Every Year They Fizzle Out / NFL

Quarterbacks

• Peyton Manning, the former Trope Namer; historic regular seasons throughout his NFL career, heartbreaking losses in the playoffs, yet he was always near the top of the best quarterback list and received a ton of endorsements.
  • The rep began to cling to him in his career with the University of Tennessee. He was forced into action in his freshman year, and no fair-minded fan thinks his one loss as starter (to #10 Alabama) that year was a disappointment. But after that, he lost every year to a certain team in Gainesville, Florida, and their Evil Genius coach.
  • Before 2007, this reputation was certainly not helped by Tennessee winning the national championship in 1998, one year after Manning graduated, behind unheralded quarterback Tee Martin. Who's Tee Martin? Exactly.^note He does have some name recognition in college football as a coach, but none at all as a player.
  • After winning his first Super Bowl, though, he slowly gained that reputation back, having made the playoffs every year since, winning 12+ games in all but one of those seasons, nabbing 2 NFL MVP awards, and even making it to Super Bowl XLIV, where his Colts were favored against the New Orleans Saints. And yet, during that streak from 2007-2010, the Colts went one-and-done in the playoffs 3 out of 4 years and lost in the Super Bowl the one year they won any playoff games.
  • Moving on to the Denver Broncos, he continued that reputation in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, when he threw an interception that sealed the Ravens' comeback.
  • He finally won a playoff game with Denver in 2014 against the San Diego Chargers, and then won the conference against the New England Patriots, but his number one offense was not good enough to beat the Seattle Seahawks' number one defense in Super Bowl XLVIII. This overwhelming loss triggered a lot of talk about Manning's legacy and his reputation as a choker in key postseason games.
  • In the 2014-15 playoffs, Manning went one-and-done in the playoffs for the ninth time in his career, losing 24-13 to his former team in Denver with a very pedestrian performance, stretching his postseason record to a mediocre 11-13.
  • Manning finally managed to erase the past with the 2015-16 season. Although hampered by injuries during the entire season, Manning and the Broncos' highly touted defense ground their way into the playoffs. They then beat the legendary-franchise Steelers and their multiple-Super Bowl-winning and future HOF QB Ben Roethlisberger; beat the legendary-franchise Patriots and their multiple-Super Bowl-winning and future HOF QB Tom Brady; and, in Super Bowl 50 beat the favored Panthers and their MVP QB Cam Newton 24-10 to capture Manning's second Super Bowl win and bring his playoff record to 14-13. He officially retired from the NFL a few weeks after as the first, and until 2021 only, QB ever to win Super Bowls with two different teams as a starter^note Earl Morrall and Jim McMahon both won with two teams, but each won only once as a starter and once as a backup, ensuring that his legacy is more than intact.
• Since Manning won his Super Bowls, the "Perennial Choker" label has had several contenders. Brett Favre seems infamous for this. Despite breaking darn near every major NFL passing record, as well as actually winning a Super Bowl, it seems that whenever the season is on the line (such as the 2007 and 2009 NFC Championships), it's almost certain that Favre is going to throw a game-ending interception. While he's not the only quarterback that's had this problem, none have been as viciously mocked or criticized for this as Favre; this may be due to Favre also holding the record for interceptions. Not to mention the detractors (who increased greatly in number after his repeated "retirements") finding it hilarious for his career at three different teams^note Packers, Jets, and finally the Vikings to end with an interception. Still, Favre does have a Super Bowl win. Unlike the four other major contenders noted below....
• First, Donovan McNabb was a top contender, who lost 4 NFC title games and his only Super Bowl. McNabb's losing streak was so bad that fans started calling him "McChoke". Despite his seven losses in the post-season, though, he at least has a winning record of 9-7.
  • In fairness, that one SB appearance was against the defending champion 2004 New England Patriots. McNabb never stood a chance.^note And even then, he managed to torch the Patriots' top-ranked defense for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. It still wasn't enough because he also threw three interceptions, including a back-breaking one on the Eagles' final drive.
• Second, Dan Marino holds or has held almost every major NFL passing record, but only won the AFC Championship once in 1984 (his second season), and like McNabb he lost his only Super Bowl. His 8-10, .444 record in the postseason is the worst winning percentage of any QB with more than ten playoff appearances.
  • Again in fairness, that one SB appearance was against the 1984 San Francisco 49ers. Marino never stood a chance.
  • Triskaidekaphobes note another contributing factor to why he never won a Super Bowl title: he wore No. 13 his entire career — his number was retired by the Dolphins after his career was over.
• Third, Philip Rivers seems doomed to claim Marino's title of "The Best QB to Never Win It All". He finished his 17-year career with a 5–7 record, only making the AFC championship once and lost. This trope seemed to follow Rivers when he got traded to the Indianapolis Colts, as he would lose a playoff game in his only season with the team.
• Fourth and finally, Matt Ryan. His 4–6 record is as ignominious as Rivers' (worse percentage, fewer appearances); most infamously, he and his Atlanta Falcons committed the worst choke in Super Bowl history (and potentially in NFL and even sports history^note it's not the largest lead an NFL team has ever blown (at the time, that honor went to the Houston Oilers blowing a 32-point lead against the Buffalo Bills, see below, though that would be surpassed in 2022, see later in this paragraph), but the particular importance of the game, the speed at which the turnaround happened, and the sheer absurdity of some of the game-changing mistakes have led to it being a candidate for the worst in history nonetheless), squandering a 28–3 lead in his only SB appearance. Later, in 2022, as QB for the Indianapolis Colts, he also beat the record for the largest lead ever blown in NFL history, losing to the Minnesota Vikings 36-39, despite having a 33–0 halftime lead.
• Though he has a Super Bowl win on his resume from 2010, Aaron Rodgers seems to be gaining this reputation in the back half of his career, as despite having some of the best regular-season stats of all time, Rodgers has a 7–9 playoff record, including four conference championship losses and two all-time choke jobs in 2014 and 2021. While Rodgers isn't the only factor, and there's no question he's also had some epic games in the playoffs (even in a few of the losses, such as his legendary 2009 shootout with Kurt Warner), there have also been too many times where, even if there were other factors that contributed to a loss as well, Rodgers himself didn't bring his best game and it showed (see examples below under team entry).^note In fact, this aspect of his game was arguably present even in his Super Bowl-winning season, as the 2010 NFC Championship against the Chicago Bears was one of the worst statistical games of Rodgers' career; fortunately for him, the Bears' offense had an off day themselves, allowing the Packers' defense to carry the day despite their lackluster offensive performance. This is not helped by his increasingly surly and unpleasant attitude in recent years, as it's led to speculation that this very attitude is part of the problem (as well as generally shattering fans' perceptions of him, making people more willing to look at his games with a critical eye).

Teams

• The Dallas Cowboys, despite being the winningest NFL team for regular season games, and one of the most successful Superbowl teams in NFL history, had not won a playoff game for years until their home win in the 2010 wildcard round. This has become increasingly worse for Cowboy fans in the last two years with the Cowboys being easily one of the most dominant teams in the league, but choking in the first round (first time was against the Seahawks with a gimme field goal being botched and the second time they lost outright to the heavy underdog Giants). The Cowboys finally got a postseason win over Philadelphia in the NFC wild-card round.
  • That playoff win had Cowboy fans licking their chops at thoughts of a Super Bowl the next year, since Cowboys Stadium was scheduled to host the event. Instead, they got the ultimate humiliation: not only did the Cowboys fail to make the playoffs altogether, but in October, while they saw a head coach fired midseason for the first time in franchise history, the Texas Rangers - long ridiculed by Cowboy fans for their losing ways - went to the World Series for the first time ever.
  • And this isn't the first time that could apply for the Cowboys. During a stretch between 1966 and 1970, the Cowboys were one win away from advancing to the NFL (pre-merger) Championship game (losing to Cleveland in the divisional playoffs in 1968 and 1969), after narrowly losing to Green Bay the two preceding years in surprisingly close matches that cost Dallas a shot at appearing in the first two Super Bowls. The year they finally broke through, 1970 (the NFL's first post-merger season), they lost the exceptionally sloppy Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts with kicker Jim O'Brien's game-winning field goal; resulting in the Cowboys' being dubbed "Next Year's Champions" (a moniker they would finally shed in Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins).
  • One more instance of this trope hitting the Cowboys was the early 1980s. Between the 1980 and 1982 seasons, Danny White (replacing the retired Roger Staubach) led Dallas to 3 straight NFC Championship appearances only to lose all three, first to Philadelphia, then San Francisco following a thrilling conclusion with young quarterback Joe Montana throwing the winning pass to a leaping Dwight Clark, and finally arch-rival Washington in a game where Danny was knocked out early. These games, combined with the Cowboys' decline soon after, relegated Danny White to the status as being known as the Dallas quarterback between Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, despite having stats that surpassed Aikman and rivaled Roger's.
  • Another instance of this trope in regards to Cowboys QBs has to be Tony Romo, who was the team's starter from 2006 to 2015. After a series of HORRIBLE starting quarterbacks after the injury-induced retirement of legend Troy Aikman (Chad Hutchinson, Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde, and a washed-up Drew Bledsoe), Tony Romo burst onto the scene in 2006, showing incredible talent and drive and reigniting a fizzled interest in the Cowboys franchise, with a decent ability to scramble, a Favre-like gunslinging style of play, and a strong arm capable of deep passing plays. However, the crucial moments of each of his starting seasons (sans 2010, which he missed most of due to a broken clavicle) ended with heartbreaking losses due mostly to blunders on the part of Romo himself. The first time Tony Romo won a playoff game was 2009; he wouldn't lead the team to another playoff win until 2014, when the Cowboys won in the wild card round but lost in the divisional round. That proved to be his last playoff win; he missed most of the 2015 and 2016 seasons to injury. In the latter season, rookie Dak Prescott emerged as a potential franchise QB, and Romo decided to hang up his cleats and head for the broadcast booth.
  • However, the Cowboys would still fall victim to this trope in the Prescott era. In his rookie year, Prescott led the team to a 13-3 record only to lose to the Packers in the Divisional Round. The team had up-and-down seasons throughout the era, but like previous seasons they would fall short. They fired Jason Garrett after the 2019 season, replacing him with former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who was infamous for his conservative play calling. They did finally score their first and only win against Tom Brady in the Wild Card round of the 2022-2023 Playoffs, but would once again lose in the Divisional Round against the 49ers, ending with one heavily derided play involving star RB Ezekiel Elliot at center. 2023 saw the Cowboys clinch the NFC East and the conference's 2nd seed in the '23-'24 playoffs. Dallas completely faceplanted at home to the 7th-seeded Packers, losing 48-32 in a contest that really wasn't that close; adding insult to injury, this was the first time since the 2020 expansion of the playoff format that a 2 seed had ever lost to a 7 seed.
• The Minnesota Vikings are one of two teams that have made it to the Super Bowl four times... and lost all four. They haven't gone back to the Super Bowl since 1977; the team has lost in all six of its NFC title game appearances since that year. Since the '70s, they've picked up a reputation for hiring other teams' castoffs, which hasn't helped them any (most notoriously, they hired Brett Favre for his last two years). The New '10s had three playoff appearances ending terribly (2012: slaughtered by the Packers; 2015: losing to the Seahawks on a field goal that was compared to Ace Ventura; 2017: with the chance of playing the Super Bowl at home, trounced by the Eagles in the Conference Finals).
• The early-90s Buffalo Bills make every other entry on this page look like clutch players. They won 4 straight AFC Championships and attending 4 straight Super Bowls (the only NFL team to ever make it to the Super Bowl four years in a row), the only four in their history. To this day, they're 0-4 in Super Bowls. And they later went on a 17-year playoff drought, after being eliminated by the "Music City Miracle". Most notably, in 2004 they entered the last week of the season needing to beat Pittsburgh to get in to the playoffs, with Pittsburgh having already locked up their seed and resting their starters. They lost at home to Pittsburgh's 2nd and 3rd string by a touchdown.
  • A common Fun with Acronyms joke: "Boy I Lose Lots of Superbowls" or "Boy I Love Losing Superbowls".
  • When they finally got back to the playoffs in 2017, they basically stumbled in after multiple other AFC teams more-or-less forfeited their spots through poor play and/or bad decision-making at the coach or executive levels, despite their own best efforts to piss the spot away.^note Partway through the season, they benched unremarkable but serviceable veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor for a fifth-round rookie named Nathan Peterman. Peterman debuted by throwing five picks in one half; Taylor came off the bench for the second half and everyone thought the Bills were cooked. Once they get in, they face the Jacksonville Jaguars in what can only be described as one of the worst games of January football ever played, and despite the Jags desperately trying to lose, the Bills wilt first and get eliminated 10-3.^note Ironically, the Jags scored a combined 65 points in their next two games, knocking off the Steelers 45-42 in the divisional round and narrowly losing to the Patriots 24-20 for the AFC Championship. In 2019, a stalwart defense and great strides by second-year quarterback Josh Allen helped the Bills make a surprise run at their second playoff berth in three years—but they promptly blew a 16-point lead to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Game and lost in overtime. They did perform somewhat better in the 2020 playoffs, winning their Wild Card (vs. Indianapolis Colts) and Divisional (vs. Baltimore Ravens) matches, but ultimately fell short of the Super Bowl, losing the AFC Championship to the Kansas City Chiefs.
  • In 2021, they entered the playoffs on a four-game winning streak and blew out their hated rivals in New England, only to fall short in the divisional round to their new rival Kansas City in overtime after they had taken the lead with only 13 seconds left in regulation.
  • In 2022, the team entered the playoffs as the #2 seed and widely predicted by experts to finally get over the hump and win the Super Bowl. They proceeded to only barely defeat the Miami Dolphins, who were starting a third-string rookie quarterback, 34–31 in the Wild Card Round before being utterly dominated at home in a snowstorm by the Cincinnati Bengals in a humiliating 27–10 Divisional Round defeat. (To be fair to the Bills, they were absolutely put through the emotional wringer leading up to that post-season as their teammate Damar Hamlin nearly died on the field just a few weeks earlier, so it's not entirely surprising that they weren't on their "A" game.)
  • In 2023, after some early season struggles the team managed to rally and once again enter the playoffs as the #2 seed. However, after taking care of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, the team lost again in the Divisional Round to Kansas City 27-24, this time on their own turf. To rub salt in the wound, Buffalo had the chance to tie it near the end of regulation, only for kicker Tyler Bass to miss the kick wide right, just as Scott Norwood did at the end of Super Bowl XXV. The game was quickly dubbed "Wide Right II" by the media.
• The Cincinnati Bengals held the longest postseason victory drought in the league, but have been perpetual contenders for a while. Since drafting Andy Dalton and AJ Green in 2011, they managed to make the playoffs for an impressive four years in a row—leading to four less-impressive postseason defeats in a row. They only managed to win in 2022 over the Las Vegas Raiders, 31 years after their next-closest win, ending the at-the-time longest playoff drought in all of North American sports. And then made the Super Bowl, but lost there to the Rams. They would return to the playoffs the following season, and got a hair away from their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance... and would end up losing the AFC Championship thanks to a last-minute field goal by the Kansas City Chiefs, the same team the Bengals defeated to get to the Super Bowl the previous season.
  • The fifth loss is surreal. The Bengals started 8–0, finished 12–4 and in the Wild Card Playoff game hosted against their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals rally from a 15–0 deficit to take a 16–15 lead, then proceed to intercept the ball on the Steelers' next possession. It looked like the Bengals were well on their way to their first postseason win since 1990, only for Bengals halfback Jeremy Hill to fumble the ball on the next play. The Steelers get the ball back, but with less than 90 seconds to go and the Steelers starting from their own 11-yard line, the Bengals look like they're going to hold the Steelers off... that is, until the Bengals defense gives up thirty yards on personal foul penalties, bringing the Steelers offense into easy field goal range, where they won 18–16, extending the Bengals long playoff drought while making them the first NFL team ever to lose five straight in the opening round.
• The Houston Oilers. Ever wonder why they were nicknamed "Choke City"? It's because they made the postseason during a seven year stretch between 1987 and 1993, but had three exceptional collapses during the postseason between 1991 and 1993.
  • First, the 1991 Divisional playoff game against Denver. The high-powered offense of the Oilers shot out to a 21–13 halftime lead, and late in the game a punt pinned the Broncos back to their 2-yard line, where trailing 24–23, John Elway led a late-game drive punctuated by two fourth-down conversions to set up the winning field-goal in what some dubbed "The Drive II" (same spot on field, and almost five years after "the Drive").
  • The second would be the most infamous. The Oilers raced to a 35–3 lead over the two-time AFC champion Buffalo Bills in the AFC wild-card game, when backup quarterback Frank Reich (though he started the game and his poor play was a big reason why the Oilers had a 32 point lead in the first place) led a succession of drives culminating in five unanswered touchdowns. The Bills would go on to win 41–38 in overtime. Until 2022 and the Colts blowing a 33–0 lead in a regular season game (see Matt Ryan's entry under "Quarterbacks" above) this stood as the biggest blown lead in NFL history, and still holds the record for biggest blown lead in a playoff game.
  • The last one came in the Astrodome after the Oilers had gone on to clinch the #2 seed and a first-round bye. They went on to face the Kansas City Chiefs where, after starting the fourth quarter holding on to a slim 10–7 lead, the Oilers became the victim of another comeback, this time orchestrated by Joe Montana that culminated in a 28–20 loss.
  • Their current incarnation, the Tennessee Titans, isn't much better, losing a Super Bowl (after the tying touchdown came up one yard short) and having short stretches in the playoffs ever since. Except in the 2019 season, when they lost in the conference finals to the Chiefs.
• The Houston Texans took ten seasons and four quarterbacks in the same year to make their first playoffs. When they first started, it was expected they would be terrible because of their expansion status. But after awhile, they put together talented players and their finishes in the late 2000's were disappointing.
  • The fact that ESPN analysts often picked them as "a team to watch out for" and "playoff-bound" did not help matters, as their disappointing finishes rewarded them with nicknames such as "Forever 8–8" and "Next Year's Divisional Champions", a combination of an insult and a reference to the Cowboys' years of being this trope in the 60s.
  • Furthermore, two seasons before they finally made the playoffs, they had gotten themselves into a great position for a wild card berth with an upset win in the final week of the season, only to be pushed out by the final game of the night when, for the second consecutive week (having faced and beaten the top overall seed in the AFC the previous week), the New York Jets defeated a team that had already clinched its best possible playoff position and was resting starters.
  • The DeShaun Watson era saw the team go to the Playoffs twice, neither of which had them make the AFC Championship game. This is especially the case in the 2019-20 Playoffs where despite dominating the Chiefs early on they would surrender the 24-0 lead and lose 51-31. By the time of their next Playoffs appearance in 2023-24, Watson had been traded to the Cleveland Browns and a new QB and HC combo would lead the Texans to a thrashing of the Browns in the wild card at home (though Watson did not play in said game due to being injured), only to be thrashed themselves by the #1 seed Ravens in the divisional.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers between 1994 and 2004 (all under Bill Cowher) advanced to the AFC Championship game five times and lost four of those (and would have lost the 1995 game against Indianapolis had receiver Aaron Bailey not dropped a last-second Hail Mary). The really frustrating fact about this? All five of those games, the Steelers were the home team. Which makes it all the more ironic that the one Cowher-era Super Bowl win (XL) came after the Steelers swept the top three AFC seeds on the road.
  • One major factor is that, prior to Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers never found the right quarterback after Terry Bradshaw retired, cycling through mediocrities like Neil O'Donnell (still loathed in Pittsburgh for his Super Bowl XXX performance), Mike Tomczak, Kent Graham and Tommy Maddox on an almost-yearly basis. Kordell Stewart had two solid seasons in 1997 and 2001 but was otherwise erratic, with a tendency to throw interceptions at crucial points (he threw three interceptions in the '97 AFC title game against Denver, and did so again in 2001 against the Patriots). Despite having solid running backs in Bam Morris and Jerome Bettis, and a consistently good defense, the lack of a consistent quarterback under Cowher proved a fatal handicap.
  • The modern day rendition of the Steelers, Led by "The Killer B's", Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell and Chris Boswell (oh, and Martavis Bryant on his good days), the Steelers consistently boast one of the strongest teams in the NFL, with a dynamic offense and a capable defense, they have been considered strong contenders in the AFC title, if not the Super Bowl title. Unfortunately, they've been bumping their heads against the AFC elite who would go on to win their respective Super Bowls or suddenly upset by dark horses.
    • First, losing to the Baltimore Ravens in 2014, The eventual champion Denver Broncos in 2015, and their longtime postseason nemesis the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots the following year in 2016. Injuries have played a heavy part in this - in 2014, Bell was injured in the last week of the regular season vs. Cincinnati; in 2015, Bell landed on IR halfway through the season and Brown suffered a concussion in the Wild Card Round, also against Cincy; and 2016, Big Ben spent the second half of the year nursing a shoulder injury and Bell injured his groin in the Wild Card Round and aggravated it in the AFC Title contest; the latter would wind up benched in the first quarter of that game. Bryant was also suspended for this season, and with Roethlisberger's injury and a cobbled-together collection of second-tier wideouts opposite Brown, his numbers dropped by over 30% from the year before, which led to the team basically going back to a run-first scheme after two years of pass-heavy playcalling.
    • The Steelers have been able to advance further and further in the postseason each year they made it and 2017 had their best team and season yet. Most of their pieces in place, two dazzling rookie sensations in JuJu Smith-Schuster and T.J. Watt, An impressive 13-3 record... but a horrifically poor defensive performance caused them to bow out early to the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round ^note The same Jaguars team who only scored ten points against the Bills suddenly exploded for 45 (38 on offense), and many cite the Steelers' increasingly leaky and mediocre defense which was missing All-Pro Linebacker Ryan Shazier as their Achilles' Heel; sure enough, the Jaguars exploited that big-time weakness.
    • Things got worse in 2018, which saw Bryant Put on a Bus, Bell effectively leave the Steelers for the year (no injury, just left), and replaced by newcomer James Conner. Despite an overall shaky performance early, the Steelers sprinted out to a 7-2-1 record...only for years of team baggage and locker room distractions taking a toll, creating a late season collapse. Pittsburgh proceeded to lose four of their final six games, culminating in a final crash at 9-6-1, losing the AFC North division, and the playoffs entirely. The Steelers have failed to make the postseason for the first time in five years. The subsequent 2019 offseason has Bell signing with the New York Jets, and Antonio Brown being traded to the Oakland Raiders, officially bringing an end to the Killer B's in Pittsburgh without a championship. Then for one final boot to the nuts, the Steelers lost Ben Roethlisberger for the rest of the 2019 season with an elbow injury.
    • The 2020 season started off better for the Steelers, as they began the season 11-0 thanks to strong defensive play and a promising rookie wide receiver in Chase Claypool and the return of longtime starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, resulting in the best start in franchise history. This did not go without criticism from outside fans, as the team was accused of being helped by officiating and having a somewhat weak schedule^*The AFC North's interdivisonal opponents that season were from the NFC East, a division which in general had a historically awful season, with its playoff representative finishing with a 7-9 record. They also faced a vastly regressed Texans team and a Jaguars team who clinched the worst record in the league, as well as an injury-battered Denver Broncos team., as well as not being considered a good team, some calling the Steelers the "worst 11-0 team ever", especially after almost losing to a very shorthanded Baltimore Ravens team. However, the Steelers would face a disastrous collapse, starting with a loss to the Washington Football Team (now Commanders),^*which ended up as the NFC East winner followed by a loss to a Bills team who was having its best season in a long time, and then lost unexpectedly to struggling division rival Cincinnati, costing the Steelers the top seed in the AFC. And despite being favored in their Wild Card game against the Browns, who they had just barely lost to the previous week while playing backups at several key positions in order to give their starters a break (since they were locked into their playoff seeding regardless of the game result), they would end up on the wrong side of a double-digit loss with Roethlisberger, at home, to the team they had previously dominated for years, culminating in yet another postseason disappointment under Mike Tomlin.
    • In 2021, despite a rickety offense and a injury ravaged Defense that gave up historic numbers on the ground, The Steelers managed to backdoor to a 9-7-1 record, and even took an early lead over the heavily favored Chiefs in the Wildcard Round, only the get destroyed the rest of the way and lost by 21. Not that big of a disappointment as previously (if anything, it was viewed as a fine coaching job by Tomlin to get such a heavily flawed team to the postseason), but still the same result as previously. It ended up the final game of Ben Roethlisberger's career as Steelers Quarterback and he officially retired weeks later, ending an 18-year tenure with the Steelers.
• The Cleveland Browns went to three conference championships in four years (1986-87, 1989) and lost every time. To the same team. Who went on to lose the Super Bowl every time. (And the fans know a good season is an exception, given the Browns are one of two teams who managed to get a 0-16 season.)
  • Before LeBron came back and willed the Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016, the City of Cleveland itself could qualify. The Cavs' title was the city's first professional sports title since 1964. During that time, it seemed like the city's primary role was to provide a Moment of Awesome for another team before that team fizzled out.
  • Joke: Do you know why Toledo doesn't have a professional football team? Because then Cleveland would want one too.
  • There was the 2007 season where they reversed the trend, went 10-6, and STILL didn't make the playoffs thanks to one Vince Young, quarterback of the Tennessee Titans at the time, along with the fact that the AFC's crop of teams was just that good that year.
  • In 2019, the Browns had high expectations and opened as the favorites to win the AFC North and had high odds to win the Super Bowl, thanks to a promising rookie season from quarterback Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr. being traded from the Giants, and a brand new head coach in Freddie Kitchens. However, they did not meet expectations, due to Baker Mayfield regressing, the offensive line having more holes than a chunk of Swiss cheese, the inexperience of Freddie Kitchens, the team being undisciplined, injuries to key contributors, and both sides of the ball regressing overall. After a disappointing 6-10 season that ended with a loss to the Bengals (who had already clinched the worst record in the league), Freddie Kitchens was fired after only one season and was replaced by former Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski.
  • Stefanski's tenure, however, got off to a promising start, surprising many people by not only clinching their first winning season since 2007, but also earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2002 (in a field that was arguably even more stacked than the 2007 field) and then winning their first playoff game since 1994, the latter of which was done with a shorthanded roster and coaching staff plus a limited amount of practice days due to COVID-19. They went out in the divisional round in a competitive loss to the Chiefs. Unfortunately it went downhill from there, as Mayfield would be injured early in the 2021 season, which caused them to fall short of the playoffs in that season. This could have been a blip on the radar if not for the team's owners and management seemingly going into panic mode and deciding to aggressively shop the QB market, even though most people agreed that Mayfield's 2021 struggles were likely due to playing through a serious injury all year. The team ended up trading for scandal-ridden Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (and giving him an unprecedented contract to lure him to Cleveland after he initially rejected them), which effectively cost them their 2022 season as Watson was suspended for 11 games and was clearly rusty (having sat out all of 2021 as well) by the time he came back.
  • The Browns finally made it back to the playoffs in 2023, overcoming a season-ending injury to Watson that saw them starting three different substitutes, the latest being a 38-year-old Joe Flacco who they signed off the couch... and promptly got stomped on by Watson's old team, the Texans and their young QB-HC combo. And just to add insult to injury, they would then watch their former QB Mayfield — the guy they pushed out in favor of Watson — win his own Wild Card game with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• The San Diego Chargers. At least they're not as bad as they were in 1997-2003.
  • It's not just the Chargers. Every professional sports franchise in San Diego suffers through this. In forty-plus years of playing, the city has claimed only one championship, the 1963 AFL Championship by the Chargers. The Padres are 0-2 in the World Series and all basketball teams that come to this town (Rockets, Conquistadors, and Clippers) have had short lives. It's so bad in San Diego, that someone made a wiki page detailing their misery.
  • And then the Chargers left town after the 2016 season to return to their original home of L.A., where their fortunes haven't improved: the Chargers spent their first three seasons playing in a soccer stadium that was typically either half-empty or filled with the opposing team's fans and have been treated as a red-headed stepchild compared to the Rams, L.A.'s other football team (and the one with a greater claim to the local fanbase, having spent nearly 50 years in Southern California before decamping to St. Louis, and then returning in 2016). While the Chargers have accrued a marginally respectable .577 winning percentage since the move, they've only managed one playoff appearance and, in 2020, gained the dubious honor of being the first team in NFL history to lose three consecutive games in which they had held a lead of 17 points or greater. And in the 2022 season they became the first team to have a +5 turnover margin in a playoff game and lose.
• The Detroit Lions. It was basically this trope that led Barry Sanders to retire from the game, even though he was within one good season of passing Walter Payton, and barring injury, could've put the all-time rushing record out of even Emmitt Smith's reach. The Lions followed up two of their best seasons, 1991 (going 12-4 and getting their only playoff win since 1957 to date, over an up-and-coming Dallas squad) and 1995 (in which Herman Moore and Brett Perriman became the first teammates to finish 1-2 in total receptions) with 5-11 records the following year. Barry didn't walk away because of any issues with coach Bobby Ross, as was speculated at the time, but because the front office absolutely failed to make the necessary moves to improve the team (especially on defense), and the lack of a winning culture that drained him of his love for the game. Needless to say, it went From Bad to Worse under the Matt Millen administration, which saw the Lions' Butt-Monkey status not only cemented, but fellow perennial cellar-dweller Arizona make the Super Bowl for the first time (a feat the Lions have yet to accomplish).
  • And it just keeps getting worse. With a healthy Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson, the Lions made the 2011 Playoffs, only to get curb-stomped by the Saints in New Orleans. They followed up with a 4-4 first half in 2012, followed by an 0-8 second half. In 2013 things seemed to be back on track, with a 6-3 start and control of the NFC North race... only for the Lions to drop five of their next six and eliminate themselves from playoff contention with one week to go.^note  This includes a horrible (for them) finish against the Baltimore Ravens, where they are trailing 18-16 with under a minute left and all three timeouts left, meaning all they have to do is drive down the field, kick a field goal, and win. Instead, Matthew Stafford immediately throws an interception, at which point the Lions just threw in the towel, as they didn't even try to stop the clock when the Ravens ran it out, even though they could have. The only thing Lions fans hate worse than the constant losing is getting teased with the possibility of winning only to see the team fall short.
  • In 2014, the Lions had a defense, a new coach, and finally a proper #2 receiver to take some heat off of Calvin Johnson. They made the playoffs with an 11-5 record, their best in decades, and found themselves behind four against the Cowboys in the Wild Card round driving down the field. A deep pass results in a a defensive Pass Interference call that would put the Lions at the 30-yard line with a good shot at a touchdown - and then the flag was picked up and the penalty called back. The Lions would lose the game. Johnson would retire after the 2015 season, at the time citing health issues but later admitting his frustration with the Lions' competitive woes also played a role in his decision.
  • Entering Week 14 of the 2016 season, the Lions were 9-4, in position to take the NFC North for the first time in decades. The Packers and Vikings were both 7-6, and seemingly in no position to challenge them. Naturally, they lost their next three games, including a for-the-division regular season finale against the Packers, and limped into the playoffs as a 9-7 Wild Card team. Getting clobbered by the Seahawks was basically inevitable at that point.
  • 2017 had the Lions finishing with the same 9-7 from the previous season, but this time it wasn't enough for playoff contention - had they not lost to the already eliminated Bengals in their 15th game, they could have a shot at the postseason. Matthew Stafford would be traded to the Los Angeles Rams after the 2020 season, yet again citing the Lions' issues, and immediately won Super Bowl LVI in his first season with his new team.
  • 2022 saw coach Dan Campbell and quarterback Jared Goff, both of whom joined the team the previous season (Goff via the Stafford trade mentioned above), finally find their footings with Lions, allowing them to finish 9-8 (and knocking the Packers out of the postseason in the process), though much like in 2017, this record wasn't enough for playoff contention, thanks to not only starting the season 1-6, but also a heartbreaking loss to the Panthers in Week 16 that set back the Lions' postseason chances.
  • 2023 saw the Lions win their division for the first time in three decades and make the playoffs with a 12-5 record and win the Wild Card and Divisional rounds to make it to only their second NFC Championship game in franchise history. A dominant first half against the 49ers gave them a 24-7 lead at halftime, and it seemed almost assured that Detroit would make it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever. But in the second half, almost everything that could go wrong did. Dropped passes, two failed 4th down conversion attempts (both times within easy field goal range, so the Lions could've easily picked up 6 points), and a lost fumble on offense. An insane dropped interception that instead bounced off the defender's face mask and into the 49ers receiver's hands to set up a touchdown. San Francisco ended up winning 34-31, meaning those two field goals Detroit chose not to kick were the difference in the game.
• Between 2000 and 2010, the Philadelphia Eagles advanced to the playoffs eight times. During that span, they advanced to the NFC Championship game five times, but lost four of those, and lost their only Super Bowl appearance. The worst part was that three of those years happened in a row, including two years where they were the number 1 seed. A particularly painful example was the 2002 season, when the top-seeded Eagles hosted the NFC Championship game against longtime league punching bag Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team whom the Eagles had defeated many times before, including eliminating the Bucs in the postseason two years running in 2000 and 2001 pretty handily. Philly raced out to a quick 7-0 lead, only to be outscored 27-3 the rest of the game as the Bucs won 27-10 in a absolute stunner that broke the hearts of Eagles faithful. To make matters worse, the Buccaneers went on to win their first Super Bowl, something the Eagles have waited on for years. After losing Super Bowl XXXIX to the Patriots in 2005, they made the playoffs twice more, and their win in 2009 against the Giants would be their last victory in any playoff game^note they did make three Wild Card playoffs but lost all of them: a blowout against the Cowboys in 2010, an off-putting failure against the Packers in 2011, and an even worse defeat against the Saints in 2014 thanks to a literal last second game winning field goal until 2018, which ended in their victory over those same Patriots that beat them the last time.
  • The Philadelphia Eagles had picked up something of a reputation, along with a mild AFC counterpart the New York Jets, for a team that is, almost every season, picked to go deep in the playoffs if not win the title, no matter how they finished the season before, but only left with the trophy once, in Super Bowl III in 1969.^note Although certainly not helping in that regard is that their division, the AFC East, has the Patriots, who were a death sentence to the championship hopes of most teams during the Tom Brady era.
  • However, after said Super Bowl they haven't given that same output. Predicted to pick up in 2018 right where they left off and be one of the best teams in the league, Wentz entered after Foles split the first two games of the season. But things weren't going the way they planned, injuries were derailing them, and despite many thinking they'd get it together, the losses just didn't stop. And after what was looking to be a franchise redefining loss, 48-7 at the hands of the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome, they were on the brink of becoming the worst defending Super Bowl champions in NFL history. And facing the hardest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL following that, they were heavily predicted to complete said collapse. After Week 14, the Eagles were facing a Rams team in LA twice as scary as the one that ended Wentz's MVP-caliber season a year prior. Before that, Wentz was sidelined yet again with a stress fracture in his back, and it was revealed this had been prior and players were aware of the situation. Foles came in to face the Rams, who were 13.5 point favorites against Philly. And yet, they handed LA their first home loss of the season and that changed everything. They rallied back and made the playoffs, got lucky to beat the Chicago Bears in their place and were back in the Superdome against that same Saints team...except this time just falling short. Afterwards, Foles left in free agency to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only time will tell if Wentz will ever see his 2017 level of success again or not... and if he does, he won't be doing it with the Eagles, having been traded to the Colts during the 2021 offseason and then traded again to the Commanders in the 2022 offseason. However, the Eagles have surged back behind Wentz' successor, Jalen Hurts, making the playoffs in 2021 (Hurts' first full year as a starter) and going all the way to the Super Bowl — ultimately going down in a close loss to a powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs team — just one year later.
• Under head coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons have had five straight winning seasons and playoff appearances in four of them. In the first three of those playoff appearances (two wild cards, one divisional) a first appearance loss. The fact that in each loss, the team that beat them would go on to the Super Bowl, probably doesn't help, nor does the fact that they were the favored team in each of their losses.
  • In the 2012 playoffs, the Falcons just narrowly subverted the trope by winning the Divisional Playoffs with a field goal after the Seahawks overcame a 20-point deficit with less than a minute left in the game. However, the Falcons ended up double subverting the trope by falling short in the NFC Championship against the 49ers.
  • This has lead to Matt Ryan receiving the "overrated" and "choker" label by his detractors: A common response used in any response to people talking about Matt Ryan being one of the league's top quarterbacks on Image Boards is "Playoff wins: 0". Kind of ironic, when you remember his days at Boston College, where he was known as a clutch QB (Hence the nickname, Matty Ice).
  • After an awful 4-12 2013 season, the Falcons were back in the playoff hunt in 2014...technically speaking. A Week 16 win over the New Orleans Saints gave them the season sweep and thus, the tiebreaker over the Saints should the teams and their now-identical records both win in the final week—thus eliminating the Saints, since Atlanta's opponent, the Carolina Panthers, had a record half a game better than the Saints and Falcons (due to a tie earlier in the season) and would also have the tiebreaker over the Saints; thus, no outcome of the Falcons-Panthers game could possibly result in the Saints making the playoffs with a win even though they could pass either one of those teams. Of course, the Panthers won, and coach Mike Smith was fired after the disappointing 6-10 season and third-place finish. Yes, that's right, the Falcons' division-winning record had they won that game would've been 7-9.
  • Perhaps most painfully in 2015. After firing Mike Smith in favor of Dan Quinn, the Falcons raced out to a 6-1 start on a series of nail-biting wins... only to blow five straight games in a similarly nail-biting fashion.
  • In 2016, things seemed to really be looking up for the Falcons, finishing 11-5 and coasting through the NFC Playoffs to advance to their second Super Bowl, where they were on the wrong side of history again, as they became the first team ever to hold a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl and lose. They led the New England Patriots 28-3 in Super Bowl LI, before New England exploded for 25 unanswered points late in the second half to force overtime, and then added a touchdown to win the game 34-28 in an incredible stunner.
  • After that, in 2017, they managed to put together a 10-6 season that got them a Wild Card spot in the playoffs. They advanced to the Divisional Round by knocking off the Los Angeles Rams, but would end up losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, who were en route to their first Super Bowl win ever.
  • In 2018 and 2019, the Falcons were anemic at best, finishing both seasons with a 7-9 record and missing the playoffs.
  • In 2020, the Falcons found themselves on the wrong side of history again as they became the first team in recorded history to score 39 points in a game while not committing any turnovers and lose the game. As a result, following an 0-5 start, team owner Arthur Blank decided he had seen enough and fired both head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff. This did little to help the Falcons' fortunes, as they stumbled their way to a 4-12 record, finishing last in their division. Four of those losses came when they went into the fourth quarter with the lead.
• The 2000's Baltimore Ravens. Since their first Super Bowl win in 2001, it became nothing but seasons of "almosts" in the Charm City. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the Ravens made the playoffs NINE TIMES, including five consecutive appearances, while consistently fielding one of the league's most prolific defenses led by stars Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. The last postseason collapse (2011-12 AFC Championship Game) perhaps being the most painful chapter yet, thanks to Lee Evans^note Dropped the game-winning touchdown that would've sent the Ravens to the Super Bowl. and Billy Cundiff ^note  Missed the game-tying Field Goal that would've sent the game into overtime, with an assist from the officials^note  Failed to call an obvious pass interference penalty on the play between those epic failures.. Baltimore finally had the breakthrough in 2012, going on a crazy playoff run to win Super Bowl XLVII (47).
  • The four straight AFC Championship losses have caused the Ravens to be labelled as the Spiritual Successor to the early 90s Buffalo Bills mentioned above ^note  The 2012 AFC Championship loss ended eerily similar to one of the Bills' Super Bowl losses.... Some consider it an insult...to Buffalo, that is. At least the Bills made the Super Bowl... As did the Ravens the following year. The difference there is the Ravens got the job done.
  • Following their Super Bowl XLVII win, the Ravens missed the playoffs the next year with an 8-8 record. They rebounded a bit the following year, claiming the last Wild Card spot, but lost to the Patriots in the divisional round. The Ravens then proceeded to miss the playoffs for three straight years (their longest streak since the 2000 season) largely floundering until the arrival of Lamar Jackson in 2018. Jackson, the 2019 league MVP, got the Ravens back to the playoffs, but the Ravens went one-and-done in 2018 and 2019 before Jackson finally got his first playoff victory in the 2020 Wild Card... only for the Ravens to promptly get crushed 17-3 in the Divisional one week later.
  • In the 2023 season, the Ravens proved themselves one of the most dominant teams in the league, boasting both a top defense and a dominant offense that ultimately resulted in a league-best 13-4 record and the best point differential of any NFL team for that season, along with dual threat QB Lamar Jackson having an MVP year. And it wasn't a case of beating up on lousy teams either; as they had notched blowout victories against playoff-bound teams like the Texans, Dolphins, Lions, and NFC #1 seed (and eventual Super Bowl contender) 49ers. After getting a 1st round bye and then crushing the Texans again in the divisional round, all that stood between the Ravens and the Super Bowl were the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, who had been struggling on offense for much of the regular season, and had to come to Baltimore for the AFC Championship. Unfortunately for the Ravens, the Chiefs' defense was also having a historically good year, and the offense had ironed out many of the kinks (such as leading the league in dropped passes) that had plagued it during the regular season. The Chiefs jumped out to a ten-point lead at the half, while the Ravens' offense imploded on itself; ultimately turning the ball over 3 times, giving up 95 penalty yards, and scoring only a single field goal in the last few minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the Ravens' defense prevented the Chiefs from scoring, but didn't prevent them from maintaining posession for nearly two thirds of the game, killing any chance of a Ravens comeback and resulting in a 17-10 Chiefs victory.
  • Given the fact that the Ravens were the '95 Browns transplanted, every victory or close call for Baltimore only twists the knife for Cleveland that much more.
• The Denver Broncos (and their longtime quarterback John Elway) were former examples of this trope, having been to and lost 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s and 80s. Elway, to his credit, endured and persevered despite these setbacks (as well as a period of struggling in the 90s) and was finally able to lead his team to back-to-back Super Bowl championships at the tail end of his career. Unfortunately, they made it back to the Super Bowl for the 2013-2014 season, only to lose the game and become the first team in NFL history to lose 5 Super Bowls. (Though they bounced back in 2015, winning their third title in what proved to be Peyton Manning's final NFL game.)
  • The Broncos are particularly notable in that they have been absolutely annihilated in every Super Bowl they've lost, never losing by less than 17 points. This includes the largest margin of defeat in any Super Bowl, a 55-10 creaming by the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV.
• Don Shula was an NFL coach from 1963-95 and retired with the most wins by a head coach in NFL history; to go with two Super Bowl titles (the first of which famously concluded the Miami Dolphins' perfect season). However, his first decade as a head coach was this in spades.
  • Following his 2nd season, the Baltimore Colts (the team he coached first) was expected to easily defeated a Cleveland Browns team that was two years removed from owner Art Modell firing original head coach and namesake Paul Brown. Instead, the Colts were shut out by Cleveland 27-0 in the last championship that city celebrated until 2016.
  • The next season, the Colts finished tied for the Western Conference crown with Green Bay and had to play a special tie-breaker playoff without star quarterback Johnny Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo; forcing Baltimore to use Tom Matte, one of their running backs, at quarterback. During regulation, the Colts held a 10-0 halftime lead while managing to knock out Green Bay's star quarterback Bart Starr. However, the game went into overtime following a controversial field goal ruling (video footage showed the ball going wide of the right upright).^note This would lead to changes the following season; such as a redesigned goal post and officials being placed under the goal post. The Packers would win 13-10 in overtime on a field goal that left no doubt as to its success.
  • In 1967, the Colts would finish tied for the best record in the NFL at 11-1-2 but still managed to miss the playoffs due to two games with the divisional rival Los Angeles Rams. Following a Week 5 game at Baltimore that ended in a 24-24 deadlock; the teams played again on the last week of the season in Los Angeles for the Coastal Division crown and lone spot left to be settled. The Rams would end up blasting the Colts 34-10 to leave Baltimore the odd team out in the postseason.
  • The following year, the Colts advanced to a 13-1 record under journeyman quarterback Earl Morrall (replacing Johnny Unitas, who missed most of the year with an elbow injury). They then advanced to Super Bowl III as the heavy favorites over the AFL's New York Jets. Unfortunately, Morrall ended up playing the worst game of his career; throwing three 2nd-quarter interceptions (topped by a flea-flicker pass in which Morrall missed wide-open receiver Jimmy Orr). By the time Shula yanked Morrall in favor of the ailing Unitas, the score was 13-0 in favor of the Jets — who ultimately upset Baltimore 16-7.
  • Shula left the Colts after 1969, and took the Miami Dolphins to the playoffs for the first time in their short history in his first season. The next year, the Dolphins advanced to Super Bowl VI against the Dallas Cowboys (themselves seeking to shed the "Next Year's Champions" nickname). Dallas would humiliate Miami 24-3, leaving the Dolphins as the first team to not score a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
• The San Francisco 49ers have formed this reputation within The New '10s and the early part of The New '20s. The team went to the NFC Championship in each of their Playoff appearances in the timespan but always came up short.
  • The 2011 season saw first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh end the team’s Audience-Alienating Era of much of the 2000’s by finishing with a 13-3 record. They would host the NFC Conference Championship game against the unlikely New York Giants team, who they would lose to in overtime thanks to two very costly mistakes by Kyle Williams. The Giants would eventually win the Super Bowl.
  • 2012 season thankfully saw the 49ers carry their momentum from the previous season. Though the 49ers would lose QB Alex Smith, who was on track of having his best season, back-up QB Colin Kaepernick would greatly pick up the pace for the season. After stomping over the Packers in the Divisional round and beating the Falcons in the NFC Championship, the 49ers made their 6th Super Bowl appearance and first since 1994 where they would ironically face Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens. Despite the Niners having a ferocious come back in the second half of the game, The Baltimore Ravens would win the Super Bowl against the 49ers.
  • Once again, Harbaugh’s 49ers would still carry that same dominance into the 2013 season. After a rough start, the 49ers would go on a tear at the end of the season with a 12-4 record, but finish the division behind the upstart Legion of Boom-led Seahawks. The Niners would travel to Seattle after defeating the Packers and the Panthers and played in their third consecutive conference championship. However, late-game mistakes including a game-ending interception would cost the Niners the game, sending the rival Seahawks to the Super Bowl where they would eventually win.
  • The 2014 season was a step down from the previous seasons, as they would suffer a late-season collapse, finishing 8-8 and not make the Playoffs, which resulted in Jim Harbaugh being fired. The team would continue to struggle in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, as the head coaches in those years each only lasted a year.
  • The Kyle Shanahan era had a rough start in 2017 and 2018 but greatly rebounded in 2019 where they clinched the top seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record and went on to play in Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs. Though they led 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the 49ers would squander the lead after the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs made a late rally to win 31-20. Not helping matters was Kyle Shanahan making questionable play calls while leading late in the game, which also happened three years prior in the Falcons’ historic collapse against the Patriots.
  • Following an injury-ridden 2020 season, the Niners would return to the playoffs after rebounding from a 3-5 start. The team would go on an unexpected postseason run, upsetting the Cowboys and the top-seeded Packers on the road. In the NFC Championship against the rival Rams, they held a 17-7 after the third quarter only to once again be on the butt-end of a fourth quarter rally. The Rams would spoil a sweep from the 49ers and would go on to win Super Bowl LVI.
  • Like the previous season, the 49ers had a middling start, initially beginning the season 3-4. After acquiring RB Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers, they would go on to win the rest of the regular season and ended as the second-seeded team in the NFC Playoffs. After injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, the team turned to rookie Brock Purdy, who was the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, the league would see a surprising emergence of Purdy late in the season, as he would lead the team to the NFC Championship against the Eagles. However, the game was a disaster for the Niners, as Purdy would be injured early on and the team sent in fourth-string journeyman QB Josh Johnson, only for him to get a concussion and Purdy going back in, though he couldn’t make a pass. Not helping matters was the usual dominant defense making uncharacteristically mistakes that kept much of the Eagles drives alive. The Eagles would dominate the Niners 31-7 and return to the Super Bowl.
  • The 49ers marched into the 2023 Season with a vengeance with Purdy and their star-studded lineup returning as well as a few new pieces added in Free Agency with the intention of taking it all. San Fran started out hot with a 5-0 start and finished the season 12-5 and nabbing the top seed in the NFC Playoffs with Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey having all-pro seasons. San Francisco survived Green Bay and Detroit en route to Super Bowl LVIII where the Niners would rematch Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was deja Vu as the 49ers once again held a ten-point lead over the Chiefs (though in the second quarter this time), only to squander it in an astonishingly similar way as in Super Bowl LIV from years before as Kansas City rallied and won in overtime 25-22. Kyle Shanahan once again was criticized for his questionable playcalling, appearing to learn nothing from prior defeats by abandoning the running game in the second half, Shanahan making history as the first coach to blow multiple-score leads in the Super Bowl three seperate times.
• The New York Jets have been something of a case throughout their history. Their only title win came in Super Bowl III, and they haven't made it back to the Super Bowl since then, no matter what kind of team they field. This has resulted in their being dubbed the "New York Jest".^note Because they're a joke. In recent memory, their stretch from 2008 to 2011:
  • In 2008, they were led by Brett Favre, started 8-3, they were considered a favorite to win the Super Bowl that year, and were doing things like scoring 56 points against the Cardinals, beating the Rams 47-3, and stomping the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans 34-13. Unfortunately, Favre suffered an injury, didn't tell anyone, and decided to play through the injury. Therefore, his performance suffered, the Jets lost four of their last five games, and floundered their way out of playoff contention.
  • In 2009, the Jets got all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they got out to a 17-6 lead over the Colts. They were outscored 24-0 from there and lost 30-17.
  • In 2010, the Jets started out 9-2 and actually had one of their best seasons in years, barring a 45-3 loss to the Patriots. How did they cap this off? By practically no-showing the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers, going into halftime down 24-0. They outscored Pittsburgh 19-0 in the second half, but they still managed to find another way to lose.
  • In 2011, the Jets stood at 8-5 and had winnable games left on their schedule. What did they do? They were destroyed by the Eagles 45-19, got embarrassed by the Giants 29-14 in a game they had practically staked their entire season on, then were eliminated from playoff contention by losing 19-17 to the Dolphins, a team they could have beaten. The Giants loss was particularly nasty, as the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl that year, the same thing the Jets kept swearing they'd do all season.
  • In 2015, the Jets stood at 10-5 in the final week of the season, in a "win-and-in" scenario facing former head coach Rex Ryan and the 7-8 Bills in Buffalo. Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was having a Cinderella season at Quarterback, turned into a pumpkin in the final stretches of the game, throwing three consecutive interceptions on the Jets' last drives of the game, resulting in a 22-17 loss, knocking the Jets out of the postseason. Predictable cries of "Same Old Jets" rung out across the NFL scape, and adding another chapter to the Jets history of futility.
  • In 2022, the Jets were a surprising team thanks to the emergence of key rookie players, starting the season 7-4 and looking to break their postseason drought. In true New York Jets fashion, they would promptly collapse late in the season and lose the rest of the games in the season, once again not making the postseason.
  • As a bonus, the long-suffering fans know team management will do something to crush their hopes, most notably bad draft choices.
• The coaching career of Chuck Knox plays out as this; with some fans blaming his ultra-conservative, run-oriented offensive philosophy (nicknamed Ground Chuck) for much of Knox's post-season struggles; along with (particularly in his first stint with the Los Angeles Rams) a revolving door at quarterback:
  • After winning NFL Coach of the Year honors in his first year as a head coach in leading the Rams to a 12-2 mark and NFC West crown while getting the last good season out of former San Diego Chargers quarterback John Hadl^note the National Football Conference MVP; the Rams (now led by one of the few black quarterbacks of The '70s in James "Shack" Harris after Hadl was traded to Green Bay) advanced to the NFC Championship game vs. the defending NFC champion Minnesota Vikings only to lose that title game and a trip to Super Bowl IX 14-10; aided by a potential game-tying 3rd quarter drive derailed by a controversial illegal procedure flag on guard Tom Mack (Minnesota intercepted the ball two plays later).
  • 1975 saw the Rams return to the NFC Championship game led by a strong defense that gave up 9.6 points per game (2nd fewest in NFL history) and solid quarterback play from a young Ron Jaworski^note replacing the injured James Harris late in the year; this time playing at home vs. the wild-card Dallas Cowboys (who had eliminated the Vikings on the famous "Hail Mary" pass). However, the Cowboys' momentum showed up in full force in a 37-7 blowout to punch Dallas' ticket to Super Bowl X.
  • 1976 saw the Rams survive a quarterback controversy between Harris; Jaworski and rookie Pat Haden; clinching their 4th consecutive NFC West title and for the 3rd year in a row playing in the NFC Championship game, only to be defeated by the Minnesota Vikings yet again 24-13
  • 1977 was thought by many to be the Rams' best shot at a Super Bowl. With Haden replacing an aging Joe Namath early in the year the Rams finished the season with their 5th consecutive division title and hosting an NFC Divisional playoff game. However, this time they went one-and-done in the Divisional round vs. the aging Vikings in a game known as the "Mud Bowl" 14-7; culminating in owner Carroll Rosenbloom firing Knox^note This trope would continue to plague the Rams for another year under successor Ray Malavasi, as the Rams lost yet another NFC Championship at home; this time to the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys. Los Angeles would finally get over the NFC Championship hump in 1979 in a 9-0 win over Cinderella team Tampa Bay, but went on to lose Super Bowl XIV to the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19
  • Knox left for Buffalo after his ouster in Los Angeles; and after two mediocre seasons the Bills returned to the playoffs with an 11-5 record and AFC East crown in 1980; only for the Bills to lose the AFC Divisional playoff to a team that was a polar opposite in offensive philosophy: the high-scoring San Diego Chargers, who edged Buffalo 20-14 off a late touchdown pass from Dan Fouts that bounced off Buffalo defender Charley Romes into the hands of Ron Smith. Romes atoned for his error the following post-season by recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of 1981's AFC wild-card game vs. the New York Jets and returned it for a touchdown; but after the Bills won that game, Buffalo was knocked out by the Cincinnati Bengals 28-21 after a desperation Joe Ferguson pass fell incomplete on 4th down late in the game.
  • Knox left Buffalo after the 1982 season when he couldn't come to an agreement on a new contract; taking the helm in Seattle for the 1983 campaign, a season which saw the Seahawks make the playoffs for the first time in team history; followed by defeating Denver and Miami to advance to the AFC Championship game vs. the Los Angeles Raiders at the Los Angeles Coliseum that had been the site of much post-season disasters for Knox's Rams teams. Los Angeles would trounce Seattle 30-14 en route to winning Super Bowl XVIII while Knox would never advance that far again (Knox's Seahawks advanced to the post-season in 1984, 1987 and 1988 but the 1984 AFC wild-card game vs. the same Raiders marked Seattle's last playoff win until 2005; and Knox left in 1991 to return to the Rams but suffered three sub-par seasons before being fired as the Rams departed for St. Louis following the 1994 season).
• After their Super Bowl victory in the 1983 season, the Los Angeles and then Oakland Raiders fell headlong into this trope. It took eight playoff berths for them to reach the Super Bowl again, in large part due to a revolving cast of mostly mediocre quarterbacks. Along the way, they made two conference championships and lost both in embarrassing fashion (a 51-3 shellacking in 1990 at the hands of the Bills, and a 16-3 snoozer against the Ravens in 2000). And then there's the Tuck Rule Game. The cherry on top was their Super Bowl appearance in 2002. After putting together the best team they'd had since their Super Bowl victories, and finally finding a proper quarterback in Rich Gannon, the Raiders finally got over the hump - and proceeded to get demolished by the sad sack Buccaneers, led by the coach they'd traded away that offseason, who brought the scheme for their high-powered offense with him. Afterwards, they've avoided this trope by the interesting strategy of not making the playoffs at all.
  • Nor was that the first time they ran into this problem. From 1963 to 1975 the Raiders won the most games of any team in the league, with zero championships to show for it. They got smashed to pieces by the Packers in Super Bowl II, upset by the Joe Namath Jets, lost their star quarterback after he smashed his hand against a Chiefs defender in 1969, and then played the Steelers in the playoffs five years in a row and lost four of them - one of which was the Immaculate Reception game. Winning a championship in 1976, and then two more in 1980 and 1983, takes a lot of the sting out of it, but it was still a brutal stretch.
• Marty Schottenheimer finished his NFL coaching career with 205 wins. However, of those 205 wins, only five have come in the playoffs. Over the years, Schottenheimer built up a reputation for leading teams to great success in the regular season, only to bottom out in the playoffs:
  • In his first playoff appearance in 1985 as head coach of the Browns, Cleveland built up a 21-3 first half lead over the Dolphins in an AFC Divisional playoff game. Miami would come back and win the game 24-21.
  • The following season saw the Browns post a 12-4 record and home-field advantage through the playoffs. Sadly, they didn't make it past the AFC Championship Game, thanks to "The Drive:" The Browns were leading 20-13 when John Elway led the Broncos to a game-tying 98-yard touchdown drive. Denver would win in overtime on a field goal.
  • 1987 saw the Broncos and Browns meet once more in the AFC Championship Game. This time in the fourth quarter, the Broncos were winning, but the Browns managed to get to Denver's eight-yard line. Ernest Byner then proceeded to fumble the ball, sealing the game for Denver.
  • After one more playoff loss in 1988, Schottenheimer left the Browns and was later hired by the Chiefs. From 1990-1994, the Chiefs made the playoffs, but never advanced past the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs had home-field advantage for the playoffs in 1995 and 1997, only to bow out in the first round to the Cinderella Colts and division rival Broncos, respectively.
  • After leaving the Chiefs in 1998, Schottenheimer resurfaced in Washington in 2001. The team finished 8-8 in what would be Schottenhemier's only season with the team; he was let go in favor of University of Florida head coach Steve Spurrier.
  • Schottenheimer would later take up head coaching duties with the Chargers in 2002. San Diego made the playoffs under him for the first time in 2004. They would lose to the Jets on a missed field goal from Nate Kaeding. In 2006, the Chargers finished the season at 14-2...and then lost to the Patriots in an AFC Divisional game. What made this loss really sting was that the Chargers had an eight-point lead when safety Marlon McCree intercepted Tom Brady...and then proceeded to fumble the ball while attempting to return it. The Pats would get a new set of downs, eventually take the lead and win the game after Nate Kaeding once again missed a field goal that would've tied the game. After the season, issues between Schottenheimer and the Chargers front office led to the former getting fired. It would turn out to be Schottenheimer's last job in the NFL. In 2011, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and in 2021, he passed away at the age of 77.
• After losing to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, the St. Louis Rams sunk into mediocrity for over a decade, but when Stan Kroenke took control of the team and moved it back to Los Angeles, he began to beef it up considerably, and in 2017 the Rams had their first winning season since 2003, and landed in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Their 2018 season would turn out even better, tying with the New Orleans Saints for the best win-loss record in the league, and they even landed in the Super Bowl... where they failed to score a single touchdown (or anything beyond a single field goal) in a pathetically low-scoring game (13-3, a Super Bowl record) against the Patriots, the very same team that beat them 17 years earlier. The following season, they finished 9-7, but missed the playoffs. After being knocked out in the divisional round against the Green Bay Packers in the 2020 season, the Rams would finally break through during the 2021 season by returning to the Super Bowl and defeating the Cincinnati Bengals to win their first Vince Lombardi Trophy since Super Bowl XXXIV despite having to overcome injuries to some of their star and depth players.
• For that matter, the New England Patriots had two flavors of this. The first was in the Drew Bledsoe period (1993-2001), where despite playing five winning seasons in eight years, better than any period in the franchise's history up until that point, the Pats were frequently eliminated early in the playoffs, and their one trip to the Super Bowl in the 1996 season earned them a lopsided confrontation with Brett Favre's Packers. This period ended with the emergence of Tom Brady, who led the team to three Super Bowl victories in four years. The ten years between their victories in Super Bowls XXXIX and XLIX, however, featured a lot of missed opportunities, despite the team's superb play and immensely talented roster. The 2005 and 2006 seasons featured a divisional loss and an AFC championship loss, the 2007 season ended in a tremendous upset by the underdog Giants over a hitherto undefeated Patriots team, the 2008 season saw Brady out with an ACL injury, and despite an 11-5 record (a five game drop playing two of the worst divisions ever in NFL history, the AFC West and NFC West) they missed the playoffs after losing conference tiebreakers to the Dolphins and Ravens. In 2009, the Pats were again eliminated early. In 2010, Brady had the best season, statistically, of his career with a third NFL MVP award, but the team was eliminated in the divisional by the Jets. In 2011, they finished 13-3 and made Super Bowl XLVI, losing again to the same team, the Giants. 2012 and 2013 featured AFC championship losses to the Ravens and Broncos, respectively, so when the 2014 season rolled around, the Pats, led by the now 37-year-old Brady, were hungry for a win. In a Cool vs. Awesome matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, the Pats prevailed on a last-minute interception at the goal line by Malcolm Butler, and the dynasty was given a new lease on life. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl in the 2016 through the 2018 seasons, winning two, and Brady was decorated as Super Bowl MVP twice more and NFL MVP for the third time at age 40.
• The Green Bay Packers aren't the first name one might associate with this trope given that they have made three Super Bowl appearances in the past 30 years, and won two of them... but they've also had 17 additional seasons where they made the playoffs but failed to advance to the Super Bowl, including a few pretty bizarre post-season losses. While no team can be expected to make the Super Bowl every time, 17 misses in 30 years is a lot, especially given the kinds of records they've had in the regular season some of those years. Brett Favre's penchant for throwing interceptions at the worst possible time is no doubt part of this (see his entry under "Quarterbacks"), but this tendency didn't end with Favre's departure — since they won Super Bowl XLV, Aaron Rodgers' Packers would go the NFC Championship four times (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020), and lose every time.
  • In the 2003 season, there was "4th and 26". Leading by a field goal with under two minutes to go in the Divisional Round, the Packers had the Eagles pinned deep in their own territory, needing just one more defensive stop in a favorable situation to win the game. Somehow, they let the Eagles complete a 28-yard pass to keep the drive alive. The Eagles kicked the game-tying field goal and went on to win in overtime.
  • In the 2007 NFC Championship, the Packers got the ball to start overtime, needing only a field goal (as this was before the overtime rule changes) to advance to the Super Bowl. Instead, Favre threw a bad interception to Corey Webster, and the Giants would kick a winning field goal to go to the Super Bowl.
  • The most painful loss came in the 2014 game, where, thanks to Mike McCarthy's conservative playcalling and special teams miscues, they blew a 19-7 lead and lost to the defending champion Seahawks in overtime.
  • In 2020, the Packers faced the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game. While they kept it competitve for the most part, a series of mistakes at key moments — including giving up a long touchdown right before halftime, a conservative decision on what would turn out to be the Packers' final drive, and a questionable penalty ^note the general consensus is that it was a penalty by the letter of the law, but it was also inconsistent with how the game had been called up to that point late in the fourth quarter doomed them.
  • The 2021 Packers answered the previous year's defeat by putting up one of the team's best-ever postseason defensive performances in the Divisional round, holding the high-flying San Fransisco 49ers offense to just six points. Unfortunately, this performance would be entirely wasted; the offense put together one good drive and then struggled to move the ball for the rest of the game, and a special teams meltdown (which accounted for a whopping 10-point swing in what turned out to be a 3-point game) sealed their fate.
  • The 2023 Packers, who lost a divisional round game to the 49ers, are an interesting case. On one hand, given that this was a historically young team with a first-year starting quarterback in Jordan Love, just making it to the divisional round exceeded all expectations, especially after a 3-6 start to the season, not to mention that they got to the divisional round by becoming the first 7-seed team to ever win a playoff game (which they did in convincing fashion). On the other hand, the Packers outplayed the 49ers for much of the game and had a chance to win, but effectively gave the game away with a jaw-dropping number of mistakes and missed opportunities.
• After winning Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, the New Orleans Saints would have several winning seasons, only to be on the receiving end of some of the most memorable plays in their playoff losses, including the following: "Beast Quake" against the 7-9 Seahawks in the 2010 Wild Card, "The Catch III" against the 49ers in the 2011 Divisional, "Beast Quake II" against the Seahawks in the 2013 Divisional, "The Minneapolis Miracle" against the Vikings in the 2017 Divisional, and "The NOLA No-Call" against the Rams in the 2018 NFC Championship, which is the most painful loss in Saints history^note this is due to the fact for once, it wasn't the Saints' fault; as the name suggests, the Saints lost this one thanks to one of the most universally agreed-upon blown calls in officiating history. Drew Brees, the Saints's longtime quarterback, ended his career on a downer note when he threw three interceptions against the eventual Super Bowl LV Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom the Saints had swept in the regular season.

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