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Updated all-time records of current NFL teams:
Start of 2009 NFL Season (PDF)
Most Regular Season Wins - Bears - 686 wins
Most Post Season Wins - Cowboys - 32 wins
Most Combined Wins - Bears - 702 wins
Highest Winning Percentage, Regular Season - Dolphins - .582
Highest Winning Percentage, Post-Season - Ravens - .636
Highest Winning Percentage, Overall - Dolphins - .578
All-time NFL franchise rankings from Cold Hard Football Facts
Cold, Hard Football Facts for June 15, 2008
http://coldhardfootballfacts.com/Art..._rankings.html
2. DALLAS COWBOYS
First Cowboys season: 1960
Cowboys franchise record: 414-302-6 (.578) – 2nd
Cowboys fanchise playoff record: 32-24 (.571)
Cowboys championships: 1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995
Face of the Cowboys franchise: Tom Landry
Greatest Cowboys players: Troy Aikman, Larry Allen, Tony Dorsett, Walt Garrison, Bullet Bob Hayes, Chuck Howley, Michael Irvin, Too Tall Jones, Lee Roy Jordan, Bob Lilly, Harvey Martin, Don Meredith, Don Perkins, Dan Reeves, Mel Renfro, Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Everson Walls, Charlie Waters, Randy White, Erik Williams, Rayfield Wright
Greatest Cowboys coach: Landry (1960-88), 250-162-6 (.605) – A star NFL defensive back and World War II bomber co-pilot who became the dynasty-building leader of the 1960 expansion Cowboys, posting winning records every year from 1966 to 1985 while capturing five conference championships and two Super Bowl titles.
Cowboys claim to fame: America’s Team.
It never got any better for Cowboys fans than it did on: January 16, 1972
Led by phenom quarterback and Navy veteran Roger Staubach, eight years removed from his Heisman-winning season in Annapolis, the Cowboys crushed the Dolphins, 24-3, in Super Bowl VI to capture the organization’s first NFL championship. It ended the reputation as the “team that can’t win the big game” the club had acquired after losing five straight years in the playoffs, often in excruciating fashion.
Cowboys overview:
It’s really hard to comprehend how consistently good the Cowboys were during the Landry years.
From 1966 to 1985 – the first two decades of the Super Bowl Era – the Cowboys reached the playoffs every single season but two (1974, 1984). Perhaps even more remarkable, the Cowboys played in 12 of the first 17 NFL/NFC title games of the Super Bowl Era.
And remember, for many of those years of Cowboys consistency there was only one wildcard team from each conference, not the three we have today. The Cowboys earned their way into the playoffs.
Their record 32 playoff victories – four more than the No. 2 team (Pittsburgh) and at least double the postseason wins of 19 other franchises – stand as testament to Dallas's period of greatness.
No wonder they earned the moniker America’s Team: the Cowboys were a dominant power just as the NFL was becoming a dominant force on the nation’s cultural landscape.
The Cowboys were also a pro football marketer’s dream team: the star-studded club was symbolized perfectly by the star on the helmet that represented the big, brash, boisterous, football-obsessed Lone Star State. The fact that Dallas was the first – and for many years only – successful team from the American South (in any sport) only served to compound their reputation and build their following. (From east to west, no NFL team was within 1,200 miles of Dallas when the team was founded. Its closest competitor, St. Louis, was 650 miles to the northeast).
The Cowboys captured three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s to lay claim to “team of the decade.” And if they were able to beat the Steelers just once in two Super Bowl meetings during the 1970s, rather than suffer two close losses, they might have been known as the team of that decade, too.
The organization’s media-darling status does tend to overrate the team in any given year (much like their media-darling college counterpart in Notre Dame). Take, for example, those 1990s Cowboys. Great teams, to be sure. But certainly not the unstoppable juggernaut they’re made out to be today in popular press. Simply look at the victories (the Aikman-Irvin-Smith Cowboys topped 12 wins just once); or the typical scoring differentials (in their best years, the Aikman-Irving-Smith Cowboys outscored their opponents by 166 points, well below the levels of dominance achieved by virtually all other NFL dynasties).
The organization is not without its flaws. Sixteen conference title game appearances, for example, have yielded an even 8-8 record. That’s more Super Bowl visits than any other team, but still falling short of the team's full potential.
The Cowboys have also suffered an inordinate number of crushing postseason losses that brought an inglorious end to otherwise great seasons. Most notably, the 1966 Cowboys lost by a touchdown, at home, to the Packers in the NFL title game. Dallas drove to the shadows of the goal line in the final seconds of that game, only to have Don Meredith’s final pass picked off in the end zone. The next season, of course, the Cowboys held a late 17-14 lead over the Packers in the 1967 NFL title game, only to watch Green Bay drive 68 yards in the final minutes for a game-winning TD in the legendary Ice Bowl.
If the Cowboys had been able to make just one more play in each of those two NFL championship games, they – and not the Packers – probably would have gone on to win the first two Super Bowls and they – not the Packers – would stand as the undisputed No. 1 franchise in NFL history.
And some people think a single play doesn’t make a difference.
Start of 2009 NFL Season (PDF)
Most Regular Season Wins - Bears - 686 wins
Most Post Season Wins - Cowboys - 32 wins
Most Combined Wins - Bears - 702 wins
Highest Winning Percentage, Regular Season - Dolphins - .582
Highest Winning Percentage, Post-Season - Ravens - .636
Highest Winning Percentage, Overall - Dolphins - .578
All-time NFL franchise rankings from Cold Hard Football Facts
Cold, Hard Football Facts for June 15, 2008
http://coldhardfootballfacts.com/Art..._rankings.html
2. DALLAS COWBOYS
First Cowboys season: 1960
Cowboys franchise record: 414-302-6 (.578) – 2nd
Cowboys fanchise playoff record: 32-24 (.571)
Cowboys championships: 1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995
Face of the Cowboys franchise: Tom Landry
Greatest Cowboys players: Troy Aikman, Larry Allen, Tony Dorsett, Walt Garrison, Bullet Bob Hayes, Chuck Howley, Michael Irvin, Too Tall Jones, Lee Roy Jordan, Bob Lilly, Harvey Martin, Don Meredith, Don Perkins, Dan Reeves, Mel Renfro, Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Everson Walls, Charlie Waters, Randy White, Erik Williams, Rayfield Wright
Greatest Cowboys coach: Landry (1960-88), 250-162-6 (.605) – A star NFL defensive back and World War II bomber co-pilot who became the dynasty-building leader of the 1960 expansion Cowboys, posting winning records every year from 1966 to 1985 while capturing five conference championships and two Super Bowl titles.
Cowboys claim to fame: America’s Team.
It never got any better for Cowboys fans than it did on: January 16, 1972
Led by phenom quarterback and Navy veteran Roger Staubach, eight years removed from his Heisman-winning season in Annapolis, the Cowboys crushed the Dolphins, 24-3, in Super Bowl VI to capture the organization’s first NFL championship. It ended the reputation as the “team that can’t win the big game” the club had acquired after losing five straight years in the playoffs, often in excruciating fashion.
Cowboys overview:
It’s really hard to comprehend how consistently good the Cowboys were during the Landry years.
From 1966 to 1985 – the first two decades of the Super Bowl Era – the Cowboys reached the playoffs every single season but two (1974, 1984). Perhaps even more remarkable, the Cowboys played in 12 of the first 17 NFL/NFC title games of the Super Bowl Era.
And remember, for many of those years of Cowboys consistency there was only one wildcard team from each conference, not the three we have today. The Cowboys earned their way into the playoffs.
Their record 32 playoff victories – four more than the No. 2 team (Pittsburgh) and at least double the postseason wins of 19 other franchises – stand as testament to Dallas's period of greatness.
No wonder they earned the moniker America’s Team: the Cowboys were a dominant power just as the NFL was becoming a dominant force on the nation’s cultural landscape.
The Cowboys were also a pro football marketer’s dream team: the star-studded club was symbolized perfectly by the star on the helmet that represented the big, brash, boisterous, football-obsessed Lone Star State. The fact that Dallas was the first – and for many years only – successful team from the American South (in any sport) only served to compound their reputation and build their following. (From east to west, no NFL team was within 1,200 miles of Dallas when the team was founded. Its closest competitor, St. Louis, was 650 miles to the northeast).
The Cowboys captured three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s to lay claim to “team of the decade.” And if they were able to beat the Steelers just once in two Super Bowl meetings during the 1970s, rather than suffer two close losses, they might have been known as the team of that decade, too.
The organization’s media-darling status does tend to overrate the team in any given year (much like their media-darling college counterpart in Notre Dame). Take, for example, those 1990s Cowboys. Great teams, to be sure. But certainly not the unstoppable juggernaut they’re made out to be today in popular press. Simply look at the victories (the Aikman-Irvin-Smith Cowboys topped 12 wins just once); or the typical scoring differentials (in their best years, the Aikman-Irving-Smith Cowboys outscored their opponents by 166 points, well below the levels of dominance achieved by virtually all other NFL dynasties).
The organization is not without its flaws. Sixteen conference title game appearances, for example, have yielded an even 8-8 record. That’s more Super Bowl visits than any other team, but still falling short of the team's full potential.
The Cowboys have also suffered an inordinate number of crushing postseason losses that brought an inglorious end to otherwise great seasons. Most notably, the 1966 Cowboys lost by a touchdown, at home, to the Packers in the NFL title game. Dallas drove to the shadows of the goal line in the final seconds of that game, only to have Don Meredith’s final pass picked off in the end zone. The next season, of course, the Cowboys held a late 17-14 lead over the Packers in the 1967 NFL title game, only to watch Green Bay drive 68 yards in the final minutes for a game-winning TD in the legendary Ice Bowl.
If the Cowboys had been able to make just one more play in each of those two NFL championship games, they – and not the Packers – probably would have gone on to win the first two Super Bowls and they – not the Packers – would stand as the undisputed No. 1 franchise in NFL history.
And some people think a single play doesn’t make a difference.
