By now, the memo is fairly ubiquitous — surely you've seen it — the NFL is entering its centennial season. And what better way to celebrate 100 years of anything than by taking time to reflect, respect, enjoy, commemorate and, of course, assess the past?

USA TODAY Sports will be doing a lot of that throughout the remainder of the summer and into the fall, rolling out a variety of stories, videos, graphics and more across our network platforms in honor of the country's most popular sports league, which kicked off in 1920.

So with the 2019 season nearing, we're ready for the official start of the celebration with a ranking of the 100 greatest teams in NFL history. It's sure to stir nostalgia, debate, Twitter hate and maybe even a history lesson.

A quick word on the methodology, such as it is: There's no fair or reasonable way to compare teams spanning so many decades. It isn't presumptuous to assume the 2018 Arizona Cardinals, the league's worst team a year ago pre-Kyler Murray, would make the 1920 Akron Pros look like rec league Joes were they able to share the same field. So given the way the game and players have evolved, extra weight and consideration was conceded to the modern game — you'll note all 53 Super Bowl champions are listed, however many of the NFL and AFL champions prior to 1966 didn't receive similar recognition. Metrics like titles won, victories, point differentials and such — which cut across generations with some level of equality — were taken into account, though there was also plenty of room for opinion and art in the final analysis.

All NFL all the time:The 4th and Monday newsletter brings our experts and analysis to your inbox. Sign up here

BEHIND THE SCENES:How NFL's panel selecting 100 top players of all time arrived at picks

Hope you enjoy reading this relatively impossible assignment as much as I did tackling it! Let's kick it off ...

1. 1985 Bears (won Super Bowl XX):Pure dominance. Their 15 regular-season wins came by an average of 18.1 points. The defense collected 64 sacks while allowing just 12.4 points a week. Chicago shut out the Giants and Rams in the NFC playoffs before that epic 46-10 Super Bowl dismantling of New England. All told, the Bears outscored their postseason opponents 91-10. Sure, it would have been nice to see a rematch with Dan Marino and the Dolphins, who handed Chicago its only loss of 1985, on Super Sunday. And maybe you'd like the best team of all time — arguably — to feature a more renowned quarterback than Jim McMahon. But the fact that an offense led by Walter Payton (1,551 rushing yards) was almost extraneous also illustrates just how transcendent Buddy Ryan's "46 defense" was. And for a list like this, a little flair should count for something, and with McMahon, Payton, Ryan, "Refrigerator" Perry, Mike Singletary, coach Mike Ditka and many others — most getting star turns with "The Super Bowl Shuffle" — the '85 Bears had character(s) in spades.

2. 1984 49ers (won Super Bowl XIX): They lacked the pizzazz of the '85 Bears and perhaps don't get their due given the historical proximity to that Chicago team. It's also challenging to distinguish the great Bill Walsh-Joe Montana San Francisco teams that dominated the 1980s. But this bunch was unique. The Niners were the first team to win 15 regular-season games (average margin of victory was nearly 17 points), a feat Chicago would match a year later — though they remain the only teams to finish 18-1 and claim rings. Before suffocating a spectacular Dolphins team, Marino's best, 38-16 in the Super Bowl, the 49ers vanquished the Giants and Bears by a combined score of 44-10 in the NFC playoffs — those franchises would win the next two Super Bowls with teams ranking among the best ever. This all occurred a year before Jerry Rice arrived.

3. 1962 Packers (won NFL title): Widely regarded as the premier team coached by legendary Vince Lombardi, even if it reigned four years prior to the Super Bowl's debut. Green Bay finished 13-1, its wins coming by an average of more than three touchdowns. The roster sported 11 Hall of Famers, not including Lombardi. They only beat the imposing Giants 16-7 in the championship game, but it was staged in New York's 8-degree wind chill, which didn't lend itself to much offense. Regardless, that battle helped launch NFL Films to prominence.

4. 1989 49ers (won Super Bowl XXIV): Stacking them up against their '84 brethren engenders a chocolate versus vanilla debate. The '89 Niners — Rice by now the league's top wideout — were a touch less formidable in the regular season, going 14-2 with an average victory margin just short of 14 points. But boy did that '89 juggernaut hit overdrive in the playoffs, winning its three games by a combined 126-26. Their 55-10 beatdown of the Broncos remains the most lopsided in Super Bowl history and also represents the most points scored by one team. However the postseason competition for the '89 Niners didn't approach what the '84 team faced. With a career-best 112.4 QB rating, Montana earned league (and later Super Bowl) MVP honors.

5. 1972 Dolphins (won Super Bowl VII): Yes, it's the only team to win a Super Bowl without dropping a game (17-0), and there's no real counterargument for "perfection." But it's also a lazy argument. Miami won its three postseason games by a combined 17 points. It also feasted on a horrid regular-season schedule that included just two teams finishing with winning records (both a middling 8-6). This isn't meant to shade the Fins and their "No-Name Defense," a roster with six Hall of Famers plus Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history. But context matters, and it already seems a concession ranking the '72 Dolphins ahead of 1970s contemporaries in Pittsburgh, Dallas and even Oakland — not to mention clubs previously ranked on this list. A special group indeed but not the most special for my money.

6. 1991 Redskins (won Super Bowl XXVI): After going 14-2 and outscoring their foes by 261 points in the regular season, they swept through the playoffs with an average margin of victory better than 20 points. The only Washington team to win a Super Bowl in a non-strike season, these underappreciated 'Skins would have gone all the way in most years. They topped 40 points five times and blanked three teams, so excellent balance — and that extended to special teams and return man extraordinaire Brian Mitchell.

7. 1994 49ers (won Super Bowl XXIX): With QB Steve Young now at the helm, they became the only Niners team to surpass 500 points in the regular season. After thwarting a three-peat bid by the Cowboys, they cruised past the Chargers in the Super Bowl, when Young threw a game-record six TD passes, while Rice and Ricky Watters found the end zone three times apiece. And don't forget the other side of the ball, which featured defensive player of the year Deion Sanders.

8. 1975 Steelers (won Super Bowl X): It "feels" a touch disrespectful waiting this long to mention the Steel Curtain dynasty, perhaps the league's greatest. The issue? None of those teams seemed to feature its wealth of Hall of Famers at a simultaneous apex, the defense largely showing the way in the early '70s before the offense truly flourished later in the decade. (A 1970s Pittsburgh team that did not win the Super Bowl might have been the best entry ... keep reading.) But the '75 team's case is compelling given a 12-2 record and the largest point differential (plus-211) in franchise history. Throw in a Super Bowl win against a Cowboys team that was nearly as good, and you have the makings of a powerhouse deserving recognition as one of the NFL's 10 greatest teams.

9. 1999 Rams (won Super Bowl XXXIV): Though many sophisticated passing attacks had shined previously, the "Greatest Show on Turf" was in some ways the vanguard of today's pass-oriented game. QB Kurt Warner, RB Marshall Faulk and WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt truly resembled a game of "Madden" come to life, St. Louis' 13 regular-season wins coming by an average of nearly 23 points. Remarkably consistent, the Rams were held to fewer than 20 points just once (in the NFC title round by Tampa Bay) and eclipsed 30 points 13 times. And Warner's ascension from complete unknown to league MVP and, ultimately, a Hall of Famer is a quintessential rags-to-riches tale. If there's a blemish, it would be a labored playoff run that included a semi-controversial win in the aforementioned 11-6 defeat of the Bucs.

10. 1996 Packers (won Super Bowl XXXI):QB Brett Favre was in the midst of becoming the only player to earn MVP hardware in three consecutive seasons. Reggie White, arguably the best defensive lineman ever, was still a force, collecting three sacks of Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe in the Super Bowl. And from a numbers standpoint, this club ranks favorably with any in Green Bay's vaunted history, going 13-3 in the regular season before trashing its playoff opponents by an average of 17.3 points.

NFL draft's 100 biggest busts:Which picks, trades proved to be whiffs?

11. 1973 Dolphins (won Super Bowl VIII): Though they only went 15-2, playoffs included, proponents believe this Miami team might have been superior to the undefeated '72 squad. The '73 Fins were certainly more dominant in postseason, their average margin of victory 17.3 points.

12. 2013 Seahawks (won Super Bowl XLVIII): Appropriately slotted 12th, they get my vote as the preeminent single-season team of the 21st century. Patriots fans will doubtless disagree, citing Seattle's loss to New England in the following year's Super Bowl, though most everyone can probably agree Pete Carroll gifted the Pats that title. Perhaps more germane, the "Legion of Boom" and Co. thoroughly throttled Denver, sporting the most prolific offense in league history, 43-8 in the Super Bowl two weeks after the Broncos handled the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. Be interesting to see how history regards the LOB given what it accomplished in this era, surrendering a paltry 172 passing yards per game in 2013.

13. 1978 Steelers (won Super Bowl XIII): The offense had perhaps overtaken the famed defense by then, evidenced by a 35-31 victory over Dallas when league MVP Terry Bradshaw won the first of his two Super Bowl MVPs.

14. 1998 Broncos (won Super Bowl XXXIII): Their title defense was shaping up as legendary, what with a 13-0 start to the season and RB Terrell Davis on his way to 2,008 rushing yards and the MVP trophy. Denver fans loved seeing QB John Elway retire as the Super Bowl MVP ... and probably breathed a sigh of relief that the Broncos drew Atlanta instead of Minnesota on Super Sunday.

15. 1966 Packers (won Super Bowl I): After a slow start, they pulled away to win the first Super Bowl 35-10 — for you nitpickers, the game was officially dubbed the "AFL–NFL World Championship Game" at the time — which came with quite a bit of pressure for Lombardi since the world assumed such an outcome was a foregone conclusion.

16. 1968 Jets (won Super Bowl III): Their landmark Super Bowl defeat of the Colts, guaranteed by brash QB Joe Namath, is widely regarded as the most important game in the history of professional football for legitimizing the pending merger of the AFL and NFL. Though deserved underdogs against Baltimore, the Jets weren't a fluke, fueled by Hall of Famer Namath's deep passing to a pair of 1,100-yard receivers (George Sauer and HoFer Don Maynard). Yet it was RB Matt Snell's running and an underrated defense that put the vise on the Colts in a 16-7 triumph that wasn't that close.

17. 2007 Patriots (lost Super Bowl XLII): They had a bad game at the worst time, narrowly losing the Super Bowl 17-14 to the Giants. Point conceded, but still ... This New England squad remains the lone team to navigate a 16-0 regular season. QB Tom Brady became the first player to throw 50 TDs in a season, 23 to WR Randy Moss — still a single-season record for scoring grabs. The Pats outscored the opposition by an average of 19.7 points, easily the best in this proud franchise's history, exceeding 30 points scored in 13 of 19 games. They couldn't close the NFL's first 19-0 season, but they still deserve a lofty perch in league annals.

18. 1949 Eagles (won NFL title): Philadelphia lost only once, winning a second straight championship with a star-studded team that included future Hall of Famers Chuck Bednarik and Steve Van Buren, who rushed for 196 yards in the championship game shutout of the Rams.

19. 2016 Patriots (won Super Bowl LI): They overcame Brady's four-game "Deflategate" suspension, TE Rob Gronkowski's season-ending injury and a 28-3 third-quarter deficit against the Falcons to emerge with the first overtime victory in Super Bowl history.

20. 1958 Colts (won NFL title): Led by the fashion-forward passing hookup of Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, Baltimore won this championship in front of a massive TV audience — launching the NFL's stratospheric rise with "The Greatest Game Ever Played," a 23-17 overtime victory against the Giants in Yankee Stadium.

21. 1971 Cowboys (won Super Bowl VI): With coach Tom Landry, QB Roger Staubach and the Bob Lilly-led "Doomsday Defense," good luck finding a better edition of what would become "America's Team." Dallas limited the Dolphins, who would go undefeated the following year, to a Super Bowl record-low three points.

22. 1969 Chiefs (won Super Bowl IV): They get overshadowed by the '68 Jets but might have had the better collection of talent while giving the AFL its second Super Bowl win before the 1970 merger. A defense that boasted six Hall of Famers deserves more acclaim after allowing the fewest points, rushing yards, passing yards and total yards in the AFL that year while posting a league-high 47 takeaways.

23. 1992 Cowboys (won Super Bowl XXVII): Let's anoint them the best of the 1990s "Triplets" Cowboys. Dallas set a franchise record with 13 regular-season wins before Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Super Bowl MVP Troy Aikman planted their dynasty flag with a 52-17 Super Bowl rout of Buffalo ... though DT Leon Lett's showboating cost his team the Super Sunday scoring record.

24. 1950 Browns (won NFL title): They took the prize in their first NFL season — pretty special. Of course, Cleveland was no expansion outfit, winning the All-America Football Conference championship all four years the league existed before some of its teams joined the NFL. But the Browns proved legit from the jump, beating the two-time defending champion Eagles 35-10 — in Philadelphia — in their league debut.

25. 1968 Colts (lost Super Bowl III): They'll forever bear the cross of surrendering the NFL's perceived dominance after getting blasted by the Jets. But prior to that, Baltimore was making its case as the best team ever, even with Unitas sidelined. Led by league MVP Earl Morrall, the Colts went 13-1, winning their regular-season games by an average of 20.6 points. Baltimore took the NFL crown by collectively beating the Vikings and Browns 58-14 in the playoffs.

26. 1986 Giants (won Super Bowl XXI): Big Blue's first Super Bowl team was led by LB Lawrence Taylor, the last defensive player named league MVP. But QB Phil Simms stole the show on Super Sunday, completing 22 of 25 passes in a 39-20 defeat of Elway's Broncos. New York won its three playoff games by an average of 27.3 points, including a 49-3 beatdown of Montana's Niners.

27. 2017 Eagles (won Super Bowl LII): When presumed league MVP Carson Wentz was lost to a torn ACL in Week 14, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Philadelphia's Super Bowl drought would endure. But Nick Foles stepped into the breach and won Super Bowl MVP honors, winning a thrilling 41-33 shootout with Brady that included a record 1,151 yards of offense. "Philly Special" indeed.

28. 2009 Saints (won Super Bowl XLIV): They started 13-0, but a three-game slide to end the regular season suggested another chapter of playoff futility. Coach Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees, however, wound up throwing a Lombardi Gras party four years after the city suffered Hurricane Katrina, beating teams quarterbacked by Warner, Favre and Peyton Manning in postseason.

29. 2004 Patriots (won Super Bowl XXXIX): The second time a franchise won three Super Bowls in four years and the last to repeat, these Patriots established a record by winning 21 games in a row, a streak initiated by the 2003 crew.

30. 2000 Ravens (won Super Bowl XXXV): Their dominion is all the more impressive considering they didn't win the AFC Central nor averaged 21 points a week. Naturally, defense was the story of this team, which allowed just 10.3 points per game, fewest since the schedule expanded to 16 games in 1978. In four playoff wins, Baltimore ceded a meager 23 points, and Super Bowl MVP Ray Lewis' crew pitched a shutout against the Giants (New York's points came off a kickoff return).

31. 1929 Packers (won NFL title): Coach Curly Lambeau's bunch didn't lose — not even Lombardi managed that feat — finishing 12-0-1, allowing just 22 points all year and winning their games by an average margin of 14.7 at a time when points were at a premium.

32. 1976 Raiders (won Super Bowl XI): Though their 13-1 record suggests a cakewalk, Oakland scuffled through the first part of the season, even suffering a 31-point loss at New England. But the Silver & Black peaked late, rolling over Minnesota's "Purple People Eaters" 32-14 in the Super Bowl.

33. 1940 Bears (won NFL title): The original Monsters of the Midway, using the T-formation, heralded their arrival by thrashing rival Washington 73-0 in the championship round for the biggest blowout in NFL history.

34. 2002 Buccaneers (won Super Bowl XXXVII): Using their famed "Tampa 2" defense — with help from first-year coach Jon Gruden — the Bucs notched their only title with a thorough Super Bowl defeat of the Raiders, whom Gruden coached the previous year. Tampa Bay picked off league MVP Rich Gannon five times, three of those swipes of the pick-six variety.

35. 1997 Broncos (won Super Bowl XXXII): They didn't win the AFC West but did finally notch the franchise's first championship, exacting playoff revenge on Jacksonville before Elway, Davis and Co. dethroned Favre's Packers.

36. 1941 Bears (won NFL title): Chicago defended its crown, winning 12 of 13 games, including playoff blowouts of the Packers and Giants by a combined score of 70-23. The '42 Bears were statistically even better, but World War II had begun gutting the league by then.

37. 1948 Eagles (won NFL title): Their first-ever crown came in a blizzard, Van Buren's fourth-quarter TD providing the only points in a 7-0 whitewash of the Cardinals.

38. 1998 Vikings (lost NFC Championship Game): They went 15-1 in the regular season, posted a then-record 556 points and struck fear into opponents with Hall of Fame WRs Cris Carter and Moss, then a breakout rookie. However all-pro K Gary Anderson's infamous FG miss opened the door for an Atlanta upset in the NFC title game.

39. 1976 Steelers (lost AFC Championship Game): There's never been a Super Bowl three-peat, but they almost pulled it off despite losing Bradshaw for a chunk of the season and, worse, seeing both their 1,000-yard rushers (Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier) injured in the divisional round of the playoffs. Still, an argument this was the best team of the Steel Curtain era, the defense blanking five opponents and allowing fewer than 10 points per game.

40. 2014 Patriots (won Super Bowl XLIX): Lombardi No. 4 arrived 10 years after Lombardi No. 3. But New England ended its mini-drought in dramatic fashion, rookie DB Malcolm Butler snuffing Seattle's repeat bid with his goal-line pick of Russell Wilson.

41. 1979 Steelers (won Super Bowl XIV): The Steel Curtain labored for its fourth and final Super Bowl victory against a 9-7 Rams team before pulling away in the fourth quarter.

42. 1977 Cowboys (won Super Bowl XII): Doomsday II showed up in the Super Bowl, forcing eight Denver turnovers. D-linemen Harvey Martin and Randy White are the only players to share Super Bowl MVP honors. Dallas' average margin of victory in postseason was 21.3 points.

43. 1983 Raiders (won Super Bowl XVIII): They were very good in the regular season, going 12-4, but hit the afterburners in the playoffs, winning three games by an average of 24.3 points, dismantling a Redskins squad in the Super Bowl that had the makings of greatness. The only team to bring a Lombardi Trophy to Los Angeles.

44. 1964 Browns (won NFL title): Cleveland's lone championship since 1955 and the only time legendary Jim Brown won a ring, this team embarrassed Unitas' Colts 27-0 for the crown.

45. 1993 Cowboys (won Super Bowl XXVIII): Virtually unstoppable once Smith ended his two-game holdout. He went on to win league and Super Bowl MVP honors.

46. 2010 Packers (won Super Bowl XLV): Their fourth Super Bowl victory came via a wild-card playoff run as QB Aaron Rodgers officially emerged from Favre's shadow.

47. 2013 Broncos (lost Super Bowl XLVIII): The only team to top 600 points (606), courtesy largely of Manning's record 5,477 yards and 55 TDs through the air. However they're forever tainted for getting smoked by Seattle in the Super Bowl.

48. 1992 49ers (lost NFC Championship Game): With Montana mothballed, Young blossomed, leading the Niners to a 14-2 finish. Probably the best San Francisco team not to win the Super Bowl.

49. 1961 Oilers (won AFL title): They won the AFL's first two championships, the only pro football crowns ever earned by this franchise (now the Titans) or in Houston. But the '61 Oilers stand out, the first team to score 500 points, a feat that wouldn't be surpassed for 22 years. Led by QB George Blanda, Houston won its final 10 games by an average of nearly 25 points.

50. 1934 Bears (lost NFL Championship Game): George Halas' charges swept through the regular season with a 13-0 record, winning by an average of 15.4 points. Chicago lost the title to the Giants, but probably safe to put an asterisk on that one — New York, the home team, got a delivery of sneakers at halftime that allowed the G-Men to better navigate a frozen field in what became known as the "Sneakers Game."

51. 1967 Packers (won Super Bowl II): The dynasty was winding down in Lombardi's final season but good enough to slip past Dallas in the legendary "Ice Bowl" before thrashing the AFL's Raiders for Green Bay's fifth championship in seven seasons — and effectively a three-peat given the Pack also won the 1965 NFL title.

52. 1963 Chargers (won AFL title): Still the only championship in franchise history, innovative coach Sid Gillman's electric Bolts exceeded 50 points three times, including a 51-10 rout of the Patriots for the crown. Worth wondering if San Diego could have beaten the '63 Bears, NFL champs that year.

53. 1995 Cowboys (won Super Bowl XXX): The first time a club won the Super Bowl three times in four years. Glitz beyond the Triplets with Sanders' arrival.

54. 1964 Bills (won AFL title): Yes, Buffalo actually owns championships, its '64 team on the front end of back-to-back AFL crowns. QB Jack Kemp and FB Cookie Gilchrist were among the headliners.

55. 1952 Lions (won NFL title): Yes, Detroit was once relevant, too, winning three championships in the '50s. This was easily the best of the teams quarterbacked by Hall of Famer Bobby Layne, who later "cursed" the franchise following his 1958 trade to Pittsburgh.

56. 1967 Raiders (lost Super Bowl II): Thoroughly dominant on road to AFL crown, going 13-1 before embarrassing Houston 40-7 for the championship. But Oakland was no match for the fading Packers, losing the Super Bowl 33-14.

57. 1969 Vikings (lost Super Bowl IV): Like the Colts the previous year, they were expected to cruise to a title. But Minnesota, boasting what was probably the fiercest edition of the "Purple People Eaters," suffered the first of its four Super Bowl setbacks in an eight-year span.

58. 1983 Redskins (lost Super Bowl XVIII): They scored 541 points in the regular season, a record that stood for 15 years, but were shockingly thrashed by the Raiders while striving for a Super Bowl repeat.

59. 1990 Giants (won Super Bowl XXV): Bold coaching from Bill Parcells and great relief pitching from Jeff Hostetler — Simms went down with a broken foot in Week 15 — allowed New York to upset San Francisco and Buffalo on the way to its second Super Bowl win in five seasons.

60. 2003 Patriots (won Super Bowl XXXVIII): They went 14-2, yet eight of their wins were by only one score. That trend continued in the Super Bowl, when New England survived Carolina 32-29.

61. 1981 49ers (won Super Bowl XVI): Vaulted by "The Catch" — Montana to Dwight Clark — in the NFC Championship Game vanquishing of Dallas, a relative group of unknowns brought home the first of San Francisco's five titles in a 14-season stretch.

62. 2005 Steelers (won Super Bowl XL): They didn't look nearly as impressive in the regular season as the previous year's 15-1 squad. But the wild-card Steelers (11-5), helped by some playoff luck (Carson Palmer's injury, Mike Vanderjagt's missed FG, Jerome Bettis' goal-line fumble in Indianapolis, favorable Super Bowl officiating against Seattle) sent the Bus into the sunset in style.

63. 2011 Patriots (lost Super Bowl XLVI): Would Gronkowski have snared Brady's Hail Mary for a Super Bowl miracle had the star tight end not been saddled with a high ankle sprain? What if wide-open WR Wes Welker hadn't dropped that pass with room to run and just four minutes to go? We'll never know. If only TB12 could throw to himself, right Gisele?

64. 1978 Cowboys (lost Super Bowl XIII): If only Hall of Fame TE Jackie Smith had held on to what would have been a TD, Dallas might have salvaged a Super Bowl split with the Steelers and staked its own claim as team of the '70s.

65. 1963 Bears (won NFL title): The franchise owns nine titles, but the '85 Bears and this team have the only ones since 1946. Aside from TE Ditka, not much star power here. If you guessed their quarterback was Billy Wade, you're more than ready for NFL "Jeopardy!"

66. 2012 Patriots (lost AFC Championship Game): Only New England's '07 team had a higher point differential in franchise history than this group, which outscored the opposition by 226 points. But they got their doors blown off at home in an AFC title rematch against the Ravens.

67. 2005 Colts (lost divisional round): This had the look of a history-making squad after dominant 13-0 start. But Indy lost three of its final four — coach Tony Dungy's son committed suicide during that stretch — the final dagger coming when Vanderjagt shanked a game-tying field-goal attempt in the final seconds of a 21-18 home playoff loss to Pittsburgh.

68. 1988 49ers (won Super Bowl XXIII): Compensated for forgettable regular season (10-6 record) by smoking Minnesota and Chicago in NFC playoff bracket by combined 62-12 score before Montana engineered signature 92-yard drive to oust Bengals in Super Bowl's final minute.

69. 1974 Steelers (won Super Bowl IX): Aided by the finest rookie class ever (Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Mike Webster and Donnie Shell), they brought home Pittsburgh's first championship by suffocating Minnesota.

70. 2018 Patriots (won Super Bowl LIII): Methodical march to record-tying sixth Lombardi Trophy largely lacked flair and wound up being the final season (presumably) for flamboyant Gronk.

71. 2008 Steelers (won Super Bowl XLIII): QB Ben Roethlisberger and WR Santonio Holmes salvaged ring No. 6 for Pittsburgh, though struggling to beat lightly regarded Arizona in a highly entertaining Super Bowl probably cost this defense a place in the pantheon.

72. 2001 Patriots (won Super Bowl XXXVI): Despite Brady's magical debut as a starter, including controversial "Tuck Rule" win over Oakland in the playoffs, no one gave them a shot against St. Louis. Oops. A brilliant game plan from Bill Belichick, effective game management from TB12, and Adam Vinatieri's clutch kick launched a dynasty no one foresaw.

73. 2007 Giants (won Super Bowl XLII): They overcame ugly 0-2 start to notch a wild-card berth, a path that culminated with epic upset of previously undefeated Patriots. David Tyree's "Helmet Catch" became one of the league's signature moments.

74. 2001 Rams (lost Super Bowl XXXVI): The only team in franchise history to win 14 games, they were on the cusp of dynasty status before getting ambushed by New England's nascent juggernaut.

75. 2015 Broncos (won Super Bowl 50): Manning missed six games, limping through his final season, but outdueled Brady for the AFC crown. Super Bowl MVP Von Miller closed the deal with an epic performance (2½ sacks, 2 forced fumbles) against Carolina.

76. 2005 Seahawks (lost Super Bowl XL): Running behind arguably the best offensive line duo ever (LT Walter Jones, LG Steve Hutchinson), MVP Shaun Alexander (then-record 28 TDs) sparked a team that probably didn't get the recognition it deserved. Seattle certainly didn't get the officiating crew it deserved in its Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh.

77. 1984 Dolphins (lost Super Bowl XIX): Considering when he did it, Marino's 5,084-yard, 48-TD pass season may still rank as the most impressive ever. But Miami (14-2) was routed by San Francisco in what turned out to be Marino's lone Super Bowl.

78. 1990 Bills (lost Super Bowl XXV): Probably the best of the Buffalo teams that won four consecutive AFC titles, these "K-Gun" Bills also came closest to Super Bowl glory. But K Scott Norwood was just wide right on his team's final play in a 20-19 defeat.

79. 1968 Raiders (lost AFL Championship Game): Statistically, the reigning AFL champs stacked up better when compared to the famed '68 Jets, whom Oakland beat that year in the infamous "Heidi Game." But unlike New York, the Raiders were forced to endure a Western Division playoff against a stout Chiefs team. Namath and Co. eked out the playoff rematch at Shea Stadium the following Sunday before pulling off their Super Bowl stunner.

80. 2015 Panthers (lost Super Bowl 50): Guided by MVP Cam Newton, Carolina's best squad steamrolled to a 15-1 record before being thrashed by Denver's defense.

81. 2017 Patriots (lost Super Bowl LII): They went toe to toe with Philly in one of the most entertaining Super Bowls ever before Brady blinked, suffering a decisive strip sack in the final minutes.

82. 2011 Saints (lost divisional round): Brees fired off 46 TD passes and a then-record 5,476 passing yards for, by the numbers anyway, what was New Orleans' best team ever (franchise-record 547 points and 208-point differential to go with 13-3 ledger). The club was largely overshadowed by the 15-1 Packers in 2011 but had a much better, if more heartbreaking postseason, losing a 36-32 barnburner in San Francisco.

83. 1975 Vikings (lost divisional round): Perhaps league MVP Fran Tarkenton's best team, Minnesota exited the playoffs in jaw-dropping fashion, victimized by Staubach's famous Hail Mary to Drew Pearson.

84. 1966 Chiefs (lost Super Bowl I): The AFL's initial Super Bowl entry, Kansas City hung tough with the Packers for a half before getting overrun 35-10.

85. 2006 Chargers (lost divisional round): MVP LaDainian Tomlinson led Bolts to franchise record 14-2 regular season, LT piling up single-season record 31 TDs. But the ride ended in frustration with a home playoff loss to the Patriots, Tomlinson angrily storming off the turf feeling New England players disrespectfully celebrated on the Chargers' midfield logo.

86. 2011 Packers (lost divisional round): Rodgers reached full-blown superstardom in his first MVP season, leading the defending champions to a 13-0 start. But after a franchise-best 15-1 regular season, Green Bay lost at Lambeau in a 37-20 playoff flameout against the Giants.

87. 1968 Cowboys (lost divisional round): Probably the most dominant regular-season team in franchise history, their margin of victory in the regular season exceeded three touchdowns.

88. 1973 Rams (lost divisional round): They outscored the opposition by 210 points in the regular season, the highest differential by any of 52 L.A. Rams teams.

89. 1948 Cardinals (lost NFL title): Arguably the premier squad in this lackluster franchise's history, the then-Chicago Cardinals saw their bid for consecutive championships melt in that Philadelphia snowstorm.

90. 1982 Redskins (won Super Bowl XVII): They tied for the league lead in wins ... unfortunately, that meant just eight due to a player strike. Would have helped had they more easily handled a post-Griese, pre-Marino Miami club on Super Sunday.

91. 1981 Chargers (lost AFC Championship Game): Defensively challenged? Sure. But no team of the Don Coryell era put up points more relentlessly. Had the AFC title bout, aka the "Freezer Bowl," not been played in Cincinnati's minus-59 wind chill, these Bolts might have given San Diego an elusive Super Bowl breakthrough.

92. 2006 Colts (won Super Bowl XLI): By the standards of the Manning era, it was a rather middling outfit, expectations lowered by the league's worst run defense. But everything came together in postseason as the Colts finally knocked off Brady's Patriots before beating Chicago on a Super Sunday perhaps most memorable for the rain and Devin Hester's game-opening kickoff return TD.

93. 1980 Raiders (won Super Bowl XV): While welcoming the Iran hostages home, the Silver & Black became the first wild-card team to win the Super Bowl.

94. 1987 Redskins (won Super Bowl XXII): They'll be forever remembered for QB Doug Williams' watershed Super Bowl performance. But like Washington's '82 championship squad, this team's campaign was muddled by a strike, the 'Skins benefiting heavily from replacement players who spotted them three victories.

95. 2012 Ravens (won Super Bowl XLVII): A pedestrian 10-6 regular season was capped with a crown as QB Joe Flacco caught fire just in time to salvage Lewis' "last ride."

96. 1999 Jaguars (lost AFC Championship Game): Easily the best team in Jacksonville's brief history, they were 0-3 against Tennessee that year, but 14-0 against everyone else — not including a 62-7 playoff win against Miami in Marino's last game.

97. 1970 Colts (won Super Bowl V): A relatively uninspired regular season (11 wins, 11.3-point margin of victory) was capped by triumph in perhaps the ugliest of Super Bowls (Baltimore combined with Dallas to rack up 11 turnovers).

98. 2011 Giants (won Super Bowl XLVI): No Super Bowl champion has a less impressive résumé, New York the only one with fewer than 10 regular-season victories (9-7), and only one to be outscored during the regular season. But Eli Manning and Co. knocked off two exceptional teams ranked higher on this list (Packers and Patriots) on their way to the franchise's fourth Lombardi Trophy.

99. 1960 Eagles (won NFL title): Not especially imposing, their margin of victory in wins was just 9.8 points, not including a four-point escape in the championship game — the only playoff defeat ever served to the Lombardi Packers.

100. 1920 Akron Pros (won APFA title): May as well end at the beginning and acknowledge the inaugural champions of the league, then known as the American Professional Football Association (it was reflagged "NFL" in 1922). The Pros never lost in 1920, but did tie three times during their 11-game slate. With a playoff format non-existent at the time, they were actually awarded their crown during a league meeting on April 30, 1921 — old school. Final note: Akron surrendered seven points the entire season, pitching 10 shutouts.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.