NFL: The Top 30 teams of the modern era

1. 1967 Dallas Cowboys

If you are looking for the 1967 Cowboys as an NFL or Super Bowl champions, you will not find them on any list. They may not have won a title that year, but they played in one of the greatest championship games played in NFL history.

The Cowboys were an emerging Eastern Conference powerhouse, and Tom Landry’s team was getting better each year. They had lost the 1966 title game to the Green Bay Packers at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but this year they were forced to go to Lambeau Field to take on the defending champions.

The game was played in perhaps the most brutal conditions in sports history, as the two sides went at each other in minus-16 degree temperatures. The Cowboys heroically battled back from a 14-0 deficit to take a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter when running back Dan Reeves hit wide receiver Lance Rentzel with a 50-yard TD pass on an option play.

While the Cowboys had their hearts broken by Bart Starr’s quarterback sneak for the game-winning TD on the final play, the Cowboys showed more heart and ability in their NFL Championship game loss than most teams have demonstrated while winning.

Next: NFL banner rides high thanks to Packers, Lombardi