Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
46. 1992 Buffalo Bills, Super Bowl XXVII
The early 1990s Buffalo Bills was one of the best almost-dynasties in NFL history. However despite winning for straight AFC Championships under head coach Marv Levy from 1990 through 1993, the Bills would fail to win a single Lombardi Trophy in their four consecutive trips to the Super Bowl.
Buffalo’s most lopsided loss came in Super Bowl XXVII, as the ’92 Bills were hopelessly crushed by Troy Aikman’s Dallas Cowboys, 52-17 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. While Buffalo had its own set of triplets in quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, and wide receiver Andre Reed, the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII were no match for Dallas famous Triplets of Aikman at quarterback, Emmitt Smith at running back, and Michael Irvin at wide receiver.
Buffalo was an 11-5 team that finished in second place in the AFC East that managed to navigate the AFC Playoffs perfectly for the third year in a row. The Bills knocked off the Houston Oilers in the Wild Card round in what is known as “The Comeback Game”, topped the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional round, and got past the rival Miami Dolphins in the 1992 AFC Championship.
The Bills were a 6.5 point underdog to the Cowboys and ended up losing to Dallas by 35 points. Combined with losing a third straight Super Bowl, this goes down as the most lopsided loss out of Buffalo’s four trips to the Super Bowl.
Next: 45. 1986 Denver Broncos