as the decade winds down, i've been seeing some "best of the decade stuff". i'm really interested in these kinds of lists so here's one i found from yahoo's mediocre writers
top 10 nfl teams of the 2000s
10. 2002 tampa bay bucs (12-4, won SB)
9. 2004 pittsburgh steelers (15-1, lost AFC champ)
8. 2005 seattle seahawks (13-3, lost SB)
7. 2004 philadelphia eagles (13-3, lost SB)
6. 2003 new england patriots (14-2, won SB)
5. 2001 st. louis rams (14-2, lost SB)
4. 2005 indianapolis colts (14-2, lost AFC divisional)
3. 2004 new england patriots (14-2, won SB)
2. 2001 pittsburgh steelers (13-3, lost AFC champ) really...?
1. 2007 new england patriots (16-0, lost SB)
bolded teams won the super bowl...
this is a really weird list imo. the 2000 ravens were a better version of the 2002 bucs in my opinion. i pretty much agree with the relative placement of the super bowl losers, the 01 rams were excellent and the 04 eagles are the best version of a team that was very good for the majority of the decade. the 07 pats should be number 1. this is about the best overall teams. yeah, they lost the championship game but you can't tell me that there is any other team in the past 10 years that was anywhere near as dominant as they were in the regular season.
i don't really agree with there only being 3 super bowl winners. only one colts team? at least put the 07 colts on there. i was really shocked at seeing the 01 steelers on the list, let alone in the TWO spot. here's the article's reasoning:
How good was this team? It made a Pro Bowler out of Kordell Stewart. This was arguably the best "we're going to run the ball and you're not" team of the decade, with the Steelers running for 2,774 yards on the season and allowing opponents only 1,195 ground yards. The Steelers had four different players with eight or more sacks, too: Aaron Smith(notes), Joey Porter(notes), Kendrell Bell(notes) and Jason Gildon. Their season ended with that crazy game where Drew Bledsoe(notes) came off the bench and played brilliantly for the Patriots, who also got a couple of special teams touchdowns.
and that's a good point...without those two special teams TDs, the steelers are on their way to the super bowl and...who knows how that game would have played out, but the steelers would have had at least as good a chance at winning as the pats did. remember that the two special teams TDs were a 55 yard punt return on a re-punt after troy edwards was flagged for stepping out of bounds on the coverage and making the tackle...and the second was a blocked field goal return where troy brown lateraled the ball to antwan harris. you can't deny the "flukiness" of that win, hah. however, was it the best steelers team, better than 04 and the two SB winners? i don't know, and i'd like waterbomb's thoughts on this, at least. :P now that i think about it, this very well could deserve to be on the list, but i think #2 is too high. i think that the 01 rams and 01 steelers are on equal footing.
anyways i do think that there should be about 2 pats and colts teams, a steeler and eagle team or two, 01 rams, 00 ravens...maybe the 06 seahawks, maybe. i'm not too high on the bucs or raiders of the first part of the decade.
you could perhaps make an argument for the saints, colts, or vikings of this year to make it on the list, depending on this season's outcome. i don't think this year's colts stack up to others but the vikes and saints really look like something special right now.
your thoughts?
and here are some more top 10s to whet your appetite, feel free to comment on them in this thread:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner?keyword=End+of+Decade
top 10 nfl teams of the 2000s
10. 2002 tampa bay bucs (12-4, won SB)
9. 2004 pittsburgh steelers (15-1, lost AFC champ)
8. 2005 seattle seahawks (13-3, lost SB)
7. 2004 philadelphia eagles (13-3, lost SB)
6. 2003 new england patriots (14-2, won SB)
5. 2001 st. louis rams (14-2, lost SB)
4. 2005 indianapolis colts (14-2, lost AFC divisional)
3. 2004 new england patriots (14-2, won SB)
2. 2001 pittsburgh steelers (13-3, lost AFC champ) really...?
1. 2007 new england patriots (16-0, lost SB)
bolded teams won the super bowl...
this is a really weird list imo. the 2000 ravens were a better version of the 2002 bucs in my opinion. i pretty much agree with the relative placement of the super bowl losers, the 01 rams were excellent and the 04 eagles are the best version of a team that was very good for the majority of the decade. the 07 pats should be number 1. this is about the best overall teams. yeah, they lost the championship game but you can't tell me that there is any other team in the past 10 years that was anywhere near as dominant as they were in the regular season.
i don't really agree with there only being 3 super bowl winners. only one colts team? at least put the 07 colts on there. i was really shocked at seeing the 01 steelers on the list, let alone in the TWO spot. here's the article's reasoning:
How good was this team? It made a Pro Bowler out of Kordell Stewart. This was arguably the best "we're going to run the ball and you're not" team of the decade, with the Steelers running for 2,774 yards on the season and allowing opponents only 1,195 ground yards. The Steelers had four different players with eight or more sacks, too: Aaron Smith(notes), Joey Porter(notes), Kendrell Bell(notes) and Jason Gildon. Their season ended with that crazy game where Drew Bledsoe(notes) came off the bench and played brilliantly for the Patriots, who also got a couple of special teams touchdowns.
and that's a good point...without those two special teams TDs, the steelers are on their way to the super bowl and...who knows how that game would have played out, but the steelers would have had at least as good a chance at winning as the pats did. remember that the two special teams TDs were a 55 yard punt return on a re-punt after troy edwards was flagged for stepping out of bounds on the coverage and making the tackle...and the second was a blocked field goal return where troy brown lateraled the ball to antwan harris. you can't deny the "flukiness" of that win, hah. however, was it the best steelers team, better than 04 and the two SB winners? i don't know, and i'd like waterbomb's thoughts on this, at least. :P now that i think about it, this very well could deserve to be on the list, but i think #2 is too high. i think that the 01 rams and 01 steelers are on equal footing.
anyways i do think that there should be about 2 pats and colts teams, a steeler and eagle team or two, 01 rams, 00 ravens...maybe the 06 seahawks, maybe. i'm not too high on the bucs or raiders of the first part of the decade.
you could perhaps make an argument for the saints, colts, or vikings of this year to make it on the list, depending on this season's outcome. i don't think this year's colts stack up to others but the vikes and saints really look like something special right now.
your thoughts?
and here are some more top 10s to whet your appetite, feel free to comment on them in this thread:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner?keyword=End+of+Decade
