So I decided to take a quickish break on this Saturday, and I investigated the win-loss records of the NFL from 1984 to present. We all know the well-circulated stat that the Broncos under Pat Bowlen have more Super Bowl appearance (7) than losing seasons (5). But after churning out the results, I am quite proud to discover that since 1984, the Broncos have the best winning percentage (.612) in the league, with a win-loss record of 334-212-1. Only the Patriots (.606) and 49ers (.605) are super close, followed by the Steelers (.588) and Packers (.573). No other teams are above .560.
When you break the records down head-to-head, another proud statistic emerges: since 1984, only 6 of the other 31 teams have a winning record against the Broncos. And with this, I will offer a pop quiz for this weekend: name those six teams. Try your best not to cheat, or if you do, try not to share the results in the comments. Either way, the answer may surprise you a bit. Sometime later this weekend, I’ll create a fold to this post that will include the tables of these records below.
UPDATE: (8:15 PM MT) After a few hints, orangeandblueaussie got the six teams:
- Dolphins (it took Tebow magic to finally beat them in Miami for the first time)
- Jaguars (The Broncos do terribly in the state of Florida)
- Rams (longest drought the Broncos have against any team, dating back to 2002)
- Giants (Amani Toomer was a Bronco-killer in his career)
- Ravens (too many bad memories to comment further)
- Colts (it was so easy to hate Peyton Manning out of jealously in the previous decade).
The tables I promised are beyond the fold.
| Win-Loss Records | Head-To-Head | ||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | Team | W | L | T | Pct. |
| DEN | 334 | 212 | 1 | 0.612 | |||||
| NE | 336 | 218 | 0 | 0.606 | CLE | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0.889 |
| SF | 332 | 216 | 2 | 0.605 | ARI | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0.875 |
| PIT | 321 | 225 | 1 | 0.588 | CIN | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0.813 |
| GB | 312 | 232 | 2 | 0.573 | CAR | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.8 |
| NYG | 298 | 241 | 1 | 0.553 | ATL | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0.778 |
| BAL | 188 | 154 | 1 | 0.55 | DAL | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.75 |
| PHI | 290 | 245 | 4 | 0.542 | NO | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.714 |
| IND | 286 | 255 | 0 | 0.529 | NE | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0.69 |
| MIA | 281 | 251 | 0 | 0.528 | TEN | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0.667 |
| CHI | 280 | 252 | 0 | 0.526 | TB | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0.667 |
| DAL | 280 | 255 | 0 | 0.523 | PIT | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0.65 |
| SEA | 280 | 257 | 0 | 0.521 | SD | 42 | 23 | 0 | 0.646 |
| MIN | 278 | 257 | 1 | 0.52 | NYJ | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0.643 |
| NO | 267 | 260 | 0 | 0.507 | SEA | 26 | 15 | 0 | 0.634 |
| KC | 266 | 260 | 2 | 0.506 | DET | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0.625 |
| CAR | 175 | 176 | 1 | 0.499 | KC | 40 | 25 | 0 | 0.615 |
| TEN | 261 | 271 | 0 | 0.491 | WAS | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.6 |
| WAS | 259 | 272 | 1 | 0.488 | HOU | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.6 |
| BUF | 255 | 277 | 0 | 0.479 | OAK | 38 | 27 | 0 | 0.585 |
| SD | 251 | 276 | 0 | 0.476 | CHI | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.556 |
| NYJ | 246 | 282 | 1 | 0.466 | MIN | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.545 |
| JAX | 157 | 190 | 0 | 0.452 | BUF | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0.533 |
| OAK | 235 | 290 | 0 | 0.448 | SF | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.5 |
| ATL | 233 | 291 | 2 | 0.445 | GB | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0.5 |
| LA | 232 | 296 | 1 | 0.44 | PHI | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.5 |
| CIN | 228 | 293 | 2 | 0.438 | BAL | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0.462 |
| HOU | 99 | 130 | 0 | 0.432 | JAX | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.455 |
| ARI | 215 | 306 | 1 | 0.413 | NYG | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 |
| TB | 208 | 314 | 0 | 0.398 | IND | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0.368 |
| CLE | 184 | 289 | 1 | 0.389 | MIA | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0.364 |
| DET | 198 | 321 | 1 | 0.382 | LA | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.333 |