(WRIC) — National Football League teams have seen varying degrees of success over the years as the game evolves and players come and go.
Whether it’s a historic rise like the ones the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs went through after finding generational talents at quarterback — or a tragic downfall like the dynasty of the Dallas Cowboys had in the late 90’s as cornerstone players left one after another, every team has their ups and downs.
Unfortunately for some, not all teams plateau at the same height as others. While many teams have made it all the way to a Super Bowl victory, several have never lifted the Lombardi Trophy — and some have never even made it as far to have appeared in the big game.
The following teams have made it to the Super Bowl, but have never won:
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans made it to the Super Bowl in 1999, the same year they moved from Houston to Nashville and became the Titans. It was a game they were just inches away from winning.
Down by a touchdown to the St. Louis Rams in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXIV, Titans quarterback Steve McNair completed a pass to wideout Kevin Dyson, who was tackled by Rams linebacker Mike Jones before he could make it to the end zone.
With the ball in his hand, Dyson stretched his arm towards the end zone as he went down, but could not score. This play, now known simply as “The Tackle,” would go on to become one of the most memorable Super Bowl endings in history.
Today, the Titans have one of the NFL’s best running backs in Derrick Henry and are usually in control of the lowly AFC South, bit have had little playoff success since “The Tackle.”
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have made it to three Super Bowls in the last four decades, and came up just short in all three.
In Super Bowl XVI, the Bengals, led by MVP and league-leading passer Ken Anderson faced off against quarterback Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers, who defeated them 26-21 for their first of five Super Bowl victories.
In Super Bowl XXIII at the end of the strike-shortened 1989 season, the Bengals once again faced “Joe Cool” and the 49ers, this time featuring hall-of-fame receiver Jerry Rice, who would go on to win Super Bowl MVP.
This game ended with a drive by Montana and the 49ers, who were down by three points at their own 8-yard line with just three minutes to go. After making it over 90 yards down the field, Montana threw the game-winning touchdown pass with just seconds left to go. The final score was 20-16.
The Bengals made their most recent Super Bowl in 2021, against quarterback Matt Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI. This time, the Bengals were up by four to begin the fourth quarter, but could not stop Stafford and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp, who made the game-winning reception on a fourth down with under two minutes remaining.
Today, the Bengals have former first-overall pick Joe Burrow leading them at quarterback and are a perennial contender in the AFC North.
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals (who played in Chicago at the time) were one of the NFL’s original teams, dating all the way back to its first season back in 1920. Despite being in the league for over 100 years (57 of which had Super Bowls), the Cardinals have never won the big game, and only made it there on one occasion.
In 2008, Kurt Warner, who had won a Super Bowl and two Most Valuable Player awards years earlier as the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams, was having a career resurgence on the Cardinals when they made it to Super Bowl XLIII, facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With a four-point lead with only a few minutes left in the game, it looked like the game had been decided for the Cardinals when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a last-minute touchdown pass to win the game for the Steelers.
Today, the Cardinals are at the bottom of their division, having ended last season with a record of 4-13.
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons have an interesting distinction among the teams on this list — they have what may be the most famous loss in the history of the Super Bowl.
With about eight minutes left in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw his second touchdown to put them ahead, 28-3. After that, quarterback Tom Brady slowly led the New England Patriots to a comeback, eventually tying the game at 28-28 at the end of regulation.
The Patriots won the coin toss to begin overtime and after a long offensive drive, Patriots running back James White barely made into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. It was the largest comeback win in the history of the Super Bowl.
The Falcons had made it to just one Super Bowl up to that point — a 19-34 loss to the Denver Broncos in 1999’s Super Bowl XXXIII.
The Falcons ended last season in a three-way tie for the bottom of the NFC South.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers were a clutch, last-second field goal by NFL legend Adam Vinatieri away from potentially not being on this list.
In Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Panthers and New England Patriots were tied at 29 with four seconds to go when Vinatieri made a field goal from 41 yards away for the win. It the second of the Patriots’ six Super Bowl victories.
About 10 years later, with MVP quarterback Cam Newton leading the offense and future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly leading the defense, the Panthers made it back to the Super Bowl after going 15-1 in the regular season.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, Super Bowl 50 also ended in a loss, this time to the Denver Broncos led by legendary quarterback Peyton Manning on offense and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller on defense.
Since losing to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50, the Panthers have only been to the playoffs once.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are famous for having made it to four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 90’s — and losing each one.
The Bills were only close to winning the first of the four, only falling by one point to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV. They lost the following three by 13, 35 and 17 respectively.
The Bills would go on to make appearances in the playoffs every year of the 90’s before a long playoff drought between 2000 and 2017.
Minnesota Vikings
Like the Bills, the Minnesota Vikings made several Super Bowl appearances in quick succession but didn’t win any. Unlike the Bills, the Vikings’ opponents ran away with each one.
The Vikings’ made it to their first Super Bowl in the 1969-1970 season, against quarterback Len Dawson and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Vikings only scored once, a touchdown in the third quarter, and ended up falling 7-23 in Super Bowl IV.
The Vikings’ second appearance was in Super Bowl VIII against the Miami Dolphins, this time scoring just one touchdown again and losing 7-24. This was followed by another Super Bowl appearance the year after, in which the Vikings came the closest they’ve ever been to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy: a 16-6 loss against the Steelers.
The Vikings’ most recent appearance in the Super Bowl was in Super Bowl XI against the Oakland Raiders. This time, the Vikings were able to score more than once, but it would not be enough as the Vikings fell 14-32 to the Raiders.
All four of these Super Bowl appearances featured members of the “Purple People Eaters”, the Vikings’ legendary defensive line which consisted of four multiple-time Pro Bowl selections and two Hall-of-Famers.
Today, the Vikings have made the playoffs just five times since 2010, the most recent of which was in 2022, when they fell to the New York Giants in the first round.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers, who were still the San Diego Chargers at the time, made it to one Super Bowl, and it did not go particularly well for them.
The Chargers faced off against the San Francisco 49ers, who were looking to take home their fifth Lombardi Trophy, in Super Bowl XXIX in 1994.
Even with Hall-of-Fame linebacker Junior Seau leading the defense, the Chargers were no match for the 49ers with quarterback Steve Young, who would go on to win Super Bowl MVP, and receiver Jerry Rice, who already had a Super Bowl MVP under his belt. The 49ers scored a total of 49 points and Young threw six touchdowns, setting a Super Bowl record.
The Chargers offense tried to keep up, but against several Hall-of-Famers on the 49ers defense, including Deion Sanders, Richard Dent, Bryant Young and Rickey Jackson, they could only score 26 to prevent the game from becoming an absolute blowout.
Today, the Chargers are a middling team, having made it to the playoffs in 2022 but losing in the first round to the Jaguars.
The following teams have never been to the Super Bowl:
Jacksonville Jaguars
Though the Jacksonville Jaguars have never been to the Super Bowl, they have been close — having made it to three AFC Championship games in their 26 years as a team.
In 1997, the 11-8 Jaguars became the newest team to reach a conference championship, facing off against the Patriots in just their second season. Only able to score two field goals and giving up a score off a turnover late in the game, the Jags lost 6-20 to the Patriots, who would go on to lose to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.
In 1999, the Jags made it to another AFC Championship, this time against the Tennessee Titans. Though they did better on offense, scoring two touchdowns for a total of 14 points, they gave up six turnovers and a safety. The Titans scored a total of 33 points and went on to face the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, the game that ended with “The Tackle.”
Most recently, the Jags made it to the AFC Championship in 2017, led by quarterback Blake Bortles, running back Leonard Fournette and a staggering six Pro-Bowlers on defense.
The Jags came the closest to winning this game, as they were up when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to receiver Danny Amendola for the lead with less than three minutes left. The Patriots would go on to beat the Rams 13-3 in the famously uneventful Super Bowl LIII.
Today, the Jags are known as a terrible team but are beginning to shake that reputation with an AFC South title and a playoff win last year, led by former #1 pick Trevor Lawrence at quarterback.
Houston Texans
Not only are the Texans the NFL’s only team to never make a conference championship, they are the only team that has never won a single playoff game on the road.
Having been in the NFL since 2002, the Texans are the league’s youngest team. They have made it to the playoffs just six times in their short history and have a record of 4-2 in the first round.
They’ve never made it past the second round, the closest they’ve gotten was losing by a touchdown to the Baltimore Ravens their first time in the playoffs in 2011.
The Texans have not been to the playoffs since 2019 and had one of their worst records to date this past season, finished 3-13 for last place in the AFC South.
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are the only team that has been in the NFL for all 57 Super Bowls, but hasn’t played in any of them.
One of the NFL’s oldest teams, the Lions won several NFL Championships between the 30’s and the 50’s, but all of those were before the first Super Bowl.
Over the course of the first 50 years following the first Super Bowl, the Lions won just one playoff game, in 1991 with legendary running back Barry Sanders leading the offense. The team would go on to lose in their first NFC Championship to Washington, who won that year’s Super Bowl.
The Lions had their best season in decades this year, making it all the way to the NFC Championship and losing to the 49ers by just a field goal.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have a complicated history — a history that does not consist of much winning.
The Browns were formed in 1946 and had some success in the NFL prior to the Super Bowl era, winning four NFL Championships between 1950 and 1964. The Browns would make the playoffs nine times during the 70’s and 80’s, only winning three games.
In 1995, the Browns left Cleveland to become the Baltimore Ravens, a team that has won two Super Bowls in their 26-year history. In 1999, Cleveland got a new Browns team, and this new iteration of the team has been historically bad.
Over the course of 23 seasons, the new Browns have made it to the playoffs just two times. They have won just one playoff game, 48-37 against the Steelers in 2020 — despite giving up five turnovers.
Today, the Browns are still bad, having finished this past season with a 7-10 record for last place in the AFC North. This year was the Browns’ first finishing a regular season better than third in the division since 2007.
