Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
With Super Bowl LII closing in, here’s a ranking of the 51 teams who ended up losing the Super Bowl.
Just because one’s team is fortunate enough to play in a Super Bowl doesn’t mean that their favorite team to come away victorious. In fact, in the first 51 years that the AFC has played the NFC in the Super Bowl, 24 different organizations have experienced what it is like to lose the most watched game on television each year.
Some teams like the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, and Philadelphia Eagles have been to multiple Super Bowls and have never once hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Other organizations like, the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, had to lose a few times before winning their first Super Bowl.
However in some years, there were certainly teams that were good enough to win a Super Bowl, but ultimately came up short. Some could suggest that a few of those unfortunate losers could have possibly won a Super Bowl had just a few things gone their way instead of against them. Not every team that lost a Super Bowl did so because of a few unlucky bounces or calls, as every team lost the biggest game of their season for a reason.
Not all losing teams are categorically losers, though. By comparing season win/loss records, each Super Bowl point spread, and the number of points each loser lost by, it can be determined which Super Bowl loser was the best, which was the worst, and every space in between.
51. Carolina Panthers, Super Bowl 50
Even though they managed to go 15-1, no one took the Carolina Panthers seriously. Cam Newton was on his way to being an MVP, the defense was a stout unit — yet there was always a fear that the other shoe would drop.
That happened in Super Bowl 50 when the Panthers were obliterated by a Denver Broncos defense that shredded Newton and his offensive attack. It wasn’t much of an attack, as the receiving corps for the Panthers was about as sad as the end result of the Super Bowl. It was a fantastic run for Carolina but it was one of the worst Super Bowl teams we’ve ever seen.