Super Bowl curse


The Super Bowl curse is a phrase that refers to phenomena that may occur in the National Football League where the team whose stadium will host the upcoming Super Bowl either misses the playoffs or suffers early postseason elimination.
No Super Bowl host team had managed to reach the title game until the 2020 season, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in Super Bowl LV and won at their home stadium. The next year, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in a home game during Super Bowl LVI.
Super Bowl champions rarely win consecutive Super Bowls, compared to other professional sports leagues such as Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.
The team that loses the Super Bowl often has a less successful following season and may miss the playoffs.
The term was first used around 1992, when The Washington Post used the term in print. Former NFL General Manager Charley Casserly attributed the curse to such factors as "a shorter offseason, contract problems, more demand for your players' time". Casserly also noted that "once the season starts, you become the biggest game on everybody's schedule," suggesting that pressure from fans and spectators may also affect a team's performance.

The home-field advantage curse

The home-field curse is said to affect a team if the Super Bowl is played at its home stadium. As of 2025, only two teams have played the Super Bowl in their stadiums, the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs for Super Bowl LV and the 2021 Los Angeles Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals for Super Bowl LVI at their new home, SoFi Stadium; both host teams won. The Buccaneers are the only team to achieve the feat as the designated home team. Super Bowl LVI also marked the first time Los Angeles had hosted since 1993, when the Super Bowl was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. SoFi Stadium had just opened in 2020. Super Bowl LVI was the eighth Super Bowl played in Los Angeles. Only Miami, Florida, home of the Miami Dolphins, has hosted more Super Bowls.
Besides the 2020 Buccaneers and 2021 Rams, only two NFL teams have reached the Super Bowl hosted in their home region: the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, who won Super Bowl XIX in Stanford Stadium, rather than Candlestick Park, and the 1979 Los Angeles Rams, who played Super Bowl XIV in the Rose Bowl, rather than the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Besides Stanford Stadium and the Rose Bowl, the only Super Bowl venue that was not the home stadium to an NFL team at the time was Rice Stadium in Houston for Super Bowl VIII: The Houston Oilers had played there previously but moved to the Astrodome several years earlier. The Miami Orange Bowl was the only AFL stadium to host a Super Bowl and the only stadium to host consecutive Super Bowls, hosting Super Bowl II and III. Currently, two stadiums are home to two NFL teams of both conferences: MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which hosted Super Bowl XLVIII, is the home stadium of two NFL teams—the New York Giants and the New York Jets; SoFi Stadium, which hosted Super Bowl LVI, is the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams.
Seven teams with Super Bowls in their home venue have qualified for the divisional playoffs: the Dolphins twice in 1994 and 1998, the 2016 Houston Texans, the 2017 Minnesota Vikings, the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 2021 Los Angeles Rams, and the 2025 San Francisco 49ers; and three have qualified to play in the conference championship game: the Vikings in the 2017 NFC Championship Game, the Buccaneers in the 2020 NFC Championship Game, and the Rams in the 2021 NFC Championship Game. From 1966 to 2011, the Super Bowl host team had 18 winning seasons, five split seasons, and 32 losing seasons. Mathematically, the probability of that many losing seasons or more occurring by chance is 7.69 percent. Beginning with the 2021 season, the NFL stretched to 17 games being played; it is no longer possible to have a split season unless there is a tie game. The Super Bowl host stadium is selected several years before the game is played, regardless of the teams that qualify.
This list of examples is not exhaustive; until 2020, no team had ever qualified and played in the Super Bowl while its home stadium was hosting it, home or away. Furthermore, a Super Bowl host stadium's team has never been the #1 seed nor had the best overall record in the league, as the 2020 Buccaneers were the fifth seed in the NFC, and the 2021 Rams were the fourth seed in the NFC.

Host teams that would be the home team

Host teams that would be the away team

The Non-Repeat Curse

Since 1993, few winning teams have followed up their Super Bowl appearances with a second Super Bowl appearance or even advanced to a conference title game in the subsequent season. Only seven teams have won back-to-back Super Bowl championships, and only one of these seven have made more than two consecutive winning appearances in the Super Bowl. The only franchise to reach more than three straight title games was the Buffalo Bills who lost four Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993. The hard salary cap, draft, free agency, schedule, generally large team roster, and generally high injury rate of the sport make it more difficult to win repeat league championships in the NFL compared to other major North American professional sports leagues where dynasties have been prevalent.
Between the 2004 and 2022 season, no incumbent holder had managed to successfully defend their title until the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs with wins in Super Bowl LVII and LVIII. Between 2006 and 2013, every defending Super Bowl champion would conclude the following season either losing their opening playoff game or failing to qualify for the playoffs.
This list of examples includes every team that has ever had back-to-back appearances at the Super Bowl.
TeamFirst Super Bowl AppearanceScoreSecond Super Bowl AppearanceScoreThird Super Bowl AppearanceScoreFourth Super Bowl AppearanceScore
Green Bay Packers1966 35–101967 33–14———–
Dallas Cowboys1970 13–161971 24–3———–
Miami Dolphins1971 3–241972 14–71973 24–7——
Pittsburgh Steelers1974 16–61975 21–17————
Dallas Cowboys1977 27–101978 31–35————
Pittsburgh Steelers1978 35–311979 31–19————
Washington Redskins1982 27–171983 9–38————
San Francisco 49ers1988 20–161989 55–10————
Buffalo Bills1990 19–201991 24–371992 17–521993 13–30
Dallas Cowboys1992 52–171993 30–13————
Green Bay Packers1996 35–211997 24–31————
Denver Broncos1997 31–241998 34–19————
New England Patriots2003 32–292004 24–21————
Seattle Seahawks2013 43–82014 24–28————
New England Patriots2016 34–28 2017 33–412018 13–3——
Kansas City Chiefs2019 31–202020 9–31————
Kansas City Chiefs2022 38–352023 25–22 2024 22–40——

The "Super Bowl Runner-Up Jinx"

Although many teams experience this phenomenon, it is certainly not the rule. There are many speculations made about potential causal factors for this trend, including the team having a shorter offseason due to their extended postseason play, difficulty settling contracts, more pressure on the players, and an increase in visibility, which could contribute to nervous playing. Only the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, 1972 Miami Dolphins, and 2018 New England Patriots have followed up a Super Bowl defeat with a Super Bowl win the following season.
One feature of the Super Bowl Runner-Up Jinx is that the team that loses the Super Bowl will not advance as far as the conference championship game the following season — something only three of the last 27 such teams have done. Not only that, but 12 of these 27 Super Bowl runners-up did not even make the playoffs the year after, including four that finished last in their division.
This list of examples is not exhaustive.
TeamSuper Bowl seasonRecordSuper Bowl scoreNext seasonRecord
Kansas City Chiefs1966 11–2–110–3519679–5
Baltimore Colts1968 13–17–1619698–5–1
Denver Broncos1987 10–4–110–4219888–8
Cincinnati Bengals1988 12–416–2019898–8
Denver Broncos1989 11–510–5519905–11
Buffalo Bills1993 12–413–3019947–9
Atlanta Falcons1998 14–219–3419995–11
New York Giants2000 12–47–3420017–9
St. Louis Rams2001 14–217–2020027–9
Oakland Raiders2002 11–521–4820034–12
Carolina Panthers2003 11–529–3220047–9
Philadelphia Eagles2004 13–321–2420056–10
Chicago Bears2006 13–317–2920077–9
New England Patriots2007 16–014–17200811–5
Carolina Panthers2015 15–110–2420166–10
Los Angeles Rams2018 13–33–1320199–7
San Francisco 49ers2019 13–320–3120206–10
San Francisco 49ers2023 12–522–25 20246–11
Kansas City Chiefs2024 15–222–4020256–11

TeamSuper Bowl seasonRecordSuper Bowl scoreNext seasonRecordMade playoffs?
Oakland Raiders1967 13–114–33196812–2Yes
Minnesota Vikings1969 12–27–23197012–2Yes
Dallas Cowboys1970 10–413–16197111–3Yes
Miami Dolphins1971 10–3–13–24197214–0Yes
Washington Redskins1972 11–37–14197310–4Yes
Minnesota Vikings1973 12–27–24197410–4Yes
Minnesota Vikings1974 10–46–16197512–2Yes
Dallas Cowboys1975 10–417–21197611–3Yes
Minnesota Vikings1976 11–2–114–3219779–5Yes
Denver Broncos1977 12–210–27197810–6Yes
Dallas Cowboys1978 12–431–35197911–5Yes
Los Angeles Rams1979 9–719–31198011–5Yes
Philadelphia Eagles1980 12–410–27198110–6Yes
Cincinnati Bengals1981 12–421–2619827–2Yes
Miami Dolphins1982 7–217–27198312–4Yes
Washington Redskins1983 14–29–38198411–5Yes
Miami Dolphins1984 14–216–38198512–4Yes
New England Patriots1985 11–510–46198611–5Yes
Denver Broncos1986 11–520–39198710–4–1Yes
Buffalo Bills1990 13–319–20199113–3Yes
Buffalo Bills1991 13–324–37199211–5Yes
Buffalo Bills1992 11–517–52199312–4Yes
San Diego Chargers1994 11–526–4919959–7Yes
Pittsburgh Steelers1995 11–517–27199610–6Yes
New England Patriots1996 11–521–35199710–6Yes
Green Bay Packers1997 13–324–31199811–5Yes
Tennessee Titans1999 13–316–23200013–3Yes
Seattle Seahawks2005 13–310–2120069–7Yes
Arizona Cardinals2008 9–723–27200910–6Yes
Indianapolis Colts2009 14–217–31201010–6Yes
Pittsburgh Steelers2010 12–425–31201112–4Yes
New England Patriots2011 13–317–21201212–4Yes
San Francisco 49ers2012 11–4–131–34201312–4Yes
Denver Broncos2013 13–38–43201412–4Yes
Seattle Seahawks2014 12–424–28201510–6Yes
Atlanta Falcons2016 11–528–34 201710–6Yes
New England Patriots2017 13–333–41201811–5Yes
Kansas City Chiefs2020 14–29–31202112–5Yes
Cincinnati Bengals2021 10–720–23202212–4Yes
Philadelphia Eagles2022 14–338–35202311–6Yes