New England Patriots

WhatIfSports Super Bowl power rankings: comparing the Patriots to past champions

Published Feb. 10, 2017 2:21 p.m. ET

Once again, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are NFL champions. The duo delivered a Super Bowl title to the New England Patriots for the fifth time during their tenure. Before enjoying a well-deserved offseason, we have a couple more challenges for Belichick, Brady and company…

How do the 2016 Patriots compare to the franchise’s Super Bowl champions of 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2014? Using WhatIfSports.com’s NFL simulation engine, we played a round robin tournament with every New England championship-winner. Every team in the tourney played every other team 101 times. Check out how the squads fared:

Ranking Every New England Super Bowl Champ
Rnk	Team	Win %	Avg PF	Avg PA	Simulate
1	2014 New England Patriots	63.0	27.7	22.9	Sim >
2	2004 New England Patriots	62.4	26.2	22.1	Sim >
3	2003 New England Patriots	54.4	23.0	21.0	Sim >
4	2016 New England Patriots	49.6	24.5	24.6	Champs!
5	2001 New England Patriots	20.6	17.9	28.7	Sim >

New England’s latest edition won nearly 50 percent of its games, which ranked fourth in the five-team field. The 2014 team narrowly edged the Patriots’ 2004 winner for the best winning percentage in the tournament, coming out on top in 63.0 percent of contests. Unsurprisingly, the 2014 Patriots were also the highest-scoring team in the simulation, averaging 27.7 points. The title of best defense went to the 2003 team, which held opponents to 21.0 points per game.

The Patriots’ dynasty began with the 2001 team, but the other squads showed no respect for their elders in the tournament. The 2001 Patriots won just 20.6 percent of their games, with a -10.8 scoring margin.

Next, we used the same format to see how the 2016 Patriots stack up against every other Super Bowl champion in NFL history. Every team in the field played every other team 101 times. Here’s how they finished:

Ranking Every Super Bowl Champion
Rnk	Team	Win %	Avg PF	Avg PA	Simulate
1	1999 St. Louis Rams	77.6	30.7	20.4	Sim >
2	1989 San Francisco 49ers	69.8	28.3	21.7	Sim >
3	2013 Seattle Seahawks	67.3	25.7	19.6	Sim >
4	1991 Washington Redskins	63.9	26.5	21.6	Sim >
5	1985 Chicago Bears	63.7	24.4	19.6	Sim >
6	1996 Green Bay Packers	61.6	24.7	20.9	Sim >
7	1984 San Francisco 49ers	61.5	27.6	23.3	Sim >
8	1971 Dallas Cowboys	61.1	25.0	21.0	Sim >
9	2009 New Orleans Saints	60.7	28.8	25.2	Sim >
10	1994 San Francisco 49ers	59.5	25.6	22.6	Sim >
11	1993 Dallas Cowboys	58.7	26.9	23.8	Sim >
12	1998 Denver Broncos	58.5	26.6	23.5	Sim >
13	2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers	57.7	21.8	19.5	Sim >
14	2005 Pittsburgh Steelers	57.2	23.7	21.2	Sim >
15	1972 Miami Dolphins	56.4	25.7	22.7	Sim >
16	1979 Pittsburgh Steelers	56.0	24.9	22.6	Sim >
17	2014 New England Patriots	54.9	26.0	24.9	Sim >
18	2010 Green Bay Packers	54.3	24.9	23.4	Sim >
19	1992 Dallas Cowboys	53.4	24.0	22.7	Sim >
20	1975 Pittsburgh Steelers	52.6	23.6	22.5	Sim >
21	1973 Miami Dolphins	51.7	22.9	21.6	Sim >
22	1977 Dallas Cowboys	50.6	21.7	21.2	Sim >
23	1987 Washington Redskins	50.5	25.0	24.9	Sim >
24	1976 Oakland Raiders	50.1	24.7	24.7	Sim >
25	2011 New York Giants	49.9	26.0	26.2	Sim >
26	2004 New England Patriots	49.3	24.4	24.8	Sim >
27	1988 San Francisco 49ers	49.3	23.7	24.0	Sim >
28	1997 Denver Broncos	49.1	25.1	25.6	Sim >
29	1969 Kansas City Chiefs	48.9	21.8	22.1	Sim >
30	2008 Pittsburgh Steelers	48.5	20.2	20.7	Sim >
31	2012 Baltimore Ravens	47.7	24.0	25.1	Sim >
32	1995 Dallas Cowboys	47.4	24.2	25.1	Sim >
33	2003 New England Patriots	46.7	20.6	21.6	Sim >
34	1978 Pittsburgh Steelers	46.4	20.7	21.9	Sim >
35	2006 Indianapolis Colts	44.0	26.3	28.6	Sim >
36	1968 New York Jets	43.7	21.4	23.4	Sim >
37	2000 Baltimore Ravens	43.5	19.8	22.0	Sim >
38	1974 Pittsburgh Steelers	43.4	19.9	21.8	Sim >
39	2016 New England Patriots	43.4	22.6	25.3	Champs!
40	1966 Green Bay Packers	43.3	20.4	21.9	Sim >
41	1982 Washington Redskins	43.3	20.9	23.4	Sim >
42	1986 New York Giants	42.7	21.1	23.7	Sim >
43	1983 Los Angeles Raiders	42.0	21.2	24.3	Sim >
44	2015 Denver Broncos	42.0	21.3	24.3	Sim >
45	1990 New York Giants	41.5	19.9	23.0	Sim >
46	2007 New York Giants	36.2	20.4	25.7	Sim >
47	1981 San Francisco 49ers	34.3	19.1	24.5	Sim >
48	1980 Oakland Raiders	31.8	18.3	24.6	Sim >
49	1967 Green Bay Packers	29.6	18.5	25.5	Sim >
50	1970 Baltimore Colts	27.5	17.8	25.7	Sim >
51	2001 New England Patriots	25.3	18.0	27.6	Sim >

The 2016 Patriots won 43.4 percent of their games, good enough for a 39th out of 51 teams. Just like in the Patriots-only simulation, the 2014 team was the franchise’s best. That group only finished 17th, though, with 12 franchises having a least one team ranked higher than the 2014 Patriots.

The top team in the simulation was the Greatest Show on Turf. The 1999 St. Louis Rams averaged a simulation-best 30.7 points per game and won 77.6 percent of contests, nearly eight percentage points higher than the second-place 1989 San Francisco 49ers.

New England was joined by San Francisco and the Dallas Cowboys as franchises with five participants in the tournament, while the Pittsburgh Steelers had six. The 49ers placed three teams in the top 10, and the Cowboys had four in the top 25.

More: Super Bowl runner-up power rankings

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