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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenobi65" data-source="post: 3996964" data-attributes="member: 1515">Even within a sport, comparisons across time can be challenging, and makes for great debates over beer.  As GlassJaw notes, the NFL today isn't the same league as it was before free agency and the salary cap.  When you add on the changes to rules over the years, and the advances in training and sports medicine, the comparisons become even more interesting.And, record alone isn't necessarily the best yardstick...many experts believe that the undefeated 1972 Dolphins were not as good a team as they were a year later, when their record was "only" 12-2, but won the Super Bowl again.  I've even read one guy who feels that the '96 Packers were the best team ever, because they were the only champion who had the #1 ranked offense as well as the #1 ranked defense.  (Even as a Packer fan, I'm not sure I buy that argument, but you see that there's a lot of different yardsticks you could use.)All that said...certainly, the Patriots have been the dominant NFL team of this decade, with three Super Bowl wins and an undefeated season.  They'll almost undoubtedly be considered one of the all-time great teams, up there with the Cowboys of the '90s, the 49ers of the '80s, the Steelers of the '70s, and the Packers of the '60s.</blockquote>