The NFL's greatest two-year teams

Just 10 teams in history have won 30 or more games over a two-year period (including playoffs) and three of them are your resident AFC powerhouses: the 2003-04 Patriots, 2004-05 Steelers and 2005-06 Colts.

 

Pretty amazing.

 

We stacked up all these 30-win two-year teams below and ranked them by winning percentage. All but the 1972-73 Dolphins played in the era of the 16-game schedule (since 1978). We also added in one non-30 win team, the 1982-83 Redskins. The Redskins went 28-4 and in all likelihood would have won 30 or more games if not for the 1982 players strike. The Redskins played just nine regular-season games that year, plus four playoff games in the 16-team postseason tournament the NFL employed in 1982. Their .875 win percentage over two seasons certainly indicates that they belong on this list.

Pittsburgh is the only franchise with two entries on the list.

 

	Team	Record	Titles	Avg. PF-PA	Differential
1	1972-73 Dolphins	32-2 (.941)	2	25.5-11.5	+10.0 PPG
2	2003-04 Patriots	34-4 (.895)	2	24.8-15.9	+8.9 PPG
3	1985-86 Bears	32-4 (.889)	1	25.3-11.7	+13.6 PPG
4	1982-83 Redskins	28-4 (.875)	1	28.9-17.9	+11.0 PPG
5	1989-90 49ers	32-5 (.865)	1	26.0-14.7	+11.3 PPG
6	1997-98 Broncos	33-6 (.846)	2	30.2-17.9	+12.3 PPG
7	1978-79 Steelers	32-6 (.842)	2	25.4-14.4	+11.0 PPG
8	1996-97 Packers	31-7 (.816)	1	27.5-15.5	+12.0 PPG
9	1992-93 Cowboys	31-7 (.816)	2	26.2-15.0	+11.2 PPG
10	2004-05 Steelers	31-7 (.816)	1	24.1-16.6	+7.5 PPG
11	2005-06 Colts	30-7 (.811)	1	26.7-18.7	+8.0 PPG

By Kerry Byrne