16. 1986 New York Giants
Bill Parcells became the head coach in 1983 and his debut resulted in a 3-12-1 finish. But the Giants would slowly but surely grow, reaching the postseason each of the next three years and winning at least one playoff game in each instance. The ‘86 campaign started with a Monday night loss at Dallas and seven games into the season the team owned a 5-2 record.
But the Giants would not lose again on the way to a 14-2 regular-season mark. There was a 49-3 thrashing of the 49ers in the divisional round, a 17-0 blanking of Washington in the NFC title game and a come-from-behind rout of the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI.
15. 2016 New England Patriots
Their starting quarterback was suspended for the first four games of the season. And any other team may have been a little deflated by this news. But the Patriots were in the midst of a run which saw them reach the Super Bowl four times in five years. Tom Brady would return in Week 5 and in 12 games threw for 3,554 yards, 28 scores and just two interceptions. The team disposed of the Texans and Steelers in the AFC playoffs but more than halfway through Super Bowl LI the club was down 28-3 to the Falcons. But the Pats responded with the final 31 points of the game, the last six in overtime via a James White TD run.