Figure 1 Some great teams have got their hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy
The football season is almost over and as we enjoy more thrills and spills in the playoffs, we inch ever closer to finding out who will win Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood, California.
You can find betting markets and odds covering the occasion at Canada Sports Betting, but what we don’t know is whether the winner will be able to compete for the title of best Super Bowl winning team of all time. There have been some incredible performances over the years but we think that these five stand out.
1972 Miami Dolphins
Where else to start but with the only NFL team to ever go through an entire season before winning the Super Bowl? The ’72 Dolphins boasted the number one defense and offense and almost became the only team ever to record a shutout in the Super Bowl.
Don Shula’s team had lost to the Cowboys in the Super Bowl the year before and was not going to make the same mistake again. Led by its famous ‘No-Name Defense’, Miami was simply unstoppable throughout the year and achieved a faultless season – something that might not ever happen again.
1985 Chicago Bears
There are not many sights more memorable in Super Bowl history than William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry – all 335 pounds of him – scoring a touchdown to help the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots in 1986. But the Bears were much more than that.
Chicago only lost one game all season as they marched to the big show and had the incomparable Walter Payton to thank for much of its success. For one season the Bears arguably became the favorite team of the nation and fully deserve to be remembered as one of the best ever to win the Super Bowl.
Figure 2 All NFL players want to play in the Super Bowl
1984 San Francisco 49ers
It is a sign of just how good Joe Montana was that his exploits could have forced us to include the 49ers in this list twice. The 1989 San Francisco team are often lauded as one of the very best – but it is the 1984 version that makes it into this particular top five.
Jerry Rice hadn’t even joined the organization by the time the 49ers blew away Miami at Super Bowl XIX. Dan Marino had been destroying AFC teams all season but was no match for this San Francisco defense. He was sacked four times, while Montana threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns in a legendary performance.
1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers were the team of the 1970s. The Dallas Cowboys may be ‘America’s Team’ but four Super Bowl victories in just six years suggests otherwise. The Steel Curtain defense was a major reason why Pittsburgh dominated the league, to the point of the NFL changing the rules before the start of the season.
Of all the success, it is 1978 that really stands out as the pinnacle of the Steeler’s glory. Quarterback Terry Bradshaw was at his brilliant best as he led his team to victory over the Cowboys and picked up the league and Super Bowl MVP honors. The fact that this roster included ten future Hall of Famers says it all really.
1999 St Louis Rams
Whereas a lot of people will hark back to the 1970s and 1980s when it comes to listing their favorite Super Bowl winners – or even to more recent years dominated by Tom Brady – the ’99 Rams should definitely get a look in. Kurt Warner was virtually unknown before the season began – but ended up with a Super Bowl ring on his finger.
He was the force behind the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ as the Rams offense ghosted past defenses. Marshall Faulk became only the second player ever to rush for 1,000 yards and receive for 1,000 too. But the Rams defense was just as important in stopping the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV and cementing the team’s place in the annals of NFL history.
