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The Super Bowl is the pinnacle of pro football. Every year, the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the U.S., so having a chance to play in the game is a huge accomplishment for both teams that get there. Of course, getting there is by no means easy. In fact, in more than 50 years since the Super Bowl was first played, not every franchise has won a Super Bowl or even played in one. That speaks volumes about how difficult it is to get there and what an honor it is to play in a Super Bowl. To shed more light on the topic, we wanted to share a list of teams that have never won a Super Bowl and offer more of an explanation about the teams that have never lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Which NFL Teams Have Never Won the Super Bowl?
Heading into the 2023 NFL season, there have been 57 Super Bowls. Of the 32 current franchises, 12 of them have never won a Super Bowl. Those teams are the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, and Tennessee Titans.
Out of that group of teams that never won a Super Bowl, a few have come painfully close. For instance, the Bills reached the Super Bowl in four consecutive years during the early 1990s but famously lost all four times. The Falcons famously held a 28-3 lead midway through the third quarter in Super Bowl LI but gave up 31 unanswered points to the Patriots and lost in overtime.
In Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals nearly erased themselves from the list of teams that have never won a Super Bowl. They led the Rams 20-16 heading into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold onto the lead. To date, the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII are the most recent team to win their first Super Bowl. All five teams that have won it since then were repeat Super Bowl winners.
Most Super Bowl Appearances Without a Win
The Bills and Vikings are tied for the distinction of the most Super Bowl appearances without a win. As mentioned, the Bills made four consecutive Super Bowl appearances but lost each game. Buffalo’s loss in Super Bowl XXV was a result of a missed field goal late in the game. That loss came in the first of the team’s four straight appearances. On the bright side, the Bills are the only team to have reached four consecutive Super Bowls in NFL history.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s four Super Bowl losses are a little more spread out. The Vikings suffered four losses between Super Bowl IV and Super Bowl XI, losing four times in eight years, including a pair of back-to-back games. All four of Minnesota’s Super Bowl losses came by at least 10 points, so unlike the Bills, they didn’t have any close calls. It’s also worth mentioning that the Vikings were close to reaching a fifth Super Bowl. In 1998, the Vikings went 15-1, only to lose in overtime of the NFC Championship Game. Years later, the 1998 Vikings are still remembered as one of the best NFL teams that never won a Super Bowl, as well as one of the best to never reach the Super Bowl.
In addition to the Bills and Vikings, who have lost four Super Bowls each, the Bengals have three Super Bowl losses, including a recent loss in Super Bowl LVI. The Panthers and Falcons have both lost two Super Bowls. Finally, the Chargers, Titans, and Cardinals all lost their one and only Super Bowl appearance.
Which Teams Have Never Been to the Super Bowl?
Of the 32 NFL franchises, there are four teams that have never played in a Super Bowl. Those teams are the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars. In the case of the Texans and Jaguars, they are two of the NFL’s youngest franchises.
The Texans have only been around since 2002. Of course, they’ve never advanced beyond the Divisional Round of the playoffs in their first two decades of existence. Nevertheless, it’s understandable for such a young franchise to have never reached the Super Bowl.
As for the Jaguars, they have come within a game of reaching the Super Bowl three times but lost in the AFC Championship Game each time. It’s worth noting that Jacksonville reached the AFC Championship Game for the first time in just its second year of existence. But while they’ve come close, the Jaguars have never been to the Super Bowl. By contrast, the Panthers, who entered the league the same year as Jacksonville, have been to the Super Bowl twice, losing both times.
Naturally, it’s a different case for the Browns and Lions. Both teams won four NFL championships in the pre-Super Bowl era but have experienced a profound lack of success in recent decades. The Browns, to be fair, have been close at times, losing in the AFC Championship three times in a four-year span during the 1980s. They also endured a long playoff drought from 2003 to 2020, making their absence from a Super Bowl more obvious.
The Lions have endured similar hardships over the years. Heading into the 2023 season, Detroit’s last win in a playoff game was in 1991. The Lions have never even reached the NFC Championship Game, making it impossible for them to escape being mentioned alongside the teams that have never played in a Super Bowl.
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