For sports fans, almost nothing beats the beauty of seeing a Cinderella team defy all odds by winning the championship in a year where nobody gave them a hope.
And that’s what makes the NFL such a wonderful sport: Over nearly 60 years of Super Bowl history, a significant portion of the champions weren’t supposed to have a shot at hoisting football’s ultimate prize.
But these 10 teams completed all-time inspirational underdog stories by winning the Super Bowl in a year where nobody thought they had a chance.
2007 New York Giants
Tom Coughlin’s Giants overcame an ugly 0-and-2 start and got into the postseason with a 10-and-6 record — despite not fielding a top-10 scoring offense nor scoring defense.
Little was expected of Big Blue, but they went into Tampa and upset the favored Bucs 24 to 14 to punch their ticket to the Divisional Round.
Surely, the Giants would lose to the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys right? New York lost both regular season meetings, and those very 2007 Cowboys sent a record 13 players to the Pro Bowl.
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But Eli Manning willed the Giants to a stunning 21-17 victory over Romo and the Cowboys to set up an unlikely trip to the NFC Championship Game — where they’d meet Brett Favre and the 7.5-point favorite Green Bay Packers.
Corey Webster intercepted an errant Favre throw in overtime, setting up Big Blue with a short field. After missing two fourth quarter field goals, Lawrence Tynes redeemed himself by booking a 47-yarder to send the “Road Warriors” back to the Super Bowl.
There, the Giants met Tom Brady and the undefeated record-setting New England Patriots. The same team that beat the G-Men back in Week 17 to complete the perfect 16-and-0 season, by the way.
We all know what happened from there. The Giants’ front seven took over and sacked Brady five times. Eli found David Tyree for the jaw-dropping helmet catch that would set up Plaxico Burress’ game-winning touchdown with only 35 ticks remaining.
The Giants’ defense held off the greatest QB in NFL history to secure a 17-14 win.
From 0-and-2 to wild card team to NFC champion to spoiler of the perfect season and Super Bowl 42 champs? Those ‘07 Giants, in our books, remain the most improbable Super Bowl champions ever.
2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers finished a respectable 11-and-5 record, but that was only good for the No. 6 seed.
After getting by the rival Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round, the Steelers were expected to get crushed by Peyton Manning and the top-seeded Colts.
But thanks to Ben Roethlisberger’s game-saving tackle on Nick Harper following a Jerome Bettis fumble — and thanks to Mike Vanderjagt missing a last-second game-tying attempt — the 8.5-point underdog Steelers prevailed 21-18 to reach their second straight AFC Championship Game.
Pittsburgh the Cinderella run by crushing the 3.5-point favorite Denver Broncos on the road in the AFC Championship Game by a final score of 34-17. The final obstacle? MVP Shaun Alexander and the 13-win Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 40.
Well, the Steel Curtain put the, well, curtain over the Seahawks’ offense — and the Steelers offense did just enough to gut out a 21-10 victory in a defensive slugfest. With the W, Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis got to retire a champion.
From overlooked No. 6 seed to world champions, the ‘05 Steelers were among the first Cinderella teams in the 21st century to complete the ultimate goal.
1968 New York Jets
The Jets defeated the Oakland Raiders in the ‘68 AFL Championship Game to meet the champions of the NFL — the Baltimore Colts — in Super Bowl 3.
As much as everybody loved Jets QB “Broadway” Joe Namath, his team wasn’t supposed to have a chance. The Johnny Unitas-led Colts were just a whole different animal, having just won their third NFL championship with the legendary QB.
Even when Broadway Joe” guaranteed a victory for his 18-point underdogs, everyone could only scoff. Except, something special happened.
The Jets stymied the Colts’ high-powered offense, forcing five turnovers while limiting them to just 324 yards of offense. Weeb Ewbank outcoached Don Shula in a defensive masterpiece and led the Jets to a stunning 16-7 victory. The shot of Namath running off the field and waving his finger in celebration says it
2017 Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles’ season was supposed to be done for when MVP front-runner Carson Wentz suffered a torn ACL in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Doug Pederson had no choice but to go with backup QB Nick Foles as his starter the rest of the way. Nonetheless, the top-seeded Eagles embraced the underdog role for the postseason and made the absolute most of it.
They were a slight underdog in their divisional round home tilt against the defending NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons, but the defense cooled off Matt Ryan and his explosive offense in a close 15-10 victory.
Just about everybody expected the Minnesota Vikings to best Philly in the NFC Championship Game. Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs had just completed the Minneapolis Miracle, and Minny just felt like a team of destiny.
But Foles went into Superman mode and crushed the Vikings’ souls like a stale Pall Mall. Philly danced to a 38-7 victory to set up a Super Bowl 52 showdown with the dynastic Patriots — who also happened to be the defending champs.
In a thriller for the ages, Foles outdueled Brady in a back-and-forth high-scoring shootout. Brandon Graham’s strip-sack on Brady before the two-minute warning helped Philly finally put a halt to the GOAT’s super powers. The Eagles held off one last Brady Hail Mary throw on the final play to secure a 41-33 victory.
At long last, the Eagles were Super Bowl champions for the first time…in a year where nobody expected them to actually win it all, no less.
1987 Washington
Joe Gibbs’ 1987 Washington squad went 11-and-4 in the 15-game season that was shortened because of a strike. All four of their losses came against teams that missed the playoffs — three of which finished with a losing record.
Washington had the league’s fifth-worst pass defense. None of their players had double-digit sacks, and wide receiver Gary Clark was the only player to put up 1,000 yards of offense.
Oh, and they used three different QBS in Doug Williams, Jay Schroeder and Ed Rubbert, who combined for only 27 TD passes.
But as this 1987 squad showed, you just have to sneak into the postseason and then anything can happen. After stunning Mike Ditka’s powerhouse Bears at Soldier Field in the Divisional Round, Washington held off the Minnesota Vikings in the conference championship game to set up a Super Bowl 22 showdown with John Elway and the Denver Broncos.
Washington entered the Super Bowl as a slight underdog, but they were the ones who made Denver look like a pee-wee team. Williams threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns, while the defense forced three Elway interceptions in a 42-10 victory.
It was oftentimes ugly for Gibbs’ Washington squad in the regular season. But like every other team on this list, they simply came together at the right time and saved their very best for last to complete one of the most improbable championship runs ever.
2012 Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens had played in two of the previous four AFC Championship games heading into the 2012 season, so they were a trendy pick to win it all at the start of the year. But as the regular season progressed, they looked like anything but a Super Bowl contender.
After starting out 9-2, the Ravens dropped four of their final five regular season games and limped into the postseason as the No. 4 seed with a 10-and-6 record. Given Joe Flacco’s struggles on offense and the Ravens’ notable regression on defense, they felt like an implosion waiting to happen.
After defeating Andrew Luck and the feel-good Indianapolis Colts on Wild Card Weekend, Flacco and the Ravens stunned Peyton Manning and the top-seeded Broncos in overtime — AKA the “Mile High Miracle Game.”
The Ravens then avenged the 2011 AFC Championship loss by throttling Tom Brady’s Patriots 28-13 at Gillette Stadium. That would set up a dream Super Bowl 47 showdown between the two brothers — John Harbaugh’s Ravens and Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers.
Many expected the star-studded 49ers and playoff hero Colin Kaepernick to put an end to the Ravens’ Cinderella run..but the Ravens simply played like a team of destiny in Ray Lewis’ final game.
Baltimore never trailed and held on for a thrilling 34-31 win to send Lewis off into the sunset as a champion. The 2012 Ravens went from looking awfully vulnerable to winning the Super Bowl — defeating three big-time favorites at the very end to secure the Lombardi Trophy.
2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s weird putting a star-studded team like Tom Brady and the 2020 Bucs on this list…but they really didn’t look like much of a contender in the regular season.
They went 1-5 in the regular season against teams with a winning record. They were a mere 7-and-5 heading into their bye week, before an easy final four-game stretch allowed the Bucs to win out and finish with an 11-5 record.
Brady and the Bucs survived a scare from Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card Round — but they were supposed to have little chance against Drew Brees and the Saints in the Divisional Round.
New Orleans swept the season series, including a 38-3 road win in Tampa that exposed the Bucs as pretenders. Or so we thought.
But four Saints turnovers — including three interceptions off Drew Brees – helped Tampa escape the Superdome with a 30-20 victory. Surely, Tampa’s run was going to end on the road against MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game…right?
Nope. Brady outdueled Rodgers at Lambeau Field and led Tampa to a nail-biting 31-26 victory.
Great and all, but wasn’t the run going to end against Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs? Most of us thought so — but the Bucs’ front seven completely annihilated Mahomes and the Chiefs’ B-squad o-line en route to a 31-9 victory.
Just like that, Brady was a seven-time Super Bowl champion. And the Bucs lived up to their hype as a super team after all, even if it wasn’t pretty in the regular season.
To beat three Super Bowl MVPs in a row — Brees, Rodgers and Mahomes — to win it all? GOAT things by Brady, alright.
2011 New York Giants
This team looked done for after slumping to 6-6 with four weeks to go. The G-Men, however, swept the season series against the surging Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC East with a 9-and-7 record….despite finishing with a minus-six point differential in the regular season.
After defeating Matt Ryan’s Falcons in the Wild Card Round, the Giants visited the 15-win Packers — the defending Super Bowl champs led by 2011 league MVP Aaron Rodgers. The G-Men annihilated the Packers 37-20 to reach the NFC Championship Game.
There, the Giants NARROWLY defeated Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers in overtime at Candlestick Park to set up a Super Bowl 42 rematch with the Patriots.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s bid for ring No. 4 ended in awfully similar fashion: With Eli Manning orchestrating a clutch last-minute game-winning drive to capture the Lombardi Trophy..
Al Michaels said it best: “The New York Giants, given the last rites by many in December, are the Super Bowl champs in February.”
1969 Kansas City Chiefs
After taking down the defending Super Bowl champion Jets in the Divisional Round, the Chiefs would upset John Madden and the heavily-favored Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship Game by a final score of 17-7.
The whole world expected the Chiefs’ magic to run out in Super Bowl 4 against the NFL Champions — Bud Grant’s Vikings. Loaded with future Hall of Famers, Minnesota entered the game as a 13.5-point favorite.
The Vikings boasted the No. 1 scoring offense and scoring defense during the regular season, but it was of no concern to the Hank Schram and Len Dawson-led Chiefs.
The KC defense forced five Vikings turnovers and 239 yards. On offense, the Chiefs ground game led the way with 151 yards on 42 carries. Not only did Kansas City upset Minnesota, but they blew them out of the water with a 23-7 victory to secure the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
2001 New England Patriots
Hard as it is to believe now, the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick-led Patriots were once a giant underdog — one that wasn’t supposed to have any realistic championship hopes.
The 2001 Patriots started out 0-2 and lost Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 to injury, forcing Belichick to put Brady in place. The future GOAT rallied New England to an 11-3 finish to secure the AFC East division crown and the conference’s No. 2 seed.
The Patriots narrowly survived a scare over Charles Woodson’s Raiders in the Divisional Round — aka the Tuck Rule Game. Two clutch kicks by Adam Vinatieri sent the Pats into the AFC Championship Game, where they visited the top-seeded Steelers.
Despite losing Brady in the game to injury, Bledsoe came in and played near-perfectly in relief. The Pats stunned the 10-point favorites on their own turf to qualify for the Super Bowl.
Those Pats weren’t supposed to have a hope in Heaven against MVP Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams. The Greatest Show On Turf — two years removed from a Super Bowl 34 title — opened as a 14-point favorite.
But Belichick’s masterful game plan and a career-defining game-winning drive by Brady — capped off by Vinatieri’s last-second field goal — led the Patriots to an improbable 20-17 victory.
T’was the first of six Super Bowls in the Patriots’ 21st century dynasty.
Who do you think is the most “unlikely” Super Bowl champion ever
