No Cigar: The 12 NFL Teams Who Have Never Won the Super Bowl
The 12 NFL organisations that have never won a Superbowl including the Lions and the Cardinals
The Minnesota Vikings - Never won the Lombardi Trophy
There’s only one trophy handed out at the end of every season in the NFL. The Lombardi Trophy, given to the Super Bowl champions, has been the ultimate prize for 55 years.
Several teams have been fortunate to win multiple Super Bowls, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers lead the way with six wins in the big game.
However, many franchises have yet to earn their first Lombardi Trophy. As many as 12 teams currently in the league have failed to secure a Super Bowl victory for their fan base. Some have yet to even reach the sport’s biggest game.
At the risk of alienating 12 NFL team fan bases from future Sporting Blog articles... let’s take a look at the 12 teams yet to win a Super Bowl. Revealing the length of their Championship droughts and how close the franchise has come to Super Bowl glory.
FYI - These teams have never won the Super Bowl as we know it. However, “Championship Drought” refers to the number of seasons these franchises have not won a Super Bowl or the league championship equivalent in that time. Prior to the first edition of the Super Bowl at the end of the 1966 season, the equivalent prize was either the NFL or AFL Championships for these teams.
12) Houston Texans
Championship Drought: 19 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Conference Divisional Round Games in 2011, 2012, 2016 & 2019
The Bad Luck:
Houston is the youngest franchise in the NFL. The team was only founded and entered the league for the first time in 2002. The team enjoyed a rather successful 2010’s overall. After not making the postseason until their tenth season in the league, Houston has reached the playoffs six out of the past ten seasons.
The best of those teams was arguably the 2012 group. Quarterback Matt Schaub’s play fell off a cliff after this season but in 2012 he led a talented team to a franchise-best 12-4 record in the regular season.
Former Texans Defensive End JJ Watt earned the first of three Defensive Player of the Year awards in his career so far, racking up 20.5 sacks. However, Houston couldn’t overcome the Patriots in the Divisional Round.
11) Jacksonville Jaguars
Championship Drought :26 Seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Conference Championship Game in 1996, 1999 & 2017
The Bad Luck:
The first three teams on this list at least have the excuse of being the youngest franchises in the league. However, the Jaguars have endured some heartbreak in their 26 seasons playing in the league.
The 1999 team boasts the regular-season record in team history at 14-2. However, they lost heavily in the AFC Championship game. Meanwhile, the 2017 squad had a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter against the Patriots. New England overcame the deficit in the final few minutes and Jacksonville hasn’t been to the playoffs since.
10) Carolina Panthers
Championship Drought: 26 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Super Bowls in 2003 & 2015 seasons
The Bad Luck:
The Carolina Panthers joined the league as an expansion team the same year as Jacksonville in 1995. Carolina however, has come much closer to Super Bowl glory than the Jaguars.
The 2015 team had a 15-1 record, boasting the league MVP, Cam Newton, and Coach of the Year, Ron Rivera, they were favourites against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. However, the Broncos defense suffocated the life out of the Carolina offense and never really looked in trouble.
Against the Patriots at Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina tied the game at 29 each in the final two minutes of a see-saw contest. However, an Adam Vinatieri field goal as the clock hit zeroes secured another Lombardi trophy for Tom Brady and company.
9) Minnesota Vikings
Championship Drought: 51 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Super Bowls in 1969, 1973, 1974 & 1976 season.
The Bad Luck:
Now the list clicks up a gear in the length of fan base disappointment. Technically, the Vikings won the NFL Championship in 1969. However, this is part of a four-year overlap where the NFL and AFL Championship winners met in the Super Bowl at the end of the season.
Whereas after the 1969 season, the two leagues merged into the NFL as we know it now. Two Conference Champions meeting as part of one league, rather than two separate league winners contesting the Super Bowl.
So we count the Championship drought from that point. The Vikings were dominant in the 1970s but never got over the hump. The fan base has suffered many more heartbreaking playoff exits in the decades since.
8) Cleveland Browns
Championship Drought: 53 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost NFL Championship in 1969, Conference Championship Games in 1986, 1987 & 1989 seasons
The Bad Luck:
Cleveland was inactive for three seasons in the mid-1990s when the original franchise relocated to Baltimore to become the Ravens. However, the league awarded Cleveland an expansion team in 1999, and the original franchise’s history was added to the new team.
Arguably the Browns most heartbreaking playoff loss was the 1987 Conference Title game against the Denver Broncos. Driving to tie the game in the final minutes, Cleveland running back Earnest Byner fumbled the ball just one-yard away from the Broncos goal line.
Game over. “The Fumble” has its own place in NFL history.
7) Cincinnati Bengals
Championship Drought - 53 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Super Bowls in 1981 & 1988 seasons
The Bad Luck:
Bengals fans will have a particular distaste for the San Francisco 49ers, who beat their team in both the franchise’s Super Bowl losses during the 1980s.
Both contests resulted in one-score losses for Cincinnati. Super Bowl XXIII was easily the more heartbreaking loss. In the final moments of the game, 49ers quarterback Joe Montana led an 11-play, 92-yard touchdown drive to take the lead in the final minutes.
A moment in NFL history coined simply as, “The Drive.” The Bengals have not even reached a Conference Championship game since.
6) Atlanta Falcons
Championship Drought: 55 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Super Bowls in 1998 & 2016 seasons:
The Bad Luck
Atlanta fans should rank near the top of most people’s fan base pain rankings lists. The best regular-season team in franchise history boasted a 14-2 record in 1998. Before being blown away by a John Elway and Terrell Davis inspired Denver Broncos at Super Bowl XXXIII.
Need we say any more about the Super Bowl loss to New England? I’ll spare the details for any Atlanta fans reading.
5) Buffalo Bills
Championship Drought: 55 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Super Bowls in 1990, 1991, 1992 & 1993 seasons
The Bad Luck:
No team has ever reached the Super Bowl four consecutive seasons in a row. Making the Bills lack of success at the big game in the early 1990s even more heartbreaking.
Losing to the heavily favoured Dallas Cowboys in 1992 & 1993 is one thing. However, Buffalo was seen as a good match for the 1991 Washington Redskins, and the loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV is infamous in NFL circles. Kicker Scott Norwood missed the game-winning 47-yard field goal “wide-right,” as time expired. Heartbreak for the Buffalo Bills once again.
4) Los Angeles Chargers
Championship Drought: 57 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost AFL Championship Games in 1963 & 1964, Super Bowl Loss in 1994 season
The Bad Luck:
The Chargers have an AFL Championship Title to their name going back to the 1963 season. Based in San Diego from 1961 - 2016, the franchise came closest to Super Bowl glory in the 1994 season.
However, quarterback Dan Fouts and company ran into a buzzsaw known as the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. 49ers quarterback Steve Young threw six touchdown passes, three to fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, leading his side to a comfortable 49-26 victory.
3) Tennessee Titans
Championship Drought: 59 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost AFL Championship Games in 1962 & 1967, Super Bowl loss in 1999 season
The Bad Luck:
The Browns came one yard short of reaching the Super Bowl. Try being a Titans fan when their wide receiver Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of the goal line as time expired IN the Super Bowl.
Driving to tie the game against the St Louis Rams, quarterback Steve McNair found his receiver in stride, only for Rams linebacker Mike Jones to make a textbook diving tackle to secure the Rams first Lombardi trophy in franchise history. Tennessee’s wait goes on…
2) Detroit Lions
Championship Drought: 63 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost Conference Championship Game in 1991 season UNTIL NOW! When they lost it again in 2023, this time to the 49rs.
The Bad Luck:
To this point on the list, Lions fans are the most starved of postseason success, when you consider the history of the team. The franchise has never been to a Super Bowl in 55 attempts. They’ve only reached the final four stage once over the same length of time.
The 1991 team wasn’t even that close really, considering they were blown out 41-10 in the title game by the Washington Redskins.
The Lions, founded in 1930, is one of the sport’s most historic franchises.
They haven’t won their division since 1993. Before some of the teams on this list were even founded! Such a proud sports city, it’s a shambles this franchise hasn’t even reached the big game at least once. Neutrals without a rooting interest should rally behind the Lions if they ever get close to a Lombardi Trophy…
1) Arizona Cardinals
Championship Drought: 73 seasons
Closest They Have Come:
Lost 1948 season NFL Championship Game, Lost Super Bowl in 2008 season
The Bad Luck:
Another truly historic franchise. The Cardinals fan base has been faced with mediocrity more often than not wherever this franchise has been based over the decades.
Originally based in Chicago, then St Louis, and since 1988 in Arizona, the Cardinals have reached the final game of the season just once since winning the 1947 NFL Championship 73 seasons ago.
The Super Bowl loss came in Super Bowl XLIII to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which does have an argument to be the greatest Super Bowl of all time. The Steelers marched down the field in the final minutes of the game, taking a four-point lead with just 35 seconds left on the clock.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisbergers’ threading the needle throw, finding Santonio Holmes toe-tapping in the back corner of the endzone is regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history.
The Cardinals meanwhile continue to wait. 73 years!
Some fun facts about 1947, the last year the Cardinals won a Championship, to end the article:
The UFO allegedly found as part of the Roswell Incident is dated back to July 7th, 1947
The Polaroid Camera was first demonstrated by inventor Edwin Land in 1947.
The Classical Holiday Film, “Miracle on 34th Street” first premiered in theatres.
Jackie Robinson took to the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball.
Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, London.
