According to an article written by MC3 Sports Media, the Team of the Decade is the New England Patriots. Who would have guessed? New England has been one of the most dominating teams in football. To determine whether this statement deserves merit, I am going to present different facts about teams through the years 2000-2010. I am utilizing the statistics from Super Bowl XXXIV through Super Bowl XLIV. If you don’t see a statistic that you feel is important in determining the Team of the Decade, leave a comment and I will respond.
The first stats that I researched could be considered some of the most important. These stats are Super Bowl appearances and Super Bowl wins. The Patriots made the most Super Bowl appearances (four) in this decade. This was a blowout. No other teams appeared more than twice. The Patriots also won the most Super Bowls (three of their four appearances). The closest team in the running was the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they won both of their appearances.
With 115 wins, the Indianapolis Colts won the most regular season games in the decade. In second place came the Patriots who had 112 wins. The team that came in third place was the Chicago Bears who had 111 wins. This stat came very close, with the difference between the Colts and the Bears being only 4 games. I cannot place a forth because I had to do this season by season and I couldn’t do it all.
By now, I’ve established that the four most elite teams are the Steelers, the Colts, the Bears and the Patriots. For my next stat, I will choose which, of these three teams, had the best player in the decade. The player must have spent the majority of his career on that team. The player also must have played in this decade and not at all earlier.
For the Steelers, I have chosen Ben Roethlisberger. Ben began his career in 2004. He has started 86 of the 87 games he has been in. He has thrown 127 touchdowns and 81 interceptions. He has a completion rating of 63.3. He has a passer rating of 91.7. For the Patriots, I selected Tom Brady. Tom began his career in 2000. He has started 127 of the 129 games he was in. He has thrown 225 touchdowns and 99 interceptions. He also has a completion rating of 63.3. He has a passer rating of 93.3. For the Bears, I have chosen Brain Urlracher. Brian began his career in 2000. He has started 138 out of the 160 games he has played. He has had 805 tackles, 37.5 sacks, and 17 interceptions. Since Peyton Manning began his career in 1998, he cannot qualify. So for the Colts, I’ve selected Dwight Freeney. Dwight began his career in 2002. He has played in 117 games. He has 242 tackles and has 84 sacks. He has forced 36 fumbles.
Given these players, I must choose Tom Brady as the best player in the decade. Had Peyton qualified, I would have chosen him.
The stats presented here support the following team ratings: Patriots- 3, Colts- 1, rest of the field-0. Therefore, I am in agreement with MC3 Sports Media, and hereby declare the National Football League Team of the Decade to be the New England Patriots.