Believe it: Steelers are in midst of one of best decades in NFL history

It seems as if many Pittsburgh Steelers fans feel somewhere on a spectrum of unfulfilled to disappointed to frustrated with how their team has played over the past nine seasons.

Turns out, the Steelers have been borderline-historically good.

Data compiled by German reporter René Bugner evaluates every NFL team’s record by calendar decade since the AFL/NFL merger (i.e., 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s). And although the current 10-year span ranks just third-best for the Steelers among the five decades for the franchise, it’s among the top 15 decades the combined league has seen.

Best combined regular season & playoff win-loss percentage for any team in a DECADE since the NFL-AFL merger.
The Patriots have won 77,7% of their games since the start of the 2010 season. They could finish 2019 with a 3-13 record and still would be on top of this list! pic.twitter.com/4RF5f6L3u9

— René Bugner (Rainbowcave) (@RNBWCV) June 6, 2019

The Steelers since 2010 have gone 99-55-1, a winning percentage of .642 that is bested only by the New England Patriots (an all-time best .771).

The Steel Curtain Steelers of the 1970’s rank sixth all-time with a .701 win percentage; the two-time Super Bowl champion Steelers of 2000-09 have the 15^th-bets decade over the past 50 years at 113-60-1.

Patriots have a chance to sweep the decade in division titles. No team has won more than 8 in a decade. Patriots could go 10 for 10 https://t.co/2gdILAe3vt

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) June 6, 2019

As Pro Football Talk points out, defending Super Bowl champion New England could go 3-13 this season and still finish with the best decade in NFL history.

The Steelers put together two of the best consecutive decades of any NFL franchise since the merger… yet they are a distant, distant second over the past 20 years to the Patriots.

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