Every team has the ultimate goal of winning a championship. But what does the legacy look like for team’s who don’t accomplish their goal? Who are the best of these teams that were not able to bring home the Lombardi trophy?
Another NFL season is in the books. And what a season it was. We were blessed enough to reach the finish line, and watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers smash Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. It was stunning to see a dominating team like the Chiefs leave a season empty handed. The 2020 Chiefs are now one of the teams who will forever wonder what if?
With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best teams that never took home a championship. This will be a 3 part article, so all 15 teams selected get their proper recognition. I am going to focus this series from 1997 to the present day. So legendary teams such as the 90’s Bills, 70’s Vikings and teams before the cut off will not make these articles. That being said, let’s get to this list.
Honorable mentions: 2019 49ers, 2015 Cardinals, 2014 Seahawks, 2009 Vikings, 2008 Patriots, 2007 Packers, 2004 Eagles
15. 2003 Kansas City Chiefs
Regular season record: 13-3
Key Contributors: RB Priest Holmes, QB Trent Green, TE Tony Gonzalez, FS Jerome Woods, DE Gary Stills, RG Will Shields, LT Willie Roaf, FB Tony Richardson
Signature wins:
- at 10-6 BAL (17-10)
- vs 10-6 DEN (24-23)
- at 10-6 GB (40-34)
Why they should have won it all: Offense, offense, and more offense. Sounds familiar doesn’t it KC fans? Priest Holmes had an electric season, breaking the record for most rushing TD’s in a season (at the time) with 27. They had two Hall of Famer’s on the offensive line with Willie Roaf and Will Shields, alongside arguably the greatest TE of all time Tony Gonzalez. The Chiefs won against good competition and were able to score a ton of points in the process.
Why they lost it all: Defense, defense, and less defense. Stopping Peyton Manning is a challenge for any team, but the Chiefs got sliced by the newly inducted Hall of Famer. They put up 31 points offensively, but gave up 38 to the Sheiff and Indy’s high powered offensive attack. They also allowed 434 yards and a 72% conversion rate on 3rd down. This Chiefs team was good enough to compete with the best, just not good enough to take home the crown in 2003.
14. 2015 Carolina Panthers
Regular season record: 15-1
Key Contributors: QB Cam Newton (MVP), LB Luke Kuechly, LB Thomas Davis, CB Josh Norman, TE Greg Olsen, WR Ted Ginn Jr.
Signature wins:
- vs 10-6 GB (37-29)
- vs 13-3 ARZ (49-15)
- 2-0 vs 10-6 SEA
Why they should have won it all: Cam Newton was the best player in the NFL in 2015. Ron Rivera was coming into his own as a top tier head coach in the NFL. Kuechly and Davis were stalwarts at the LB position. It seemed as if a lot of guys on this Carolina team were playing the best ball of their lives at the exact same time. This led to a 14-0 start, and a dominant two game playoff stretch.
Why they lost it all: Outside of the core contributors, the depth on Carolina was not loaded as you will see from other teams down this list. Especially at the skill positions. Greg Olsen was great, but when he was taken away Ted Ginn and Jerricho Cotchery were the next options. When this offense was matched up against a dominant defense in Denver, they just did not have the playmaking talent to keep up. Cam took 6 sacks, and was inefficient pushing the ball downfield en route to a 24-10 loss.
13. 2006 San Diego Chargers
Regular season record: 14-2
Key Contributors: RB LaDainian Tomlinson (MVP), QB Phillip Rivers, TE Antonio Gates, OLB Shawne Merriman, OLB Shaun Phillips, CB Quentin Jammer, FB Lorenzo Neal
Signature wins:
- vs 9-7 KC (20-9)
- at 9-7 SEA (20-17)
- 2-0 vs 9-7 DEN
Why they should have won it all: Once again on this list we have a running back breaking the all time touchdown record. But in this case, LaDainian Tomlinson took the record and the MVP award for 2006. LT led the Chargers #1 ranked offense (PPG), alongside future HOF’er Antonio Gates. The Chargers also had a top 10 defense led by Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips who combined for 28.5 sacks in 2006.
Why they lost it all: Yes, they were a 14 win team, But they did not have any wins over teams with 10+ wins during this season. Not a fault of their own, you play who is on the schedule. But they may have not been prepared for a Patriots team who had 5 games against teams with 10+ wins leading to the 2007 AFC Divisional game.
The Chargers did compete against the mighty Patriots, and had it not been for the infamous Marlon McCree fumble they could have hosted the following week against Indy.
12. 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers
Regular season record: 13-3
Key Contributors: QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Le’Veon Bell, WR Antonio Brown, ILB Ryan Shazier, DE Cameron Heyward, RG David DeCastro
Signature wins:
- vs 13-3 MIN (26-9)
- at 10-6 KC (19-13)
Why they should have won it all: It blows my mind that the Killer B’s era in Pittsburgh did not result in at least a Super Bowl appearance. Le’Veon Bell had one of the most dynamic seasons we have ever seen from a running back. Finishing with 1,291 rushing yards while also placing in top 10 for most receptions in the league showed how much of a dual threat this man could be.
The Steelers offensive line also featured 3 Pro Bowlers led by David DeCastro. Simply put, the Steelers offense was among the best the NFL had to offer in 2017.
Why they lost it all: They may have overlooked Jacksonville with a showdown in Foxborough looming. The Jaguars defense was among the best in the league in 2017. Well the Steelers handled them, putting up 42 points. The problem was they allowed Jacksonville to have their best offensive showing of the decade.
Jacksonville got off to a 21-0 start, and never lost the lead despite the Steelers battling to make it close. This was the best version of the Killer B’s and it was disappointing to not see them break through for a shot at the Lombardi.
11. 2016 Atlanta Falcons
Regular season record: 11-5
Key Contributors: QB Matt Ryan (MVP), WR Julio Jones, LB Deion Jones, EDGE Vic Beasley, RB Devonta Freeman
Signature wins:
- at 12-4 OAK (35-28)
- vs 10-5-1 SEA (36-20)
- 2-0 vs 10-6 GB
Why they should have won it all: Down the stretch in 2016, there was no team playing better football than the Falcons. They had an 8 game stretch in December/January in which they averaged 37.5 points per game. Matt Ryan had his best season as a pro just as Julio Jones was operating in his prime. Their defense was not great, but they didn’t need to be (until the end). As this Falcons offense was flying high and played as good as any offense I can recall.
Why they lost it all: I feel dirty typing this out to be honest. We all know the story, but it was simply incredible to watch the Falcons lose this game. Everything that could have went wrong did. And even when things went right, they ended up wrong. The biggest factor to me was the inability to sustain drives at the end.
After being up 28-3, they had 4 drives that lasted for a combined 6 minutes and 55 seconds. To put that in better context, the Patriots had four 5 minute drives in this game. Had Atlanta been able to just get one long drive mixed in there, they would have taken away the Patriots’ chances to see the ball.
What do you think about the first 5? Any team that should’ve been left off? Was there an honorable mention that you thought should have cracked the list? Let me know on Twitter @james_costanz.
