Greatest Teams to Never Win a Super Bowl

Not only did New England become the first team to go 16-0 in the regular
season, but they did it in dominant fashion. This was the team that New
York Jet head coach Eric Mangini accused of stealing signals during
games. The Patriots set multiple records that season. Offensively they
set a NFL record for points scored (589), quarterback Tom Brady threw 50
touchdown passes that season while Moss hauled in 23 touchdowns.

New England also had the fourth ranked defense in the league that season
led by defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, cornerback Asante Samuel, and
linebacker Mike Vrabel who all made The Pro Bowl. The Patriots only had
four games that season decided by single digits as they appeared to be
the greatest team ever. The Patriots rolled into The Super Bowl as 12-
point favorites over The New York Giants whom they had defeated in the
regular-season finale 38-35.

The Patriots lost the game 17-14 and thus became the only 18-win team in
NFL history not to win The Super Bowl. You have to wonder what the
outcome would have been if they had played another team that day, but
fate wasn’t on their side in Arizona.

2. 1990 San Francisco 49ers

The 1990 San Francisco entered the season as two-time defending Super
Bowl Champions and they appeared destined to become the first team to
three-peat. The 49ers had the ability to beat you in a variety of ways.
Quarterback Joe Montana was the best in the business as he made it look
effortless every Sunday. Running back was the best all-purpose back in
football while wide receiver Jerry Rice had over 1,500 receiving yards that
season. Defensive end/outside linebacker Charles Haley was coming into
his own as he recorded 16 sacks that season.

The Niners started the season 10-0 before tasting defeat at the hands of
The Los Angeles Rams. San Francisco finished the season with a record
of 14-2 and had home field advantage in The NFC Playoffs. The Niners
made quick work of The Washington Redskins 28-10 in The Divisional Round
and they seemed destined for The Super Bowl.

In The NFC Championship Game, The 49ers were involved in a slug fest
with The New York Giants. This game changed in the fourth quarter when
Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall lambasted Montana knocking him out
of action until 1992. San Francisco fell to The Giants in The NFC
Championship Game 15-13 on kicker Matt Bahr’s game-winning 42-yard field
goal as time expired. This marked the changing of the guard in San
Francisco as Steve Young took over at quarterback and he never looked
back as Montana finished up his career with The Kansas City Chiefs.

3. 1968 Baltimore Colts

The Baltimore Colts were champions of The NFL in 1968, but this was
before the merger of The NFL and The American Football League. The Colts
made it to Super Bowl 3 in Miami, Florida and were 18-point favorites
over The New York Jets of The AFL. The Colts dominated The NFL that
season with a record of 13-1. The Colts never permitted an opponent to
score more than 24 points in a game that season including three shutout
victories.

Quarterback Johnny Unitas was injured for most of the season and Earl
Morrall took his place and became league MVP. Morall was able to hand
off to running back Tom Matte and throw to Hall of Fame tight end John
Mackey who was the best tight end in pro football.

Defensively The Colts were led by Mike Curtis who was one of the
toughest middle linebackers of that era. The Colts also had defensive
end Bubba Smith and safety Rick Volk who had six interceptions that
year.

The Colts came up short to The New York Jets 16-7 in The Super Bowl which paved the way of the merger in 1970.

4. 2001 St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams were dubbed “The Greatest Show on Turf”. The Rams
averaged 31 points per game that season. It was constant battle going on
in The Rams backfield to see who the league MVP would be. In 1999,
quarterback Kurt Warner came out nowhere and took football by storm in
leading The Rams to their first Super Bowl title and he was named MVP of
The NFL and The Super Bowl. In 2000, running Marshall Faulk earned MVP
honors. In 2001, Warner once again assumed the spot.

Warner had a cast of receivers to throw the football to. At wide
receiver The Rams had Torry Holt, Issac Bruce, Ricky Proehl, and
Az-Zahir Hakim. Warner passed for 4,830 yards that season and 36
touchdowns. The Rams weren’t just about offense that season. Lovie Smith
was in his first season as defensive coordinator and his philosophy
paid off. Smith’s defense was aggressive and quick, forcing numerous
mistakes by opponents along the way.

Defensive end Leonard Little had 14.5 sacks while cornerback ‘Dre Bly
led the team with six interceptions. Veteran cornerback Aeneas Williams
was in his first year with the team after being apart of numerous losing
seasons as a member of The Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals. Williams and
cornerback Dexter McCleon each tallied four picks that year.

The Rams entered Super Bowl 36 as 14-point favorites over The New
England Patriots. The Rams had defeated The Patriots that season 24-17
and were expected to steamroll The Patriots. The Super Bowl was played
at The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans which was seen as a huge
advantage for The Rams as they were an indoor team.

The Patriots did what most teams were not able to do that season; they
beat The Rams up. Leading up to the game, Patriots head coach Bill
Belichick had his scout team wide receivers start each play three yards
offside to give his defense an idea of how fast the speedy Ram receivers
would get up on you. Patriot defenders punished Ram wideouts on each
play to the point that they were weary of catching the football.

The Rams were looking for their second Super Bowl Championship in three
years as they were looking to state their case for being a dynasty.
Another dynasty was born that day as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led
his team down the field in the final minute of the game. Kicker Adam
Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give The
Patriots the victory 20-17. This was New England’s first of three Super
Bowl triumphs in four years while The Rams have never made it back to
The Super Bowl.

5. 1990 Buffalo Bills

The history books will only remember The Buffalo Bills of the early 90s
for losing four consecutive Super Bowls. The one team that stood out was
the squad in 1990. Of those four teams, this squad had the best chance
to make it. The Bills scored 428 points that season led by their no
huddle “K-Gun” offense. The climate in Western New York is not conducive
to being able to throw the football around the way that Bills
quarterback Jim Kelly did. Kelly threw for 2,829 yards that season in 14
starts. Kelly’s main targets were wide receivers Andre Reed and James
Lofton who gave Buffalo one of the most formidable duos in football. The
Bills also had running back Thurman Thomas who rushed for over 1,200
yards that season.

Defensively, The Bills were led by defensive end Bruce Smith who was The
NFL’s Defensive Player of The Year that season. Smith wasn’t alone on
defense as linebackers Darryl Talley and Cornelius Bennett could defeat
opponents in a variety of ways.

In The AFC Playoffs, The Bills scored 95 points in two victories over
The Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Raiders and they were expected to do
the same to The New York Giants in Super Bowl 25. The Giants were
without starting quarterback Phil Simms and would rely on backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler and their stingy defense
more than ever.

Leading up to the game, Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick
implored his defensive unit that Thomas would have to rush for over 100
in the game for The Giants to win. Belichick wanted The Bills to defeat
them by running as opposed to passing. Thomas did gain 135 yards on the
ground that day, but it wasn’t enough. Belichick and Giants head coach
Bill Parcells figured that Kelly and company would get frustrated and
they would start to make mistakes. The Bills did a good job of being
patient as they had plenty of time to wait around on offense.

New York dominated the time of possession as they held the football for
of 40 minutes which is a Super Bowl record. With all of this The Bills
still had a chance to win. With eight seconds remaining in the game,
Bills kicker Scott Norwood came onto the field for a potential
game-winning 47-yard field goal. Norwood missed wide to the right and
The Bills lost 20-19. Buffalo made The Super Bowl in the next three
seasons with each result being worse than the last one. It makes you
wonder what could have been if The Bills had won that game? We might be
talking about the greatest dynasty ever if they had won that game.

6. 1994 Dallas Cowboys

During the early 90s the only team that could defeat The Dallas Cowboys
was themselves. The Cowboys had the largest offensive line in football
that opened up valleys for running back Emmitt Smith to run through.
Smith finished the regular season with 1,484 yards rushing and 21
touchdowns. Wide receiver Michael Irvin was one of the more physical
receivers that the game had seen as he bullied smaller defensive backs.

Dallas entered the season as two-time defending Super Bowl Champions,
but without head coach Jimmy Johnson who had a falling out with Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones. In stepped Barry Switzer and The Cowboys were still
poised for a three-peat. The San Francisco 49ers gave Dallas problems
all season as they had defeated The Cowboys in the regular-season 21-14.
These two teams had met in the two previous NFC Championship Games with
Dallas getting the better of San Francisco on both occasions. In 1994,
The 49ers decided to go “Prime Time”. The 49ers signed free agent
cornerback Deion Sanders in an attempt to neutralize Irvin.

It came down to The NFC Championship Game in San Francisco for these two
teams. Before you blinked, The Niners had jumped out to a 21-0 lead in
the first quarter. The Cowboys were playing catch-up all game and
finally fell to San Francisco 38-28. Don’t feel bad for Dallas as they
climbed back to the top of the mountain in 1995 and were once again
Super Bowl Champions.

7. 1997 Green Bay Packers

The 1997 Green Bay Packers were poised for greatness. The Packers won
The Super Bowl in 1996 and were looking to reclaim that status once
more. Packers quarterback Brett Favre had won his third consecutive MVP
Award that season as he passed for 3,896 yards and 35 touchdowns. This
team was loaded at every position. The defensive line was led by Reggie
White who had 11 sacks that season and even at 36-years of age he could
still get the job done. Safety LeRoy Butler led the team with five
interceptions and it was always a competition to see which Packer would
get to the end zone for “The Lambeau Leap”.

The Packers could hit teams with finesse or toughness. Green Bay wide
receivers Antonio Freeman and Robert Brooks both gained over 1,000 yards
receiving while running back Dorsey Levens gained 1,435 yards rushing.

For the second consecutive year, The Packers finished the regular-season
with a 13-3 record. After dispatching of The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and
The San Francisco 49ers in The NFC Playoffs, Green Bay was Super Bowl
bound to take on The Denver Broncos.

The Packers were 11-point favorites for a few reasons. Green Bay entered
the game as defending Super Bowl Champions. The NFC had defeated The
AFC in thirteen consecutive Super Bowls and The Broncos were led by
quarterback John Elway who had suffered three losses in The Super Bowl.
The Packers never had an answer for Broncos running back Terrell Davis
as he ran for 157 yards. Denver controlled the line of scrimmage as
offensively they continuously opened holes for Davis while defensively
The Broncos did force Favre into throwing one interception. The Packers
turned the ball over three times in this game and lost 31-24. Favre
never played in another Super Bowl while The Broncos repeated as Super
Bowl Champions defeating The Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 33 by a score
of 34-19.  

8. 1984 Miami Dolphins

The 1984 Miami Dolphins were as flashy as the television show “Miami
Vice”. Dolphins head coach Don Shula generally had ground control teams
during his first decade in South Florida. That changed in 1983 when The
Dolphins drafted quarterback Dan Marino. Marino became a starter midway
through his rookie season and he never looked back. In 1984 Marino took
The NFL by storm as he set a NFL record throwing for 5,084 yards along
with 48 touchdowns. Marino threw to “The Marks Brothers”. Wide receivers
Mark Clayton and Mark Duper were small receivers, but they were speedy
and elusive. The duo combined for 2,695 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Defensively, The Dolphins had “The Killer B’s” as twelve players on the
unit had their last name start with the letter B. The unit wasn’t as
stingy as it was in 1982 when they were best defense in football, but
they got the job done. The Dolphins held five opponents to 10 points or
fewer but were undone in The Super Bowl by The San Francisco 49ers.

Both teams had a combined record of 29-3 entering the game which is
still a record by both Super Bowl teams. The Dolphins quick strike
offense went blow for blow with The Niners in the first quarter as they
led 10-7. Defensively, The 49ers made Marino one dimensional as The
Dolphin running game was non-existent. Offensively, San Francisco
quarterback Joe Montana carved up The Dolphins for 331 yards passing and
three touchdowns en route to earning Super Bowl MVP honors as The
Dolphins lost 38-16.

Everyone involved with football expected that Marino and The Dolphins
would be back to The Super Bowl on multiple occasions. Nobody knew on
that day, that we would never see Dan Marino ever play on The Super Bowl
stage again.

9. 1998 Minnesota Vikings

The 1998 Minnesota Vikings took the term explosiveness to another level.
Lady Luck was on the side of The Vikings in The ’98 NFL Draft when wide
receiver Randy Moss fell to them at number 21 in round one. Moss went
on to “shock the world” that season as he caught 17 touchdown passes.
Moss wasn’t the only dangerous wide receiver on this team as he teamed
with All-Pro Cris Carter and Jake Reed to give The Vikings an
unstoppable trio. Running back Robert Smith rushed for 1,187 yards while
quarterback Randall Cunningham had the best season of his career as her
threw for 3,704 yards with 34 touchdowns.

People did not pay attention to The Vikings until week 5 when they
traveled to Lambeau Field to take on The Green Bay Packers. The Vikings
handed The Packers their first home loss since week 1 of The 1995
season. The Vikings and Moss further solidified themselves as contenders
on Thanksgiving Day against The Dallas Cowboys. Moss only caught three
passes, but he totaled 166 yards and three touchdowns as he came back to
bite The Cowboys for not drafting him. The Vikings finished the
regular-season with a record of 15-1 and they tallied 556 points which
was a new NFL record.

All that stood between The Vikings and The Super Bowl was a Gary
Anderson 38-yard field goal with just over two minutes remaining in The
NFC Championship Game. Anderson was 35 for 35 on the season in field
goals and also made every extra point that season as well. Anderson
surprisly missed the field giving The Atlanta Falcons life. The Falcons
drove down the field and tied the game up at 27-27 with under a minute
to play.

The Vikings got the football back with under a minute to play and you
knew that they would go for the win. Vikings head coach Dennis Green
shocked everyone when he decided to take a knee and go for the win in
overtime. This surprised everyone as Moss was the best receiver in the
league at catching the football in a “jump ball” situation.

The Falcons got the ball in overtime and their kicker Morten Anderson
connected on his 38-yard field goal sending The Falcons to The Super
Bowl and stunning The Vikings and their home crowd at The Metrodome. The
Vikings once again reached The NFC Championship Game in 2000, but they
were embarrassed at the hands of The New York Giants 41-0. Since then
The Vikings have not made another NFC Championship Game.

10. 1971 Kansas City Chiefs

The 1971 Kansas City Chiefs squad may have been better than the squad
the won The Super Bowl in 1969. The Chiefs finished the regular season
with a record of 10-3-1. Kansas City had four Pro Bowlers on defense in
the form of linebackers Willie Lanier and Bobby Bell along with
defensive tackle Buck Buchanan, and cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

Head coach Hank Stram was up to usual tricks as he would confuse
opponents with multiple formations and shifts on offense. Quarterback
Len Dawson’s main target was wide receiver Otis Taylor. Taylor finished
1971 with 1,110 receiving yards as he nearly averaged 20 yards per
reception. Taylor, Dawson, tackle Jim Tyrer, and guard Ed Buddle joined
their defensive teammates on The Pro Bowl squad. Kicker Jan Stenerud and
punter Jerrel Wilson made the squad as well giving The Chiefs 10
players on The Pro Bowl team.

The Chiefs were undone in the longest game in NFL history. The Chiefs
hosted The Miami Dolphins in The AFC Divisional Playoffs on Christmas
Day. Uncharacteristically, The Chiefs turned the football over four
times that day. What made matters worse was that the reliable Stenerud
missed three field goals on the day,

After going to overtime the game had still not been decided which
resulted in double overtime. In the second overtime, Dolphins kicker
Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal to give The Dolphins a 27-24
victory. The Dolphins rode this momentum to Super Bowl 6 before they
bowed out to The Dallas Cowboys 24-3. This was the prelude to greatness
for Miami as they went undefeated in 1972.