Green Bay Packers and the 5 Deepest Teams in NFL History

Aside from their early troubles Sunday, the Green Bay Packers are clearly the strongest and deepest team in the NFL this season.

The question is, where do the Packers stack up against the best teams in NFL history in terms of top-to-bottom strength?

We won't know that until the end of the year, but here are five of the deepest, strongest and best teams the NFL has ever seen.

If the Packers can break into the Top 5, it will be a major accomplishment.

5. Montana and Young to Rice; 1987 49ers Could Move the Ball

The San Francisco 49ers were the dominant team in the NFL in the 1980s with wins in the Super Bowl following the 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989 seasons.

Of all those teams, perhaps none was better than the 1987 team, which didn’t win the Super Bowl despite a dominating 13-2 record (three of the 15 games were played by replacements during a 24-day strike).

San Francisco was led by Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, the man who developed the West Coast Offense that became the norm.

Walsh had two eventual Hall of Fame quarterbacks on that 1987 squad in Joe Montana, the starter, who had 31 TDs in a dozen games, and Steve Young, who’d been picked up after the 1986 season.

Wide receiver Jerry Rice, who might be the best ever at his position, had 22 catches in 12 games, twice as many touchdowns as any other receiver in the game that year.

Beyond that, there was another Hall of Fame player anchoring the defense in safety Ronnie Lott.

4. The 2004 Patriots Cap Super Bowl Run with Depth and Balance

The turn of the century saw the fortunes turn for the New England Patriots, who won Super Bowl titles at the end of the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The 2004 team was one of the deepest and most talented ever put together, led by quarterback Tom Brady and running back Corey Dillon, who came over in an off-season trade with Cincinnati and ran for 1,635 yards as the Patriots went 14-2 in the regular season.

The Patriots’ offense got all the headlines while the defense got all the headaches, including injuries to starting cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole, but the team was able to get step-up performances from Asante Samuel, Randall Gay and converted wide receiver Troy Brown and kept on winning.

Linebacker Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and strong safety Rodney Harrison were able to take much of the pressure off the replacement cornerbacks en route to a 24-21 Super Bowl win over Philadelphia.

3. A Monster Offense in Dallas in 1992 Was Matched by the Defense

The team that broke the San Francisco 49ers’ stranglehold on dominance in the NFC in the 1990s was the Dallas Cowboys.

And the best Cowboys team of all might have been the 1992 squad that went 13-3 in the regular season, beat the 49ers in the NFC championship game, then obliterated the Buffalo Bulls 52-17 in the Super Bowl.

The offense was a monster, led by quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin, each of whom was among the best of his generation at his position.

Dallas that year was the owner of a powerful defense, twice holding teams to under 100 yards total and finishing first in the NFL in total defense. Despite that, the Cowboys didn’t send one defensive player to the Pro Bowl.

2. Perfection Was the Trademark of the 1972 Dolphins

To this point, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only NFL team to have posted a perfect record (17-0) resulting in a Super Bowl win.

This was a team that was so loaded that when quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle in Week 5 and didn’t play for the rest of the regular season, the Dolphins refused to slow down. Earl Morrall, a veteran backup, just had to hand the ball off to running backs Larry Czonka, Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick, with Czonka and Morris becoming the first running backs on the same team to both run for 1,000 yards in the same season. Come the playoffs, Griese returned and kept perfection intact.

The top wide receiver was Hall of Famer Paul Warfield; the offensive line had two more Hall of Famers, Jim Langer and Larry Little, not to mention Hall of Fame coach Don Shula.

The so-called "No-Name Defense’" in fact was loaded with major talent, including linebacker Nick Buoniconti, end Bill Stanfill, tackle Manny Fernandez and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott.

1. A Steel Curtain and an Awesome Offense in Pittsburgh in 1975

The Pittsburgh Steelers had always been a second-tier team until the 1970s, when a series of great draft picks turned the Steelers into a dominant force in the NFL-best team of the 1970s.

And while the 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979 Steelers' teams all won Super Bowls, it was the 1975 team that perhaps possessed the most overall talent at the top of its game.

Leading the offense were quarterback Terry Bradshaw, running back Franco Harris and wide receiver Lynn Swann, who would wind up as MVP of the Super Bowl after a 12-2 regular season for Pittsburgh.

On defense, tackle Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood and linebackers Jack Ham and Andy Russell all made the Pro Bowl. And while defensive back Mel Blount didn’t get a Pro Bowl nod, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year as well as being named the team’s MVP.

Lest we forget, there was one other big name that emerged in 1975. That was Pittsburgh’s famed Terrible Towel, which made its first appearance after team broadcaster Myron Cope suggested fans might want to bring yellow dishtowels to a playoff game against the Baltimore Colts and wave them in support of the Steelers.