OPINION

By Steve Greenberg

updated 4:05 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2008

The perfect 1972 Dolphins were led by six future Hall of Famers and a Hall of Fame coach, Don Shula. The pathetic 2007 Dolphins, led by one-and-done coach Cam Cameron, lost an NFL record-tying 15 games. And yet if the 2007 team were transported back in time to play the 1972 team, the mod squad probably would win by a score along the lines of, oh, 49-0.

Maybe you think that assessment is nuts, but I think you're goofy if you believe a team from 35 years ago could play a remotely competitive game in today's football world. Bigger plus stronger plus faster -- at virtually every position -- equals a massive, almost unimaginable mismatch.

So, yes, the 2007 Patriots obviously are the most evolved and advanced team in the history of the sport.

That being said, when you're assessing where a team ranks on the all-time greatness scale, you need to evaluate it based on what it did in its respective era. And I am having a difficult time getting behind the "Pats are the best team ever!" megaphone.

Nineteen wins would be an astonishing achievement. The scoring records are impossible to ignore. But when putting the 2007 Patriots' excellence into a historical context, there remains a whole lot of room for interpretation and common sense. And to me, all those wins and all those points don't necessarily add up to best.

Are the 2007 Pats better than all four of the Steelers teams that won Super Bowls in the 1970s? I'm not convinced. Better than the '72 Dolphins, who won half their games with a backup quarterback? I don't see it.

Not worse, mind you, but not better.

Those Steelers and Dolphins were part of the dominant AFC's nine wins in the first 11 Super Bowls after the AFL-NFL merger; the competition was fiercer than what the Pats faced this season, especially at playoff time. And what about the awesome 49ers, Cowboys and Redskins teams that helped lead the NFC to 13 straight Super Bowl wins in the 1980s and '90s? What about the '85 Bears? Forget parity -- the NFC from 1985-97 was the competitive heyday of pro football.

These Pats are pretty amazing, but they played in a division with three bad teams and were presented with an easy playoff checklist. I mean, come on -- Jaguars, Chargers, Giants? Go ahead and name one Super Bowl winner in the past 20 years that faced lesser teams after the new year.

Without further ado, The List's top 10 championship teams of the Super Bowl era, every one of which would have belonged on the same field -- relatively speaking -- as the 2007 Patriots:

1. 1985 Bears. With a defense every bit as electric as this year's Patriots offense, they beat the 49ers, Cowboys and Redskins by a combined score of 115-20 in the regular season, then blasted through three playoff wins by an unfathomable count of 91-10. That more than makes up for losing one little game in Week 13.

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2. 1989 49ers. They lost two nail-biters in the regular season, but by playoff time they were revving like no offense the game has ever seen -- including this year's Patriots' unit. The playoff scores were arguably even more impressive than those of the '85 Bears: 41-13 over the Vikings, 30-3 over the Rams and (for the love of God) 55-10 over the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

3. 1972 Dolphins. Honestly, now: How many games would the Pats have lost this season had Matt Cassel played half the season in place of an injured Tom Brady? Maybe just a few.

4. 1978 Steelers. Terry Bradshaw had the best season of his career, the Steel Curtain defense was still superb, and a win over the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys in the big game locked in the 17-2 Steelers as a team for the ages.

5. 1998 Broncos. They didn't put up jaw-breaking numbers on offense because, with running back Terrell Davis, they were pretty much a ball-control team. But were they not guaranteed to score any time they needed to? An all-time great at quarterback, a Pro Bowl running back, a very good defense, a 13-0 start to the season -- don't tell me they couldn't hang with the you-know-whos.

6. 1986 Giants. Not a weakness to be found with this bunch, which went 17-2 when the NFC was arguably stronger than ever. The two coolest things about the best team in G-Men history: Lawrence Taylor's 20.5 sacks and the popularizing of the Gatorade dousing.

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7. 1976 Raiders. They were 13-1 in the regular season and blasted two great teams -- the Steelers (24-7) and the Vikings (32-14) � in the playoffs. Just scare the hell out of everybody, baby.

8. 1992 Cowboys. There's no doubt they lacked the wire-to-wire focus of the 2007 Patriots, but they had at least as much talent on offense and certainly every bit the defense. The 52-17 Super Bowl win doesn't hurt the resume. How much would you love to see this matchup of Brady and co. against Aikman and his 'Boys?

9. 1966 Packers. Cheeseheads still weep with joy for the 1996 Pack, but the '66 squad was hands-down better, sweeping the Colts, winning in Dallas for the NFL title and tearing the Chiefs a new one in what later became known as Super Bowl I.

10. 1991 Redskins. For my money, the most consistently underrated of all the Super Bowl champions. In the regular season, they lost two games by a combined five points and scored 2.17 points for every point they allowed. Not impressed? This year's Pats check in at 2.15.