By the way, my Pats-homer view of dynasties:
First of all, I am not going to get into the Akron Pros vs. the Decatur Staleys' claims to the 1920 championship or anything. I'm going from the merger-straddling Packers onward. That said:
1. SF 49ers. SB Victories 1980; 1981; 1984; 1988; 1989; 1994. I'm stretching their legacy to 94, hell, that's about the length of times the Pats are talking about.
6 SB wins; NFCCG Appearances/losses in 1983, 1992; 1993. So if you set the bar at "competing for the conference championship," 9 appearances (as w/2000s Patrriots). If you set the bar at "won SB", Well, we're just 2 behind, that's all there is to it.
penalty factors: Not fully evolved free-agency + Salary cap era if I have this part right; Just ignored the salary cap part; stickum, but why get picky. League talent heavily concentrated in NFC.
2. NE Patriots, 2001-present. Similar to San Francisco 49ers (above) but there's time. Comparing across eras has pitfalls, but the pitfalls stacked against the Pats will only be clear with the passage of time. The rules have changed to favor a rotation of championships rather than dynasty formation. The Pats formed one anyway. Domination over a 32-team league. Claims to fame:
- 4 SB victories
- 6 AFC Championships (AKA, 2 SB losses; 3 if you stretch back pre-Brady to '96, but why?) Total 9 AFC Championship appearances. (2006; 2012; 2013 lost the AFCCG).
- 2007: Only undefeated regular season in 16-game format. Pity about that Gintz game.
Since 2001, Patriots have made the playoffs every year since Brady/BB have been together, except 2002 - and BB won 11 games with Cassel in 08. A 14-year stretch where the team made the playoffs 12 times, the AFCCG 9, the SB 6, and the SB victory 4 times.
3. GB, 1961-62, 1965-1967. GB won the NFL* championship in a 14-team league in 1961, 1962, 1965.
In 1966-67, they won SB I and II. "Woulda coulda shoulda" won SB -1 if they played it in '65, so it gives people the impression of a "threepeat" - which it was, in NFL* terms (not counting the AFL). With the AFL included, they began to play in a pool diluted roughly to present-day proportions. Still the most impressive stretch of NFL dominance - in many "off years" thereabouts they were in the thick of it (e.g., 1960, barely missed an NFL championship). But I'm sorry, having about 1/2 the odds that later teams had to beat does not cut it in comparative terms. You don't give them SBs when they're beating 13 other teams not 31. Additionally, it was a brief 8-year period of at-or-near-the-top, and that's the way I view it through my pats homer eyes.
4. Pittsburgh Stillers, 1974-75; 78-79. 4 out of 6 years, won it back-to-back twice. But that was it. Could not extend that long shadow for a matter of decades.
5. Dallas Cowboys, 92, 93, 95; Lost in NFC Championship to 9ers in 1994. See Pittsburgh, above. Not nearly as dominant as the Stillers in their short window, but faded into oblivion. Nothing like the smothering reign of the 9ers or Pats.
Guys who make me laugh when they try to claim "dynasties" - 72-73 Dolphins (W/SB loss in 71); '97-'98 Broncos; any team making a claim based on "2 out of 4 SB wins" (your modern Stillers, Gintz; your back-in-the-day Raiders.) Not even in the conversation.
As you can see from the above, I'm placing the threat hovering over the rest of the league at a premium -- the fact that there are whole teams that just "couldn't possibly make it b/c the _____s were in the way." The longevity of that reign still puts the 9ers at the top of my heap, disheartening though it might be. But I'm also thinking give us a couple more years