There’s nothing quite like a breakout NFL season. When a team fires up huge winning streak or a historic winning season, it’s great to be a fan. That kind of gridiron domination and astonishing success is the stuff of legends. Here are the 29 best NFL seasons in the history of the league.
A Note on “Success”
Our first measure for success in this list is the team’s regular season win percentage. Our first tiebreaker, naturally, is the team’s postseason performance. While there are many other definitions for success, including overall offensive and defensive statistics, this list is just concerned with the ultimate measure of success: victory.
29. 1982 Los Angeles Raiders
The 1982 LA Raiders played in a nine-game season and went 8-1 before losing the Division Round to the New York Jets. Their one loss that season came on the road, making them one of the rare undefeated home teams in NFL history.
28. 1982 Washington
Astonishingly, the next-best team in NFL history was the 1982 Washington team, which also went 9-1. They were a touch better than the Raiders that year because they won all three postseason games, making them the Super Bowl Champions that year and giving fans a reason to celebrate a historic season.
27. 1969 Oakland Raiders
In 1969 regular season, the Raiders recorded an astonishing 12-1-1 record and went undefeated at home. They had one road tie and one loss, which came at the hands of the Bengals. They went on to the playoffs but dropped the Conference Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs.
26. 1945 Cleveland Rams
One of Cleveland’s best seasons ever didn’t even come under the Browns, but was the result of the hard work of the 1945 Rams team. The 9-1 rams were undefeated at home but lost a game on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. They notably went on to win the Championship against Washington.
25. 1929 New York Giants
The 1929 New York Giants brought home a huge season by going 7-1 at home and 6-0-1 on the road. Notably, this was also before the NFL started using the playoffs model, so there was no championship game for the Giants to play in.
24. 1941 Green Bay Packers
The 10-1 1941 Green Bay Packers only dropped one game—a close contest against the Chicago Bears. Tragically, the Bears were their nemeses that post-season, too, and returned to beat them in the Divisional Round, 33-14, ending a historically amazing season.
23. 1941 Chicago Bears
The 1941 Bears almost had a perfect season, dropping only a single game in a 16-14 nail-biter against the Packers. They won every other contest that season, even going on to beat the New York Giants in the NFL Championship.
22. 1942 Washington
The 1942 Washington team also went 10-1, just like their predecessors, the Bears, the prior year. There was no Division Championship for Washington to play in that season, though, and they just went straight to the Championship game. They triumphed over the 1942 Chicago Bears, 14-6.
21. 1922 Canton Bulldogs
The 10-0-2 Canton Bulldogs didn’t drop a single game throughout their impressive campaign. While that means they were undefeated, it can’t be considered a perfect season due to their two 0-0 ties against the Dayton Triangles and the Toledo Maroons, respectively. Yes, those were real NFL teams. This was also before the NFL Championship era, so there were no playoffs.
20. 1948 Chicago Cardinals
While they’d go on to lose the NFL Championship to the Philadelphia Eagles, the 1948 team had a nearly spotless regular season. Their 11-1 record had only one blemish, a troublesome loss to the then-amazing Chicago Bears. Get used to seeing the Bears on this list.
19. 1951 Cleveland Browns
The Browns were on fire in the early 50s, going 11-1 in the 1951 season. Frustratingly, they lost their season-opener against the 49ers, but went on to win every single contest they had until they fell to the LA Rams in the NFL Championship.
18. 1953 Cleveland Browns
Then, just two seasons later, the Browns returned to their winning ways and went on a thrilling eleven-game winning streak. Then, tragedy struck, and they dropped a game against the Eagles to end their regular season. To make matters worse, they again lost the Championship, this time to the Detroit Lions.
17. 1949 Philadelphia Eagles
Two seasons before the Browns went 11-1 and then dropped the Championship, the Eagles did something similar but better. They also went 11-1 in the regular season, but they smoked the Rams in a 14-0 victory in the Championship game to mint one of the most historic winning seasons in Philadelphia history.
16. 1968 Baltimore Colts
In 1968, the Baltimore Colts put up a serious fight and won 13 of their 14 contests. They lost a game to the Cleveland Browns right in the middle of their season, but went on to win in both the Divisional Round against the Vikings and the Conference Championship against the Browns. Sadly, they lost in the Super Bowl against the New York Jets.
15. 1967 Oakland Raiders
Interestingly, a season before the Colts went 13-1 and lost the Super Bowl, the Raiders had a nearly identical season. They lost a single contest in their 14-game season against the New York Jets. And, while they won their Conference Championship against the Oilers, they dropped the Super Bowl to the Packers.
14. 1962 Green Bay Packers
The Packers have a truly astonishing history in the NFL, having won more NFL Championships than any other team. In 1962, they beat every team they played against except for the Detroit Lions, and won the NFL Championship against the New York Giants.
13. 1976 Oakland Raiders
The 1976 Oakland Raiders arguably had the best 13-1 season of the four teams to achieve that in NFL history, having blasted their way to thirteen regular season wins before overcoming the Patriots, Steelers, and Vikings in the playoffs to secure the ever-elusive Super Bowl win.
12. 2011 Green Bay Packers
One of the most recent historic seasons in the NFL was the amazing 2011 Packers performance. They went 15-1, only losing a single game to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, they got bumped out of the playoffs in the Divisional Round by the Giants, ending their amazing season.
11. 1998 Minnesota Vikings
There are strangely a ton of 15-1 teams in NFL history. One of them is the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, who only lost a single game to the Buccaneers late into the season. While they ended with a sterling win ratio, they didn’t overcome the Atlanta Falcons in the Conference Championship during the postseason.
10. 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers
The 2004 Steelers got off to a normal start for their season, overcoming the Raiders in their season opener before dropping a game to the Ravens. From there, they went on a winning streak and didn’t lose another game until the Conference Championship against the Patriots.
9. 2015 Carolina Panthers
The most recent 15-1 team was the 2015 Carolina Panthers. This team famously lost their second-to-last regular season game against the Falcons to spoil their 16-0 dreams, and then they fell in the Super Bowl to the Denver Broncos. Barring those two close losses, they were only a few plays away from history.
8. 1984 San Francisco 49ers
Two of the six 15-1 teams won the Super Bowl during their seasons, and one of them was the 1984 49ers. Their single loss to the Steelers in the regular season was the only blemish on their otherwise spotless season, as they crushed the Dolphins in a 38-16 blowout to win the Super Bowl.
7. 1985 Chicago Bears
Incredibly, only a single season later, the Chicago Bears pulled off the exact same trick as the 49ers the year before, winning 15 games and taking the Super Bowl. Interestingly, their only loss came against the Dolphins, and they went on to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
6. 1923 Canton Bulldogs
The oldest team on this list is the 1923 Canton Bulldogs, who played so long ago that their single tie came against the Buffalo All-Americans, a team you totally knew existed before you just read its name. This incredible undefeated 11-0-1 season was one of the most successful NFL seasons for several years.
5. 1929 Green Bay Packers
The 1929 Packers did ever-so-slightly better than the 1923 Bulldogs by merit of simply playing in a season with more contests. They went 12-0-1, marking a mathematically better winning percentage in their undefeated season. Their one tie came against another team you’ve totally heard of, the Frankford Yellow Jackets.
4. 1942 Chicago Bears
In 1942, the Chicago Bears made history again by posting an undefeated regular season with an unimpeachable 11 wins and no losses. Unfortunately, they didn’t win the Championship that year, losing to Washington in a very tight and heartbreaking 14-6 contest.
3. 1934 Chicago Bears
Of course, eight years earlier, the Bears had an even more impressive season, going 13-0 and muscling out every single opponent they faced in the regular season. Unfortunately for them, this undefeated season was also doomed, as they lost in the NFC to the New York Giants, 30-13.
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2. 1972 Miami Dolphins
The 1972 Dolphins won fourteen regular season games and didn’t drop a single game through that stretch. Incredibly, they also went undefeated throughout three postseason games and won the Super Bowl. They also led the league in total offense, total defense, scoring offense, and scoring defense. Some argue this was a better season than the 2007 New England Patriots’, but that team notably won more overall games than the Dolphins, giving them the better win percentage.
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1. 2007 New England Patriots
You knew this one was coming before you got to this part of the article. The 2007 New England Patriots made history by becoming the first 16-0 team in the history of the league. That kind of astonishing 100 percent win performance is unlikely to ever be repeated. If any team can ever pull off a 16-0 season and win the Super Bowl, they’ll finally unseat this historic team.
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