By Darin Hayes Pigskin History’s Top 10 Tortured Super Bowl Losers
Hello, everyone! We hope you had a great weekend of NFL football. As we reflect on the gridiron action, let’s reflect even further back on some of the best teams to have lost the Super Bowl. It’s a fun, yet painful, topic for fans: which teams were perhaps better than the eventual champion, or were simply tortured by bad luck, a single bad decision, or running into a dynasty?
Plenty of people rank the all-time Super Bowl winners, but we’re diving into the 57-plus candidates who came up short to determine the Top 10 Super Bowl Losers. These are the teams whose missing rings are the biggest ‘what ifs’ in football history. Pigskin Daily History Dispatch host Darin Hayes welcomes our top-ten specialist Ed Kleese to break down the list from 10 all the way to 1.
Counting Down: The Top 10 Losing Teams of the Super Bowl (10-6)
It wasn’t as complicated as you might think to narrow down the field, thanks to long stretches in the ’80s and ’90s where the Super Bowl losers weren’t that impressive. However, ranking the final ten was a challenge!
10. 1973 Minnesota Vikings 💜
The 1973 Minnesota Vikings represent the storied, yet ultimately ring-less, Vikings era of the ’70s. This team went 12-2 in the 14-game season, largely thanks to the dominance of the “Purple People Eaters” defense, which featured three Hall of Famers (plus the argued snub, Jim Marshall). They held opponents to single digits in half their games!
Their Achilles heel? They were completely non-competitive in Super Bowl VIII against the Dolphins, who were coming off their perfect season. Miami’s Bob Griese only completed six passes for 60 yards, yet the Vikings’ Hall of Fame defense was run over, earning them the unfortunate title of “Purple Pancakes.” They were the best team in the NFC, but unfortunately, they ran into a better overall team that night.
9. 1997 Green Bay Packers 🧀
Going for back-to-back championships, the 1997 Green Bay Packers were a supremely balanced team that had easily cruised through their playoff run at Lambeau Field. They were a massive 11.5-point favorite against the Denver Broncosâone of the largest spreads in Super Bowl historyâand were considered the far superior team all season.
However, they were upset by a determined Broncos team led by a rejuvenated John Elway and a remarkable performance by running back Terrell Davis (who played through a migraine!). This very close, 7-point loss lingers as a “what if” moment in Brett Favre‘s career, as a second ring would have dramatically altered his historical narrative.
8. 2001 St. Louis Rams 🐑
The famed “Greatest Show on Turf” reached its apex in 2001. This Rams team was arguably even better than their 1999 Super Bowl-winning squad. They boasted the number one offense in the league for the third straight year and dramatically improved their defense, jumping from 23rd to a top-five ranking. They finished the season with a record of 14-2.
The Rams were huge favorites, but ran into the buzzsaw that was Bill Belichick and the nascent legend of Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVI. Belichick’s brilliant game plan neutralized Marshall Faulk, and the Patriots won on a last-second field goal. While Kurt Warner had a game-tying drive in the final minutes, he didn’t get the ball back. They were the better team, but the Patriots had the better ending.
7. 1990 Buffalo Bills 🏈
No list of Super Bowl losers would be complete without the Buffalo Bills. We chose the 1990 Bills because, unlike their subsequent three Super Bowl losses, where they were arguably the second-best team in the league, in 1990, they were the best. They went 13-3 and scored 95 points across their two AFC playoff games, crushing the Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship. This team was absolutely loaded, featuring nine Pro Bowlers and multiple future Hall of Famers like Jim Kelly.
They were better than the Giants, especially since New York was starting a backup quarterback in the Super Bowl. Ultimately, they were out-coached and fell in a heartbreaker decided by Scott Norwood‘s infamous “wide right” field goal miss. It was an agonizing moment of history, proving that mere inches can define a generation of football greatness.
6. 2013 Denver Broncos 🐴
The 2013 Denver Broncos were a historic offensive juggernaut, marking Peyton Manning‘s arrival in Denver. Their defense wasn’t great, but the offense was simply insane. They averaged over 400 total yards in all but one of their 16 regular-season games, and Manning threw an unprecedented 55 touchdown passes that season.
Despite beating the Patriots in the AFC Championship, the Broncos were utterly destroyed in Super Bowl XLVIII by the Seattle Seahawks’ dominant defense in a weird, cold-weather game in New York. While the lopsided loss dings their ranking, the 2013 Broncos offense remains one of the most outstanding, most record-shattering units in NFL history.
Continuing the Countdown: The Top 5 Losing Teams of the Super Bowl (5-1)
5. 1978 Dallas Cowboys 🌟
This was arguably the most dominant team of the Roger Staubach era. The 1978 Dallas Cowboys were stacked, featuring a Hall of Fame coach (Tom Landry), quarterback (Staubach), running back (Tony Dorsett), and general manager (Tex Schramm), plus two defensive Hall of Famers (Randy White and Cliff Harris). They dominated the NFC, winning the Championship game 28-0 over the Rams.
Unfortunately, they ran into the 1970s Steelers buzzsaw. The moment that defines this lossâa moment of torture for all Cowboys fansâcame in the third quarter: with the score 21-14, Staubach hit Hall of Fame tight end Jackie Smith right in the chest for a game-tying touchdown, and Smith dropped it. Dallas settled for a field goal, and that missed opportunity allowed the Steelers to pull away and secure a 35-31 win. They were the second-best team in the NFL that year, but that single drop made all the difference.
4. 1968 Baltimore Colts 💙
The 1968 Baltimore Colts hold the dubious distinction of having the most infamous Super Bowl loss in history. Before the merger, the NFL was considered the far superior league. The Colts were a powerhouse, going 13-1, leading the NFL in defense, and crushing the Browns 34-0 in the Championship Game. They forced an unbelievable 52 turnovers in a 14-game season.
Facing the AFL’s New York Jets in Super Bowl III was considered an afterthoughtâuntil Joe Namath guaranteed victory. The Colts, perhaps taking the game too lightly, were stunned in the largest upset in sports history, losing 16-7. The 1968 Colts team was arguably far better than the version that won Super Bowl V two years later; they simply fell victim to complacency and the Jets’ innovative game plan, which changed the course of professional football forever.
3. 2014 Seattle Seahawks 💚
The 2014 Seattle Seahawks were on the cusp of becoming a dynasty, aiming for back-to-back Super Bowl wins. This team, featuring the legendary “Legion of Boom” defense (ranked No. 1 in the NFL), was exceptionally balanced and clutch, highlighted by their incredible comeback NFC Championship win over the Packers.
They were beating the Patriots 24-14 midway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX. Despite holding a 24-21 lead with the ball at the Patriots’ 1-yard line and 26 seconds left, head coach Pete Carroll chose to throw a slant pass instead of handing the ball to running back Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch on second-and-goal with a timeout remaining. The pass was intercepted by Malcolm Butler, sealing the Patriots’ win. This single, baffling coaching decisionâwith all-time great Lynch waitingâtorpedoed the Seahawks’ legacy and cemented the 2014 team as one of the most agonizing Super Bowl losers ever.
2. 1998 Minnesota Vikings 💜
The 1998 Minnesota Vikings are the definition of a historical powerhouse that never finished the job. They possessed one of the greatest offensive attacks in NFL history, setting the then-record for scoring with 556 points. They featured veteran quarterback Randall Cunningham, Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, and rookie sensation Randy Moss, who exploded for 17 touchdowns. The team went 15-1.
In the NFC Championship against the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings were easily the better team. Still, a late Gary Anderson field goal attemptâtheir perfect 100% kicker all seasonâwent wide, sending the game to overtime, where the Falcons won. To have a 15-1 team with a historically significant offense lose because of a single missed kick by a previously perfect kicker is perhaps the most painful form of football torture. The ’98 Vikings were Super Bowl-bound and deserved a title shot.
1. 2007 New England Patriots 🏈
Was there ever any doubt? The 2007 New England Patriots are unanimously considered the best team ever to lose the Super Bowl. They finished the regular season 16-0, the first team to do so since the schedule expansion. Their offense, featuring Tom Brady and Randy Moss, was unstoppable, setting a then-record with 589 points. They had arguably the most excellent regular season in NFL history.
They faced a tough New York Giants team in Super Bowl XLII, but were heavily favored to complete the perfect 19-0 season and achieve immortality. Instead, they were upset 17-14 in one of the most outstanding defensive performances ever, highlighted by the impossible “Helmet Catch” by David Tyree on the Giants’ final, game-winning drive. Losing the Super Bowl is painful, but losing a perfect season in the final minutes is a legendary, incomparable level of anguish. The 2007 Patriots are, without a doubt, the most tortured Super Bowl losers.
The Final Word
This list is a painful reminder that sometimes, the best team doesn’t win the final game. Whether they were victims of a coaching blunder, a singular moment of bad luck, or simply ran into a motivated opponent on the wrong night, these ten teams are the ultimate “what ifs” in Super Bowl history. They were dominant, star-studded, and in some cases, record-shattering.
Which team do you think suffered the worst Super Bowl heartbreak? Did we miss a more deserving team that belongs in the Top 10? Let us know in the comments!