Success is about luck. Success is sweat, blood and sacrifice. Also, it is lucky and smart. Success is calculable. The numbers don't tell all of the stories, but they tell a great deal. Winning a Super Bowl is the culmination of those success factors. It's the hardest thing to do in sports. So in this article, we will count down the NFL's greatest franchises by a set of criteria.
1. Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl Titles: 4
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 9
Playoff Appearances: 34
While it's true that the Green Bay Packers won most of their titles before the merger and further expansion, that shouldn't discredit the success the organization—established in 1919—has had over the past century. In recent history, the Packers have gone to the playoffs in 18 of the past 23 seasons while winning two Super Bowls under two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers).
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl Titles: 6
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 29
The biggest part of what makes the Steelers so great: They are almost perfect in Super Bowls. There is something about the Steelers genome that allows them to perform well in that big game no matter the decade. The Steelers are one of a handful of teams that defined the 1970s, the last true physically nasty era of football.
3. New England Patriots
Super Bowl Titles: 4
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 23
For the moment and consider several of the most stats of all: The Patriots have won their division seven consecutive years and 12 of the past 13. That type of dominance is unheard of not just in NFL history but in all of the sports. They haven't been perfect, but six Super Bowl appearances in 14 years are as good as it gets. The organization has come a long way since the Bears obliterated it in the Super Bowl in 1985.
4. New York Giants
Super Bowl Titles: 4
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 4
Playoff Appearances: 32
They've had success throughout NFL history. They're not alone in this, of course. A handful of teams can make this claim, but the Giants' success is still impressive. The Giants made NFL championship game appearances in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. There was a drought in the 1970s, but they won the Super Bowl in 1986, 1990, 2007 and 2011.
5. Oakland Raiders
Super Bowl Titles: 3
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 21
The Raiders haven't made the postseason since 2002, but this franchise's greatness remains eternal. From 1967 to 1977, the Raiders missed the playoffs only once, winning the Super Bowl in 1976. The team won the Super Bowl again in 1980 and 1983. But the Raiders' glory was built on how formidable they were in the powerhouse decade of the 1970s.
6. Denver Broncos
Super Bowl Titles: 3
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 22
The Broncos went to three Super Bowls under Dan Reeves. They got their doors blown off, but they went. Then maybe the best quarterback of all time got help at running back and won multiple Super Bowls. Then John Elway became one of the great general managers and built a team that went to two Super Bowls with GM. The team had great success with him on the field and then similar success with him in the front office. That says a great deal about him and the Broncos.
7. Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl Titles: 5
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 31
The Cowboys' recent struggles in the playoffs have been brutal and so embarrassing that they could have hurt their rank here. But two eras make the Cowboys special: those of Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson. We know how good Landry was. What is sometimes lost is how good Johnson was. He won two straight Super Bowls. And Barry Switzer, with Johnson's players, won another Super Bowl in 1995.
8. San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl Titles: 5
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 26
What is sometimes forgotten by non-San Francisco fans is how good the 49ers were under Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers went to three conference finals and a Super Bowl. The 49ers that everyone remembers were the Bill Walsh and Joe Montana incarnation. Walsh won a Super Bowl in his third year. Three years later, he won another. Four years later, another. Then his protege, George Seifert, won championships as well.
9. Miami Dolphins
Super Bowl Titles: 2
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 22
When you own the only fully undefeated season in modern history, your place in eternity is secure. What people often forget about the Dolphins is, again, going back to the 1970s, they went to three straight Super Bowls—losing the first to Dallas and winning the next two, including during that undefeated season.
10. Buffalo Bills
Super Bowl Titles: 0
Pre-Super Bowl Championships: 2
Playoff Appearances: 17
The Bills went to four consecutive Super Bowls, losing their first on an infamous missed field goal. Led by Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith, that group was one of the most dominant teams in AFC history. The Bills just happened to run into even better NFC teams. We also shouldn't forget that the Bills won two consecutive AFL championships in 1964 and 1965.
Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do ordinary things better than everyone else. For more guides, feel free to visit here. In addition, you can obtain Madden coins here. It's cheap, safe and fast. With these coins, you will increase the fun and experience of the game!