Drafts, free agency, trades, regular season meetings; they all lead to the Super Bowl. Unlike soccer, there are no cup competitions or distractions. The NFL season is all about winning the Super Bowl.
Lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy is the pinnacle. It secures a team’s place in history on the Super Bowl winners’ list. Legends are made with big Super Bowl performances.
Franchises and fans wait decades to win just one Super Bowl. Some are fortunate enough to experience the Big Game on more than one occasion, and a special group will enjoy being part of an NFL dynasty.
Including a Super Bowl winners’ list, here’s a quick look at some Super Bowl history and records.
Most Super Bowl wins
The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are the two most successful teams in Super Bowl history with six wins apiece.
New England’s all came during the Tom Brady era, starting in 2002 and wrapping up in 2018. Bill Belichick and Brady started off the dynasty at the beginning of the 21st century, when the Pats had appeared in just two Super Bowls, losing both.
The Steelers have enjoyed success since the turn of the century, too. Their triumphs in 2006 and 2009 were the fifth and sixth in franchise history. It had been a long wait for Pittsburgh, however, who won their first four Super Bowls in the 1970s. They have only appeared in the Big Game once since 2009, losing to the Green Bay Packers in 2011.
Green Bay and the New York Giants have won four Super Bowls apiece, putting them joint-fifth on the all-time list, just behind the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers (five).
Most common Super Bowl matchup
The Pittsburgh Steelers vs Dallas Cowboys is the most common matchup in Super Bowl history. The two teams faced off three times, with Pittsburgh winning twice in the 1970s and Dallas lifting the trophy in 1996.
Six other Super Bowl matchups have occurred more than once.
The Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins played in the early 1970s and had a rematch a decade later. San Francisco and the Cincinnati Bengals played twice in the 1980s, and the Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills in consecutive years in the early 1990s.
Perhaps most famous in recent NFL history, the Giants got the better of the Patriots twice in four years. New England has also faced the Eagles and Rams twice apiece.
Least successful NFL teams
12 active NFL franchises have never won the Super Bowl. Of those 12, the Bills and Minnesota Vikings have lost four times each.
The Bengals, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons have each twice been on the losing side in the Super Bowl. The Titans, Cardinals and Chargers have fallen short once each.
While both won the NFL Championship before the Super Bowl era, the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions have never appeared in the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl winners
1967 – Green Bay Packers
1968 – Green Bay Packers
1969 – New York Jets
1970 – Kansas City Chiefs
1971 – Baltimore Colts
1972 – Dallas Cowboys
1973 – Miami Dolphins
1974 – Miami Dolphins
1975 – Pittsburgh Steelers
1976 – Pittsburgh Steelers
1977 – Oakland Raiders
1978 – Dallas Cowboys
1979 – Pittsburgh Steelers
1980 – Pittsburgh Steelers
1981 – Oakland Raiders
1982 – San Francisco 49ers
1983 – Washington Redskins
1984 – Los Angeles Raiders
1985 – San Francisco 49ers
1986 – Chicago Bears
1987 – New York Giants
1988 – Washington Redskins
1989 – San Francisco 49ers
1990 – San Francisco 49ers
1991 – New York Giants
1992 – Washington Redskins
1993 – Dallas Cowboys
1994 – Dallas Cowboys
1995 – San Francisco 49ers
1996 – Dallas Cowboys
1997 – Green Bay Packers
1998 – Denver Broncos
1999 – Denver Broncos
2000 – St Louis Rams
2001 – Baltimore Ravens
2002 – New England Patriots
2003 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2004 – New England Patriots
2005 – New England Patriots
2006 – Pittsburgh Steelers
2007 – Indianapolis Colts
2008 – New York Giants
2009 – Pittsburgh Steelers
2010 – New Orleans Saints
2011 – Green Bay Packers
2012 – New York Giants
2013 – Baltimore Ravens
2014 – Seattle Seahawks
2015 – New England Patriots
2016 – Denver Broncos
2017 – New England Patriots
2018 – Philadelphia Eagles
2019 – New England Patriots
2020 – Kansas City Chiefs
2021 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2022 — Los Angeles Rams
2023 — Kansas City Chiefs
2024 — Kansas City Chiefs