The Best Team-Ups in Modern NFL History

We often think of NFL superstars as bigger-than-life giants who are able to dominate the game by themselves.

However, that's never the case. The greatest players in NFL history have always had the support of their teammates. Jim Brown is widely acknowledged as the greatest running back in the history of the game, but he couldn't have made his amazing runs if he hadn't had a brilliant group of offensive linemen in front of him.

Special teammates often share the headlines. In many cases, quarterback-wide receiver duos are the most obvious combinations. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice formed perhaps the most dangerous one-two punch, and it's hard to argue against the productivity and longevity of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison.

Other great combinations have also made their imprint on the NFL, but not all of them were of the QB-WR variety.

In this piece, we look at the best team-ups over the last 50 years.

QB Tom Brady-WR Randy Moss, New England Patriots

Best Year Together: 2007

Tom Brady: 398-of-578 for 4,806 yards with 50 TDs and eight interceptions

Randy Moss: 98 catches for 1,493 yards and 23 TDs

What made them great: The prolific numbers told the story during the New England Patriots' remarkable 2007 season. In addition to going undefeated until they got to the Super Bowl, the Patriots simply eviscerated most opponents with their explosive offense.

The combination of Brady and Moss was simply unstoppable that year. The New England offensive line did an excellent job of giving Brady the time and support he needed to get the ball downfield to Moss. Opposing defenses could not cover Moss because of his size, speed, intelligence and long reach.

Brady and Moss were on the same page, and a glimpse at the line of scrimmage between the quarterback and the wide receiver was often enough to produce a touchdown.

QB Peyton Manning-WR Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts

Best Year Together: 2004

Peyton Manning: 336-of-497 for 4,557 yards with 49 TDs and 10 interceptions

Marvin Harrison: 86 catches for 1,113 yards and 15 TDs

What made them great: While we selected the 2004 season as their best together, a case can be made for any of the eight seasons between 1999 and 2006. The Manning-Harrison duo was simply one of the top partnerships in league history.

Harrison was as good as any receiver over the last two decades at finding the soft spot in the defense, and Manning understood what Harrison was thinking. As a result, the quarterback often put the ball in a spot where only Harrison could catch it, and the receiver regularly put the ball away.

Harrison was not often a big run-after-the-catch guy, but he was able to find the end zone quite a bit in 2004. Harrison either caught the ball on the run, or made one quick cut before heading upfield.

The two were as consistent as a metronome, and the duo's play made the Indianapolis Colts an AFC powerhouse.

QB Joe Montana-WR Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers

Best Year Together: 1989

Joe Montana: 271-of-386 for 3,521 yards with 26 TDs and eight interceptions

Jerry Rice: 82 catches for 1,483 yards and 17 TDs

What made them great: Jerry Rice had several seasons in which he had more catches than he did in 1989, but his pairing with Joe Montana was simply overpowering for the San Francisco 49ers that season.

The Niners may have been at their best in their first season with George Seifert at the helm. The Niners were clearly the best team in the regular season, as they recorded a 14-2 mark, and they were just as dominant in the postseason.

They punished the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs before humiliating the Denver Broncos 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV in New Orleans. The great duo combined for the opening touchdown of that game, and it added two more scores before the game was over.

Opposing defenses knew there was little chance to stop the 49ers when Montana and Rice were on the field together, and the two made a point of proving it consistently throughout the 1989 season.

QB Jim Zorn-WR Steve Largent, Seattle Seahawks

Best Year Together: 1979

Jim Zorn: 285-of-505 for 3,661 yards with 20 TDs and 18 interceptions

Steve Largent: 66 catches for 1,237 yards and nine TDs

What made them great: The Seattle Seahawks put back-to-back 9-7 seasons together in 1978 and 1979 in just their third and fourth seasons in the NFL.

The key to their success was the pitch-and-catch combination of Zorn and Largent. Zorn did not have unfailing accuracy or overwhelming arm strength, but he was very athletic and could keep plays alive with his quick feet.

Whenever he was able to do so, Largent knew how to get open. Largent was a superb route-runner, and if he got his hands on the ball, he would nearly always find a way to catch it.

While Largent was just 5'11" and 187 pounds, he could make the tough catch in traffic. He didn't have a lot of speed, but he had great balance and was quicker than he was often given credit for. If the Seahawks were involved in a close game in the fourth quarter, Zorn-to-Largent was often the call. That allowed the inexperienced Seahawks to play exciting football and win more than their share in 1979.

DE Deacon Jones-DT Merlin Olsen, Los Angeles Rams

Best Year Together: 1968

Deacon Jones: 24.0 sacks (unofficial, because sacks were not kept as an NFL statistic before 1982)

Merlin Olsen: Anchored defense that allowed 112 points in 14-game season.

What made them great: These two Hall of Famers don't have official sack numbers associated with their names, but they keyed the Los Angeles Rams defense, as they formed the most devastating duo within the Rams' famed Fearsome Foursome defensive line.

Jones coined the term "sack" during the early years of his Hall of Fame career. His goal when he stepped on the field was to crush opposing quarterbacks, and do it with gusto.

"My main move was the head slap," he explained to me in a 2009 interview. "When I wanted to go inside, I would smack the tackle with my outside arm first and then my inside arm, and if I wanted to go to the outside, I did it just the opposite way. Nobody could stop me."

While Jones was a pass-rusher who could stop the run, Olsen was a responsible defensive tackle who made stopping the run his first priority. However, Olsen was anything but a one-dimensional player. He had superior quickness and could knife between the guard and tackle or guard and center and crush the quarterback.

Together, the duo of Jones and Olsen made moving the ball and scoring against the Rams a ridiculously difficult task. It's hard to find any two defensive linemen that ever did it better.

QB Steve Young-WR Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers

Best Year Together: 1994

Steve Young: 324-of-461 for 3,969 yards with 35 TDs and 10 interceptions

Jerry Rice: 112 catches for 1,499 yards and 13 TDs

What made them great: Jerry Rice had long proven his greatness well before Steve Young became the 49ers quarterback, but he continued to enhance his reputation once he started his partnership with the "other" 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback.

Young, of course, had to bide his time as the Niners' backup quarterback until the team made the decision to part company with Joe Montana. Once Young got the job, he was a remarkable performer who combined remarkable athleticism with passing accuracy, arm strength and the ability to understand which play would work best.

Quite often, that play was getting the ball downfield to Rice. The 1994 season was simply magical for the Niners. They rolled to a 13-3 record and capped off another sensational postseason run with a 49-26 victory over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. Young threw a record six TD passes in that game, and three of them were to Rice.

The victory provided the crowning moment to Young's career, as he famously got the monkey off his back in that win.

MLB Ray Lewis-SS Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens

Best Year Together: 2003

Ray Lewis: 161 tackles, six interceptions (one TD), two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 1.5 sacks

Ed Reed: 71 tackles, seven interceptions (one TD), one forced fumble, 1.0 sack

What made them great: Both Lewis and Reed had remarkable skill and talent, and these two formed one of the best defensive partnerships in NFL history. More than their physical talent, these two dominated because they were almost always in the perfect position to make plays and they competed with a level of enthusiasm that is rarely seen.

Lewis was the best middle linebacker in the game throughout the majority of his career because he had the speed and quickness to go sideline-to-sideline, and when he hit the ball-carrier, his goal was to separate him from the ball every time.

Reed was simply one of the most instinctive defensive backs in the history of the game. He excelled at strong safety in 2003 before moving to free safety later in his career. His ability to come up with interceptions and make big plays with the ball in his hands made Hall of Famers envious.

"I just wish I could have run with the ball like Ed Reed," Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott told me in an interview. "He ran like a running back or a wide receiver when he took the ball away. I wish I could have had that feeling when I played."

OG John "Hog" Hannah-OT Leon Gray, New England Patriots

Best Year Together: 1976

John Hannah: First-team All-Pro, Pro Bowl

Leon Gray: Second-team All-Conference, Pro Bowl

What made them great: There have been some wonderful blocking duos in the NFL, including Gene Upshaw and Art Shell of the Oakland Raiders, Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews of the Houston Oilers, Mike Webster and Jon Kolb of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Allen and Erik Williams of the Dallas Cowboys.

However, when it came to superb blocking technique and consistency, it's hard to imagine a better pair of blockers than left guard John Hannah and left tackle Leon Gray of the New England Patriots in the 1976 season.

The Patriots went 11-3 that year and they handed the Oakland Raiders their only loss in their first Super Bowl championship season. New England had a dynamic offense, and it was particularly effective on the ground. The Patriots ran for 2,948 yards and 24 touchdowns while averaging a remarkable 5.0 yards per carry.

The Pats had dependable running backs in Sam "Bam" Cunningham, Don Calhoun and Andy Johnson, but none of those players were superstars. They had huge holes to run through thanks to Hannah and Gray, and it was one of the most impressive performances ever from a pair of teammates on the offensive line.