In general sports, the best team doesn’t always win the championship at the end of the year. In fact, more often than not, the best team winds up not even making the big game, giving way to a scrappy underdog or a team with more momentum. This happens all the time in the NFL, as the number one seeds from the AFC and NFC rarely face off against each other in the Super Bowl.
However, what about the teams that looked so dominant throughout the regular season, we thought they would never lose en route to a Super Bowl victory? There are a handful of teams in NFL history that looked truly unstoppable but still didn’t wind up lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
10. 2018 New Orleans Saints
The 2018 Saints are a team that doesn’t get talked about enough. While the Rams and Eagles were both favorites to win the NFC that year, the Saints were actually the best team in the conference. Quarterback Drew Brees might have been in the twilight of his career, but he still managed to lead a New Orleans offense that finished top 10 in most statistics. Meanwhile, the defense of the Saints was buzzing at the right time after stomping on the reigning champion Eagles in the Divisional Round.
This all led to the 2018 NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams, and if you know anything about that game, the Saints should have won. A blown defensive pass interference call in the redzone directly resulted in the Saints losing this game, and we were all robbed of a Brees vs. Brady Super Bowl in Atlanta, GA. If we look at how Super Bowl 53 turned out, the Saints could have very well beaten the Patriots in that game, and the entire landscape of the NFL might have changed.
9. 2009 Indianapolis Colts
In 2009, the Colts appeared like they were in the midst of establishing a dynasty right next to the New England Patriots. Quarterback Peyton Manning was the MVP of the league, the Colts went 14-2 in the regular season, and the team was looking for its second ring in four years. After a dominant postseason that saw the Colts dominate the upstart New York Jets, Indy faced off against the Saints in Super Bowl 43.
Just about everything went wrong for the Colts in that game. Tracy Porter of the Saints returned an iconic pick-six in the waning minutes of the game to seal the deal, and Peyton Manning’s postseason struggles continued to be a legitimate knock on his NFL career. Drew Brees was simply better than Manning that day, and the Colts haven’t played for a Super Bowl since.
8. 1992 San Francisco 49ers
The 1992 NFC Championship Game has unofficially been dubbed the “Changing of the Guard.” The game was played between the Dallas Cowboys, who were in their first Super Bowl since 1979, and the 49ers, who went 14-2 in the regular season on the aging back of quarterback Joe Montana. This would be Montana’s final season in a 49er uniform, and it certainly didn’t end how he or 49ers fans envisioned.
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The dominant 49ers lost the game 30-20, ending a magical season that many thought would be the final chapter in San Fran’s dynasty. While Steve Young, along with Jerry Rice’s continued dominance, saved the franchise after Montana’s departure, the 1992 49ers were still one of the best teams in the pre-2000s era to never win the Super Bowl.
7. 2018 Kansas City Chiefs
In a down year for the AFC, the 2018 Kansas City Chiefs looked unstoppable for large portions of the season and seemed like a shoo-in to reach the Super Bowl. Second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes was an easy choice for MVP, and the offense was clicking on all cylinders. They held home-field advantage in the playoffs, and the AFC Championship in Arrowhead Stadium was going to be a celebration for the Chiefs faithful. That is, until Tom Brady and the Patriots rolled into town. Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots came into Arrowhead and played a game for the ages, dueling it out with the Chiefs in a game that needed overtime to finish.
In the end, the Patriots won the game and Super Bowl 53. However, if you replay that AFC Championship 10 times, the Chiefs probably win most of them and likely ride that momentum into a Super Bowl win.
6. 2013 Denver Broncos
The 2013 Denver Broncos went from being one of the most dominant teams in the 21st century to a small footnote in NFL history. Denver was led by quarterback Peyton Manning, who was in his first year with the team after leaving the Colts following a year-long injury. Manning immediately gelled with the Broncos, putting up numbers that quarterbacks will have a hard time matching for decades (~5,500 yards, 54 TDs). This resulted in Denver having arguably the most potent offense in the history of the league.
However, all of that came crashing down when the Broncos ran into the Seattle Seahawks and their Legion of Boom defense in Super Bowl 48. Denver was utterly crushed in one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history. While the Broncos certainly weren’t a good team by the year’s end, they remain one of the most dominant teams the NFL regular season has ever seen.
5. 1990 Buffalo Bills
You knew one of the four Super Bowl-losing Buffalo Bills teams was going to make the list. However, it’s the 1990 squad that really sticks with the Buffalo faithful. The Bills turned in a sparkling regular season and postseason en route to the organization’s first-ever Super Bowl appearance. With an overall record of 15-3 heading into Super Bowl 25, Buffalo matched up with the New York Giants, led by Lawrence Taylor and coaches Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.
This game has become known as the “Wide Right” game, which references Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood’s missed kick at the end of regulation that would have won the Bills the game. This kick set in motion one of the most tragic stories in the NFL, as Buffalo would go on to lose the next three straight Super Bowls. The 1990 Bills were arguably the best of those four Super Bowl-losing teams, though.
4. 1984 Miami Dolphins
It’s still a shame that quarterback Dan Marino never managed to win a Super Bowl in the NFL, and 1984 was likely his best chance to do it. The Miami Dolphins had the AFC’s best team, going 14-2 in the regular season. The offense rode the wave of Marino as he went off for over 5,000 yards and 48 TDs, which were absolutely astounding numbers for the 1980s NFL.
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Unfortunately, Miami looked utterly lost in Super Bowl 19, as head coach Don Shula’s team was thoroughly outclassed by Joe Montana and the 49ers. The Super Bowl was a blowout, and Miami hasn’t returned to the Super Bowl since that dreadful day in January of 1985. Despite that, the 1984 Dolphins really were an incredible team, and there are plenty of parallels to them and the 2013 Broncos.
3. 2001 St. Louis Rams
“The Greatest Show on Turf” is one of the best nicknames for a team or player across any sport. This name followed the St. Louis Rams’ offense around for three years, and began in 1999 when quarterback Kurt Warner took the reins of the offense. Paired with Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and stud receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, the Rams looked unstoppable during the 2001 season as they searched for a second ring in three years.
And they likely get that second ring, which could have been the start of a dynasty, if not for who else than Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Rams matched up with a team of destiny in the 2001 Patriots, whose world-class defense put a grinding halt to the Greatest Show on Turf in Super Bowl 36. Marshall Faulk claims that New England somehow cheated in this game, but what really happened is the Rams simply got beaten, and their budding dynasty was buried in the Louisiana Superdome. Still, looking back, it truly is remarkable that the Rams didn’t win that Super Bowl with the talent they had on both sides of the ball.
2. 1998 Minnesota Vikings
If Minnesota sports is known for one thing, it’s choking on the biggest stage. The 1998 Vikings are still one of the best all-around teams the NFL has ever seen, going 15-1 in the regular season and blowing out the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Divisional Round. This led to a terrific matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, who went 14-2 in the regular season.
While the Vikings certainly lost to a worthy opponent in overtime, they ultimately should have won. Kicker Gary Anderson missed his first field goal all season long, which cost the Vikings the game in the end. Atlanta squeezed out a 30-27 win over Minnesota and went on to Super Bowl 33, where they were obliterated by John Elway’s Broncos. This was wide receiver Randy Moss’ second-best chance to win a Super Bowl, with his best chance being…
1. 2007 New England Patriots
It’s considered the second-biggest choke by any team in Super Bowl history (the first being Atlanta’s 28-3 blown lead in Super Bowl 51 against… the Patriots). Coming into Super Bowl 42, New England was undefeated, sporting an 18-0 record including the playoffs. They were and still are considered one of, if not the best offense in NFL history, with Tom Brady and Randy Moss all kinds of long-standing records. To shore up this perfect record in the regular season, the Patriots stomped on the New York Giants, who hobbled into the postseason as a Wildcard team.
However, by the grace of some holy presence, the New York Giants made it to Super Bowl 42 and managed to topple the undefeated Patriots. The game was defined by David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch,” which helped the Giants take the lead late in the fourth quarter. New York’s suffocating defense was enough to make Tom Brady look human and stop New England’s offense for most of the game.
The 2007 Patriots are far and away the best team to never win the Super Bowl. The loss certainly hurts less when New England was still able to win six Super Bowls in the span of 18 years, but that doesn’t make the game any less memorable in the history books.
