NFL Franchise Rankings – Following the 2019 Season:
↑ = Moved up in ranking; ↓ = Moved down in ranking; as a result of the 2018 NFL season. The “X points gained” refers to how many points each franchise added from the previous season.
1. Green Bay Packers: 786 Points (18 points gained)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers: 680 Points (16 points gained)
3. New York Giants: 658 Points (8 points gained)
4. Chicago Bears: 636 Points (16 points gained)
5. Dallas Cowboys: 626 Points (8 points gained)
6. San Francisco 49ers: 584 Points (20 points gained)
7. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts: 530 Points (8 points gained)
8. New England Patriots: 524 Points (14 points gained)
9. Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams: 516 Points (8 points gained)
10. Boston/Washington “Redskins”: 500 Points (0 points gained)
11. Minnesota Vikings: 444 Points (12 points gained)
12. Cleveland Browns: 438 Points (8 points gained)
13. Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders: 420 Points (0 points gained)
14. Denver Broncos: 406 Points (8 points gained)
15. Philadelphia Eagles: 400 Points (18 points gained)
16. Miami Dolphins: 362 Points (0 points gained)
17. (TIE) Detroit Lions: 322 Points (8 points gained)
17. (TIE) Kansas City Chiefs: 322 Points (40 points gained; rose one spot)↑
19. Buffalo Bills: 254 Points (4 points gained)
20. Seattle Seahawks: 232 Points (4 points gained)
21. Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans: 216 Points (4 points gained; rose one spot)↑
22. (TIE) Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals: 212 Points (0 points gained)
22. (TIE) San Diego Chargers: 212 Points (0 points gained)
24. Baltimore Ravens: 194 Points (16 points gained)
25. New Orleans Saints: 178 (14 points gained)
26. Cincinnati Bengals: 154 Points (0 points gained)
28. New York Jets: 146 Points (8 points gained; rose two spots)↑
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 142 Points (0 points gained)
28. Atlanta Falcons: 138 Points (0 points gained)
30. Carolina Panthers: 102 Points (0 points gained)
31. Houston Texans: 62 Points (10 points gained)
32. Jacksonville Jaguars: 46 Points (0 points gained)
This will always be the ranking of every franchise following the first 100 years of NFL football. Let this ranking soak in, people.
And if your favorite team is ranked 21-32 and isn’t a young franchise, such as less than 40 years old… you root for a bottom feeder. Sorry. But that’s okay, at least you have an NFL team to root for on Sundays. Most of human history didn’t have that luxury!
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Using their Super Bowl victory to propel them up the rankings, the Kansas City Chiefs have now tied the Detroit Lions in all-time points, good for 17th all-time in NFL history. Their 40 points were the most by any team this year. They’re poised to rise up this list quickly and they’re the likely bet to be the next franchise to hit 400 points all-time.
The Philadelphia Eagles hit the 400 point plateau following the 2019 NFL season. The Baltimore Ravens continue their climb up the all-time list, despite being one of the youngest teams in the NFL. With Lamar Jackson leading them, there are at least five teams they could catch and surpass in the coming years if they continue their success.
Because of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s “Centennial Class”, which added 15 more names to The Hall, there were a lot more points to be added in this season than ever before. With that said, for the most part the rich got richer. The top NFL franchises banked more points due to these players being added to Canton, for the most part.
The Miami Dolphins continue their stagnant standing on this list. They’ll continue to fall, it seems. The San Francisco 49ers used their trip to the big game to add a substantial amount of points, they’re gunning for the Cowboys and a top five spot all-time in NFL history.
The Cleveland Browns rank much higher than most people would assume, but their history is actually quite plentiful. These are facts, people. Many would probably also assume that the Miami Dolphins would have been ranked higher than they are, but their glory years could only carry them so far. Maybe if Dan Marino had delivered a ring or two… but I digress.
These are the types of misconceptions we were seeking to enlighten NFL fans about.
People’s perceptions are often incorrect. It’s cool to see NFL history laid out in an unbiased way. This way thoughtful conversations can be had without the passions of fandom clouding people’s judgements.
We repeat: what this ranking shows us is that the NFL Franchise Mount Rushmore (after 100 years of the league’s existence) is as follows:
Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and the Chicago Bears.
This will always be the NFL’s four most successful franchises of the first 100 years of NFL football.
These four historic franchises are closely followed by the Cowboys, 49ers, Colts and Patriots. Is there anyone on earth that would disagree that these are the eight most historic franchises in NFL history? I don’t think so. So, obviously there’s a lot of meat on this bone. The formula works. So excited to see how the next few decades unfold.
Thanks for going through this deep historical piece of NFL history with us. Man, this league is fun as hell to cover.
Duplication of, or the referencing of, this formula and subsequent rankings without citing PackersHistory.com, or at least hyperlinking back to this article, is not prohibited. We own this formula, its usage, philosophy and likeness.
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