What NFL Teams Haven’t Won a Super Bowl?

Can you name all 32 NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl? We’ll give you a hint – only 12 of them have even made it to the big game!

NFL Teams That Haven’t Won a Super Bowl

There are a few NFL teams that haven’t won a Super Bowl. The Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Houston Texans are a few of them. Let’s take a more in-depth look at these teams.

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 an amateur football team in 1898, and are the oldest continuously run professional football team in America. The franchise has been in existence for over 120 years, and has won two NFL championships – both while it was based in Chicago.

The team played their home games at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona until 1988, when they moved to Sun Devil Stadium in the same city. They currently play their home games at State Farm Stadium (formerly University of Phoenix Stadium) in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals are the only American football franchise to be based in two cities simultaneously – Chicago from 1898 until 1959, and then St. Louis from 1960 until 1987 – before moving to their current home in Arizona in 1988.

The Cardinals have won nine NFL championships – more than any other team that has never won a Super Bowl – including four pre-Super Bowl era NFL championships (1925, 1947, 1948, and 1949) and five NFL championships (1947, 1948, 1949, 2008, and 2009). They also won two conference championships (1975 and 2008), as well as five divisional championships (1974, 1975, 2008, 2009, and 2015).

Detroit Lions

Even though the Detroit Lions have been playing in the NFL since 1930, they have yet to win a Super Bowl championship. In fact, they haven’t even made it to the big game. The team’s most recent appearance in the playoffs was in 2016, when they lost in the first round.

Some people believe that the Lions are cursed. After all, they are the only team in NFL history to finish a season 0-16. And they have had some pretty bad luck over the years, including a few infamous ” faked” field goals.

But curses aside, the biggest reason why the Lions haven’t won a Super Bowl is simply because they haven’t been good enough. They have had some talented players over the years, including quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Bobby Layne, but they have never been able to put it all together and make a run at a championship.

It’s been a long time since the Lions have been relevant in the NFL, but with a young core of players and a new head coach in Matt Patricia, there is hope that they can turn things around and finally win that elusive Super Bowl title.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional football team that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The Texans were founded in 2002, making them one of the newest teams in the NFL. The Texans have never won a Super Bowl, but they have made it to the playoffs several times.

Reasons Why These Teams Haven’t Won a Super Bowl

There are a few reasons why some NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl. One reason is that they haven’t had a good quarterback. Another reason is that they haven’t had a good defense. And finally, some teams just haven’t been lucky. Let’s take a more in-depth look at each of these reasons.

Lack of star power

One big reason why NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl is a lack of star power. This can be due to many different factors, including a lack of draft picks, injuries, or simply not having enough talented players on the roster. teams that have won multiple Super Bowls usually have at least one superstar player who can take over a game and lead his team to victory. For example, the New England Patriots have Tom Brady, the Pittsburgh Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger, and the Seattle Seahawks have Russell Wilson. All of these players are considered to be among the best in the NFL and have led their team to multiple Super Bowl victories.

Another reason why NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl is because they haven’t been able to put together a complete team. In order to win a Super Bowl, every single unit on the team needs to be playing at a high level. This includes the offense, defense, special teams, and even the coaching staff. One weakness can often doom a team’s chances of winning it all. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles have had a very talented roster in recent years but haven’t been able to put it all together and win a Super Bowl.

Finally, another reason why NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl is bad luck. Sometimes, no matter how good a team is, they just can’t seem to get over the hump and win that final game. This has happened to many teams throughout history and there’s really no explanation for it other than saying that they were just unlucky. The Buffalo Bills are perhaps the best example of this as they went to four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s but couldn’t seem to win any of them.

Inefficient coaching

Nine of the teams on this list have never been to a Super Bowl, while the other five have a combined 13 appearances without a victory. All of these organizations have had stretches of success, usually led by high-powered offenses, but they’ve all been undone by coaching changes, quarterback inconsistencies, porous defenses or a combination of all three.

The common thread among these franchises is that they’ve all been searching for the right formula for winning a championship for a long time. In some cases, it’s been an entire generation since these fanbases have had anything to celebrate.

Poor front office decision making

Over the last few decades, there have been a number of teams who have come close to winning a Super Bowl, but have ultimately fallen short. One of the common threads among these teams is poor decision making from the front office. From passing on franchise quarterbacks in the draft to overpaying for aging veterans, these mistakes have set these teams back and prevented them from winning a championship.

Below are some of the teams who have made poor decisions that have cost them a chance at winning a Super Bowl.

Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a team that has come close to winning a Super Bowl on multiple occasions, but they have always fallen short. One of the main reasons for this is their poor decision making in the front office.

In 2014, the Bills passed on drafting franchise quarterback Derek Carr, instead opting to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins. This was a huge mistake, as Carr has gone on to become one of the best quarterbacks in the league while Watkins has been plagued by injuries throughout his career.

In 2017, the Bills made another blunder when they traded away star wide receiver Sammy Watkins for largely unknown cornerback E.J. Gaines and a second-round pick. This trade put more pressure on quarterback Tyrod Taylor and ultimately cost the Bills a chance at making the playoffs that year.

Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are another team that has made multiple poor decisions in the front office, costing them a chance at winning a Super Bowl. In 2012, they passed on drafting franchise quarterback Russell Wilson in favor of running back Trent Richardson. This was an immensely costly mistake, as Richardson turned out to be one of the biggest busts in NFL history while Wilson has gone on to become one of the best quarterbacks in league history.

In addition to passing on Wilson, the Browns also traded away multiple first-round picks in order to acquire quarterback Robert Griffin III from Washington. This was another failed gamble by Cleveland, as Griffin was never able to recapture his rookie season magic and was out of football just a few years later.