Saturday 4 February 2017 07:06, UK
As the countdown to Super Bowl LI continues, we take a look at the most dominant combinations of head coach and quarterback to grace the NFL.
New England Patriots, 2000 - present: Four Super Bowl wins, Seven AFC Championships, 14 AFC East titles
Taking over from the fired Pete Carroll as Patriots head coach, just a day after being appointed as New York Jets head coach, one of Belichick's first responsibilities was to draw up a battle plan for the 2000 NFL Draft. Most people had lost interest by the time they picked up Univervisity of Michigan quarterback Tom Brady with their seventh pick - and the 199th of the Draft.
Brady threw only three passes in his first season, but he was pressed into action early in 2001 following an injury to Drew Bledsoe and, after an uninspiring start, he soon found his feet and led New England to 11 wins from the 14 games he started. And then they won the Super Bowl!
These were the embryonic stages of a partnership that would go on to become statistically the best in NFL history. Team Belichick-Brady has combined for four Super Bowl wins (with Brady the MVP for three of them) and seven AFC Championship titles. In fact, the only year they failed to reach the play-offs was 2008, when Brady's season ended with a serious knee injury in the first quarter of their opening fixture against Kansas City.
The quartet of Super Bowl victories started in dramatic fashion, when Brady engineered a clinical drive over the final 90 seconds against the St Louis Rams, leading to Adam Vinatieri landing the winning 48-yard field goal as the clock ran out.
Brady was the MVP again two years later in a thrilling 32-29 win over Carolina as he again set-up Vinatieri for a last-gasp field goal, and the Patriots successfully defended their crown in another tense battle, this time edging a 24-21 triumph over Philadelphia.
It was a surprise that it took a further 10 years for Belichick and Brady to be measured for another Super Bowl ring, a period in which they endured two surprise losses to the New York Giants, and they looked to be heading for defeat against Seattle until undrafted rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler picked off Russell Wilson on the goal-line with 20 seconds left.
San Francisco 49ers, 1979 - 1989: Three Super Bowl wins, three NFC Championships, seven NFC West titles
Before Belichick and Brady combined to lift the Patriots to the top of the NFL tree, Walsh and Montana were the dominant force for San Francisco throughout the majority of the 1980s.
Walsh drafted Montana in the third round of the 1979 draft at a time when the 49ers were putting together back-to-back 2-14 seasons, but their fortunes would soon turn full circle once Montana took over from Steve DeBerg midway through the 1980 campaign.
Montana and Walsh quickly became renowned for their ability to mount successful final-quarter comebacks and, after reaching the play-offs with a 13-3 record, the 49ers reached the Super Bowl with a memorable NFC Championship win over Dallas which culminated in one of the most famous plays in NFL history - "The Catch".
The Cowboys led 27-21 with less than five minutes remaining, but Montana drove San Francisco from their own 11-yard line to the Redzone, and on a crucial third down at the six-yard line, Montana scrambled out of the pocket and tossed the ball towards the back of the end zone when Dwight Clark hauled in a magnificent leaping catch.
Ray Wersching nailed the extra point to send San Francisco to the Super Bowl for the first time, and they were crowned worthy champions after a 26-21 win over Cincinnati which was notable for some resolute goal-line stands from the 49ers as much as MVP Montana's prowess at quarterback.
Walsh and Montana's second Super Bowl win was arguably their most famous, and it followed a stunning 15-1 regular season in 1984 - making them the first team in history to win 15 times after the fixtures were expanded from 14 to 16 games in 1978.
The 49ers conceded only 10 points over two games against the New York Giants and Chicago to set up a mouth-watering showdown against Dan Marino's Miami Dolphins in Stanford. But Marino was largely shut down by the staunch 49ers defence as Montana threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns - two of them to Roger Craig - in a one-sided 38-16 win.
Walsh and Montana reached the Super Bowl again four years later, when Montana engineered an awesome 92-yard drive in the closing stages against the Bengals which culminated in a winning touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining. However, Montana lost out on the MVP by throwing 215-yards worth of passes to Jerry Rice!
Walsh announced his retirement and handed over the reigns to George Seifert who, along with the inspirational Montana, guided the team to a 14-2 record, another Super Bowl appearance, and a record-breaking 55-10 crushing of Denver in which Montana threw for five touchdowns to be named MVP for the third time.
Pittsburgh Steelers, 1970 - 1983: Four Super Bowl wins, four AFC Championships, seven AFC Central titles
Unlike Brady and Montana, Bradshaw was the No 1 Draft pick in 1970 and justified the tag with four Super Bowl wins with Noll as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, although it was often their "Steel Curtain" defence that earned the most plaudits throughout the 1970s.
Noll's first season in charge was memorable for all the wrong reasons as they won only one regular season game, but his squad was a work in progress and it took him just four years and much rebuilding to turn Pittsburgh into Super Bowl champions.
Bradshaw lost the starting quarterback job for the first four games of 1974 before regaining his place, and the Steelers reached the play-offs with a 10-3-1 record despite Bradshaw completing only 67 passes - with workhorse Franco Harris damaging the opposition on the ground.
In wet, cold conditions for the season-finale against Minnesota in New Orleans, the only score of a turgid game was a Pittsburgh safety before a Harris TD and a late scoring pass from Bradshaw to Larry Brown sealed a 16-6 win.
Bradshaw completed only nine of 14 passes as Harris (34 carries) ran himself into the ground, and the Steelers defended their title in similar fashion against Miami 12 months later, although two of Bradshaw's nine completions were for touchdowns. Lynn Swann accounted for a remarkable 161 of Bradshaw's 209 yards passing!
When they returned to the Super Bowl three years later, Bradshaw finally took his chance to shine on the biggest stage of all as he set records for passing yards (318) and touchdown passes (four) in an enthralling 35-31 victory over Dallas.
After pipping the Cowboys to become the first team to win three Super Bowl titles, the Steelers made it four a year later and again Bradshaw was the MVP despite being intercepted three times. But his mistakes mattered little as they overpowered the LA Rams in a 31-19 win, which proved to be the last crown of the Noll-Bradshaw era.
Jimmy Johnson and Troy Aikman were the masterminds behind the resurgence of the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1990s, recording back-to-back Super Bowl victories over the luckless Buffalo Bills before Aikman picked up a third ring in four seasons under Barry Switzer after Johnson departed following a bust-up with owner Jerry Jones.
Aikman was MVP in their first win, throwing for four touchdowns in a 52-17 mauling, although he took a back seat to superstar running back Emmitt Smith a year later as the Cowboys destroyed the Bills on the ground.
Mike Shanahan and John Elway suffered three Super Bowl defeats together when the former was Denver's offensive coordinator, but his return to Colorado as head coach in 1995 proved an inspired move as they finally emerged as champions at the fifth attempt.
Elway was outshone by Brett Favre as the Broncos beat Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII, with Terrell Davis running for 157 yards and three scores, but the veteran quarterback was named MVP a year later as he threw for 336 yards and one touchdown while running in another score in a 34-19 win over Atlanta.
