While winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of success in the NFL, it’s important to remember that every Super Bowl victory is not just the result of hard work and talent, but also, at times, a bit of luck and good circumstance.
Let’s take a look back through the years at five franchises who should’ve ended up with way more Super Bowls than they have—and five that managed to secure way more than they deserve!
Deserve More – Buffalo Bills
I mean, there may be no more painful example on this list than the Buffalo Bills. If their heartbreaking defeat this year against the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t make you think that they were a Super Bowl-worthy organization—how about the Bills’ infamous run of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s.
The team somehow went four straight years making it to the final game of the NFL season but finished that stretch without a single victory to show for it. It started with wide right and kept getting worse and worse—and finished as one of the most heart-wrenching tales in NFL history.
Plus, when you factor in the dedication that the organization and its fans have to football on top of their dominance in the AFC during that aforementioned period, it is hard not to feel like they should have at least one Super Bowl win!
More than they Deserve – New England Patriots
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While the Patriots’ dynasty under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady is one of the most impressive in sports history, there is no doubt about that—there is fair reason to argue that they should have finished with less than six Super Bowl wins during their tenure.
It is more than fair to say that a few of those victories came through extremely fortunate circumstances, say for example, Pete Carroll’s decision to pass the ball at the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX instead of run it in with Marshawn Lynch.
And when you tack on all of the cheating allegations and the other lucky breaks, like the advent of the tuck rule, it feels totally possible that they could have two, one, or even zero Super Bowl wins during that legendary stretch.
Deserve More – Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are in many ways like the Buffalo Bills of the NFC. They have made four Super Bowl appearances (IV, VIII, IX, XI) but have failed to secure a victory in any of them, despite having one of the most diehard fanbases and an organization that wants nothing more than to deliver a win to them.
Minnesota has had some great players over the years, like Fran Tarkenton, Randy Moss, and others, who put them right on the precipice of immortality, but the breaks never seemed to fall their way.
More than they Deserve – New York Giants
The Giants have four Super Bowl titles—and while they may have earned them, really only one of them was a surefire win. There was the “wide right” game against the Bills, which, let’s face it was extremely lucky… And the second pair, which came against the Patriots in 2007 and 2011 that have very easily gone the other way. The Giants balled out in the Super Bowls against New England, but there were some extremely lucky plays like the helmet catch—or Mario Manningham’s down the sidelined that they were fortunate to convert.
If you simulate those games 100x each, the Giants win them… what? Maybe five times? I guess that is why they play the games, but it does still feel like they should have way fewer rings than they do.
Deserve More – Philadelphia Eagles
Before their victory in Super Bowl LII, the Eagles had long been considered underachievers in the postseason because of their numerous playoff appearances and three previous Super Bowl trips. When your team is consistently talented enough to make deep postseason runs, a la the Andy Reid ear, that competitiveness suggests they should have been able to win way more than just the lone Super Bowl that they did against New England.
This rings particularly true after seeing how they played last year against the Chiefs. That one was basically a coin flip!
More than they Deserve – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There may be no more fortunate franchise than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on this list. With the exception of the two Super Bowls (XXXVII, LV) that they won, they have regularly been one of the most poorly ran franchises in the entire NFL. At a high level, it is downright stunning that they have two rings, but when you dig into it, it is even more frustrating.
Their victory in LV was a mercenary victory after the acquisition of Tom Brady, which, let’s face it was stunning and of itself. And when you look back at XXXVII, while it was an extremely dominant and impressive win, the team did so with one of the worst quarterbacks to grace a Super Bowl field, Brad Johnson because the defense was all over the Raiders. It was almost like their coach, Jon Gruden, knew what the Raiders were going to call before it ever happened—in part because he did! He had coached the Raiders the year before and seemed to have the inside track on their schemes and strategies.
Deserve More – Los Angeles Chargers
Over the years, the Los Angeles Chargers have regularly had teams with significant talent spread all across their roster. This rings true throughout the team’s history dating back to guys like Dan Fouts, but especially during the late 2000s with players like Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson, who regularly got their team a top AFC playoff seed only to lose in heartbreaking fashion once the postseason kicked off.
The Chargers have only made one Super Bowl appearance (XXIX), which they lost. Their inability to capitalize on their regular-season success has left many Chargers fans—and even other NFL fans feeling that the franchise deserves more.
More than they Deserve – Baltimore Ravens
While many non-Baltimore fans may have just enjoyed watching Lamar Jackson and the number one seed Baltimore Ravens get dispatched from the NFL playoffs at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, previous versions of the Ravens have actually been rather fortunate.
Despite being one of the league’s youngest franchises, Baltimore has two Super Bowl victories (XXXV, XLVII), under its belt. And while that is certainly impressive, the reality is that the Ravens have had a good bit of luck during that process and definitely capitalized on, shall we call it, opportunistic situations. For example, their win in Super Bowl XLVII came against a 49ers team that was far more talented and deserving, and the Ravens really only even made it there because of some miracle deal with the devil that Joe Flacco must have signed to play as well as he did that postseason.
Their earlier Super Bowl win could’ve easily not happened as well, considering they lucked into facing Kerry Collins and a weak Giants team that way in way over its head making it that far into the postseason.
Deserve More – Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are one of the NFL’s oldest franchises and have themselves a super-rich history, but the Browns as they currently exist have never appeared in a Super Bowl. Think about it, the Browns have a very similar level of longevity and relevancy to NFL history as the Steelers or Cowboys—just none of the Super Bowl success. Having such a storied past definitely pulls on a sentimental bone and makes them a team that folks feel deserves to have had more success on the league’s biggest stage..
More than they Deserve – Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are tied for the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history with six, but let’s face it many of those came long before there was any sort of parity in the NFL. Their 1970s dynasty was undoubtedly dominant, but who were they really even playing against?
And when you look at some of their later victories, particularly Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks, which was ripe with controversial officiating decisions, there is serious reason to argue that Pittsburgh should have far fewer rings than they do.
