The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just win Super Bowl LIX. They demolished the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs to do so. The 41-22 final score hardly indicates just how lopsided the championship matchup really was. And that’s not even mentioning how easily the Eagles disposed of the Washington Commanders in the preceding conference title clash, which saw Philly drop 55 points on its rival. There’s just no way around it: The Eagles were a machine.
And now one of the cogs of that machine, reigning Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley, believes the Birds should be memorialized accordingly. Addressing fellow Super Bowl champions Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship on their “Exciting Mics” podcast this week, the star running back said he “firmly believes” the 2024 Eagles are a “top-five team of all time” thanks to their emphatic championship run.
Is Barkley accurate? Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, of course, but is Saquon’s suggestion even reasonable? Here’s how we’d rank the top five clubs in NFL history, and why the Eagles do — or don’t — belong among the most legendary teams to ever take the field:
Top 5 NFL teams of all time
5. 1992 Dallas Cowboys
The youngest team in the NFL at the time, these Cowboys boasted not only Hall of Fame “Triplets” in Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, but a world-class offensive line and defense. A 13-3 finish paved the way for a legendary postseason, when Aikman outdueled Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers, then helped Dallas steamroll the Buffalo Bills, 52-17, in Super Bowl XXVII.
Ranking every Super Bowl champion since 2000: 2024 Eagles take top spot thanks to dominant win over Chiefs
Bryan DeArdo
4. 1984 San Francisco 49ers
Still the best team, record-wise, in 49ers history, this group went 15-1 under coach Bill Walsh, with Joe Montana establishing himself as one of the game’s most clutch quarterbacks to ever sling the rock. The playoffs were even better: San Francisco shut out Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game, then dominated Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins for a 38-16 Super Bowl win.
3. 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers
A who’s who of all-timers, the ’78 Steelers featured a whopping 10 future Hall of Famers, including Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, John Stallworth and “Steel Curtain” defensive icons like “Mean” Joe Greene, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount. Bradshaw was electric, tossing 28 scores to win MVP, but Pittsburgh’s nasty physicality — which still defines the franchise to this day — led to Super Bowl XIII triumph.
2. 1985 Chicago Bears
Anytime anyone lauds an NFL team’s defense, the ’85 Bears inevitably resurface as a reference point. There’s a reason for it. Mike Ditka and coordinator Buddy Ryan oversaw arguably the most suffocating “D” to ever roam grass, with pass rusher Richard Dent ultimately winning Super Bowl MVP in a 46-10 blowout of the New England Patriots. The team finished ranked No. 1 in basically every defensive category.
1. 1972 Miami Dolphins
How can you argue against perfection? The 2007 Patriots may have gone unbeaten in the regular season, but the Dolphins went the distance in their spotless stretch, finishing 17-0, including playoffs, under Don Shula. A masterclass in teamwork, the Dolphins briefly lost their starting quarterback and used a “No-Name Defense,” but dominated on the ground with a pair of 1,000-yard championship rushers.
Where do the 2024 Eagles rank?
As you can see, we wouldn’t slot them in among the NFL’s top five all-timers. Could they give one of the aforementioned teams a run for their money? Maybe. Maybe not. A more reasonable ranking for the 2024 Eagles is probably somewhere between Nos. 10-20 of all time.
There’s no perfect science for comparing different greats from different eras, but recency bias shouldn’t mask the fact there’ve been a lot of truly magnificent teams over the years. The 1966 Green Bay Packers won the first Super Bowl under Vince Lombardi. The 1986 New York Giants had an unceasing wrecking ball in Lawrence Taylor. The 1999 Los Angeles Rams were the “Greatest Show on Turf” with a track-team offense. Would the 2024 Eagles have beaten those teams? Again, it’s debatable.
We can say, however, that the Eagles deserve some kind of recognition among the best to ever do it, whether you call them the 12th-best or 22nd-best team of all time. Barkley’s 2,000-yard rushing campaign was historic behind an unprecedently supersized offensive line. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was best in the brightest spots. And Vic Fangio’s defense completely stymied the back-to-back champion Chiefs on the biggest stage. By the end of the year, they felt inevitable, and the results bore that out.
The Eagles’ first Super Bowl-winning team (2017) was perhaps more magical in its glory, defying the odds with a backup quarterback, overlooked coach and injury-battered lineup to upset Tom Brady and the Patriots dynasty. The Eagles’ latest title team was simply more authoritative, translating premium talent at basically every premium position to unequivocal victory when it mattered most.
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