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Super Bowl power rankings: Which winner is the greatest?

By Cody Williams

St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner looks to make pass in a 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV on January 30, 2000 at Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Allen Kee/Getty Images)
St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner looks to make pass in a 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV on January 30, 2000 at Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Allen Kee/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 25: Jim Plunkett #16 of the Oakland Raiders turns to hand the ball off to running back Kenny King #33 against the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome January 25, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Raiders won the Super Bowl 27-10. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 25: Jim Plunkett #16 of the Oakland Raiders turns to hand the ball off to running back Kenny King #33 against the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome January 25, 1981 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Raiders won the Super Bowl 27-10. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

42. 1980 Oakland Raiders (SB XV)

There are plenty of people who would have the 1980 Oakland Raiders much lower than this as they have one of the worst point differentials out of all of the Super Bowl winners—though they weren’t negative like the 2011 Giants. However, between the injuries that they had to roll through and the opportunistic nature of their defense that doesn’t fully show up in the stats, they rank a little better here than some might think.

Jim Plunkett and Dan Pastorini splitting time at quarterback due to injuries and the three-headed monster at running back for the Raiders of Mark van Eeghen, Kenny King, and Arthur Whittington put up 22.8 points per game, good for only the No. 7 offense in the NFL for the year. The defense in terms of scoring wasn’t particularly great, either, a they ranked only 10th in the league with 19.1 points allowed per game. However, that doesn’t account for the fact that the defense also happened to accrue 35 interceptions on the season (13 from Lester Hayes) and score five times on fumble or interception returns.

Moreover, the Raiders looked much more impressive in their two biggest playoff games of the year as they put up 34 points on a talented San Diego Chargers team in the AFC title game and then trounced the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game by a score of 27-10. They were far from an all-time great team, but the 1980 Raiders were a bit better than some others might rank them.

Next: No. 41

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