Table of Contents
The NFL has been king for decades but alive for much longer. Across the league’s century, some teams have set themselves apart from the rest, reaching feats with consistencies that condemn competitors sufficiently. These most successful franchises, dating back to the NFL’s birth more than 100 years ago, are the subject of this exercise.
In 1920, the league began as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), ditching that name two years later for the now-famous National Football League title. The NFL has undergone a tremendous amount of change since then: there were no playoffs until 1932, two mergers have happened, and a long line of relocations and expansions to boot, among countless other alterations and evolutions.
It’s common for people to only consider the Super Bowl era when discussing the league’s history, chopping off everything that happened before the top dogs of the NFL and AFL met in 1966’s Super Bowl I. This ignores decades of football that laid the foundation for what came after.
We’re painting a bigger picture here. I considered the full NFL histories of every franchise in the league to create this list going all the way back to the leather helmet days. A championship is a championship – all a team can do is play within the constraints of its time. Winning a title in the 1940s carries some weight even if it didn’t require a Super Bowl, because everyone operated under the same situation at the time.
That said, more weight was given to accomplishments since the Super Bowl’s reign. As the NFL has expanded and advanced, winning a championship has become more difficult. There are more teams vying for it, the pressure is incomparable, longer playoffs make for a more grueling process – a championship is a championship, but a ring adorned in the 2000s was a greater get than one in the 1930s. This truth must be mirrored in my marks.
These are the most successful NFL franchises ever, dating back decades before the Super Bowl was even a concept.
All records as of May 13, 2023.
The Most Successful Franchises in NFL History
1: New England Patriots
Championships: 6 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018)
Super Bowl wins: 6 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018)
Super Bowl appearances: 11 (Losses in 1985, 1996, 2007, 2011, 2017)
All-time record: 537-420-9 (.561)
Playoff appearances: 28
All-time playoff record: 37-22 (.627)
Notable players: Tom Brady, John Hannah, Rob Gronkowski
Founded in 1960 as the AFL’s Boston Patriots, the team transitioned to encompass an entire region with the New England name in 1971, perhaps to wash off the stink of a 2-12 campaign the year before. Whatever people thought of the Patriots in 1970 is planets away from how they do now.
Though this franchise won its first championship in 2001, the level of success it has achieved in the last couple of decades is enough to surpass everyone else for the No. 1 spot. Since 1996, New England has played in 10 Super Bowls and won six of them, meaning more than one-third of the last 27 Super Bowls have included the Patriots. The team’s six Super Bowl victories are tied for the most in the league, and nobody has played in the big game more than the Pats. New England’s all-time win percentage in the playoffs (.627) is also unrivaled.
There were stretches in which the Patriots were flat-out terrible. In 1990, in the middle of a playoff drought that would last for another three seasons to extend the streak to seven, New England went 1-15, failing in each of the final 14 games on its schedule. But by the mid-1990s, those days were gone, and five years later, they were a distant memory in the minds of Patriots lovers and haters.
There are NFL franchises with more championships, but nobody has done so much in such relatively-little time. The level of success the Patriots have put together is unbelievable, especially given that it has come when the league has been at its largest and most competitive. Between 1994 and 2021, New England missed only six postseasons and appeared in 11 in a row from 2009 through 2019, the longest run of its kind in the league’s history. The franchise has played in so many Super Bowls that it has averaged an appearance roughly every six years. All of this excellence, plus the aura of Tom Brady, is enough to lift the Patriots to the esteemed title of the most successful franchise in the NFL.
2: Green Bay Packers
Championships: 13 (1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1996, 2010)
Super Bowl wins: 4 (1966, 1967, 1996, 2010)
Super Bowl appearances: 5 (Loss in 1997)
All-time record: 790-590-38 (.572)
Playoff appearances: 35
All-time playoff record: 36-25 (.590)
Notable players: Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Willie Davis
This is where those pre-Super Bowl championships come into play.
They weren’t enough to overcome the Patriots, but the 13 titles the Packers have hoarded is enough to get them next in line. One of the oldest outfits around, Green Bay has been at the forefront of the NFL since the very beginning. The Packers went a combined 34-5-2 in the 1929, 1930, and 1931 campaigns, achieving the prize of championships in all three seasons and cementing themselves as one of the league’s early dynasties. These crowns were claimed at the behest of head coach Curly Lambeau, whose name has remained relevant 100 years later. Lambeau co-founded the Packers in 1919 and played the team from then through 1929, also serving as head coach from 1921 to 1949, winning one championship while occupying both roles and five more solely on the sidelines.
Green Bay was quiet in the late-1940s and 1950s, but it erupted again in the ‘60s, this time under the guise of Vince Lombardi, another name that has stood the test of time. The coach had the Packers in the championship game in 1960, their first one in 16 seasons, though it took another go around before he helped them snap their 17-year title drought in 1961. Lombardi oversaw a repeat in 1962, then a return to dominance not long after, which included the final NFL championship that was not a Super Bowl in 1965, Super Bowl I in 1966, and Super Bowl II in 1967, Green Bay’s 11th NFL title in its history.
The Packers haven’t been as successful since then, but they have still added to their trophy case. In 1996, Brett Favre quarterbacked Green Bay to a triumph in Super Bowl XXXI, and he had them back again in 1997, though that one ended differently. In 2010, Aaron Rodgers led the team to another ring via Super Bowl XLV. Wisconsin’s NFL representative leads the league in division titles (31), is tied for first in playoff appearances (35), and has qualified for two-thirds of all postseasons since the expansion to 12 participants in 1990. All of this rich history and largely-consistent output of contention for more than a century is enough to position the Packers as the NFL’s second-most successful franchise.
3: Dallas Cowboys
Championships: 5 (1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995)
Super Bowl wins: 5 (1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995)
Super Bowl appearances: 8 (Losses in 1970, 1975, 1978)
All-time record: 550-408-6 (.574)
Playoff appearances: 35
All-time playoff record: 36-30 (.545)
Notable players: Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Randy White
The Cowboys began their journey in 1960 with a miserable 0-11-1 campaign. Fortunately for Dallas fans, this was not an omen of things to come. Instead, the Cowboys have become one of the most successful franchises in the NFL.
Tom Landry was the team’s head coach during that opening winless season, and he still was when Dallas lived the complete opposite end of the spectrum 11 seasons later as Super Bowl champions. The legendary coach’s reign was a slow burn, building incrementally over the course of years, chipping away at various barriers until eventually breaking the final one. With Landry in control, the Cowboys won two Super Bowls and played in three more.
While the 1970s were good to Dallas, the 1990s were even better. After a lackluster 80s, the Cowboys were back in full force early in the next decade, stomping out the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, 52-17, to close the 1992 campaign for the franchise’s first title since 1977. Dallas did it again the following year, then a third time two seasons later to make it three triumphs in four tries, a true dynasty. The organization’s five Super Bowl victories are even for the second-most in league history.
It hasn’t been the same since. Dallas played in its last conference championship game 28 seasons ago, the fifth-longest of such droughts in the league. There have been better times.
But you can’t deny how much Dallas has done in its more than five decades of life. With 35 playoff appearances, the Cowboys are knotted with Green Bay for the most in the NFL, and their .574 all-time winning percentage leads the league, too. To maintain such a lofty location on this list, Dallas does need to overcome some more opponents in the playoffs, and probably soon. But at least for now, the ‘Boys are in the top three.
4: Pittsburgh Steelers
Championships: 6 (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, 2008)
Super Bowl wins: 6 (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, 2008)
Super Bowl appearances: 8 (Losses in 1995, 2010)
All-time record: 661-571-22 (.536)
Playoff appearances: 33
All-time playoff record: 36-27 (.571)
Notable players: Joe Greene, Ben Roethlisberger, Terry Bradshaw
Known as the Pittsburgh Pirates when they were founded in 1933, the Steelers adopted the new nickname seven years later. The team played in its first playoffs in 1947, losing immediately to the Eagles, 21-0, and it remained its only visit to the postseason until 1972 – the earliest days of Steelers football were not the prettiest.
But from the mid-1970s on, Pittsburgh left its loser ways behind. Two years after snapping their 24-year playoff drought, the third-longest in NFL history, the Steelers won their first championship in Super Bowl IX. They became repeat champions in 1975, then ran it all back again in 1978 and 1979 to cap off a marvelous Steel Curtain-controlled decade, all with Chuck Noll patrolling the sidelines.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Steelers far from returned to the deep depths of despair they experienced in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but they didn’t maintain what they produced in the ‘70s, either. The team reached one Super Bowl (1995) and appeared in 10 playoffs across those 20 seasons, including six-straight postseason showings from 1992 through 1997.
The 2000s were much better, offering two Super Bowl opportunities that Pittsburgh took advantage of both times with Ben Roethlisberger receiving snaps, winning one for the thumb in 2005 and an extra to start off the next hand in 2008. A defeat in Super Bowl XLV to conclude the 2010 campaign raised the franchise’s number of Super Bowl showings to eight, tied for second-most in the NFL.
Pittsburgh has been one of the most common playoff participants ever, is even with New England for the most Super Bowl victories, and holds 25 division titles. The struggles of the franchise’s first few decades slightly weigh it down, but there are simply too many accomplishments to ignore when considering the most successful organizations the NFL homes.
5: San Francisco 49ers
Championships: 5 (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994)
Super Bowl wins: 5 (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994)
Super Bowl appearances: 7 (Losses in 2012, 2019)
All-time record: 612-510-16 (.545)
Playoff appearances: 29
All-time playoff record: 37-24 (.607)
Notable players: Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Steve Young
The 49ers started off in the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946 before joining the NFL as part of the merger between the leagues following the 1949 season, and thus their National Football League lives began. San Francisco had been good in the final season of the AAFC, losing in the championship game. It soon learned that the NFL was different, limping to a 3-9 mark in 1950 and making only one playoff appearance throughout the entirety of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
But it wasn’t until the ‘80s that the Niners made a major imprint on the NFL. In 1981, San Francisco snapped an eight-season playoff drought with a bang, sauntering to its first-ever Super Bowl showing and victory in 1981. One year prior to that run, the 49ers were 6-10. Two seasons earlier, they were experiencing their second-straight 2-14 campaign. Head coach Bill Walsh performed quite the turnaround.
The 1981 championship marked the start of something special. Between 1981 and 1994, San Francisco climbed the mountaintop five times and missed only two playoffs as it introduced the NFL to one of its most intimidating dynasties ever. Three of those happened under Walsh, while George Seifert was at the helm for the second two. Hall of Famers like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott, and so many more played pivotal roles during that era.
The Niners are without NFL supremacy since the 1994 crown, a drought that ranks roughly in the middle of the league. San Francisco has been to Super Bowls in the meantime, coming one win away from elation in 2012 and 2019, upping its trips to the holy grail to seven, the fourth-most in the NFL. The 49ers have also played in the most NFC Championship Games of anyone by a comfortable margin, outdoing the second-place Cowboys by four (18 to 14).
Since the start of the 1980s, San Francisco has been one of the most usual suspects lurking late in the playoffs. Its abundance of bad seasons before then drags it down somewhat, but a top-five nod is nothing to scoff at – the 49ers are within the inner circle of the NFL’s most successful franchises.
Honorable Mentions: New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs
Starting play in 1925, the Giants are among the oldest franchises in the NFL. Back before there were playoffs, they won their first championship in 1927 with a 11-1-1 record. Later after the introduction of a title game, they won their second in 1934. Two more in 1938 and 1956 round out the four crowns New York achieved prior to the advent of the Super Bowl, plus 11 other appearances in the championship contest that came up empty. The Giants have amassed eight NFL titles in total, winning four Super Bowls (1986, 1990, 2007, 2011) to go along with their four other triumphs. The G-men sit on the outside of my top five for a few reasons – too much of their success came before the Super Bowl era, their .528 all-time winning percentage is below all other contenders, and it has had a good number of dark years since the Super Bowl grabbed hold. But really, I’m splitting hairs here. The Giants are one of the most successful NFL franchises ever, and they don’t get recognized as such as much as they probably should.
The Bears have had 103 seasons of NFL football under their belt, and they’ve amassed nine championships in that time. They won their initial one as the Chicago Staleys in 1921 when the NFL was still the APFA after a 9-1-1 season. More followed more than a decade later, and this rain poured. The Bears lapped up the NFL’s prized possession in 1932, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946 as George Halas built an incredible legacy. The Bears and Halas would again top the NFL in 1963, a few years before the introduction of the Super Bowl. Things have been rougher in Chicago since then with the team winning just one (1985) and playing in only two (loss in 2006). It has been a long time since the Bears were a feared outfit in the NFL, and it’s not something that has happened much in the last 50 years. But what Chicago did back in the day, a key reason why the team is in the top five of the NFL in all-time winning percentage (.557), is enough for it to be considered one of the league’s most successful franchises.
Before they were the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, they were the Dallas Texans of the AFL, first touching the field in 1960. The Texans won the AFL championship in 1962, then promptly moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs before the 1963 season. The Chiefs played in the first-ever Super Bowl, bowing down to Lombardi’s Packers, 35-10, but they were rewarded for their efforts in the 1969 campaign with a victory in Super Bowl IV. Kansas City didn’t return to the biggest stage until 2019, finally restoring itself atop the NFL in Super Bowl LIV. The Chiefs did it again in the most recent Super Bowl, increasing the franchise’s NFL championship total to four. They rank in the upper-third of the NFL in Super Bowl victories, Super Bowl appearances, and all-time winning percentage (.546). You wouldn’t see Kansas City here if not for the win over the Eagles in February for its fourth championship – it was a very close race to earn this coveted place in my honorable mentions.
NFL FAQs
How do you play football survival pool?
Players pick one team each week they think will win the game outright. They may only pick a team ONCE per season, meaning you can't pick the same team twice in one season. If their pick is correct, the player survives another week and continues to play. An incorrect pick eliminates the player from the contest entirely. This is sometimes called an elimination or suicide pool. The last person standing wins.
How to make a football pool?
A football pool generally requires the creation of a shareable spreadsheet (like Google Sheets) so that members may pick teams. Then depending on the game type, creators must use several kinds of formulas (e.g. CountIF), data validation, and conditional formatting. Or, you can just use football pool hosting service like RunYourPool where we do all the work for you!
How to run a weekly football pool?
In order to run a football pool, you must first crown yourself as Pool Commissioner. Begin by picking a game type like Survivor or Pick'Em. You'll want to establish rules before inviting friends, family, and colleagues to join. As commissioner, you make the rules and also need to enforce them equally and fairly.
What is a football survivor pool?
In a Football Survivor Pool, players choose one team weekly they think will win. Usually, a team can be picked one time per season. Picks are made "straight up," no spreads necessary. If a pick is correct, members survive another week. An incorrect pick eliminates the player, unless a mulligan is used.
How does a football pool work?
Football pools are games of skill played among a group of people. There are a variety of pool types to fit every players needs, from casual to competitive. Pool commissioners can set up pools manually, or use a hosting service like RunYourPool whiel still customizing your own settings. Some examples include NFL Squares, NFL Survivor, NFL Pick 'Em, and Playoff Brackets.
What is an NFL pickem pool?
In an NFL pick’em pool, simply pick the outcome of each NFL game throughout the season. You can pick straight up winners or losers, or pick each game against the spread.
How to play a football pool?
The way one plays a football pool varies on the game type. For example, in Survivor, you pick one team to win each week and can't pick that team again. Guess wrong and you lose. Another example is Pick'em Pools in which you simply pick every game each week.
How does a fantasy football pool work?
Fantasy football pools don’t involve a traditional fantasy football draft. You can have as many members in your pool as you’d like, meaning no more 12 or 14 team limits! You pick a new lineup of players each week, and once you use a player once, you can’t use them again for the rest of the season.
What is a fantasy football pool?
A fantasy football pool is similar to a traditional fantasy football league but without the draft. Pick a new lineup each week, and once you use a player, you can’t use them for the rest of the season. Your players will receive points based on their in-game stats, and the member with the most points at the end of the season is the winner.
What is a football pool?
"Football Pool" is a broad term for a group of people competitively guessing the outcome of one or more football games. There are many types of formats, each assigning winners differently. They can be played informally between friends or through a more formalized system. They are often considered a great alternative to fantasy football given the ease of playing, although there are fantasy football pools as well.
How do football pool squares work?
There are different kinds of football square pools. Most have a 10x10 grid with one team for the rows and columns. In an attempt to win, participants select a square where they believe the last digit number of each team's score will intersect at the end of each quarter, and the game's end.
How do you play football squares pools?
To play a football squares pool, you're going to want to pick the squares with the best odds. As winners are determined by the point totals at the end of each quarter, try to consider options where scores are most common. Some of the most popular squares include 7-3, 7-0, 7-7, and 0-0. Numbers divisible by seven are good starting points.
How many squares in a football pool?
In a traditional football squares pool, a grid is sectioned off into 100 squares with 10 columns and 10 rows. This accounts for a direct relationship between each possible digit from 0 to 9 on both the X and Y axis. For smaller square grids like 5x5, multiple numbers can be assigned to each column and row.
How to play squares football pools?
Football squares are played by creating a grid, in which Team 1 takes the column and Team 2 the rows. In some cases, participants may claim as many squares as they like. In others, commissioners limit them to one. At the quarter times and end of the game, the winner is decided at the point the scores final digit intersect.
What is a football squares pool?
Also called Grid, Block, or Box Pools, Football Squares Pools can be played with any single game, but are most popular during the Super Bowl. Pool members claim squares on a 25, 50, or 100-square grid by putting their information in the square. Game scores are matched to the winning square(s), usually with winners being determined every quarter.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
How do you play football credits pool?
In the credits format, all players start with the same number of credits. Players make picks each week by risking a certain number of credits on games, assigning more credits to the picks with a higher confidence level. Members receive double the credits risked for each win. The member with the most credits at the end of the season wins.
What is a football credits pool?
In Football Credits Pools, players start with the same number of credits. They then make picks each week by risking a number of credits on games, assigning more to the picks they have more confidence in getting right. Members double credits risked for each win. The member with the highest credits at the end of the season wins.
How to run a football pool?
How you decide to run a football pool varies greatly depending on the game type. In each case, however, you'll want to determine the rules and settings before you begin inviting members to join you. You'll want to clearly establish how score will be kept, how tiebreakers work, and how winners are decided before anything else.
How do you play football confidence pool?
A football confidence pool is played straight up, not with a point spread. Not only do members pick the winning teams, they must back up their picks by giving them a relative confidence ranking. Your score reflects the number of confidence points given to winning teams. So if your confidence for a team winning is '1', then you can only win one point at most. If your confidence for a team winning is '5', then you can win five points for a win. The member with the most credits at the end wins.
What is a football confidence pool?
"Football Confidence Pool" refers to how you rank the teams that you think will win each week. For example, in the NFL, there are often 16 games weekly. In this scenario, you would rank each game from 16 to 1, based on the your confidence in that team winning.
How do you play football margin pool?
Margin pools are an NFL pool format that rewards members for picking a winning team each week. Pool commissioners can decide whether they award points equal to a winning teams margin of victory or the point spread for that game. When a commissioner chooses the point spread option, this format is often referred to as an NFL Underdog Pool.
What is a football margin pool?
In a Football Margin Pool, you are awarded points for picking a winning team. Pool commissioners get to decide whether they award points equal to a winning teams margin of victory or the point spread for that game. The player with the most points at the end of the season wins.
How do you play football 33 point pool?
The football 33 pool format is a casual pool where members are each assigned an NFL team (these pools are 32 members max, as there are 32 NFL teams). Members win when their team scores 33 points. Options for changing the target score, or having the closest to the target win each week is also available.
What is a football 33 point pool?
In the football 33 pool format, each member is assigned a unique NFL team (32 members max). A member will win when their team scores 33 points. This is a casual pool where you can change the target score or the option to have the closest to the target that week win.
How to run a weekly football pool?
In order to run a football pool, you must first crown yourself as Pool Commissioner. Begin by picking a game type like Survivor or Pick'Em. You'll want to establish rules before inviting friends, family, and colleagues to join. As commissioner, you make the rules and also need to enforce them equally and fairly.
What is an NFL Playoff bracket pool?
NFL Playoff Bracket pools are simple NFL pool formats where members pick every round of the playoffs before they start in an attempt to predict every match up correctly. It's optional to configure a multiplier for each round, or add a tiebreaker option of total points in the Super Bowl.
How to make a football pool?
A football pool generally requires the creation of a shareable spreadsheet (like Google Sheets) so that members may pick teams. Then depending on the game type, creators must use several kinds of formulas (e.g. CountIF), data validation, and conditional formatting. Or, you can just use football pool hosting service like RunYourPool where we do all the work for you!
How to set up a football pool?
To set up a football pool, you'll need to first choose a pool type like Survivor or Pick'em. Then, you'll need to set the ground rules. As pool commissioner, you'll enforce these rules and make sure the game runs smoothly throughout the season. Many commissioners use pool hosting sites like RunYourPool to make it easier and more engaging.
What is a football power ranking playoff pool?
In a power ranking playoff pool, members rank all 12 NFL teams competing in the playoffs from strongest (12 points) to weakest (1 point). Picks are made only ONCE before any games begin. Members are awarded the number of points assigned to a team when they win. Commissioners can optionally set up a point multiplier for each playoff round.
What is a football confidence pool?
"Football Confidence Pool" refers to how you rank the teams that you think will win each week. For example, in the NFL, there are often 16 games weekly. In this scenario, you would rank each game from 16 to 1, based on the your confidence in that team winning. This is similar to the Playoff Pool Power Ranking, just less teams.
How to run a football pool?
How you decide to run a football pool varies greatly depending on the game type. In each case, however, you'll want to determine the rules and settings before you begin inviting members to join you. You'll want to clearly establish how score will be kept, how tiebreakers work, and how winners are decided before anything else.
What is a football playoff precision pool?
In a playoff precision pool, members attempt to pick the winner of every playoff game each week. You can decide if it’s straight up or on a point spread picks, but point totals are also added. Points are awarded for correct picks AND for how close to the correct combined point total they were.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
What is a Super Bowl Prop Bets Pool?
A Super Bowl Prop Bet Pool is a fun and thrilling way to compete against friends and family during the big game! It's a simple questionaire of prop betting questions revolving around the Super Bowl, and whoever earns the most points based off correct answers wins!
How does a Super Bowl Prop Bets Pool work?
Pool members simply fill out a wide range of prop questions, each question worth a different value. Commissioners decide on the point value for each question, along with the amount of questions. Whichever member earns the most points based on corret answers wins the pool.
What is a football Super Bowl Squares pool?
Also called Grid, Block, or Box Pools, Football Squares Pools can be played with any single game, but are most popular during the Super Bowl. Pool members claim squares on a 25, 50, or 100-square grid by putting their information in the square. Game scores are matched to the winning square(s), usually with winners being determined every quarter.
What is a prop bet?
Prop bets are any sort of pick or wager on a game that has nothing to do with the score or the final score outcome. Props can range from game types, to team types and even player types - such as who will score the game's first and last touchdowns? Other props, such as novelty or exotic, feature bets on things such as the coin flip or the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
