One thing all 32 teams have in common? They each have that one player whose all-time screwup cost them the chance to win a Super Bowl.
With that all said, let’s dive into every NFL team’s one player who’s most responsible for costing them a Super Bowl title.
Arizona Cardinals: Aaron Francisco
Francisco was the one who gave up a 40-yard reception to Santonio Holmes late in Super Bowl 43, having slipped in coverage before chasing him down.
Two plays later, Francisco allowed Holmes to perform the iconic “Tampa Toe-tap” game-winning touchdown score — costing Arizona their first Super Bowl title.
Atlanta Falcons: Jake Matthews
For all the mistakes the Falcons made in their Super Bowl 51 collapse against the Falcons, they were one non-boneheaded-play away from sealing the deal and avoiding historic embarrassment.
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Up by eight with less than four minutes to go, Matt Ryan got Atlanta in field goal range by completing a nine-yard pass to Mohamed Sanu. That was called back because of a Jake Matthews holding call, which took the Falcons out of field goal range.
And we all know what happened from there…
Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco
It’s weird knocking on Playoff Joe Flacco, but he really chose the worst possible time for one of the worst outings of his career — in the 2008 AFC Championship Game.
Baltimore’s rookie QB imploded with three interceptions – including a game-sealing 40-yard pick-six to Troy Polamalu — that gift-wrapped Pittsburgh a 23-14 victory.
The Steelers went on to defeat Arizona in Super Bowl 43.
Buffalo Bills: Scott Norwood
If Norwood didn’t miss that 47-yard field goal against the New York Giants in Super Bowl 25, the Bills wouldn’t have lost four straight Super Bowls. At worst, they would have been 1-and-3 — and the franchise wouldn’t spend the next three decades-plus in never-ending heartbreak.
All Norwood had to do was NOT kick it “wide right”. And he blew it.
Carolina Panthers: Mike Remmers
Remmers had the difficult task of going up against Von Miller in Super Bowl 50. Remmers may as well have taken the night off, because he allowed seven hurries and three sacks on the day.
The first sack was a strip-sack on Cam Newton that the Broncos recovered in the end zone for six en route to a 24-10 victory.
Chicago Bears: Rex Grossman
Grossman played a big role in handing Peyton Manning his first ring back in Super Bowl 41.
Grosman threw two interceptions — including a game-changing pick-six in the fourth quarter — and lost one fumble. The Bears lost 29-17 in the rain-filled affair in Miami.
Cincinnati Bengals: Eli Apple
In another classic case of a player talking the talk but unable to walk the walk, Apple gave up two touchdowns in the Bengals’ gut-wrenching Super Bowl 56 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
On the Rams’ game-winning drive, Apple committed a pass interference penalty on Cooper Kupp to give LA a first-and-goal at the one. Two plays later, Apple allowed the game-winning TD to Kupp in coverage.
Keep talking, Eli.
Cleveland Browns: Earnest Byner
The Browns were trailing the Denver Broncos by a touchdown with 1:12 remaining and inside the 10-yard line in the 1987 AFC Championship Game. The ball was handed off to Browns running back Earnest Byner…who fumbled the ball right near the goal line.
The Broncos recovered and melted the clock to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
Dallas Cowboys: Jackie Smith
The Cowboys trailed Terry Bradshaw’s Steelers by a touchdown late in the third quarter of Super Bowl 13. Roger Staubach found a wide-wide-wide-open Smith in the end zone for what should have been the game-tying score…but the five-time Pro Bowler dropped it:
Dallas had to settle for a field goal, and they wound up losing 35 to 31. Sadly, Smith’s drop turned out to be the difference-maker in a devastating loss for America’s team.
Denver Broncos: Rahim Moore
Simple for the Broncos: Just don’t screw up big time, and they’d host the 2012 AFC Championship Game.
With less than 40 seconds to go, Ravens QB Joe Flacco heaved a desperate pass downfield to Jacoby Jones in double-coverage. Broncos safety Rahim Moore tried making a play on the ball, and Jones got behind him to catch the ball for a crowd-silencing six.
The Ravens went on to win in overtime on a Justin Tucker field goal en route to a Super Bowl 47 championship.
Detroit Lions: Josh Reynolds
Leading by 14 in the third quarter of the 2023 NFC Championship Game, Dan Campbell bypassed a field goal and called for the Lions to attempt a 4th-and-2 conversion in San Fran territory. Jared Goff threw a perfect pass to Reynolds that was dropped, giving the 49ers new life.
After the 49ers tied it up in the third, Goff found a wide-open Reynolds on 3rd-and-9…only for Reynolds to again drop it. The final tacked on 10 more points from there to escape with a 34-31 victory.
Josh man, you just had to hold on!
Green Bay Packers: Brett Favre
Favre had just won his third consecutive NFL MVP award and led the Packers to a second straight Super Bowl appearance in the 1997 season — where they met the underdog Broncos.
Favre picked a bad day to implode, to say the least. He threw a careless first quarter interception that the Broncos turned into seven points. Soon after that, Favre was strip-sacked by Neil Smith in the second quarter which led to three points for the Broncos.
Favre got one last chance to save the Packers when he got the ball with 1:45 remaining, down by seven. He turned the ball over on downs after several awful throws, allowing the Broncos to secure their first championship.
Houston Texans: Brock Osweiler
Despite Osweiler’s horrible play all season long, the Texans won the AFC South division title thanks to an elite defense and play-making weapons DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller.
If Houston had a half-decent QB, they could have won the Super Bowl. Just consider that they forced three turnovers off the high-powered Patriots and sacked Tom Brady twice…only to lose 34-16.
Osweiler’s three interceptions and three sacks can take all the blame. He blew away the Texans’ 2016 season and championship hopes with a brutal meltdown in Foxborough.
Indianapolis Colts: Hank Baskett
Baskett was the one who botched the New Orleans Saints’ surprise onside kick attempt at the start of the second half in Super Bowl 44. If Baskett corralled it, the Colts would have had a short field and the chance to go up double-digits with MVP Manning at the helm.
Instead, Drew Brees drove down the field and threw the go-ahead TD to Pierre Thomas. New Orleans outscored Indy 25-7 in the second half to win Super Bowl 44 — the first in franchise history.
Jacksonville Jaguars: A.J. Bouye
We’re nitpicking a bit here, admittedly, because the Jaguars don’t really have that one “what if” play that strictly falls on the shoulders of one player.
But Bouye, a star in the 2017 Jaguars’ secondary, simply failed to show up in the team’s AFC title game against the Patriots. Jacksonville’s stud shutdown corner allowed four catches for 58 yards, per PFF, and committed a 32-yard pass interference penalty that led to the Pats’ first touchdown drive of the game.
Jacksonville blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead and fell 24-20 to Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots.
Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford
What else is there to say here? Ford’s careless offside penalty nullified Charvarius Ward’s game-sealing interception off of Tom Brady late in the 2018 AFC Championship Game against the Patriots.
Line up a few inches backwards, and KC would have been in Super Bowl 53 — and we’d bet on them beating Jared Goff’s Rams in that game.
Las Vegas Raiders: Rich Gannon
Gannon won 2002 league MVP honors and guided the Raiders to a Super Bowl 37 appearance — where they met old friend Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But man, did Gannon ever pick a bad day to self-destruct. He threw five interceptions and a ridiculous THREE pick-sixes while taking five sacks. Gannon’s awful day left the Raiders with no fighting chance, as the Bucs cruised to a 48-21 victory.
Los Angeles Chargers: Dan Fouts
The 1981 AFC Championship Game is commonly known as “the Freezer Bowl”, due to the ice-cold conditions of the game: Nine degrees below zero at kickoff.
Sadly, the game itself was far from a classic — because Bolts QB Dan Fouts went into blow-up mode. He had two awful interceptions deep in Bengals territory and took two sacks, completing only 15 passes for 185 yards in a 27-7 blowout loss to the Bengals.
Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff
The Rams’ defense somehow held Tom Brady and the Pats offense to 13 points in Super Bowl 53. Yet they still lost. By double digits.
That was largely due to Goff unraveling on the grand stage. He failed to spot open receivers, missed a wide open Brandin Cooks for a TD and took too many careless sacks. The back-breaker was the game-sealing interception he threw to Stephon Gilmore after forcing a deep pass in the red zone.
Goff’s MVP-caliber season ended in an all-time dud.
Miami Dolphins: Bob Griese
The Dolphins were a big underdog against Roger Staubach’s Cowboys in Super Bowl 6, but Bob Griese’s miserable play meant they had no chance from the get-go.
Miami’s star QB was a mere 12-of-23 for 134 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He also lost 29 yards on a careless sack from Bob Lilley in the first quarter. That set the tone for Dallas, who danced to a 24-3 victory to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Minnesota Vikings: Gary Anderson
It remains the most painful moment in Minnesota sports lore.
Kicker Gary Anderson — perfect all season — needed to make one last field goal to ice the 1998 NFC Championship Game and send the 15-win Vikings to Super Bowl 33.
Anderson missed. The Falcons went down to tie it up before eventually winning in overtime. Fast forward a quarter-century later, and the Vikings still haven’t recovered at all from Anderson’s im-perfect season.
New England Patriots: Wes Welker
The Patriots were leading the New York Giants 17-15 in Super Bowl 46 with four minutes to go. New York had just one timeout left, so one or two more first downs would have iced the game for Tom Brady and company.
Brady spotted a wide-open Welker for a GIMME first down near the Giants’ 20…but he dropped it. New England eventually had to punt, and Eli Manning did his usual thing of making the Patriots his daddy — leading the Giants on a last-minute game-winning TD drive to secure the Giants’ second Super Bowl in five years.
New Orleans Saints: Marcus Williams
Ah yes, the Minneapolis Miracle.
If Williams finished his tackle on Stefon Diggs instead of ducking underneath him, the Saints would have visited Nick Foles and the Eagles in the NFC title game. Something tells us Drew Brees would have beat Foles in that shootout, and then who knows? Those star-studded Saints could have totally beat Bill Belichick’s banged-up Patriots in the big game.
New York Giants: Kerry Collins
Collins had to be near-perfect for the Giants to have a chance against Ray Lewis and the historically-good Ravens defense in 2000.
News flash: Four interceptions – including a pick-six to Duane Starks — four sacks and zero touchdowns wasn’t gonna do it. The Giants were crushed 34-7 by the Ravens in the big dance.
New York Jets: Jay Feely
The veteran kicker missed a 44-yard field goal that would have opened the scoring in the 2009 AFC title game against the Colts. Early in the third, he missed another 52-yarder that would have put Gang Green up by seven.
After Feely’s second miss, the Colts put up 17 unanswered second-half points to win the AFC Championship.
Philadelphia Eagles: Ron Jaworski
The Eagles entered Super Bowl 15 against the Oakland Raiders as a 3-point favorite. Unfortunately, they stood no chance of beating the star-studded Raiders because of Ron Jaworski’s all-time choke job.
“Jaws” threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and completed less than half his pass attempts in a 27-10 blowout loss.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Rashard Mendenhall
The Steelers were in position to take the lead against the Packers for the first time in Super Bowl 45 early in the fourth quarter.
On a 2nd-and-2 play in Packer territory, Rashard Mendenhall took the handoff and got absolutely blasted by Clay Matthews — who forced the game-changing recovery. Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown to Greg Jennings to put Green Bay up by two scores — and they’d hold on for a six-point victory.
San Francisco 49ers: Jimmy Garoppolo
The 49ers’ defense did its part in containing Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl 54. If Jimmy G held up his end of the bargain, the 49ers would have secured that long-awaited sixth Super Bowl championship.
Garoppolo threw two awful interceptions in the 49ers’ heartbreaking 31-20 loss to the Chiefs. On top of that, he overthrew a wide-open Emmanuel Sanders for a go-ahead touchdown with a minute and a half to go.
Jimmy G’s mistakes and inability to close the game out allowed the Chiefs to reel off 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl 54.
Seattle Seahawks: Russell Wilson
Blame Pete Carroll, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell or Ricardo Lockette all you want. The bottom line is that Russell Wilson screwed up by throwing the ball in the ONE place that allowed Malcolm Butler to pick it off for a game-sealing INT.
All Wilson had to do was throw it a few inches lower, and the Seahawks would have still repeated as Super Bowl champions. But of course he just had to throw it right into the waiting arms of Butler to destroy a potential Seahawks’ dynasty!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Shaun King
Blame the questionable “Bert Emanuel” rule and call all you want, but King’s horrendous play was the real reason the Bucs lost to the Rams in the ‘99 NFC title game.
King went 13-of-29 for 163 yards, no touchdowns and two picks. He took five sacks — including one for a 13-yard loss on the Bucs’ final drive — in the heartbreaking 11-6 loss.
Tennessee Titans: Denard Walker
The Titans had all the momentum with 2:05 remaining. The Rams had the ball, but the Titans were rolling with 16 unanswered second-half points to erase a 16-point deficit.
That momentum immediately crashed down, however, when Walker bit too early on Isaac Bruce’s deep route and game-winning 73-yard reception. The Rams’ D secured the championship after Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson one-yard short of the goal line on the game’s final play.
Washington Commanders: Billy Kilmer
Kilmer’s blowup in Super Bowl 7 allowed the ‘72 Dolphins to complete the perfect season.
Washington’s QB essentially no-showed the game by going 14-of-28 for 104 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions and two sacks in a 14-7 loss.
Which other players are entirely responsible for preventing their team from winning a Super Bowl?
