![]() Seattle added defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to a defense already featuring emerging young stars in Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner and Kam Chancellor. XWIN: T-1st | xMOV: 2nd | xPF: 12th | xPA: 2nd Though the model ranks this Patriots team fifth out of all 640 teams, the 2004 Colts, led by peak MVP Peyton Manning, actually outranked them very slightly on the list, checking in at No. ![]() ![]() 1 among these 20 Super Bowl winners in percentage of pass plays gaining more than 15 yards (20.9 percent). This was the Patriots team that added running back Corey Dillon, got a career-best year from him for rushing yardage and ranked No. No team since these Patriots has repeated as Super Bowl champion. The Patriots tied Philadelphia for the NFL’s best regular-season record from 2001-2004, then defeated those Eagles in the Super Bowl for their second consecutive championship and third in four seasons. XWIN: T-1st | xMOV: 1st | xPF: 5th | xPA: 7th We’ll mention them for context while stacking the past 20 Super Bowl winners, beginning with a tie at the top, and ending with a champ that ranked only 333rd out of those 640 total teams. None of those teams won Super Bowls, however, so they are not listed below. Using the model to rank all 640 teams from 2002 through last season, the 16-0 Patriots from 2007 came out on top, followed by three mid-2000s Indianapolis Colts teams. We then derived a projected margin of victory (xMOV) and a projected win percentage (xWIN) against an average team. From there, the teams’ metrics were leveraged to project points for (xPF) and points against (xPA) when facing an average NFL team. Metrics were then adjusted onto the same scale to “level” the playing field. To produce a ranking fairly, we compared every team’s metrics to its peers’ metrics in that specific season. ![]() While ranking the last 20 Super Bowl winners, we’ll point out which ones ranked especially high or low among all 640 teams from the past 20 seasons. Of course, the best team in a given season doesn’t always win it all, especially in the absence of the seven-game playoff series that other sports use to prevent a single outlier game from determining championship fates. Applying the model backward to evaluate past teams requires era adjustment, and once that was completed, the 2004 Patriots and 2013 Seattle Seahawks stood above all other champs from the previous 20 years. The model has over the past five seasons returned 5 percent profit against the Vegas spread, including about 25 percent since debuting on The Athletic in 2021. But as The Athletic commemorates the 20th anniversary of the NFL’s move to 32 teams spread over eight divisions, Austin Mock’s betting model allows us to fairly rank the past 20 Super Bowl champs, adjusting for era. Heat center Bam Adebayo scored a team-high 26 points, while Eastern Conference Finals MVP Jimmy Butler managed only 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.The game’s evolution complicates efforts to compare teams from the two-back, under-center era to the teams of today. Despite trailing by single digits later in the fourth, the Heat’s comeback bid fell short. In the fourth quarter, Miami got off to a hot start, breaking off on an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 10 points. Postseason stars Caleb Martin and Max Strus were a combined 0-for-12 in the first half. 8 seed to win a championship since the 16-team playoff format began 39 years ago, struggled with their shots in the opening two quarters, going 18-of-48 from the field. The Heat, seeking to become the NBA’s first No. You know the first three rounds, (the Heat) won the first game when they traveled … and we didn’t want that to happen, and I think we did a good job.” They never quit,” Jokic said after the game. ![]() Nuggets guard Jamal Murray added 26 points and 10 assists as the team captured its first win in an NBA Finals in the franchise’s 47 years in the league. Jokic’s 14 assists are the most by a center in Finals history. He finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in the victory. Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic tallied his ninth triple-double to extend his record for most in a single postseason in NBA history. Getty ImagesĢ023 NBA Finals: How to watch the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat compete for the Larry O'Brien trophyĪfter clinching the first NBA Finals berth in franchise history with a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals on May 22, Denver showed no signs of rust in Thursday’s Game 1, jumping out to a 17-point lead in the first half with four of the Nuggets’ five starters finishing with double digits in points.ĭenver continued building on the lead to start the second half, leading by as many as 24 points in the third quarter. Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat. ![]()
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