NFL Team Ratings

The Elite

The Patriots, Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, Packers, Giants, and the newly arrived Chiefs. All have 4+ Super Bowl victories and Super Bowl appearances over 20 years apart. The Cowboys have seen the least success recently, while the Chiefs are just moved up to the elite tier with yet another Super Bowl comeback. The Patriots are the dominant team of the 21st century, while the Packers have seen three separate major peaks. The Giants are the main reason the Patriots aren't far ahead of everyone else (and have the best championship record, along with the fewest heartbreak points). The Steelers are just always good and often great, with twice as many Super Bowl victories as they have had head coaches during my lifetime.

The Champions

The Raiders, Broncos, Commanders, Colts, Rams, and Dolphins. All have multiple Super Bowl victories, 4+ Super Bowl appearances, and Super Bowl appearances over 10 years apart. The Commanders, Raiders, and Dolphins have fallen on hard times in the 21st century, while the others have all had their moments, adding to the legacies they built decades ago. Legendary head coaches, hall-of-fame QBs, impenetrable defenses, and unstoppable offenses are common in these team's histories, even without the sustained success of the Elite. The Dolphins are still the only undefeated Super Bowl champions, though.

Good But Not Great

The Eagles, Ravens, Buccaneers, Seahawks, and Bears. All have at least one Super Bowl victory and multiple Super Bowl appearances. The Eagles won a Super Bowl with the greatest playoff performance ever seen from a backup quarterback, and have had excellent teams in multiple eras. The Ravens made the most of their two Super Bowl appearances, winning both, and are easily the most successful of the younger teams. The Buccaneers have done the same after stealing Brady away from the Patriots. The Seahawks are two plays away from three Super Bowl victories and had one of the greatest defensive runs of all time. The Bears had arguably the greatest team in NFL history in 1985 and have been known for having top defenses in multiple eras.

The Heartbroken

The Bills and Vikings. Both these teams have four Super Bowl appearances, but no victories. No other teams have suffered the level of heartbreak in championship games as they have. The Bills had teams full of hall of fame players on both offensive and defense, but could never overcome the elite teams they faced in the Super Bowl. The Vikings had similar problems with their Super Bowl teams from decades ago, and then continued to lose conference championships in heartbreaking fashion, again and again. The only teams with close to or more championship game losses than the Vikings all have three or more Super Bowl rings to ease their pain.

One-Hit Wonders

The Jets and Saints. These teams have only been to a single Super Bowl, but they won it. The Jets had their epic Super Bowl upset, but nothing more. The Saints have mainly been known for hosting Super Bowls in their stadium, not playing in them, but with New Orleans still recovering from hurricane Katrina, a magical season brought them a championship.

Gloriously Flawed

The Falcons, Panthers, Chargers, and Bengals. These teams have all had moments of glory, even though they are all flawed franchises that seem doomed to never have sustained success. The Falcons have been to two Super Bowls, but have had little success otherwise, and lost a Super Bowl that they had a 99% chance of winning in the second half. The Panthers got to a Super Bowl surprisingly early in their existence, but ran into Brady's Patriots and then could not handle an unblockable Von Miller against the Broncos a decade later. The Chargers have had teams with dominant offenses in both the 20th and 21st centuries, but their lack of an equivalent defense has limited them to a single Super Bowl appearance. Even the Bengals, with their three Super Bowl appearances, feel like they were just the foil whose role was to highlight Montana's greatness.

Dreaming of Glory

The Browns, Cardinals, Titans, Jaguars, Oilers/Texans (the Oilers are not the Titans--fight me), and Lions. These teams have never won a Super Bowl, or even been to more than one. The hapless Browns last peaked decades ago when their hearts were ripped out by Elway's Broncos, and their pre-Super Bowl greatness is just a faded dream. The Cardinals lost a Super Bowl once, but rarely make the playoffs, let alone have success in them. The Titans had their one moment, but came up a yard short and faded away. The Jaguars are a forgotten team, struggling to just be relevant. The Oilers/Texans had Warren Moon and Earl Campbell, but could never make it to the Super Bowl (partly because they were on the losing end of the largest comeback in NFL history). The Lions had Barry Sanders and Megatron, but never even felt like contenders with only two conference championship appearances (which they lost, of course).