The Super Bowl is the annual American football game that determines the champion of the National Football League (NFL). The game culminates a season that begins in the previous calendar year, and is the conclusion of the NFL playoffs. The contest is held in an American city, chosen three to four years beforehand, usually at warm-weather sites or domed stadiums. Since January 1971, the winner of the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game has faced the winner of the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game in the culmination of the NFL playoffs.
Before the 1970 merger between the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL), the two leagues met in four such contests. The first two were marketed as the "AFLâ€"NFL World Championship Game", but were also casually referred to as "the Super Bowl game" during the television broadcast. Super Bowl III in January 1969 was the first such game that carried the "Super Bowl" moniker in official marketing; the names "Super Bowl I" and "Super Bowl II" were retroactively applied to the first two games. The NFC/NFL leads in Super Bowl wins with 27, while the AFC/AFL has won 25. Twenty franchises, including teams that have relocated to another city, have won the Super Bowl.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (6â€"2) have won the most Super Bowls with six championships, while the New England Patriots (5â€"5), the Dallas Cowboys (5â€"3), and the San Francisco 49ers (5â€"1) have five wins. New England has the most Super Bowl appearances with ten, while the Buffalo Bills (0â€"4) have the most consecutive appearances with four (all losses) from 1990 to 1993. The Miami Dolphins are the only other team to have at least three consecutive appearances: 1972â€"1974. The Denver Broncos (3â€"5) and Patriots have each lost a record five Super Bowls. The Minnesota Vikings (0â€"4) and the Bills have lost four. The record for consecutive wins is two and is shared by seven franchises: the Green Bay Packers (1966â€"1967), the Miami Dolphins (1972â€"1973), the Pittsburgh Steelers (1974â€"1975 and 1978â€"1979, the only team to accomplish this feat twice), the San Francisco 49ers (1988â€"1989), the Dallas Cowboys (1992â€"1993), the Denver Broncos (1997â€"1998), and the New England Patriots (2003â€"2004). Among those, Dallas (1992â€"1993; 1995) and New England (2001; 2003â€"2004) are the only teams to win three out of four consecutive Super Bowls. The 1972 Dolphins capped off the only perfect season in NFL history with their victory in Super Bowl VII. The only team with multiple Super Bowl appearances and no losses is the Baltimore Ravens, who in winning Super Bowl XLVII defeated and replaced the 49ers in that position. Four current NFL teams have never appeared in a Super Bowl, including franchise relocations and renaming: the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans, though both the Browns (1964) and Lions (1957) had won NFL championship games prior to the creation of the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl Championship (1966â€"present)
How Many Super Bowls Have The Vikings Won? - Last year in super bowl 1976 a drought of 40 years the vikings have been very successful team since their inception, and while they've never won superbowl ...
Numbers in parentheses in the table are Super Bowl appearances as of the date of that Super Bowl and are used as follows:
- Winning team and losing team columns indicate the number of times that team has appeared in a Super Bowl as well as each respective teams' Super Bowl record to date.
- Venue column indicates number of times that stadium has hosted a Super Bowl.
- City column indicates number of times that metropolitan area has hosted a Super Bowl.
Consecutive winners
Seven franchises have won consecutive Super Bowls, one of which (Pittsburgh) has accomplished it twice:
- Green Bay Packers (Super Bowls I and II)
- Miami Dolphins (VII and VIII)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (twice: IX and X as well as XIII and XIV)
- San Francisco 49ers (XXIII and XXIV)
- Dallas Cowboys (XXVII and XXVIII)
- Denver Broncos (XXXII and XXXIII)
- New England Patriots (XXXVIII and XXXIX)
No franchise has yet won three Super Bowls in a row, although several have come close:
- The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, and also won the NFL championship the preceding year.
- The Miami Dolphins appeared in three consecutive Super Bowls (VI, VII, and VIII), winning the last two.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers won two consecutive Super Bowls (IX and X); the following season they were eliminated in the AFC championship game by the eventual Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders. They also won two more consecutive Super Bowls (XIII and XIV) for four wins in six seasons.
- The San Francisco 49ers won two consecutive Super Bowls (XXIII and XXIV); the following season they were eliminated in the NFC championship by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
- The Dallas Cowboys won two consecutive Super Bowls (XXVII and XXVIII); the following season they were eliminated in the NFC championship game by the eventual champion San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX the following year for three wins in four seasons.
- The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI, which was two years before their consecutive wins in XXXVIII and XXXIX, for three wins in four seasons. They did not make the playoffs in the intervening season (XXXVII). The Patriots also won Super Bowls XLIX and LI and in the intervening season (50) were eliminated in the AFC championship game by the eventual champion Denver Broncos.
Consecutive losers
Three franchises have lost consecutive Super Bowls:
- Buffalo Bills (4) (Super Bowls XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII) â€" The only team to appear in four straight Super Bowls, let alone lose in all four appearances.
- Minnesota Vikings (2) (Super Bowls VIII and IX) â€" They also lost Super Bowl XI, and were knocked out of the playoffs for Super Bowl X by the eventual losers the Dallas Cowboys for three losses in four seasons.
- Denver Broncos (2) (Super Bowls XXI and XXII) â€" They also lost Super Bowl XXIV, but did not even make the playoffs for Super Bowl XXIII for three losses in four seasons.
Super Bowl appearances by team
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by number of years since last appearing in a Super Bowl. In the "Seasons" column, bold years indicate winning seasons, and italic years indicate games not yet completed.
Teams with no Super Bowl appearances
Four current teams have never reached the Super Bowl. Two of them held NFL league championships prior to Super Bowl I in the 1966 NFL season:
- Cleveland Browns, NFL champions four times in 1950, 1954, 1955, and 1964; appeared in seven other NFL championship games in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1965, 1968, and 1969; and appeared in three AFC Championship Games in 1986, 1987, and 1989. The Browns are officially viewed as one continuous franchise that began in 1946 as a member of the All-America Football Conference, joined the NFL in 1950, suspended operations from 1996 to 1998, and resumed play in 1999. The Baltimore Ravens were created as an expansion team with former Browns players in 1996, and have since won two Super Bowls.
- Detroit Lions, NFL champions four times in 1935, 1952, 1953, and 1957; appeared in one other NFL Championship Game in 1954; and appeared in one NFC Championship Game in 1991
- Jacksonville Jaguars, 1995 expansion team; appeared in three AFC Championship Games in 1996, 1999, and 2017.
- Houston Texans, 2002 expansion team; Divisional Round appearances in 2011, 2012, and 2016 seasons.
In addition, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville have hosted Super Bowls, making Cleveland the only current NFL city that has neither hosted nor had its team play in a Super Bowl.
Teams with long Super Bowl droughts
Although Jacksonville and Houston have never appeared in a Super Bowl, there are teams whose most recent Super Bowl appearance is older than when Jacksonville and Houston joined the NFL (1995 and 2002, respectively), resulting in longer Super Bowl droughts than these teams for the following eight teams.
Two of these teams have not appeared in the Super Bowl since before the AFLâ€"NFL merger in 1970:
- New York Jets (most recently appeared in Super Bowl III, 1968 season)
- Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl IV in 1969 season)
However, the Jets and the Chiefs are the only non-NFL teams to win the Super Bowl, both being members of the now-defunct AFL at the time.
The most recent Super Bowl appearance for the following teams was after the AFLâ€"NFL merger, but prior to the 1995 regular season:
- Minnesota Vikings (Super Bowl XI, 1976 season)
- Miami Dolphins (Super Bowl XIX, 1984 season)
- Cincinnati Bengals (Super Bowl XXIII, 1988 season)
- Washington Redskins (Super Bowl XXVI, 1991 season)
- Buffalo Bills (Super Bowl XXVIII, 1993 season)
- Los Angeles Chargers (played as San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX, 1994 season)
Teams with Super Bowl appearances but no victories
Eight teams have appeared in the Super Bowl without ever winning. In descending order of number of appearances, they are:
- Minnesota Vikings (4), appeared in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI. They won the NFL Championship Game in 1969, the last year before the AFLâ€"NFL merger, but failed to win the subsequent Super Bowl. An NFL expansion team in 1961, they have no pre-Super Bowl league championships.
- Buffalo Bills (4), appeared in Super Bowls XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII. Their second and last AFL championship was in 1965, the season before the first Super Bowl.
- Cincinnati Bengals (2), appeared in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. An AFL expansion team in 1968, they have no pre-Super Bowl league championships.
- Atlanta Falcons (2), appeared in Super Bowls XXXIII and LI. An expansion team in 1966, they have no pre-Super Bowl league championships.
- Carolina Panthers (2), appeared in Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50. A post-merger expansion team, their first season was in 1995.
- Arizona Cardinals (1), appeared in Super Bowl XLIII. Their last championship was in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals.
- Los Angeles Chargers (1), appeared in Super Bowl XXIX as the San Diego Chargers. Their only AFL championship was in 1963.
- Tennessee Titans (1), appeared in Super Bowl XXXIV. They won the first two AFL Championships in 1960 and 1961 as the Houston Oilers.
Super Bowl rematches
The following teams have faced each other more than once in the Super Bowl:
- Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers (3) â€" Super Bowls X and XIII were won by Pittsburgh, and Super Bowl XXX was won by Dallas. See also Cowboysâ€"Steelers rivalry.
- Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins (2) â€" Super Bowl VII was won by Miami, and Super Bowl XVII was won by Washington.
- Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers (2) â€" Super Bowls XVI and XXIII were both won by San Francisco.
- Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys (2) â€" Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII, the only rematch in consecutive seasons, were both won by Dallas.
- New England Patriots and New York Giants (2) â€" Super Bowls XLII and XLVI were both won by New York.
- New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles (2) â€" Super Bowl XXXIX was won by New England, Super Bowl LII was won by Philadelphia.
See also
- History of the National Football League championship
- List of AFC champions
- List of NFC champions
- List of NFL champions
- List of Super Bowl records
- Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award
- List of NFL franchise post-season droughts
- List of NFL franchise post-season streaks
Notes
References
External links
- National Football League
- Super Bowl
- List of winning rosters
