NFL Regular Season: Best teams of the last two decades

When analyzing great regular season teams, the most important thing for us was that the rankings best predicted who would win future games. That's it, period. We didn't want to rank teams based on how gaudy some of their wins were, or how pretty they looked in victory. If we found a ranking that focused solely on who would win future games, then very likely it would naturally reflect teams that dominated their competition. Our measuring sticks are two unique ranking systems, Win Grade and Real Points. The focus is on how good your fundamentals are throughout the regular season and the quality of your opponents. Let's start the countdown.

10th: 1993 Dallas Cowboys
Win Grade: 86.55
Real Points: 675.13
Combined: 2.21

The stats of the '93 Cowboys lay out a very nice formula for winning football games. Start with a powerhouse offensive line to create a balanced offense that doesn't need to press to consistently find the end zone. Follow that with a dependable defense that takes away big plays and makes opposing offenses earn points only through small gains and mistake free play. You can see the formula in their numbers. They were 2nd in the league that year in rushing yards and scoring offense, while 7th in passing. Solid but not gaudy. The defense was 11th in rushing and 10th in passing, but was 2nd in scoring defense. Bend but don't break. The formula worked out nicely helping them to a 12-4 regular season record that probably would have been even better had they not turned over the football on fumbles 16 times that season.

Got a fixin for them 'Boys? Find more about your team at Cowboys Stats & Info

• Home record: 6-2


• Road record: 6-2


• Offense: 351 ypg


• Defense: 298 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 609.67 (18th that year, 356th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 9.2 ppg

9th: 2001 St. Louis Rams
Win Grade: 75.22
Real Points: 770.67
Combined: 2.23

The '01 Rams have the worst Win Grade in the top ten, but make up for that with the second best resume of wins. At first look, their numbers appear to be top notch. Their signature aerial attack was the best in the league that year and drove the Rams to 1st in scoring offense, while the defense focused on stopping the run finishing 3rd in the league. Their downfall was 44 turnovers during the regular season, which gives them the distinction of being the only team on this list to finish the regular season with a negative turnover ratio. Despite this the Rams managed a perfect 6-0 record against teams that finished the season with 10 wins or more.

Pledged to the Rams? Find more about your team at Rams Stats & Info

• Home record: 6-2


• Road record: 8-0


• Offense: 418 ypg


• Defense: 279 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 597.15 (22nd that year, 388th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 14.4 ppg

8th: 2005 Indianapolis Colts
Win Grade: 80.76
Real Points: 730.47
Combined: 2.24

We don't want to describe the '05 Colts season stats as ho-hum, but they certainly fail to stand out against most of the other teams on this list. They were below the league average in rushing on both sides of the ball, and although the passing attack was 3rd in the league, the defense was only 15th. Somehow they put it all together to finish 2nd in both scoring offense and defense. It's that kind of team cohesiveness that often goes overlooked by normal statistics, but we see Real Points gives them credit for their overall 14-2 record in a very tough year (2005 rates as the 2nd toughest season since 1990) and 5-1 record against teams with 10 plus wins.

Allegiance run with the Colts? Find more about your team at
Colts Stats & Info

• Home record: 7-1


• Road record: 7-1


• Offense: 362 ypg


• Defense: 307 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 627.77 (23rd that year, 307th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 12 ppg

7th: 1992 San Francisco 49ers
Win Grade: 90.00
Real Points: 683.54
Combined: 2.32

In 1992, these Forty-Niners were 3rd in passing offense, rushing offense, and scoring defense. They finished 4th in rushing defense and 1st in scoring offense. D'oh! 26th in passing defense. This blemish on their otherwise stellar record only
really came to haunt them in one regular season game, a 34-31 loss against the would be AFC champion Bills. The high ranking in all but one of the categories gives them a solid Win Grade that is punctuated by averaging more than 56 rushing ypg than their opponents. Even with a nice 5-1 record against teams with 10 plus wins, San Francisco is held back from finishing higher on the list due to 1992 being rated as having the easiest regular season over the last two decades.

Die hard Niner fan? Find more about your team at
Niners Stats & Info

• Home record: 7-1


• Road record: 7-1


• Offense: 387 ypg


• Defense: 299 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 564.96 (22nd that year, 460th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 12.1 ppg

6th: 1990 New York Giants
Win Grade: 111.78
Real Points: 528.17
Combined: 2.36

This team sets the bar for playing fundamental football, and they are proof that gaudy numbers don't tell the whole story. Often overlooked because of their offensive numbers (8th in rushing, 22nd in passing, and 15th in scoring that year) the '90 Giants sported the best scoring defense that year and ranks 23rd out of the 545 scoring defenses to have stepped on the field since 1990. Combine that with a plus 17 turnover margin and you have a team that is very difficult to beat. They fall short of the top 5 on this list because they couldn't take advantage of the opportunity to beat the would be AFC champion Bills and NFC West Division winner 49ers during the regular season. This gave them a 3-2 record against teams with 10 or more wins, and also the fewest Real Points of any team in the top ten.

Full of Giant pride? Find more about your team at
Giants Stats & Info

• Home record: 7-1


• Road record: 6-2


• Offense: 300 ypg


• Defense: 263 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 613.95 (19th that year, 347th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 7.7 ppg

5th: 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers
Win Grade: 85.11
Real Points: 739.80
Combined: 2.38

The '04 Steelers have a similar story to the '92 Forty-Niners; play great in every category except for one and hope it doesn't come back to bite you. For Pittsburgh their weakness was a passing offense that gained only 170 ypg and ranked 28th in the league. They countered this flaw by having the 2nd best rushing offense and the top rated rushing and scoring defense in the NFL. It worked well and led them to defeating all 3 teams they played in the regular season that finished with 10 or more wins, and to a 15-1 overall record.

Veins of black and gold? Find more about your team at Steeler Stats & Info

• Home record: 8-0


• Road record: 7-1


• Offense: 324 ypg


• Defense: 258 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 612.68 (18th that year, 349th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 7.6 ppg

4th: 2005 Denver Broncos
Win Grade: 95.18
Real Points: 674.22
Combined: 2.42

The '05 Broncos were led by their signature smash mouth ground game that outrushed opponents by over 73 ypg. The brow beating didn't stop there, continuing to punish teams throughout the year by creating turnovers and giving few in return. One might ask if they were so dominant how come they didn't have a better margin of victory. Don't be fooled by that stat, the Broncos run first style ate up the clock leading them to the best time of possession in the NFL that year, which consequently led to lower scoring games. Their plus 20 turnover margin helped them survive a tough schedule and go 4-2 against teams with 10 plus wins.

Got mile high madness? Find more about your team at Bronco Stats & Info

• Home record: 8-0


• Road record: 5-3


• Offense: 360 ypg


• Defense: 313 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 649.01 (18th that year, 239th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 8.6 ppg

3rd: 2003 New England Patriots
Win Grade: 85.18
Real Points: 770.21
Combined: 2.47

The '03 Patriots are a weird looking team on paper. They range from 27th in the league in rushing offense to 1st in the league in scoring defense. With their other stats all being scattered across top 15, its hard to see what sort of strategy the Pats were employing to win games. The combination that stands out is the same one the '90 Giants rode, a superb turnover margin with a great scoring defense. These Patriots finished with a plus 20 turnover margin and have the 13th best scoring defense since 1990. This propelled them to a 7-0 record against teams that finished the year with 10 wins or more. Snap.

Are you a Patriot groupie? Find more about your team at Patriot Stats & Info

• Home record: 8-0


• Road record: 6-2


• Offense: 315 ypg


• Defense: 292 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 590.11 (23rd that year, 407th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 6.9 ppg

2nd: 1991 Washington Redskins
Win Grade: 95.36
Real Points: 710.85
Combined: 2.54

Hmmm, where should we begin with the '91 Redskins? Their smack you in the face margin of victory? How about their stealing candy from a baby plus 21 turnover margin? On top of all that they are the only team on this list to finish the season being ranked in the top 10 in every offensive and defensive category. The thing is though, they should have great numbers with how easy the competition was in the NFL that year. The 1991 regular season ranks 16th out of the 18 seasons this list covers. We are surprised they didn't have a perfect season. Still it's hard to fault their losses, being defeated by the up and coming Cowboys and by one of the best teams in the last two decades to not make the playoffs, the '91 Eagles. In the end these Redskins had a solid 5-2 record against opponents who won 10 or more games in the regular season.

Infatuated with the 'Skins? Find more about your team at Redskins Stats & Info

• Home record: 7-1


• Road record: 7-1


• Offense: 359 ypg


• Defense: 268 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 627.05 (16th that year, 310th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 16.3 ppg

1st: 2007 New England Patriots
Win Grade: 110.68
Real Points: 840.49
Combined: 3.33

Before we state the '07 Patriots most obvious accomplishment, we want you to consider this. The number 2 team on this list is separated from the number 20 team by .71 points in the Combined Ranking (which is about the equivalent of being favored by a touchdown). This is still less than the whopping .79 point difference between these Patriots and the 2nd place Redskins. Not only did the Pats go undefeated, they did it with thunderous style. Propelled by the 6th best aerial attack and 3rd highest scoring offense in the last two decades, they outgained and outscored their opponents by more than any other team on this list, and matched the top mark of 7 victories against teams with 10 wins or more.

Are you a Patriot groupie? Find more about your team at Patriot Stats & Info

• Home record: 8-0


• Road record: 8-0


• Offense: 411 ypg


• Defense: 298 ypg


• Strength of schedule: 589.88 (25th that year, 409th overall)


• Margin of Victory: 19.7 ppg

You can see the full list of rankings at Greatest NFL Regular Season Teams.