All week, we've been taking a look at the best NFL teams of the past 30 years, based on Football Outsiders' advanced DVOA metric. We've looked at offense, defense and special teams. Today we combine them all to look at the best overall teams of the past 30 years. There's an easy choice for No. 1: The one team that made the top 30 for all three units.
Once again, we can tell you that our DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) metric accounts for all of this, measuring success on each play based on down and distance, then comparing it to an NFL average baseline adjusted for situation and opponent. (You can read more of the details here.) It's built to balance a measurement of how well a team has played in the past with a forecast of how well a team will play in the future. Ratings each year are normalized, accounting for changes in the NFL's offensive environment over the past 30 years.
You can find DVOA stats for all 30 seasons on the stats pages at Football Outsiders, but the ratings we run here will be a bit different. That's because for the first time, we've added postseason performance, and that boosts teams that went on strong championship runs and lowers teams that dominated the regular season only to trip over their own feet in the playoffs.
It's important to remember that DVOA is measuring efficiency on a per-play basis, rather than looking at top-line wins and losses. As such, you'll see some teams ranked higher than teams they might have beaten in the playoffs. Although we are including playoff performance here, that doesn't render the regular season moot. Two teams that didn't make it to the Super Bowl made our top 10.
Note: 0 percent DVOA represents the league average, so a team with a +35 percent mark rated 35 percent better than an average unit. Also, stats other than total DVOA represent the regular season only, unless noted. Special thanks to Jeremy Snyder, who did most of the transcription work on the late 1980s and early '90s.
30. 1999 St. Louis Rams
+31.6 percent
As noted in the top-30 offenses piece, DVOA rates the 1999 Rams' offense surprisingly low, but it also rates the 1999 Rams' defense surprisingly high: third in the NFL. St. Louis also had a top-10 special-teams unit. But the Rams' overall rating took a huge hit from playing the easiest schedule of the past 30 years. Their average opponent ended the year with a DVOA of minus-15.7 percent. That'd be like playing the 2016 Bears or Jaguars every week.
29. 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
+32.3 percent
The Steelers were the first 6-seed to win a Super Bowl, but they weren't really the kind of team we normally associate with the sixth seed. They went 11-5 and finished fourth in the league in total DVOA but lost both the AFC North and the 5-seed on tiebreakers. The Steelers finished in the top 10 in all three phases of the game. Still, they would be only No. 60 on this list if we didn't include DVOA for their fantastic Super Bowl run, which required beating the three teams that finished above them in DVOA: Indianapolis (1), Denver (2) and Seattle (3).
28. 2006 San Diego Chargers
+32.4 percent
Marty Schottenheimer's greatest team combined the No. 2 offense with the No. 3 special teams and an average defense. The Chargers' upset loss to the Patriots pivoted on a play on which Troy Brown stripped the ball from Marlon McCree after a Tom Brady pick.
27. 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers
+32.8 percent
The first Pittsburgh team to lose a Super Bowl had a higher DVOA than the Green Bay team that beat it in the Super Bowl (No. 66 overall team since 1987) and the Steelers team that won the title two years before (No. 77). The Steelers combined the best defense in the league with the No. 5 offense.
26. 2000 Baltimore Ravens
+32.9 percent
Baltimore had a DVOA of 24.1 percent in the regular season, which ranks No. 95 in the past 30 years, but the dominant playoff run moves the Ravens into the top 30.
25. 1990 New York Giants
+33.4 percent
The Bills were 7-point favorites in Super Bowl XXV, but if Football Outsiders had existed at the time, the Giants would have been an easy pick -- not just to cover but to win outright. Although the Bills finished the regular season 13-3, they finished just sixth in overall DVOA in 1990. The Giants ranked No. 1 overall, with the No. 7 offense, No. 4 defense and No. 2 special teams.
24. 2001 Philadelphia Eagles
+33.4 percent
DVOA famously had a habit of rating the Andy Reid-era Eagles higher than their win-loss records would otherwise suggest, but this rating isn't about the offense. The Eagles were No. 1 on both defense and special teams in 2001. This was the highest-rated of Reid's teams, with an asterisk: The 2004 Eagles (No. 53) would be neck and neck with the 2001 Eagles except for the two games at the end of the regular season in which they rested starters.
23. 2005 Seattle Seahawks
+33.8 percent
Seattle had the best offense in the NFL but was just average on defense and special teams. The Seahawks would be No. 46 if we counted only the regular season, but they vault into the top 30 thanks to their 34-14 smacking of the Panthers in the NFC Championship Game. The only offensive touchdown for the Panthers that day came when they were down 34-7 with five minutes left.
22. 1994 Dallas Cowboys and 21. 1994 San Francisco 49ers
+34.1 and +34.6 percent
DVOA isn't interested in being counterintuitive: The Cowboys and 49ers dominate our ratings like they dominated everything else in the early '90s. The eight Cowboys/49ers squads from 1992 to 1995 all rank No. 54 or higher in this time frame. The Cowboys rated as the better regular-season team in 1994, in part because of San Francisco's crazy 40-8 blowout loss to Philadelphia in Week 5. However, the 49ers' big postseason moves them not only into the top 30 but also slightly past the Cowboys.
20. 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers
+34.7 percent
The Steelers ranked eighth in offensive DVOA with rookie Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. They were third on defense and 10th on special teams, and their schedule strength ranked seventh in the league. They take a bit of a hit from their postseason performance, as they needed overtime to beat the Jets and then lost to the Patriots 41-27.
19. 2012 New England Patriots and 18. 2012 Denver Broncos
+34.8 and +34.9 percent
It's not like the Baltimore Ravens had a bad team in 2012 -- they ranked eighth overall in DVOA -- but going on the road to beat Denver and New England was a phenomenal pair of back-to-back upsets. The Patriots combined the No. 12 offense in DVOA history with top-five special teams and an average defense in 2012. The Broncos combined the second-best offense of 2012 with a top-five defense and average special teams.
17. 2000 Tennessee Titans
+35.2 percent
What Super Bowl Loser's Curse? The Titans were the real best team of 2000 until the Ravens upset them 24-10 in the divisional round in a game in which the Titans outgained the Ravens 317 yards to 134 and turned the ball over only once. The Titans had an average offense but the top defense of the regular season and top-five special teams.
16. 1995 San Francisco 49ers
+35.5 percent
The 49ers were the No. 1 team overall in the 1995 regular season, surpassing the Cowboys, but another strong Super Bowl run moves Dallas ahead in this ranking. The 49ers had the best defense in the league and the No. 5 offense in 1995. They ranked just 22nd on special teams, which ties the 2000 Ravens' offense as the lowest regular-season ranking for any unit among the 30 teams on this list.
15. 1988 San Francisco 49ers
+36.8 percent
This was a very balanced team: fourth on offense, fourth on defense and seventh on special teams. The 49ers' DVOA rating is a far better indicator of their performance in 1988 than their 10-6 record, as four of their losses came by less than a touchdown. They also easily discarded the Vikings 34-9 and the Bears 28-3 on their way to the Super Bowl.
14. 2012 Seattle Seahawks
+36.9 percent
This was the first year of Seattle's DVOA dynasty, in which the Seahawks finished four straight seasons as the regular season's No. 1 in total team efficiency. The Seahawks ranked fourth on offense, second on defense and third on special teams. However, they went only 11-5, in part because they played the fourth-hardest schedule in the NFL and in part because they were 5-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less. That record sent them on the road for the playoffs, and they lost 30-28 in Atlanta.
13. 1995 Dallas Cowboys
+37.4 percent
The 1995 Cowboys fell from second to 13th in defensive DVOA, despite signing Deion Sanders away from the 49ers, but they made that up with their best offensive season (14th in DVOA history). They also get a boost from their playoff run, in which they spanked the Eagles 30-11 and beat the No. 4 (Green Bay) and No. 5 (Pittsburgh) teams to win the Super Bowl.
12. 2015 Seattle Seahawks
+37.8 percent
The Seahawks started the 2015 season 2-4 and slowly rose through the DVOA ranks until they were back on top. Seattle barely passed Cincinnati to rank No. 1 on offense when the Bengals declined after Andy Dalton's injury. The Seahawks were No. 4 on defense and No. 3 on special teams. Their Week 17 matchup with Arizona set up the first-ever DVOA Bowl, a final-week meeting between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in our ratings, but the Cardinals ruined the fun when they pulled their starters at halftime.
11. 2004 New England Patriots
+39.6 percent
The Patriots ranked second behind Pittsburgh during the regular season: No. 3 on offense, No. 7 on defense and a surprising No. 16 on special teams. It was the closest they came to breaking their remarkable 21-year streak of above-average special teams. The Patriots went 14-2 despite playing the hardest schedule of any team on this top-30 list. Then they dominated the playoffs, forcing 11 turnovers in three games while turning the ball over only once themselves.
10. 2010 New England Patriots
+40.6 percent
Based on the regular season alone, the 2010 Patriots were the No. 4 team in DVOA history. Their offense ranks No. 2 all-time, and it was so powerful that the Patriots rank this high despite finishing 21st on defense in 2010. The Patriots were absurdly hot entering the postseason after winning their final five games by the combined score of 184-47. Then, somehow, they lost 28-21 at home to the New York Jets, a team they had defeated 45-3 just six weeks earlier. It was one of the greatest upsets in NFL history.
9. 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
+41.0 percent
The 2002 Bucs were the opposite of the 2010 Patriots: It was the defense, No. 2 in DVOA history, that far outweighed the mediocre offense, which ranked 20th in the league that season. Instead of bowing out with a huge upset in the playoffs, the 2002 Bucs easily marched to the Lombardi trophy. They beat No. 9 San Francisco 31-6, No. 3 Philadelphia 27-10 and No. 2 Oakland 48-21. Without the postseason, Tampa Bay would be 27th on this list.
8. 1998 Denver Broncos
+41.9 percent
The 1998 Broncos were very similar to the 2010 Patriots: No. 1 on offense, No. 20 on defense and No. 9 on special teams. The difference is that the Broncos played a lot better in the postseason. It started with a 38-3 pummeling of the No. 4 team, Miami, which led the league in defensive DVOA that year. Then the Broncos easily took out the No. 2 Jets 23-10. (Yes, there really was a season in which the Jets were the second-best team in the NFL. That is not a misprint.) Finally, the Broncos beat No. 7 Atlanta 34-19 in the Super Bowl for their second straight title. In case you are wondering, the 1997 Broncos are No. 39 on this list.
7. 1992 Dallas Cowboys
+42.4 percent
The Cowboys led the NFL in DVOA during the 1992 regular season with the No. 2 offense, No. 5 defense and No. 8 special teams. But it was the Philadelphia Eagles, not the San Francisco 49ers, who finished No. 2. The Cowboys and Eagles faced off in the divisional round, a battle of the top two teams in DVOA ... and Dallas ran Philly off the field 34-10. The Eagles' solitary touchdown came with less than a minute left in the game. For good measure, the Cowboys then beat No. 3 San Francisco 30-20 in the NFC Championship Game and took out the No. 7 Bills 52-17 in the Super Bowl.
6. 2013 Seattle Seahawks
+43.2 percent
The 2013 Seahawks featured the eighth-best defense in DVOA history. They ranked seventh on offense and fifth on special teams for the season. Seattle's three losses all came by a touchdown or less, and their 43-8 Super Bowl blowout of Denver ranks as one of the 20 best single-game performances in DVOA history.
This is the third team from the Seattle DVOA dynasty to appear in the top 30. The other team in that four-year run, the 2014 Seahawks, ranks No. 38 on this list.
5. 1987 San Francisco 49ers
+44.1 percent
Of course, 1987 was a very strange season, with only 12 games featuring full lineups of NFL players due to the strike. But it's still remarkable that the 1987 49ers are the only team in DVOA history to finish the season with the No. 1 offense and defense. (We don't count the three strike games in these ratings, but hey, the 49ers had the best DVOA in the league for those three games too.)
Like the 2010 Patriots, the 1987 49ers were absurdly hot entering the postseason. They won their final three games by a combined score of 124-7. That included a 41-0 victory over Chicago, a team that finished the season fifth in our ratings! Everything looked set up for another San Francisco championship -- until a huge upset in the divisional round. Minnesota, which ranked No. 12 in DVOA, went to Candlestick Park and beat the 49ers 36-24. Anthony Carter sliced through the 49ers' defense for 227 receiving yards, while Joe Montana went 12-for-26 with just 109 passing yards.
There's a decent argument that Minnesota's win over San Francisco in the 1987 playoffs was a bigger upset than the Giants' spoiling the Patriots' perfect season in Super Bowl XLII. The DVOA gap between the teams was almost as large, and though the Super Bowl is played on a neutral field, the 49ers had home-field advantage. They also had a week of rest that the Vikings didn't get. And they lost by a wider margin than the 2007 Patriots.
4. 1996 Green Bay Packers
+45.8 percent
A fantastic all-around team. Even though Brett Favre won MVP, the offense is the only unit that didn't make our top-30 lists. It ranked third in 1996 behind that of Baltimore and Washington and ranks 100th out of 917 offenses since 1987. However, the defense ranked 21st and the special teams finished 27th. Green Bay won nine games by at least three touchdowns, including a 35-14 divisional-round win over the second-best team by DVOA that season, the San Francisco 49ers.
3. 1989 San Francisco 49ers
+48.1 percent
George Seifert took over for Bill Walsh as San Francisco's head coach, but the change couldn't knock the 49ers from their usual perch at the top of the league. They were excellent in the regular season, combining the No. 1 offense with the No. 5 defense. But their dominant postseason run moves them from 12th up to third on this list. That run included two of the 25 best single-game DVOA performances ever: +135.2 percent in a 30-3 NFC championship win over the No. 3 Rams and +126.6 percent in a 55-10 Super Bowl shellacking of the No. 4 Broncos.
2. 2007 New England Patriots
+50.3 percent
No, they didn't win the last game of the season. But coming within three points of a perfect 19-0 season is still a remarkable accomplishment. The Patriots were not as well-rounded as most of the teams at the top of this list, finishing only 11th on defense and seventh on special teams. But though they faltered in the Super Bowl, the Patriots certainly had the most explosive regular-season offense in NFL history. New England scored at least 34 points in its first eight games and in 11 of 16 regular-season games total. The Patriots did so against an above-average schedule (ranked 10th in the league, to be precise). Five players were selected as first-team All-Pros: quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Randy Moss, left tackle Matt Light, linebacker Mike Vrabel and cornerback Asante Samuel.
1. 1991 Washington Redskins
+61.7 percent
If you've followed this series all week, then you noticed that the 1991 Redskins were the only team that appeared on all three of our top-30 lists. In 1991, they were No. 3 on defense and No. 1 on both offense and special teams. Over the past 30 years, that works out to No. 20 on offense, No. 10 on defense and No. 14 on special teams. At plus-56.9 percent, the 1991 Redskins have the best regular-season DVOA of the past 30 years, and their lead as the greatest team in DVOA history only gets larger when we add the postseason. The gap between Washington and the 2007 Patriots (No. 2 on this list) is larger than the gap between the 2007 Patriots and the team ranked 11th. Washington's two losses came by a combined five points, and one of those losses came when the Redskins sat their starters at halftime of a meaningless final-week game. It's astonishing in retrospect that only two Redskins were selected as first-team All-Pros that season: left tackle Jim Lachey and cornerback Darrell Green. In fairness, six others did make the Pro Bowl.