What NFL Teams Have Not Been to the Super Bowl?

It’s hard to believe that there are still a handful of NFL teams who have never made it to the Super Bowl. Here’s a look at the teams who are still waiting for their chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important game of the year. Every year, one team from each conference (the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC)) goes to the Super Bowl. The teams that lose in the conference championships play in the Pro Bowl, which is the NFL’s all-star game.

To date, there have been 52 Super Bowls. Of those, the AFC has won 26 and the NFC has won 26. There have been three ties, all of which occurred in the early years of the Super Bowl when it was still called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game.

The Green Bay Packers have appeared in more Super Bowls than any other team, with 13 appearances and 4 wins. The New England Patriots have appeared in 11 Super Bowls, winning 6 of them. The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have each appeared in 8 Super Bowls, winning 5 and 6 respectively. No other team has appeared in more than 5 Super Bowls.

NFL Teams That Have Never Been to the Super Bowl

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. It was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970.

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football franchise based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Cardinals were founded as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States. The Cardinals play their home games at State Farm Stadium, which opened in 2006 and is located in Glendale, Arizona.

The team has won two NFL championships, both while it was based in Chicago. The first occurred in 1925, but is the subject of controversy because it was awarded to them via forfeit after the Pottsville Maroons were suspended from the league. Their second title, and first NFL Championship Game victory, came in 1947 when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 28–21 at Comiskey Park. In 2012, the franchise reached Super Bowl XLIII after a 10-year playoff drought behind quarterback Kurt Warner (who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame that year) and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (who would achieve his own first-ballot Hall of Fame induction six years later). However, they were defeated by a late Pittsburgh Steelers touchdown. Since joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1920, they have yet to return to an NFL Championship Game or win an NFC championship.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the National Football League (NFL) as a part of the league’s NFC North division. The franchise has not won an NFL championship since 1957, when they clinched their sixth NFL Championship. The franchise has not appeared in the Super Bowl since its inception in 1966.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team plays its home games at NRG Stadium in Houston, which opened in 2002 to replace the Astrodome, the first domed sports stadium ever built. The franchise was founded in 2002 as an expansion team and is currently owned by Cal McNair. While the Texans have never won a Super Bowl, they have qualified for the playoffs ten times in their short history.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have never been to the Super Bowl. They made it to the AFC Championship game in 1996 and 2017, but they lost both times.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) West division. They were founded on August 14, 1959, and began play on September 10, 1960, as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), and spent their first season in Los Angeles, before moving to San Diego in 1961.

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1960, and first took the field for the 1961 season. The team competes in the National Football Conference (NFC) North division.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints joined the NFL in 1967 as an expansion team. Since then, they have made 11 playoff appearances and won one Super Bowl championship (Super Bowl XLIV). In their 52 years of existence, the Saints have never made back-to-back appearances in the Super Bowl.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football franchise based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets, when a group led by Bert Bell purchased the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia. Bell, Chuck Bednarik, Bob Brown, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Tommy McDonald, Greasy Neale, Pete Pihos, Norm Van Brocklin, and Alex Wojciechowicz have been inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The team has an intense rivalry with the New York Giants. This rivalry is the oldest in the NFC East and is among the oldest in the NFL. They also have a historic rivalry with the Washington Redskins, as well as their bitter rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, which has become more high-profile in recent years.

Conclusion

There are a total of 32 NFL teams, and of those, 12 have never been to the Super Bowl.

The NFL teams that have never been to the Super Bowl are the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Tennessee Titans.

These teams have a combined 235 seasons of football without a Super Bowl appearance.