The 78′ Steelers have to be considered here.
The Top Team Tournament is a project where I take every franchise’s best team (post-merger) and pit them against each other. This week I am analyzing the AFC North. In each blurb, I break down the team’s stats, successes, and (possible) failures. From now on, I will be including each player’s Approximate Value (AV), Pro Football Reference’s metric for a player’s value in their career. My goal is to give everyone a bit of background for each team while not diving deep into the histories of them. I will also do my best to not linger on possible heartbreak endings to these fantastic seasons. Along with my background, I will give my brief predictions for the teams in this tournament.
’78 Steelers – To begin, the Steelers were one of the hardest franchises to pick a “best team ever” for, but I chose the ’78 because I felt that they were the most well-rounded bunch of the entire dynasty. Led by a legendary defense with guys like Jack Lambert, “Mean” Joe Greene, and Mel Blount, it is easy to forget that the offense had an impressive résumé as well. Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, and Franco Harris put up the 5th best offense in the league that season, while the defense allowed just 12.2 PPG, good enough for first in the league. In the playoffs, the Steelers easily made it to the Super Bowl (33-10 Divisional vs Broncos, 34-5 vs Oilers), where the Roger Staubach led Cowboys put up a good fight, but fell just short (35-31 Pittsburgh).
| Terry Bradshaw QB | 2915 yds, 28 TDs, 20 Int, | Pro Bowl ’78, 1st Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 137 AV |
| Rocky Bleier RB | 633 yds, 5 TDs | 52 AV |
| Franco Harris FB | 1082 yds, 8 TDs | Pro Bowl ’78, 2nd Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 134 AV |
| Lynn Swann WR | 880 yds, 11 TDs | Pro Bowl ’78, 1st Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 73 AV |
| John Stallworth WR | 798 yds, 9 TDs | Hall of Fame, 102 AV |
| Mike Webster C | Pro Bowl ’78, 1st Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 163 AV | |
| L.C. Greenwood DE | 1 Fumble Recovery | Pro Bowl ’78, 101 AV |
| Joe Green DT | 5 Fumble Recoveries | Pro Bowl ’78, Hall of Fame, 137 AV |
| Jack Ham LB | 3 Ints, 2 FR | Pro Bowl ’78, 1st Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 148 AV |
| Jack Lambert MLB | 4 Ints, 2 FR | Pro Bowl ’78, 2nd Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 136 AV |
| Mel Blount CB | 4 Interceptions | Pro Bowl ’78, 2nd Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 134 AV |
| Ron Johnson CB | 4 Ints, 1 FR | 33 AV |
| Donnie Shell SS | 3 Ints, 5 FR | Pro Bowl ’78, 2nd Tm All-Pro, 120 AV |
These Steelers have all of the traits that legends are made of and I believe that they have a fantastic shot to reach the final round. I can see this team completely dismantling their opponents. However, this is a tournament and tournaments aren’t exciting without some upsets.
’86 Browns – The Browns are one of the most storied franchises in the NFL, unfortunately, all of their successes came pre-merger and this is a post-merger tournament. The 1986 Browns are the best Browns team since Super Bowl 1. This team was able to set a franchise record at 12-4, the best in the AFC that year. They began the playoffs by taking the Jets into double overtime, eventually winning 23-20. The tables were turned the next week when they lost to the Broncos 20-23 OT in the AFC Championship game.
| Bernie Kosar QB | 3854 yds, 17 TDs, 10 Ints | 80 AV |
| Kevin Mack FB | 665 yds, 10 TDs | 52 AV |
| Webster Slaughter WR | 577 yds, 4 TDs | 72 AV |
| Reggie Langhorne WR | 678 yds, 1 TD | 43 AV |
| Cody Risien RT | Pro Bowl ’86, 78 AV | |
| Bob Golic NT | Pro Bowl ’86, 96 AV | |
| Reggie Camp DE | 7 Sacks | 32 AV |
| Carl Hairston DE | 9 Sacks, 1 FR | 101 AV |
| Hanford Dixon CB | 5 Ints, 2 FR | Pro Bowl ’86, 1st Tm All-Pro, 80 AV |
| Chip Banks OLB | 4.5 Sacks, 2 FR | Pro Bowl ’86, 87 AV |
| Clay Matthews OLB | 1 Sack, 2 Ints | 137 AV |
| Frank Minnifield CB | 3 Ints, 2 FR | Pro Bowl ’86, 71 AV |
While this is the best post-merger Browns team, I do not believe that they have what it takes to go far in this tournament. In their year, they only managed to be 5th in points for and 11th in points against, mediocre in the Top Team Tournament.
’00 Ravens – In only their 5th season, the Ravens were able to create one of the most dynamic defenses in the history of the NFL. This was necessary, seeing as they had a sub-par quarterback situation with Tony Banks beginning the year and then Trent Dilfer finishing it. Beginning the season 5-4, the Ravens were able to turn it around and go undefeated through the Super Bowl (entered playoffs as Wild Card team). The defense put up 4 shutouts and allowed just 165 points in the season (the fewest in a sixteen-game season).
| Shannon Sharpe TE | 810 yds, 5 TDs | Hall of Fame, 104 AV |
| Jamal Lewis RB | 1364 yds, 6 TDs | 83 AV |
| Jonathan Ogden T | 2 Penalties, | Pro Bowl ’00, Hall of Fame, 1st Tm All-Pro, 122 AV |
| Rod Woodson S | 4 Ints, 2 FF, 67 Tkls | Pro Bowl ’00, Hall of Fame, 2nd Tm All-Pro, 192 AV |
| Ray Lewis LB | 2 Ints, 3 Sacks, 107 Tkls | Pro Bowl ’00, 1st Tm All Pro ’00, 223 AV |
| Peter Boulware LB | 2 FF, 7 Sacks, 33 Tkls | 70 AV |
| Chris McAlister CB | 4 Ints, 1 TD, 35 Tkls | 84 AV |
| Sam Adams DT | 2 Sacks, 23 Tkls | Pro Bowl ’00, 2nd Tm All-pro, 99 AV |
Although the defense is all-time great, I worry that the offense will be the downfall of this Ravens team in the tournament. Of all the Super Bowl winning QBs, Dilfer is among the bottom-dwellers and isn’t very exciting. Just like in real life, their games will have to be won by the defense.
’88 Bengals – The ’88 Bengals were actually a really good team that garnered a lot of attention in their year. They led the league in points for on the arm of QB Boomer Esiason, which helped hide the shortcomings of a middle-of-the-pack defense. This group beat the Seahawks 21-13 in the Divisional and beat the Bills 21-10 in the Conference Championship game. In the Super Bowl, they became another victim to Joe Montana 4th quarter magic, giving up 14 points and the lead. They lost the Super Bowl 20-16.
| Boomer Esiason QB | 3572 yds, 28 TDs, 14 Ints | 1st Tm All-Pro, Pro Bowl ’88, 136 AV |
| James Brooks RB | 1218 Total yds, 14 Total TDs | Pro Bowl ’88, 103 AV |
| Ickey Woods FB | 1265 Total yds, 15 Total TDs | 2nd Tm All-Pro, 19 AV |
| Eddie Brown WR | 1273 yds, 9 TDs | Pro Bowl ’88, 2nd Tm All-Pro, 66 AV |
| Anthony Munoz T | 1st Tm All-Pro, Hall of Fame, 174 AV | |
| Tim Krumrie NT | 3 FR, 3 Sacks, 152 Tkls | 1st Tm All-Pro, Pro Bowl ’88, 81 AV |
| David Fulcher SS | 3 Ints, 1 TD, 1.5 Sacks | Pro Bowl ’88, 2nd Tm All-Pro, 56 AV |
I consider this Bengals team a wild card in the tournament. They were nothing special on defense, but the offense is capable of keeping this team afloat. If a few things go right for them, I believe that the Bengals could go far and upset some “superior” teams.
This is part of an ongoing project that I have been and will be updating for the coming months. Let me know your predictions and any critiques I should make!
Next week I dive into the NFC East including the ’91 Redskins, ’04 Eagles, ’86 Giants, and ’93 Cowboys.
Thank you for stopping by and reading!
Devyn Smith Twitter: @smithdev002
Instagram: devyn5mith
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- AFC North
- Top Team Tournament’
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