10 The Best Clubs in NFL Of All Time

The NFL is an American Football League consisting of 32 teams which was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming themselves National Football Conference in 1922, American Professional Football League between 1950-1952 and finally National Football League since 1968. In order words it’s one of the biggest sports brand names today that people love to support or hate depending on their loyalties.

Top 10 Clubs in NFL History

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1. San Francisco 49ers

The first professional American football team to be based in California, the 49ers are also one of the most successful clubs in NFL history. In five Super Bowl appearances they have won a total of five championships, including back-to-back victories in 1988 and 1989. They hold several other records from their long and illustrious history, including the record for most consecutive seasons with at least one trip to the playoffs – a staggering 20 seasons running from 1983 to 2002. The Niners’ record in conference play is just as impressive: they have appeared in 29 NFC Championship games over the course of their 53-year existence, winning 20 of them along with a record six out of eight Super Bowls.

At number one is the San Francisco 49ers, only five Super Bowl wins but an impressive 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers may not have had quite as many trips to the biggest game of them all as their rivals down I-95, but they make up for it with a record six championships. The franchise has made 24 playoff appearances including eight out of 12 seasons since 2000, and are one of just four teams to have won at least three Super Bowls in a row (1974–76). They also hold two distinctions which can never be taken away: “The Steel Curtain” defensive line of the 1970s was perhaps the greatest NFL has seen, while Terry Bradshaw and their “Killer B’s” offense of the same era is almost certainly one of the best ever. At the heart of these historic successes was a quartet of players who will never be forgotten: Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.

3. Green Bay Packers

The Packers currently have thirteen league championships to their name – four more than any other team – including three Super Bowls in just seven appearances. They also hold the record for most consecutive appearances in the championship game with five from 1965-69. In total they’ve played in 18 NFL/NFC Championship Games over 51 seasons without suffering a single defeat, winning 12 times along with four out of five Super Bowls from 1996–99 to complete an extraordinary run at the top between 1996 and 2010. The Packers were the only NFL team to win at least 15 games for four consecutive seasons, and during this period they also boasted one of the best passers in history: three-time MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.

4. Dallas Cowboys

Just two championships may not sound like much for a club with so much history, but it’s important to remember that the Cowboys were founded relatively late, in 1960 – just after the league had begun to change from a regional sport into its nationalised entity we know today. For most of their first 40 years they weren’t even based in Texas, playing home games in St Louis as well as on Navy ships during long periods of US involvement in Vietnam War. They had some great players at this time, including Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett, but couldn’t get anywhere near winning their elusive first Super Bowl until the mid-1990s under coach Jimmy Johnson. With Troy Aikman at quarterback, Emmitt Smith in the backfield and Michael Irvin leading the receiving corps, “America’s Team” finally had a side worthy of their impressive history.

5. New England Patriots

Despite their long history – having played in more than 1,000 games since being founded in 1959 – not that many people outside of Boston will have heard of the Pats before 2001. That was when head coach Bill Belichick arrived with his new quarterback Tom Brady to turn things around for one of the league’s struggling teams. The rest is history. If you need to know about the Patriots’ brilliant run in recent years, just Google “Super Bowl” and get ready for a very long list of results…

6. Denver Broncos

The story is similar for the Broncos: lots of history but little success until 1997 when they hired Mike Shanahan as head coach, drafted future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and broke an eight-year Super Bowl drought. They’ve since made three appearances in just 11 seasons and won back-to-back crowns at the end of the 1997 and 1998 campaigns – when Elway finally got his hands on the trophy he had been chasing ever since taking over from Craig Morton in 1983. But it’s their first win under Shanahan which was most crucial: it showed the team and its fans that success was possible, paving the way for a run of titles under Manning at the start of this century.

7. Miami Dolphins

It’s a shame more people don’t talk about how successful Don Shula’s Dolphins were because they too won two Super Bowls in a row, just like New England and Denver. In fact they appeared in three straight from 1971-1973 – losing out to Dallas on “The Drive” in ’92 before ultimately suffering defeat to Washington thanks to The Hogs’ famous offensive line – but history books focus on their perfect season in 1972 which was brought to an end by those pesky Jets. Today, Miami is still one of four teams who have never suffered a Super Bowl loss, along with Green Bay, New England and Pittsburgh.

8. Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens were originally the Cleveland Browns who played in their first three Super Bowls in the late 80s and early 90s – winning two of them – before moving to Baltimore and becoming successful again when they won another title just 10 years later under coach Brian Billick and quarterback Trent Dilfer. Since then they’ve suffered three losing seasons, which means that if we include their time in Cleveland, they’re still looking for their first winless season since returning to the league after last year’s 4-12 record.

9. Seattle Seahawks

This is where things get interesting because while the other clubs on this list are all part of the NFL establishment with long histories dating back several decades, the Seahawks are still relative newcomers with only 23 seasons under their belt. They were formed in 1976 when the league expanded into Seattle but that was pretty much it until their owner Paul Allen – who also owns rival Portland Trail Blazers in NBA – brought in coach Pete Carroll to try and change things for the better. The result? Three straight division titles followed by two Super Bowl appearances in 2005-06, both ending in defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh Steelers. At least they’ll be back this year…

10. Carolina Panthers

Another new team which is coming off its best ever season so far with a 12-4 record in 2013. Carolina Panthers have had some great players since being established as an expansion team in 1995 including quarterback Cam Newton, linebacker Luke Kuechly and lineman Greg Hardy. But they need to keep all of them if they want to be able to compete with teams like Seattle, Denver and New England who have been there for a while now.

 

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