With all the sweep of an epic drama, the story of the 2010 Packers is one that will certainly be retold for years. They started out as a favorite to win the NFC this year, with a hot young quarterback and a swarming defense. But the season on paper never matches the way it really plays out. The Packers suffered injuries from the very beginning, losing their running game, veteran defenders, one of the best tight ends in the league. Their QB suffered concussions and missed playing time, as did most of their top players. By mid-season, no one counted them as a favorite anymore. They made the playoffs as the NFC’s 6th seed, but from that point on they certainly looked like the team to beat again. Every detail of the historic run is preserved here.

See it in detail, order one for yourself.

In a few days we’ll know whether the Steelers teams of this era count as a dynasty, or just simple greatness. The 2005 Steelers were a little different than the team that is about to face the Packers this weekend: This was a Bill Cowher production — remember shots of his jutting-jaw on the sideline, Jerome Bettis driving the ball at opponents, trick plays with the ball in Antoine Randle El’s hands? But there’s still a lot that hasn’t changed — this was still a Ben Roethlisberger team, Troy Polamalu in the defensive backfield, Dick LeBeau calling a stingy defense. But the 2005 team had what the 2008 and 2010 teams don’t have: underdog status. They were counted out, almost eliminated before the playoffs started. They had to fight for a wildcard spot, and take down the favorites throughout the playoffs. They were the kind of team that peaks at the right moment and takes a special ride to a championship, inspiring a fanbase that hadn’t grown into the bandwagon it has become in 2011.

Real Steelers fans will remember this team. Click for more.

It was only a matter of time before Peyton Manning played like Peyton Manning in the postseason and won a championship. He didn’t do it alone: Surprisingly the defense carried this team through its first couple playoff games. But in the end it was Peyton, of course. He won the QB battle with Tom Brady in the AFC Championship, and he was the difference-maker in the Super Bowl.

Remember every moment of the season with the Chartball poster.

I need to admit up front that I hated this team. Hated them because they are a division rival of the team I love, hated them because my good friend and most of my coworkers at the time were big Giants fans, hated them because I lost an embarrassing bet on their championship…

But after making this poster I also have to admit that it was a pretty amazing run and a pretty amazing story. They started off looking terrible in September. In December they could have gone either way. But somehow they survived. They tried to end the Patriots perfect regular season streak and lost a couple players in the process, but they kept going. They came out in their first playoff game looking bad, but made a couple plays and stayed alive. They played in perhaps the coldest game in playoff history, took it to overtime against one of the biggest names in football, and survived. And that’s the story of this champion: They didn’t overwhelm anyone, they didn’t dominate. But they made plays when it counted. They had some great veterans, some rookies who didn’t know they weren’t supposed to be there. Here’s to the 2007 Giants: I hated you, but I’m impressed.

If you loved that season, you need this poster.

It’s not the Chuck Noll Steelers, but something tells me he’d be proud of this team. The Steelers in 2008 were playing under a new-era coach, but they used the same old Pittsburgh formula: stingy, physical defense and an offense that could pound away at the opposition. A new wrinkle emerged in the playoffs with Santonio Holmes suddenly becoming a premiere receiver. The Chartball season poster ends with Holmes’ fantastic end zone reception that ended the most exciting 4th quarter in recent Super Bowl history. But it also chronicles every detail of the season — every sack, every tackle, the ups and downs for Fast Willie Parker and Big Ben Roethlisberger.

Remember every moment with Chartball’s latest season history.

Just in time for Saints fans who are mourning this weekend’s season-ending loss and after months of development, Chartball is happy to finally launch our second series of season history posters.

First up: New Orleans’ incredible 2009 run to Super Bowl glory. Chartball’s football histories offer the full record of the season, game-by-game details, including the Saint’s 13-0 season start, every Darren Sharper interception, every Drew Brees performance. The playoff run gets a full play-by-play treatment, so fans can remember the incredible overtime win over Minnesota (Brett Favre blows it again), the Super Bowl onsides kick and Tracy Porter’s championship-clinching interception of Peyton Manning. Gives you chills to remember it, right?

Keep the memories alive with this incredible poster.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for improving it.

A useful hidden feature, especially if you’re blogging about the NFL:
You can adjust the URL of the link to automatically load any individual game.

So the main link is this:

http://www.chartball.com/football/

It loads up the latest game played.

But you can call up, say, the latest Eagles game by adding the team id:
http://www.chartball.com/football/?team=PHI

Even better, you can call up a specific game by including the week and year:
http://www.chartball.com/football/?team=PHI_year=2008_week=17

(For wildcard games, make the week “WC”. Divisional round = “DV”. Conference Chamionships = “CC”.  Super Bowl = “SB”.)

Give it a try.

But we’re already moving toward our next exciting announcement. The football interactive charts are 90% ready, and I’m expecting to launch those sometime this week, or next at the latest. It’s still not a perfect data set, surely there are some existing bugs that I haven’t found yet. But I’m going to put it out there and let the good people of data land point out whatever they find. Here’s a sneak peak:

I’ll post more soon when we have a launch site.