12 NFL organizations that have never won a Super Bowl
At the end of each season in the NFL, only one trophy is awarded. The Lombardi Trophy, presented to the Super Cup Champions, has been the main prize for 55 years.
Several teams have been lucky enough to win multiple Super Bowls, with the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers leading with six wins in the big game.
However, many franchises have yet to win their first Lombardi Trophy. As many as 12 teams currently competing in the league could not assure their fans of a Super Bowl victory. Some have not yet made it to the biggest sports game.
At the risk of alienating the 12 fans of NFL teams from future articles on sports blogs… let’s take a look at the 12 teams that have yet to win the Super Bowl. Revealing the length of their Championship droughts and how close the franchise came to Super Bowl glory.
FYI, these teams have never won the Super Bowl as we know it. However, the “Championship drought” refers to the number of seasons during which these franchises have not won the Super Bowl or the equivalent of the league Championship during that time. Prior to the first Super Bowl drawing at the end of the 1966 season, the equivalent prize for these teams was the NFL or AFL championships.
12) Houston Texans
Champions Drought: 19 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Missed Conference divisional round games in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2019
Bad luck:
Houston is the youngest franchise in the NFL. The team was founded only in 2002 and promoted to the league for the first time. The team had a pretty successful 2010 overall. After Houston didn’t make the playoffs until its tenth season in the league, it made the playoffs six times out of the last ten seasons.
11) Jacksonville Jaguars
Champions Drought: 26 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Missed Conference Championship Game in 1996, 1999 and 2017
Bad luck:
The top three teams on this list at least have the excuse of being the youngest franchises in the league. However, the Jaguars have experienced some heartbreak in their 26 seasons in the league.
10) Carolina Panthers
Champions Drought: 26 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Missed Super Bowls in the 2003 and 2015 seasons
Bad luck:
The Carolina Panthers joined the league as an expansion team the same year as the Jacksonville in 1995. However, Carolina came much closer to Super Bowl glory than the Jaguars. In 2015, the team had a 15-1 record and featured league MVP CAM Newton and coach of the year Ron Rivera, they were the favorites against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. However, the Broncos’ defense stifled the Carolina attack and never really got into trouble.
9) Minnesota Vikings
Champions Drought -season 51
The Closest They Came:
He lost Super Bowls in the 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1976 seasons.
Bad luck:
Now the list is leveled up by the duration of the fans’ disappointment. Technically, the Vikings won the NFL Championship in 1969. However, it is part of a four-year coincidence when the winners of the NFL and AFL championships met in the Super Bowl at the end of the season. While after the 1969 season, the two leagues merged into the NFL as we know it now. The two Conference Champions face off within the same league, rather than the two individual league winners contesting the Super Bowl.
8) Cleveland Browns
Champions Drought – 53 seasons
The Closest They Came:
He lost the NFL Championship in 1969, the Conference Championship games in the 1986, 1987 and 1989 seasons
Bad luck:
Cleveland was inactive for three seasons in the mid-1990s, when the original franchise moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens. However, in 1999, the league awarded Cleveland an expansion team, and the history of the original franchise was added to the new team.
7) Cincinnati Bengals
Champions Drought – 53 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Lost Super Bowls in the 1981 and 1988 seasons
Bad luck:
Bengals fans will feel a particular distaste for the San Francisco 49ers, who beat their team in both of the franchise’s Super Bowl losses in the 1980s.
6) Atlanta Falcons
Champions Drought: 55 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Missed Super Bowls in the 1998 and 2016 seasons:
Bad luck:
Atlanta fans should occupy one of the first places in the pain rankings of most people’s fan base. The best regular-season team in franchise history could boast a 14-2 record in 1998. Before John Elway and Terrell Davis were defeated, they inspired the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.
5) Buffalo Bills
Champions Drought: 55 seasons
The Closest They Came:
He lost Super Bowls in the 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons
Bad luck:
No team has reached the Super Bowl for four consecutive seasons. Which makes the Bills’ lack of success in the big game in the early 1990s all the more heartbreaking.
4) Los Angeles Chargers
Champions Drought: 57 seasons
The Closest They Came:
He lost the AFL Championship games in 1963 and 1964, missed the Super Bowl in the 1994 season
Bad luck:
The Chargers have the title of AFL champion, dating back to the 1963 season. Based in San Diego from 1961 to 2016, the franchise was the closest to Super Bowl glory in the 1994 season.
3) Tennessee Titans
Champions Drought: 59 seasons
The Closest They Came:
He lost the AFL Championship games in 1962 and 1967, missed the Super Bowl in the 1999 season
Bad luck:
The Browns didn’t get to the Super Bowl by a yard. Try to become a Titans fan when their extreme Quarterback Kevin Dyson was caught one yard from the goal line as time ran out in the Super Bowl game.
2) Detroit Lions
Championship drought – 63 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Missed Conference Championship Game in the 1991 season
Bad luck:
At this point on the list, Lyons fans are the ones who most crave success after the season, if the team’s history is taken into account. The franchise has never participated in the Super Bowl in 55 attempts. In the same time span, they only reached the “final Four” stage once. The 1991 team was not even so close to that, given that in the title match, the Washington Redskins lost them by 41:10.
1) Arizona Cardinals
Champions Drought – 73 seasons
The Closest They Came:
Lost the NFL Championship Game in the 1948 season, Missed the Super Bowl in the 2008 season
Bad luck:
Another truly historic franchise. Cardinals fans have most often faced mediocrity, no matter where this franchise is based for decades. Originally based in Chicago, then in St.Louis, and since 1988 in Arizona, the Cardinals have only made it to the final game of the season once since winning the 1947 NFL Championship 73 seasons ago.