4 NFL teams have never played in a Super Bowl: Will that change this year?
(NEXSTAR) — The stage is nearly set for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas and while most NFL teams have won Lombardi trophies, there are some teams that haven’t won — or even competed for — their own.
Across all 57 Super Bowls (this year’s is Super Bowl 58, in case you aren’t familiar with Roman numerals), there are a dozen teams that have yet to win big. Four of those have yet to even play in the Super Bowl.
Those teams are the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Houston Texans. The Browns made the playoffs this year, but were knocked out by the Texans during the Wild Card round. The Texans were then beaten by the Baltimore Ravens.
This season, the Lions reached the NFC Championship for the first time in 32 years, marking only the second such appearance in franchise history.
Here are the NFL teams that have played in the Super Bowl, but have yet to win, in order of their most recent appearances. We’ve also listed how many total appearances they’ve made:
- Minnesota Vikings: 4, last appearance 1977
- Buffalo Bills: 4, last appearance 1994
- Cincinnati Bengals: 3, last appearance 2022
- Carolina Panthers: 2, last appearance 2016
- Atlanta Falcons: 2, last appearance 2017
- Los Angeles Chargers: 1, last appearance 1995 (while playing in San Diego)
- Tennessee Titans: 1, last appearance 2000
- Arizona Cardinals: 1, last appearance 2005
The Bills — whose four Super Bowl losses were consecutive, starting in 1991 — fell two games short of another Super Bowl appearance after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-23, during the Divisional Round.
The New England Patriots, which have made the most Super Bowl appearances of any team at 11, have just a 6-5 record. That ties them with the Denver Broncos, who have a record of 3-5 in the big game, for the most Super Bowl losses.
The Patriots are also tied for the most Super Bowl wins with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have a 6-2 record when it comes to the final game of the NFL season.
As for the teams with a chance at playing in the big game this year, the Chiefs have a 3-2 Super Bowl record, the Ravens have a 3-1 record, and the 49ers have a 5-2 record. San Francisco has lost to both the Ravens and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
