Most successful franchise

[THUMPER]

Every year I update a spreadsheet that calculates the success of each NFL franchise. I have one covering 1933-2006 (1933 was the start of regular schedules and a championship game) and another from 1966-2006 (the SuperBowl era).

The formula takes into consideration the number of years played, regular season record, years in the playoffs, playoff record, division titles, championship games played, SBs played, and SBs won. The goal is to discover which teams have had the most success making the playoffs, winning playoff games, winning their division, making it to the championship game, the SB, and winning the SB and it is weighted accordingly.

Here are the rankings for the SuperBowl era:

1. Cowboys
2. Steelers
3. 49ERs
4. Raiders
5. Dolphins
6. Broncos
7. Patriots
8. Commanders
9. Packers
10. Vikings
11. Rams
12. Colts
13. Giants
14. Bills
15. Ravens
16. Bears
17. Chiefs
18. Eagles
19. Bucs
20. Titans/Oilers
21. Jets
22. Browns
23. Panthers
24. Chargers
25. Bengals
26. Seahawks
27. Jaguars
28. Falcons
29. Saints
30. Lions
31. Cardinals
32. Texans


The Cardinals also rank 30th in the all-time rankings which is truly pitiful since they are one of the oldest teams in the league yet have the lowest success rating of any of the established teams having made the playoffs only 6 times in the last 74 years.

Compare that with the Cowboys who have made the playoffs 28 of the last 41 years.

The Browns rank #1 in the all-time rankings yet they are 22nd in the SB era because they haven't won anything since 1964.

I separate the all-time era from the SB era because prior to 1966 there weren't as many divisions and only a single playoff game (usually) to decide the champion. After 1966 there were at least 6 divisions and a couple of rounds of playoff games. It is unfair to compare the two eras. The Bears and Giants were almost always in the playoffs but only played a single game each time whereas the Cowboys played 2-3 every year that we made it. Also, a lot of the teams weren't around prior to 1966 and some that were are long gone.

I don't count the years prior to 1933 in the all-time rankings because teams played varying schedules (one team might play 17 games while another only played 6) and the championship was simply given to the team with the best record but since teams made their own schedules they would include several patsies to increase their winning %.

Beginning in 1933, the league made the schedules and a championship game was played between the two division winners to decide the champion. Some Packers fans cry about it because they were awarded 3 titles prior to 1933 and they aren't counted but that's just too bad. I'm not sure what they are griping about, they have the most titles anyway with 10 but still rank 3rd overall because they sucked for 30 years between SB wins.

If I knew how to post an Excel spreadsheet I would do it.

Enjoy...

 

[Hostile]

Create the Excel page as an image and post it that way.

Good stuff. How close to us are the 49ers and Steelers? I assume not too close given they're much older franchises than we are.

 

[THUMPER]

Create the Excel page as an image and post it that way.

Wouldn't that require that it be on the internet somewhere?

I sent it to you so if you can do it, great.

Good stuff. How close to us are the 49ers and Steelers? I assume not too close given they're much older franchises than we are.

Well, in the ranking I posted most of the teams have played 41 years or close to it since it is only from 1966 on.

In the all-time rankings we are 2nd behind the Browns with the Packers 3rd.

 

[zrinkill]

No wonder all other teams fans hate our guts.

 

[CactusCowboy]

The 'what have you done for me lately" poll would be much different.

 

[Hostile]

No wonder all other teams fans hate our guts.

Enjoy it like a rare steak. Stab that sucker and soak up some blood then relish it as you chew it to bits.

 

[sago1]

It's very telling that top 9 teams have won at least 3 SBs (except Broncos and Dolphins with 2) and we are top dog. No wonder we are so hated. Of couse most other players cover their envy by saying we arrognant, etc. Reality is we no different from other players on other teams--players can see what they want to see if they have a bias for any reason.

 

[BLT]

how are the eagles 18th? where the bucs and other teams are behind them that have superbowls... if any 1 should have done what the patriots did this offseason it should have been the eagles.. the hell with problem players and bad characters just put it on the line to win a superbowl... i do respect the eagles front office though

 

[dargonking999]

The eagles are 18, because yea, they didnt make it the SB, but that had alot of winning seasons, while the bucs, sucked for a long time, and finally won something one year, and then went back to sucking.

 

[BouncingCheese]

Eagles: no.18

 

[Crown Royal]

How do you differentiate the Browns & Ravens in this?

 

[THUMPER]

How do you differentiate the Browns & Ravens in this?

That is a very good question. The Browns are the Browns (old and new) and the Ravens are just the Ravens even though they used to be the Browns. I don't know any other way to differentiate between them that wouldn't be overly confusing.

So the Browns' records are from 1946-1995 and 1999-2006. The Ravens' records are from 1995-2006.

 

[Established1971]

Wouldn't that require that it be on the internet somewhere?

depends on how much info is there, if it fits on one screen just hit alt-print screen, then open ms paint and paste and save as a jpeg

 

[CrazyCowboy]

that looks beautiful with us all alone at the top!

 

[THUMPER]

that looks beautiful with us all alone at the top!

We are the most successful franchise of the SuperBowl era and the numbers prove it:

We have the highest regular season winning percentage (60.4%), have gone to the playoffs more years (28), played in more playoff games (55), won more playoff games (32), won our division more times (18), played in more conference championship games (16), played in more SuperBowls (8), and are tied with the Steelers and 49ERs for most SB wins (5).

By every measurement we are the most successful team of this era.

I'll add this last little tidbit: We did it in the most successful division in football too as the Commanders are 7th, the Giants 13th and the Eagles 18th with 10 SB wins among the top 3 teams. The Steelers and 49ERs both play in weak divisions based on these rankings.

 

[RoyWilliams]

Nice work.

 

[dalboy]

but thats superbowls the Packers won more before the Superbowls were created.

 

[THUMPER]

but thats superbowls the Packers won more before the Superbowls were created.

Yep, that's why I have two spreadsheets, one for the superbowl era (1966-2006) and one for all-time (1933-2006). The funny thing is, we are STILL ranked ahead of them in the all-time ratings (the Browns are 1st, we are 2nd, and the Packers are 3rd).

 

[Cbz40]

Excellent info Thumper.....Thank you for your time and effort.

 

[THUMPER]

Excellent info Thumper.....Thank you for your time and effort.

Thanks. I wish I could post the entire spreadsheet because it really shows just how dominant a franchise we have been over the last 41 years. I was hoping Hos could do it but he wasn't able to.