NFL Best Team of the Decade - 1970s

Six different teams were crowned as Super Bowl Champions during the 1970s. Among these were the Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Colts, and Kansas City Chiefs, each of whom won a single Super Bowl, marking them as some of the best teams to ever take the field. These three were overshadows by three of the great teams in NFL history, all of whom played during the 1970s, perhaps the decade with the best NFL teams of all time.

The Miami Dolphins had only one losing season during the 1970s and to offset that blemish they achieved the feet no other NFL team has been able to match, a perfect season. In 1972 the Dolphins won all 14 of their regular season games, then went on to win the Super Bowl. Just for good measure the Dolphins won a second Super Bowl, clearly showing they deserved to be considered among the best teams to ever take the field. Winning over 72 percent of their games during the decade, the great Dolphins amazingly finish in third place in the race for best NFL team of the decade. As great as the Dolphins were, they had to share their amazing decade with two other teams who were even better.

During the 1970's the Dallas Cowboys did not have a losing season. They won an amazing 105 regular season games. It should be remembered that until 1978 the NFL regular season consisted of 14, not 16 games. The Cowboys not only had winning seasons, but won 10 or more games nine of the ten years during the 70's. During this time the Dallas Cowboys won four NFC championships. This lead to two Super Bowl victories and had it not been for a single team, the Cowboys may have well been crowned the best team ever to play in the NFL. Unfortunately for the Dallas Cowboys of the 1970's, there was another team which emerged from the shadows in the 1972 season and clearly established themselves as one of, if not the best NFL team of all time, and certainly the best team of the decade.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had never won anything, had never even been to the playoffs, but that all changed during the 1970's. In 1970 the Steelers managed only 5 wins, and did only one better in 1971. Those were the last two losing seasons for the Steelers that decade as they rose from obscurity, to dominance. From 1972 through the end of the decade the Steelers won nearly 76 percent of their regular season games. They also won three AFC championships and then went on to win three Super Bowl Championships.

The competition for best team of the decade was very close between the Steelers and Cowboys. The Cowboys played in one more Super Bowl than did the Steelers and had a better regular season record than the Steelers. However, the two teams met in two Super Bowls and in each the Pittsburgh Steelers emerged as champions. While these were two of the best teams ever to take the field, the head to head match up gave the title of best team of the 1970s to the Pittsburgh Steelers.