Best NFL teams of the 21st century? The top choice is obvious

Before he was a television analyst, the target of a Netflix roast, or Gisele Bündchen's fiancee, Tom Brady was the centripetal force of an NFL dynasty. But where do the New England Patriots rank compared to the greatest sports franchises of the 2000s?

That was the question Bleacher Report sought to answer in a list ranking the greatest franchises (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) of the last quarter-century. With nine Super Bowl appearances and six titles, the New England Patriots were an easy choice for the best NFL team on the list.

As it turns out, when you compare the Brady/Bill Belichick dynasty years to those of any other major professional sports team in North America, it holds up pretty well. Only the Los Angeles Lakers — the number-2 team on the list — can match New England's six championships this century. And the Patriots have the vastly superior regular-season winning percentage to L.A. (.680 to .551).

So it is that the Patriots landed the number-1 spot on the unofficial list of "the 25 Greatest Sports Franchises of the Last Quarter Century."

The Patriots were more than a head coach and star quarterback while averaging 12.2 wins per season from 2001-19. But the consistency of the two figureheads looks even more remarkable considering how fleeting success was for the other NFL teams on B-R's list.

The Kansas City Chiefs (#7) have been a worthy successor to the Patriots' dynasty in six years with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. But from 1999 to 2012, they went 98-126 in the regular season and failed to win a playoff game.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (#10) haven't finished with a sub-.500 record in a regular season since 2003, but haven't won a playoff game since 2016 and haven't been in a Super Bowl since 2010.

The Baltimore Ravens (#12) successfully transitioned from Brian Billick to John Harbaugh, and Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson. Their only two Super Bowl appearances (in 2000 and 2012) resulted in wins, raising the stakes for Jackson and Harbaugh to deliver in short order, which would vault them up the list.

The Indianapolis Colts (#19) and Green Bay Packers (#17) also made this list. That's largely on the strength of four quarterbacks (Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck in Indianapolis) who are all either retired or should be. They have some work to do to stay on this list much longer.

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