This NFL Thursday miniseries heads to the Big Apple today for a look at the best teams in the history of the New York Giants, one of the oldest franchises in the league—dating back to 1925. Of course, we’re only looking at the “modern” era from 1950 forward, but overall, the Giants have a .528 winning percentage with 33 playoff appearances, 25 division titles, 8 overall NFL titles, and 4 Super Bowl victories. That’s a handful!

We already have shown why two of these SB wins were shady (2007, 2011), but the other two made the list below—which is impressive, of course. There is a nice variety to the list below, in fact; we appreciate that kind of success spread out over decades of play. In fact, the two most recent SB-winning teams ended up as the 34th-best and the 43rd-best teams, respectively, in organizational history, sabermetrically speaking.

No. 5: 1990 New York Giants

This team posted a 13-3 record to win the NFC East, thanks to the No. 15 offense and the No. 1 defense. Overall, the Giants were No. 2 in the SRS rankings. They opened the playoffs with a 31-3 blowout of the Chicago Bears before slipping past both the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills by a combined 3 points to win the team’s second Super Bowl title. Both the 49ers game and the Super Bowl were classics.

Linebackers Pepper Johnson (20 Approximate Value) and Lawrence Taylor (18) were the leaders of the defense, as the top skill-position player was quarterback Phil Simms (10)—who missed the entire postseason due to injury. Behind the defense and backup QB Jeff Hostetler (92.5 postseason QB rating, no interceptions), the Giants were able to grind out last-second wins over the heavily favored 49ers and Bills.

No. 4: 2008 New York Giants

Interesting how this team, the defending champions, make the list while the SB team itself is buried in sabermetric hell. Regardless, this team posted a 12-4 mark to win the NFC East behind the No. 3 offense, the No. 5 defense, and the No. 4 overall SRS rank. However, despite being at home against division rival Philadelphia in the divisional playoffs, the Giants lost a defensive struggle by a 23-11 score to end the year.

Defensive end Justin Tuck (19 AV) and guard Chris Snee (15) were the best players on the team, which says a lot about the overall lack of skill-position talent on this roster. Against the Eagles, the Giants offense struggled with 3 turnovers, a QB who posted a 40.7 QB rating for the game, and 3-for-13 conversion rate on the third downs. Meanwhile, the Philly offense only gained 276 yards, but the Eagles scratched out the win.

No. 3: 1986 New York Giants

The first SB-winning team in franchise history was a very good one: a 14-2 record, the NFC East title, the No. 8 offense, the No. 2 defense, and the No. 1 overall SRS ranking. The Giants battered two playoff opponents, San Francisco and Washington, by a combined 66-3 score to reach the Super Bowl, and there, they beat John Elway and the Denver Broncos by a 39-20 score with a dominant second half of play.

Taylor (17 AV), DE Leonard Marshall (16), and running back Joe Morris (15) topped the team in value. Against the 49ers, the defense held a potent S.F. offense to just 184 yards, 4 TOs, and 3 points in a 49-3 win—before shutting out the Redskins, 17-0. Simms (22-for-25, 150.9 QB rating) was the hero of the Super Bowl, along with a defense that smothered Denver’s offense to the tune of just 25 minutes of possession.

No. 2: 1963 New York Giants

The best and last team of a great stretch from 1956-1963 (reaching the title game six times overall) for the Giants won the NFL East with an 11-3 record—boasting the No. 1 offense, the No. 5 defense, and the No. 2 overall SRS ranking. New York faced off against the Chicago Bears, the Monsters of the Midway, in the NFL title game. A combined 8 turnovers made this a defense struggle the Bears won, 14-10, however.

QB Y.A. Tittle (16 AV) won the MVP vote, and he was supported by DE Jim Katcavage (15), cornerback Dick Lynch (15), and wide receiver Del Shofner (15). But Tittle ended up throwing a whopping 5 INTs against the Bears, as the Giants’ top-rated offense sputtered, gaining just 268 total yards. However, the Bears offense was worse (222 yards). New York led 10-7 at halftime, yet the Bears came back to win it in the second half.

No. 1: 1950 New York Giants

The top-rated team in franchise history finished 10-2 to tie atop the NFL American Division with the Cleveland Browns. New York boasted the No. 6 offense, the No. 3 defense, and the No. 3 overall SRS ranking in an expanded 13-team league after the absorption of three teams from the defunct AAFC. The Giants, however, lost the divisional playoff on the road to the eventual champion Browns by an odd 8-3 score.

QBs Charlie Conerly (6-2 record) and Travis Tidwell (3-0) split time at the helm of the offense, while fullback Eddie Price (733 total yards) and halfback Gene Roberts (627) did the dirty work on the ground and through the air. In the playoff game, neither offense surpassed 200 yards, and with the score tied 3-3 in the fourth quarter, Cleveland kicked a field goal to take the lead and then sacked Conerly for a safety to win.