving Benny Rodriguez’s room, fictional Babe Ruth offered a piece of advice to the aspiring young baseball player in the 1993 hit movie “The Sandlot.”
“Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends: Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
The Babe’s quote can also apply to the NFL. While there have been many championship teams, there are only a handful of champions that have reached the status of legendary. These teams continue to live on through the memory of the fans who feverishly watched their team’s championship quest. A few of these teams actually crossed over to pop culture, as the ’85 Bears are remembered just as much for their iconic “Super Bowl Shuffle” as they are for Buddy Ryan’s devastating “46” defense.
With 58 Super Bowls in the books, here is a rundown of the 25 greatest teams of the Super Bowl era. The criteria used when creating this list included the team’s overall record, Hall of Fame representation, coaching, dominance vs. the field, quality of opponents, and offensive/defensive standings (largely points scored and points allowed).
Honorable mention: 2005 Steelers
- 15-5 (including playoffs)
- Super Bowl XL champions
- Won eight straight games after 7-5 start
- First sixth seed to win the Super Bowl
- First team to win three straight road playoff games
Fresh off of a 15-1 regular season, the ’05 Steelers started slow before finding their stride at the perfect time. Pittsburgh’s run started with a 21-3 win over the then 9-2 Bears that featured the final 100-yard game of Jerome Bettis’ Hall of Fame career. In the playoffs, the Steelers defeated the AFC’s top-three seeds before defeating the NFC’s top seed (the Seahawks) in the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh’s first championship in 26 years was spearheaded by a defense that featured future Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. The Steelers’ also enjoyed an X-factor of sorts in receiver Antwaan Randle El, a former college quarterback who threw the game-clinching touchdown pass to teammate Hines Ward in the Super Bowl.
25. 1990 Buffalo Bills
- 15-4 overall record
- Featured top-ranked scoring offense and sixth-ranked scoring defense
Buffalo’s first of four consecutive Super Bowl teams was its best. The Bills’ high-octane offense — led by Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly — was nearly unstoppable entering Super Bowl XXV; they scored 44 points against the Dolphins and put 51 on the Raiders in the…
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