The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Dynasties and the definition of greatness

I'm going to expand on two questions from the DS.com Commenters blog posted earlier today - which dynasty was greater, the Steelers, Niners, Cowboys or Patriots (assuming that, you know, they win next week...), and also who was the best player to never win a Super Bowl. This is way too long for a regular comment, so what the hell - I'm bored.

First, the question of dynasty. Full disclosure - I am a lifetime Patriots' fan (if you've visited this page before, that shouldn't be a surprise). Also, in the earlly 90's when I was really becoming a football fan, I openly supported the Buffalo Bills because I thought Thurman Thomas was the best running back I'd ever seen. Admittedly, I didn't get to watch a lot of Lions games back then and see Barry Sanders...

But when it comes to the question of dynasty, there's no debate - the 49ers of the 80's (and even the early 90's, if you want to go that far) are the best dynasty the NFL has ever had. They're 5-0 all-time in the Super Bowl, and the only team to even give them a game was the Bengals. Twice. They obliterated the Dolphins, Broncos and even the Chargers in their last appearance (1996, when they still had some of the core group from the 1980's run), they ended three seasons one game short of the Super Bowl, and they hold nearly a 100-point advantage in the point differential of their five Super Bowl appearances (188-89). They were dominant in a way that no other team has ever been, on the biggest stage in the sport.

Second on my list is this current incarnation of the New England Patriots. Three wins in four years, followed by two seasons of postseason trips coming up short, and now this season's historical run at the first undefeated season in 35 years. That qualifies them to be high on this list. They haven't won pretty (they're one of only two teams with an above .500 record in Super Bowls to have been outscored overall - the other is the Giants, oddly), but they've won nonetheless. In 1985/86, the Bears were a juggernaut. In 1996/97, the Packers had one of the most talented teams on both sides of the ball that had seen an NFL game in ten years. But for the first decade of this millenium, the Patriots have been synonymous with winning. And if they win next week, capping the single-greatest season in NFL history, they have to at least get some consideration for the top spot on this list. It's harder to remain great for a long period of time in today's NFL, with free agency, salary caps, and the egos of today's modern player. What New England has done cannot be ignored, and cannot be discounted because of the "Instant History" theory of today's sports media.

The Steelers of the 70's would rank third on my list, but included with them would be the Cowboys of the same era. In the 10 Super Bowls following the regular seasons of the 70's, either the Steelers or Cowboys appeared in seven of them, facing each other twice. The Steelers got the best of the decade, winning all four of their appearances while the Cowboys only went 2-3 with two losses to Pittsburgh. The Steel Curtain defense is what everyone remembers from that team (well, that and Terry Bradshaw's goofy hair), but the team had a ridiculous balance on both sides of the ball, as evidenced from the multiple Hall of Famers on both offense and defense.

Finally, the 1990's Cowboys. I've got them fourth for two reasons. First, they beat the team I was rooting for twice, and in pretty dominant fashion both times. But all biases aside, I don't remember anyone outside of Texas ever rooting for the Cowboys in any of their Super Bowl appearances in the 90's. They weren't likeable, they weren't in vogue, and as much as everyone said they were "America's Team", I never met a Cowboys fan growing up that wasn't originally from Texas or the child/spouse of someone from the Lone Star state. How much does that effect their qualification to be on this list? None. I just don't like the Cowboys. They won three Super Bowls (the fewest on this list if the Patriots take care of business next week), and two of them against a Bills team that was, sadly, the "class" of the AFC. The Cowboys could have sent out second stringers and dominated any team from the AFC during that run.



Now, the discussion of the best player to never win "The Big One". You have no idea how much it kills me that I can't put Peyton Manning on this list anymore - although as I wrote in this season's NFL Preview, I still refuse to accept last year's Super Bowl outcome because of Dominic Rhodes' PED suspension immediately following the season. But Peyton's got a ring, and the rest of these guys don't...

1) Dan Marino. Until the past couple of seasons, he owned every QB record there was to own. That may have actually been the biggest reason he's on this list - he was always forced to pass because the Dolphins never had a running game around him, which is probably why he never won a Super Bowl.

2) Barry Sanders. If he hadn't quit the game over his displeasure with the Lions, there's almost no doubt that he would have shattered Walter Payton's all-time rushing record, and probably put it out of reach for Emmitt Smith in the process. Classic "Great Player, horrible team" situation. At least Marino advanced through the playoffs a few times in his career.

3) OJ Simpson. Sadly, he has to be included on this list, no matter how big of a double-murdering armed-robbing jerkoff he has become since he retired. Hell, Ray Lewis and Leonard Little are still in the league, and one of them was actually convicted of killing someone, albeit a joke of a conviction. OJ was a rushing force in the NFL, breaking the 2000-yard mark in 14-games. He was a one-man offensive machine, but never got a ring. Probably a good thing, since he would have tried to steal that back too...

4) Fran Tarkenton. The guy more or less invented the concept of a mobile quarterback, opening the door for players like Steve Young, Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, Michael Vi... uh, scratch the last one. When he retired, he owned, shared, or was in the top-3 of just about every offensive category you could name. Nevermind the fact that he didn't seem to show up for the Super Bowls he appeared in. He is an all-time great player, but never got the ring.

5) Bruce Smith. Probably the best defensive player to never get to the promised land, Bruce played on four Super Bowl teams, made the Pro Bowl in 11 of 12 straight seasons, and retired in 2003 as the NFL's all-time sack leader. Of all the players on the Buffalo Bills AFC-Dynasty in the early 90's, Smith is the one that best represents "best without a ring". Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas get honorable mentions.


So that's it. Boredom is a wonderful motivator. I'll be back on next week with a Super Bowl preview/pick.

Lata.

Labels: All-Time, Dynasty, I still hate Peyton Manning, NFL, Super Bowl

posted by Big D @ 12:22 PM