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All-Decade Team Jerseys: Who Dominated the 2010s and Who Will Dominate the 2020s?

Sascha Paruk

by Sascha Paruk in News

Updated Dec 31, 2019 · 3:06 PM PST

All Decade Teams Image
The custom-designed uniforms below honor the championship-winning teams of the 2010s in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
  • SDB’s talented graphics team teamed up with @Ferry_Designs to honored the most-dominant teams of the decade in each of the four major sports with custom jersey designs
  • SBD’s less-talented oddsmaking team has predicted which teams will dominate the next ten years
  • Sorry Patriots fans, your long overdue dark ages await

As the 2010s come to a close, SBD is simultaneously taking a look back at the decade that was and forecasting what lies ahead.

Our graphics department teamed up with the uber-talented @Ferry_Designs to honor the most-dominant teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL with custom jersey designs. The more dominant a team was over the past ten years, the more space it occupies on the jersey/outfit.

Never ones to be left out, our oddsmakers (mostly me; I don’t play well with others) have set championship futures for the next decade. See the top-ten teams most likely to win a championship in each sport, along with the team that sits deadlast by my numbers.

NFL

If we were being completely honest, the NFL All-Decade jersey would just be a closeup of Pat Patriot. Over the last ten years, New England made ten playoff appearances, won three Super Bowls, and reached two more. Exactly one AFC Championship Game did not include the Pats, and that was all the way back in 2010.

But New England’s dominance is old news. The jersey also pays homage to the Saints (Super Bowl 44), Packers (Super Bowl 45), Giants (Super Bowl 46), Ravens (Super Bowl 47), Seahawks (Super Bowl 48), Broncos (Super Bowl 50), and Eagles (Super Bowl 52).

Odds to Win a Super Bowl in the Next Decade

Rank Team SBD’s Odds
1st Baltimore Ravens 1/5
2nd Kansas City Chiefs 1/3
3rd Philadelphia Eagles 1/2
4th San Francisco 49ers 2/3
5th Seattle Seahawks 4/3
6th Houston Texans 4/3
7th Dallas Cowboys 3/2
8th New Orleans Saints 3/2
9th New England Patriots 8/5
10th Cleveland Browns 7/3
32nd Detroit Lions 12/1

While the 2010s unquestionably belonged to the Patriots, the 2020s will not. Tom Brady is 42 and showing his age; the offensive depth chart is rickety barren; and, as strange as this is to say, the rest of the AFC East is kind of, sort of on the rise.

That said, Bill Belichick is still the coach, and he squeezed 11 wins out of Matt Cassel once upon a time. The Pats still get a spot in the top ten.

The upper echelon of the table is reserved for the teams with the best young quarterbacks: Lamar Jackson’s Ravens, Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs, and Carson Wentz’s Eagles. It’s tempting to put the Browns higher since their roster is as loaded with young talent as any in the league, but until this franchise shows itself to be anything other than a constant underachiever, no higher shall they go.

I was even tempted to put the Bengals 10th instead of the Browns since they will have first dibs on Joe Burrow in the 2020 Draft. But Cincinnati is not far behind Cleveland in the we-are-going-to-screw-this-up-somehow department.

MLB

Major League Baseball has no salary cap. Only a handful of teams are ever in contention for the best free agents. It should be the least-balanced sport when it comes to championships, right?

Wrong. It’s as much parity over the last ten years as any league except the NFL. The Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) and Red Sox (2013, 2018) combined to win five World Series titles, with the Cardinals (2011), Royals (2015), Cubs (2016), Astros (2017), and Nationals (2019) winning the other five. So a total of seven different franchises won in the 2010s, trailing only the NFL (8).

Spoiler alert: the NBA had seven, shockingly, while the NHL only had six.

Odds to Win a World Series in the Next Decade

Rank Team SBD’s Odds
1st NY Yankees 1/15
2nd LA Dodgers 1/6
3rd Atlanta Braves 1/5
4th Houston Astros 1/4
5th Boston Red Sox 3/4
6th St Louis Cardinals 6/5
7th Chicago Cubs 6/5
8th NY Mets 3/2
9th Philadelphia Phillies 3/2
10th LA Angels 2/1
30th Kansas City Royals 25/1

Parity is not likely to reign in the MLB, though, given the lack of a cap. The big spenders – Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs – are all near the top of the list. The Braves are in the mix as well. They are not the biggest spenders, but they tend to be in the top half and they arguably have the best young roster the majors.

The Astros’ talented core isn’t as young as it used to be (brilliant analysis, if I do say so myself) but Jose Altuve (29), George Springer (30), Carlos Correa (25), and Alex Bregman (25) will keep this team near the top of the AL for the foreseeable future, sign-stealing or not.

NBA

It feels like the NBA has been a two-team show for the last ten years. Didn’t the Heat control the first half of the decade and the Warriors dominate the latter half?

Yes and no.

The Heat won two titles (2012, 2013) and lost two more (2011, 2014), while Golden State won three (2015, 2017, 2018) and lost two (2016, 2019). But that still leaves five championships, which were split among five other teams: the Lakers (2010), Mavericks (2011), Spurs (2015), Cavaliers (2016), and Raptors (2019).

Odds to Win an NBA Title in the Next Decade

Rank Team SBD’s Odds
1st LA Lakers 1/8
2nd Milwaukee Bucks 1/6
3rd LA Clippers 1/5
4th Brooklyn Nets 1/2
5th Dallas Mavericks 4/3
6th Boston Celtics 4/3
7th Philadelphia 76ers 5/3
8th Golden State Warriors 7/3
9th Houston Rockets 7/3
10th New Orleans Pelicans 5/2
30th Cleveland Cavaliers 50/1

Much like in the MLB, though, we don’t see the NBA being a league of parity going forward. It takes superstars (usually more than one) to win in the Association these days, and there aren’t that many to go around. LeBron James’ Lakers, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks, Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers, Kevin Durant’s Nets: if any other team wins in the next few seasons, it will be an underdog story.

The Mavericks are high on the list because Luka Doncic looks like he could be the next championship-caliber talent. Five years from now, when LeBron is retired, Kawhi is well over 30, and Steph Curry is on his 14th ankle surgery, the Western Conference could be Luka-versus-the-field.

Zion Williamson could have something to say about that, of course, if he ever actually steps onto an NBA court.

NHL

The NHL hasn’t had as much parity as you would expect considering how gruelling the path to a Stanley Cup is. Repeating is a brutally tough task, yet the Blackhawks  (2010, 2013, 2015), Penguins (2016, 2017), and Kings (2012, 2014) won seven of the ten Cups since 2010.

The other three went to the Bruins (2011), Capitals (2018), and Blues (2019).

The runners-up column was more diverse. Nine different teams lost in the finals, with only the Bruins doing it twice (2013, 2019). Misery loves company?

Odds to Win a Stanley Cup in the Next Decade

Rank Team SBD’s Odds
1st Vegas Golden Knights 1/4
2nd Pittsburgh Penguins 2/7
3rd Colorado Avalanche 1/3
4th Toronto Maple Leafs 1/2
5th Carolina Hurricanes 1/2
6th Boston Bruins 1/2
7th Washington Capitals 2/3
8th Tampa Bay Lightning 2/3
9th St Louis Blues 1/1
10th Calgary Flames 4/3
32nd Seattle TBD 15/1

Vegas has a great young team, an impeccable front office, and plays in a relatively weak division. That could all be different five years from now, but they are primed to make multiple deep playoff runs at the start of the 2020s.

The Leafs are the top Canadian team on the list and one of only two in the top ten. They have Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marners, and Morgan Rielly locked up long-term. It shouldn’t be hard to build a perennial contender around that quartet, as much cap space as they’re collectively occupying.

The list goes to 32 because Seattle is set to enter the league in 2021. As great as Vegas has been in its first three seasons, the expansion draft won’t be as kind to Seattle, and they will have one fewer chance to win the Cup, so they bring up the rear.

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