Raiders,
daily.

Lists

Lists

The 10 worst Super Bowl champions

Ten teams that won the last game of the season without being the best team over the whole of it.

By ·

This is a let's-have-an-argument list. Every team here won the Super Bowl and earned it on the day. This list is about the rest of the season. Teams are ranked mainly on regular-season point differential per game, with record, scoring and defensive ranks, and wild-card status as tiebreakers. A great January doesn't erase an ordinary fall, and a team can be the best in February without having been the best all year. If you think a weaker champion is missing, or that one of these belongs higher, say so. Every case below is there to be argued with.

  1. 1

    2011 New York Giants

    9-7, outscored 400-394; beat New England 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI

    The 2011 Giants went 9-7 and were outscored in the regular season, 400 to 394. They were 6-2 at the halfway point, lost four straight, and stood 7-7 with two games left before winning both to take the NFC East. The defense ranked 25th of 32 in points allowed, and the running game was last in the league at 89.2 yards a game. Then they won 37-20 at Green Bay against a 15-1 Packers team and beat New England 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI. That's the case for No. 1: nine wins is the fewest on this list, and no other team here was outscored over the season. The counterargument is the playoff run, and beating those Packers on the road says something about who the Giants were by January. It doesn't change the 16 games before it, and those 16 games are what this list is measuring.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2011 Giants season · Pro Football Reference · StatMuse.

  2. 2

    2007 New York Giants

    10-6 wild card, +22; beat New England 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII

    The 2007 Giants went 10-6 as a wild card and outscored their opponents by 22 points all season, less than a point and a half a game. They ranked 14th in scoring and 17th in points allowed, the middle of the league on both sides of the ball. They opened 0-2 and gave up 80 points doing it. Then they beat a New England team that had gone 16-0 in the regular season, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. The counterargument is that no team that beat those Patriots belongs on a list like this. It does, because this list is about the season, and one game in February doesn't change the other 16.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2007 Giants season · Pro Football Reference · StatMuse.

  3. 3

    2012 Baltimore Ravens

    10-6, +54, lost four of their last five; beat San Francisco 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII

    Baltimore was 9-2 after 11 games in 2012 and finished 10-6, losing four of its last five. The point differential was +54, the offense ranked 10th in scoring and the defense tied for 12th in points allowed: a solid team and no more. In October the Ravens lost 43-13 to Houston. Then Joe Flacco threw 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions in the playoffs, tying Joe Montana's record, the Ravens won in double overtime at Denver, and they held off San Francisco 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII. The counterargument is Flacco's postseason, which was as clean as any quarterback has ever had. It was four games. The team that limped through December is the one that ranks here.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2012 Ravens season · Pro Football Reference · Wikipedia: Joe Flacco · Bleacher Report.

  4. 4

    1980 Oakland Raiders

    11-5 wild card, +58, started 2-3; beat Philadelphia 27-10 in Super Bowl XV

    The 1980 Raiders started 2-3, lost Dan Pastorini to injury in the fifth game and turned the season over to Jim Plunkett. They finished 11-5, second in the AFC West, with a point differential of +58, and ranked seventh in scoring and 10th in points allowed in a 28-team league. They became the first wild card to win a Super Bowl, beating Philadelphia 27-10 in Super Bowl XV. The case for ranking them this high is the season as a whole: a wild card, a slow start and a margin of less than four points a game. The counterargument is Plunkett. The Raiders went 9-2 in his starts, and that team was better than 11-5. Maybe. The list counts all 16 games, and the first five count too.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 1980 Raiders season · Pro Football Reference · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XV · Raiders.com.

  5. 5

    2015 Denver Broncos

    12-4, +59, 19th in scoring; beat Carolina 24-10 in Super Bowl 50

    Denver went 12-4 and won the AFC West in 2015, and the record flatters the team. The Broncos outscored opponents by 59 points, less than four a game, and the offense ranked 19th in scoring. Peyton Manning threw nine touchdown passes and 17 interceptions in 10 games. The defense carried the season, allowing a league-low 283.1 yards a game, and it carried them past Carolina 24-10 in Super Bowl 50. The counterargument is that defense, and a team whose defense led the league in yards allowed deserves its ring. It does deserve the ring. It's here because the offense on the other side of that defense ranked in the bottom half of the league.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2015 Broncos season · Pro Football Reference · StatMuse · FootballDB.

  6. 6

    2006 Indianapolis Colts

    12-4, +67, last against the run; beat Chicago 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI

    The 2006 Colts started 9-0 and went 3-4 the rest of the way. Their run defense was the worst in the league, allowing 173.0 rushing yards a game, and a point differential of +67 was modest for a 12-4 team that tied for second in scoring. They beat Chicago 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI anyway. The counterargument is the offense, which could outscore almost anyone and often did. The problem was the other side of the ball. A team that gave up that many yards on the ground over a full season is hard to call anything but flawed, and flawed champions are what this list is for.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2006 Colts season · Pro Football Reference · StatMuse · Colts.com.

  7. 7

    2023 Kansas City Chiefs

    11-6, +77, 15th in scoring; beat San Francisco 25-22 in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII

    The 2023 Chiefs ranked 15th in the league in scoring, went 11-6 and finished with a point differential of +77. They started 7-2 and went 4-4 the rest of the way. The defense, second in the league in points allowed, is the reason they won the AFC West at all. Then they beat San Francisco 25-22 in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII. The counterargument is Patrick Mahomes. No one else on this list had a quarterback like him, and it's hard to call a champion with him one of the 10 worst. Fair. But this list measures teams, and the 2023 Chiefs scored fewer points than 14 other teams that season.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2023 Chiefs season · Pro Football Reference.

  8. 8

    1988 San Francisco 49ers

    10-6, +75, 6-5 after 11 games; beat Cincinnati 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII

    The 1988 49ers were 6-5 after 11 games, with one-point losses of 10-9 and 24-23 and a 9-3 loss in which the offense never reached the end zone. They won the NFC West at 10-6, lost their last regular-season game 38-16, and finished with 369 points scored and 294 allowed, a differential of +75: respectable and ordinary. Then they won their two NFC playoff games 34-9 and 28-3 and beat Cincinnati 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII. The counterargument is right there in those playoff scores. By January this was a great team. It's eighth because it spent most of the season as a merely good one.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 1988 49ers season · Pro Football Reference.

  9. 9

    2021 Los Angeles Rams

    12-5, +88, 15th in points allowed; beat Cincinnati 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI

    The 2021 Rams scored 460 points and allowed 372, a differential of +88 over 17 games, a little more than five points a game. The offense tied for seventh in scoring and the defense ranked 15th in points allowed. They were 7-1, lost three straight to fall to 7-4, and finished 12-5 to win the NFC West. Then they beat Cincinnati 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. The counterargument is that 12-5 and a division title aren't the marks of a weak team, and that's true. This is the point where the list stops being about bad teams and starts being about ordinary ones, and ninth is where an ordinary champion belongs.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2021 Rams season · Pro Football Reference.

  10. 10

    2001 New England Patriots

    11-5, +99, 5-5 after 10 games; beat St. Louis 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI

    The 2001 Patriots lost their first two games, lost Drew Bledsoe to an injury in the second of them, and turned the offense over to Tom Brady, who started the last 14. They were 5-5 after 10 games. They won their last six to finish 11-5 and take the AFC East, with 371 points scored and 272 allowed, a differential of +99, or 6.2 points a game. They ranked sixth in scoring and sixth in points allowed in a 31-team league. Then they beat St. Louis 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI. The counterargument is that this was the first title of a dynasty, and it's odd to call the team that started one among the weakest champions. The dynasty came later. In 2001 the Patriots were a .500 team for 10 games and a very good one for six.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 2001 Patriots season · Pro Football Reference · StatMuse.

More lists

Every list →