NFL Teams with the Most Consecutive Winning Seasons

The Seattle Seahawks are the only team on this list with an active streak. In 2010 Pete Carroll was brought on as head coach and the team won the Super Bowl by 2013. Throughout the winning streak the club has seen a roster of exciting and interesting characters. Top cornerback Richard Sherman always had a lot to say. Running back Marshawn Lynch preferred to say nothing in post-game interviews while dominating on the field and incorporating plenty of entertaining antics. Quarterback Russell Wilson, the only remaining Seahawk of the three, is more soft spoken but excels as a passer and rusher.

The Steelers won four Super Bowls in the 70s and grew into one of football’s most iconic franchises. The team was known for its fierce defense, earning the defensive line the nickname the Steel Curtain. This was the era that gave rise to the Terrible Towel, a towel in Steelers’ colors that fans wave fervently at games. The piece of fabric has become a mainstay for the team. The Steelers were led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw who would pick up multiple Super Bowl MVPs and several other accolades throughout the team’s streak.

In 1998 the Colts used the first overall pick of the NFL draft to acquire Peyton Manning. He showed enormous promise early on, but the team still had trouble putting together winning seasons. However, in 2002 they hired Tony Dungy as head coach and continued to add some exceptional talent with receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Joseph Addai. The Colts dominated the regular season but kept having trouble in the playoffs until they were finally able to win the Super Bowl in 2007.

Before the Baltimore Colts disappeared into the night in 1984 and reappeared in Indianapolis, they had a very successful run in Baltimore that ended in a Super Bowl victory in 1971. During this era, they were considered by many to be one of the greatest teams to ever play the game. However, they were shocked in the 1968 Super Bowl by the New York Jets. This was the first time the AFC had beaten the NFC in the Super Bowl. Throughout this time the team was led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas.

The first of three times they made this list, the Green Bay Packers had a strong franchise in the late 50s and for most of the 60s. The only team owned by its fans, the Packers are the third oldest organization in the NFL, founded in 1919. Football culture is rabid in the NFL’s smallest city even if the team has had its ups and downs. The Packers were in a tough spot when they decided to hire Vince Lombardi in 1959. Lombardi would become one of the most legendary figures in the sport, immediately turning around the franchise and winning the first two Super Bowls in the coming years with the help of quarterback Bart Starr.

The Portsmouth Spartans was founded in 1928 in Portsmouth, Ohio and played there until moving to Detroit in 1934. Unlike many modern teams, the Spartans moved when they were on a winning spree. Despite winning, the franchise was in tremendous debt and was bought by a group in Detroit. They were renamed the Lions as a nod to the baseball team, the Detroit Tigers.

In 1920 A. E. Staley food starch company of Decatur, Illinois founded a company team. This was typical for several early football franchises. The team moved to Chicago a few years later and changed the name to the Bears. Like the Detroit Lions, the Bears took inspiration from the local baseball team, in this case the Chicago Cubs. The Bears would go on to dominate the NFL’s early years.

The Giants won an NFL championship in 1956, the same year they started playing at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. One of the oldest and more storied franchises, the NY Giants were founded in 1925. The team shares a heated rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles that dates back to 1933. Vince Lombardi was the offensive coordinator for several of these years. The 1958 NFL Championship game they played against the Baltimore Colts is sometimes called “The Greatest Game Ever Played” and considered a watershed moment for the NFL.

Now the Washington Football Team, the franchise was originally founded in Boston in 1932. The team was named after the Boston Braves baseball team with whom they originally shared a stadium. They would go on to compete and lose to the Packers in the fourth NFL championship game in 1936. The next season they moved to the nation’s capital, citing a lack of interest in Boston. The team would continue to be a league powerhouse until 1945.

The Raiders are perhaps the most iconic football team, especially when it comes to apparel. The team was founded in Oakland in 1960, moved to LA in 1981, back to Oakland in 1995 and has been in Las Vegas since 2019. The legendary John Madden coached the Raiders from 1969 to 1978 and then retired from coaching to take up what would be a very successful career in sports broadcasting. The Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1976 and 1980.

The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team. They were founded in 1919 by Earl Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau got funds from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. In return Lambeau agreed to name the team after the company and thus they were the Green Bay Packers. The Packers joined the American Professional Football Association in 1921 (renamed the National Football League in 1922). They found considerable success in their early years and were one of the league’s dominant teams.

Yes, long ago in a distant land the Cleveland Browns were a team to be feared. The franchise was founded in 1944 and named after the first coach, Paul Brown. The Browns were a force in their early years and quickly rose to be one of the best teams in the league. Paul Brown was fired in 1963; however, the team continued to be strong largely thanks to running back Jim Brown.

Earl “Curly” Lambeau coached the Packers from 1919 to 1949. Their previous winning streak ended in 1933 but they got right back to winning in 1934. They picked up end Don Hutson who would become one of the game’s best and most innovative players. He is credited with inventing the forward pass and leading the league in receptions. He also played defense for the Packers and led the league in interceptions in 1940 as a safety.

The Bears were able to keep up winning seasons for a decade and a half, continuing to win in the 40s even after stumbling in 1945. The Bears found success in their early years and then continued in the 30s and 40s. In the 1940s they picked up the nickname “The Monsters of the Midway” and gained their iconic wishbone C helmet emblems. From 1940 to 1947 they appeared in five NFL Championship Games and won four of them.

The 49ers are one of the winningest franchises in football history and managed to win four Super Bowls during this streak, on top of their first in 1981. Legendary quarterback Joe Montana joined the team in 1979. Jerry Rice joined in 1985 and is considered by many to be the greatest wide receiver of all time. Joe Montana remained on the team until 1992. While the loss of a terrific quarterback usually spells the end for most dynasties, new quarterback Steve Young stepped up and led the team to another Super Bowl win in 1995.

Tom Brady joined the Patriots in 2000 and left in 2019 and it appears the Patriots’ dominance left with him. Many consider Brady to be the greatest quarterback of all time and it’s hard to argue with that. He was able to win with a variety of different players over the years, all under the guidance of coach Bill Belichick. While the Patriots ran into some controversies and the occasional accusations of cheating, they’re tied with the Steelers for the most Super Bowls wins and did not have a losing season for nearly 20 years.

Younger Millennials and beyond have heard myths about the Dallas Cowboys being a football empire but never really seen proof. Turns out they did in fact have 20 winning seasons in a row, the longest streak there is. They won two Super Bowls during this streak and another three in the early and mid-90s. After some business disputes — which started the Cowboys rivalry with the Redskins — the Cowboys were founded in 1959. They didn’t get off to a great start but began to turn it around in the mid-60s and eventually won their first Super Bowl in 1971.