Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
49. 1989 Denver Broncos, Super Bowl XXIV
The 1989 Denver Broncos won the AFC West with an 11-5 record and made their fourth trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history. This was the third Super Bowl that quarterback John Elway got to play in. Denver’s head coach in 1989 was Dan Reeves, Chan Gailey was the offensive coordinator, and interestingly Wade Phillips was the defensive coordinator.
The AFC had lost the five previous Super Bowls, including Super Bowls XXI and XXII by the same Elway-led Broncos. Denver was one of three really good teams in the AFC in the 1980s to not win a Super Bowl, along with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. Though Denver was talented and was well-coached, it was starting to become a running joke that Elway couldn’t lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl victory.
Their opponent in Super Bowl XXIV at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans was a San Francisco 49ers team that had already won three Super Bowls with Joe Montana as their quarterback, Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXIII played on the year before.
Denver entered Super Bowl XXIV as a 12-point underdog to the 49ers and were destroyed by San Francisco, 55-10. The Broncos’ 45-point loss to the 49ers is the most lopsided loss in Super Bowl history. An 11-5 1989 NFL season record is respectable for a Super Bowl team, but losing by nearly four times the point spread makes the 1989 Broncos the weakest team to play in a Super Bowl to date.
Next: 48. 1994 San Diego Chargers