12 Teams Have Never Won a Super Bowl. What was their best attempt?

With Monday Night's matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans, the NFL world will be watching to see if the Houston Texans can finally break through and hopefully begin a run that will see them make their first-ever AFC Championship, being the only team in the league to never make the game. The Texans are 1 of 12 teams to have never won the Super Bowl, and here was the closest any of them got.

DETROIT LIONS: 2023

Starting in chronological order, we have Detroit's 2023 campaign. Dan Campbell's Lions came close to taking the top spot in the NFC away from the San Francisco 49ers. Led by Jared Goff following the blockbuster trade that landed the former Los Angeles Ram in Detroit, with future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Matt Stafford departing for the West Coast, the Lions had an explosive attack, particularly on the ground, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery offering a one-two punch. 1st Team All-Pro Amon-Ra St. Brown had a coming-out party, and Aiden Hutchinson proved to be a defensive stalwart as the team went 12-5 and won the NFC North. The team won their Wild Card matchup against the Los Angeles Rams in a tight 24-23 game, the team's first playoff victory in 32 years. In the following game, Detroit would route Baker Mayfield's Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a strong defensive showing despite Mayfield's play, winning 31-23 and advancing to the NFC Championship. In that championship game, the Lions looked poised to make their first-ever Super Bowl, leading 24-7 over the San Francisco 49ers at halftime. But everything fell apart in the second half, as a deep pass from Quarterback Brock Purdy bounced off the facemask of Kindle Vildor and into the hands of Brandon Aiyuk, giving life to San Francisco. The 49ers would complete the comeback and advance to the Super Bowl, ending the Lions' dreams of ending their drought. While they have only one other NFC Championship to their name in 1992, this Lions team was easily the closest they have come to winning it all, and arguably one of their greatest teams in franchise history.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: 2017

Now is where a stipulation comes into play. While the 1999 team was certainly better, being one of the most underrated teams in league history, the 2017 team came the closest of any Jaguars team to making the Super Bowl. Led on defense by Calais Campbell, Jalen Ramsey, Telvin Smith, and A.J. Bouye, "Sacksonville" was one of the most prolific defenses of the decade, and this was the single year of the Blake Bortles era where the offense was passable, with a rising Leonard Fournette leading the rushing attack. The team finished the regular season 10-6 atop a weaker AFC South division. Facing the Tyrod Taylor Buffalo Bills squad that ended the franchise's 18-year drought in the postseason. In a low-scoring affair, Jalen Ramsey had a game-sealing interception with 26 seconds left to get the Jags a 10-3 win. While expectations were low for their next match against a high-flying Pittsburgh Steelers squad, the Jags went on the road and had a dominant performance. Leonard Fournette rushed for 109 yards and had three touchdowns to lead the team 45-42 over the Steelers. Heading further north to Boston, the Jags had to take on Tom Brady's New England Patriots. The Jags held their own, taking a 20-10 lead in the 3rd quarter, and Myles Jack recovered what would've been a game-sealing fumble, which he returned for a touchdown, only to be ruled down by contact on a play that many believe to this day was a horrid miscall. With momentum firmly back in New England's hands after forcing a three-and-out, the Patriots would eventually retake the lead 24-20, hanging on to advance to the Super Bowl. For a franchise that to this day has never made a Super Bowl, the Jaguars nearly rewrote the history books and surely would've crushed Nick Foles' Eagles in the big game. In a one-year-wonder, we are only left to ponder what could've been for "Sacksonville".

ATLANTA FALCONS: 2016

Everyone knows this story. Led by future Hall-of-Fame players Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, the 2016 Atlanta Falcons comfortably won the NFC South with an 11-5 record. After a first-round bye, the Falcons would get by the Seattle Seahawks in a 36-20 routing where Matt Ryan threw for 338 yards and 3 touchdowns. In the NFC Championship for the final game in the Georgia Dome, the Falcons dominated, scoring 31 unanswered points to start the game. Matt Ryan had a game befitting the MVP honors, with 392 yards and 5 total touchdowns. The 44-21 win would send the Atlanta Falcons to their second-ever Super Bowl, where they were set to match up against the New England Patriots. After New England opened up the scoring with a field goal, Atlanta would score 4 consecutive touchdowns to take the lead 28-3. What would follow was one of the most prolific implosions in NFL history. The Patriots would tie the game and later win it in overtime. 28-3 is a scorline forever etched in the history of the Falcons, and their failure has come to be defined as the closest they have ever come to an NFL Championship.

CAROLINA PANTHERS: 2015

While the 2004 Super Bowl was closer, the 2015 Super Bowl was the highly favored arrival of Cam Newton. The MVP led the team on offense while they also ushered in a dominant defense headlined by Hall-of-Famer Luke Kuechly. The team went 15-1 in the regular season, only suffering a lone loss to the Matt Ryan-led Falcons (whom they had beaten 38-0 weeks earlier). In the divisional round against the Seahawks (a rematch of a year prior), the Panthers led 31-0 at halftime, but the incumbent NFC Champions did their best to claw back into it. At the end, it was a recovered onside kick that cemented the Panthers' 31-24 win as they advanced to the NFC Championship. Following a thrilling back-and-forth game in the other divisional match, Carolina was set to face the Arizona Cardinals, and absolutely crushed them. The Panthers forced seven turnovers as they got past the Cardinals 49-15, and advanced to their second Super Bowl in franchise history. In the Super Bowl, however, they faced the league's best defense in the Denver Broncos. While they outgained the Broncos and their defense did well stifling an againg Peyton Manning, four costly turnovers destroyed their hopes at victory, particularly Cam Newton's infamous "Business Decision", where he didn't dive on a fumble that, if recovered, could've allowed the Panthers to keep possession on the ensuing drive and make the game closer. The Panthers' story is full of what-ifs, and unfourtunately 2015 is yet another chapter in that tale.

HOUSTON TEXANS: 2012

For such a new team, there weren't many options for Houston's closest ever attempt to make the Super Bowl. The Texans won the AFC South with a 10-6 record, with quarterback Matt Schaub having a 4,008-yard passing season, supplemented by franchise legends Arian Foster and Andre Johnson on offense. However, the big story was the defense. The unit led by J.J. Watt was nigh unstoppable, and hosting Cincinnati, the Texans would eliminate the Bengals for the second year in a row, holding them to 0-9 on 3rd down in a 19-13 grind-out win. The next week, however, they were thoroughly bulldozed by the New England Patriots in a 41-28 beatdown. While the Texans have never progressed past the second round in their franchise's short history, and a huge case can be made for the 2019 team (left off of this list because of both Deshaun Watson being the sole driving force on a team that wouldn't have beaten the Titans, and Patrick Mahomes having his "coming out party" that year en route to a similar comeback victory in the Super Bowl) the 2012 team, full of franchise legends and future Hall-of-Famers, is my personal pick for the closest they have ever been to making the AFC Championship, let alone the Super Bowl.

ARIZONA CARDINALS: 2008

The one time this franchise was relevant. The oldest franchise in the NFL has only made the Super Bowl once, and came oh so close to winning it. Led on offense by an aging Kurt Warner and one of the generation's greatest wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald, the Arizona Cardinals grinded their way to a 9-7 record to win the AFC West in a down year for the conference. The Cards won a tight matchup in the Wild Card against Matt Ryan's Falcons, with a key fumble return touchdown and safety late in the game to secure the victory. As they traveled up to Carolina to face Jake Delhomme's explosive Panthers, many had them penciled in as the early losers. The Panthers were 8-0 at home, and the Cardinals were 0-5 on the East Coast. Yet, somehow, the team came alive in Charlotte. The defense forced 6 turnovers in a moment that seemed to end the Delhomme era in Carolina, and Larry Fitz had 8 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, setting a franchise record. Facing Donovan McNabb and the Eagles in one of their final runs, the game was incredibly close down the stretch. With only 7 seconds left, the Eagles attempted to complete a 93-yard play to win the game. Darnell Dockett picked off the lateral pass from DeSean Jackson, and the Cardinals were headed to the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, the Cardinals faced Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers, and were thoroughly crushed in the 1st half. They nearly scored to end the first half; Kurt Warner's red-zone pass was intercepted by James Harrison, who returned it 100 yards for a score before halftime. Trailing 20-7 in the third quarter, all hope seemed lost when, suddenly, the Cardinals rattled off two touchdowns to Larry Fitzgerald to take the lead late. However, their hopes would be smashed as Ben Rothlesberger would lead a game-winning drive, finding Santonio Holmes in the endzone for one of the greatest touchdowns in Super Bowl history. The Cardinals had a few seconds to try and reclaim the lead, but a fumble was recovered by the Steelers, and that ended their campaign. For a franchise that is considered the worst in pro sports, their one moment of shining brilliance was one where they ultimately came up short, and the Arizona Cardinals failed to change their legacy for the better.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: 2007

Yes, they made a Super Bowl in 1996, but they were thoroughly blown out in the big game. I chose instead to look to 2007, where if they had won the AFC Championship, this Chargers dream team would've blown the doors off of the New York Giants. Back when they were in San Diego, the Phillip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson-led Chargers rattled off 11 wins enroute to an AFC West division victory. Facing Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round, the Chargers would be down 6-0 at halftime thanks to two Tennessee field goals, but they bounced back with 17 unanswered points to cruise into the Divisional Round. They would travel to Indianapolis to face the defending Super Bowl champions, the Indianapolis Colts, led by Peyton Manning. In a back-and-forth affair, the Colts had two opportunities to win the game in the red zone, but the Chargers' defense overwhelmed Manning, and the Chargers were able to best the Colts 28-24. This awarded them a date with the undefeated New England Patriots. Despite the Patriots being highly favored, LaDainian Tomlinson suffering a season-ending injury, and Phillip Rivers playing through a torn ACL he suffered early in the game, the Chargers still maintained a one-score deficit in the third quarter, being down 12-14 against the best team in NFL history to never win the Super Bowl. However, it was because of these key injuries that the Chargers, despite their fight, were unable to score a single touchdown, and New England squeaked into the Super Bowl with a 21-12 victory. 2007 was a big what-if for the Chargers, as had Rivers and Tomlinson not gotten hurt, it was incredibly likely that they would've won the championship over the New York Giants. Nonetheless, it remains another solemn chapter in the history of the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers.

TENNESSEE TITANS: 1999

Physically speaking, Tennessee came the closest of any of these teams to winning the Super Bowl, just one yard short. The 1999 Titans were led by franchise legend Steve McNair through the air while Eddie George and Lorenzo Neal founded a punishing ground game. That doesn't even begin to mention their outstanding defense. The Titans went 13-3 and took second in the AFC Central division, matching them up against the Buffalo Bills in what would be the final playoff appearance for the Bills until 2017. Late in the game, Rob Johnson (who was starting over the usual starter Doug Flutie) drove the Bills downfield for a go-ahead field goal for the 16-15 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Lorenzo Neal handed the ball off to Frank Wycheck, who then lateralled it from one side of the field to the other forKevin Dyson, who ran it in for the touchdown. The play was reviewed for some time, as Kevin Dyson had overshot the pass and had to move his body backwards to receive the ball, so it didn't count as a forward pass. In the end, "The Music City Miracle" was deemed legal, and the Titans won 22-16. Facing a sophomore year Peyton Manning in round two, the Titans narrowly escaped a closely fought game with Eddie George rushing for 162 yards as they won 19-16. In the AFC Championship, they faced the 14-2 Jacksonville Jaguars, alluded to earlier in this post. The two losses the Jags had all season were to the Titans, and they were fresh off ending Dan Marino's career in a 62-7 beatdown. However, today was a repeat of the regular season. Despite leading 14-10 at halftime, Jacksonville wouldn't score a single point in the second half as the Titans cruised to the Super Bowl on a 33-14 victory. In the Super Bowl, the Titans faced backup Kurt Warner and the upstart St. Louis Rams, who rebounded from an 0-2 start to become one of the most dominant teams in the league. The back-and-forth game came down to the final seconds, as Warner found Issac Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown with 2 minutes left to take the lead 23-16. Leading a drive to tie the game, "Air McNair" would bring the Titans down the field. On 3rd and 5, McNair would find Kevin Dyson over the middle of the field with time expiring. As he reached for the goal line, he was tackled by linebacker Mike Jones just one yard short of the endzone, cementing a Rams victory. This moment is forever etched in Titans lore, and to many is seen as karma for their move from Houston. While many of these losses hold their own tragedies, the Titans' loss may just be the most painful of any team on the list.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS: 1998

One of the most iconic field goal misses of all time. The 1998 Vikings were on another level, finishing their year 15-1 with a single loss to Mike Alscott and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Randall Cunningham led a prolific offense, headlined by Randy Moss and Chris Carter having career-defining seasons. The Vikings matched up against Jake Plummer and the underwhelming Arizona Cardinals, who underwhelmed and were crushed by a 236-yard and 3 touchdown game from Randall Cunningham as the Vikings won 41-21. Facing the "Dirty Bird" Atlanta Falcons for a trip to face John Elway's defending champion Broncos in the Super Bowl, the Vikings looked poised to make their 5th trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history. They led the Falcons 27-20, and were set to make a field goal to make it a 2-score game. That's when it happened. Gary Anderson, who had not missed a kick all year, shanked his kick wide and gave the Falcons a chance. Chris Chandler led Atlanta downfield and got the game-tying touchdown to force overtime. The Vikings started with possession in overtime, but the Atlanta defense forced them to punt it away as the Falcons drove into the red zone. In a cruel twist of irony, Morten Anderson would kick the game-winning field goal to send Atlanta to their first ever Super Bowl in a 30-27 win over one of the greatest teams in NFL history. While the Vikings have had many other heartbreaks in the NFC Championship (with 2009 especially in mind), 1998 will always be the moment they should've finally broken through and won their franchise the trophy.

BUFFALO BILLS: 1990

The first of four attempts and four failures to win the big game, the Bills' legacy is one of ultimate tragedy in the NFL. Defensive Player of the Year Bruce Smith led a stalwart defence, while Jim Kelly piloted a prolific offense that won the Bills the AFC East with a 13-3 record. They hosted Dan Marino in the Divisional Round, but the Bills never trailed in the snow game, which saw a combined 78 points as the Bills won 44-34. Facing the Raiders in the AFC Championship, Oakland quarterback Jay Schroeder was completely overwhelmed by the Buffalo defense, throwing 5 interceptions as the Bills evicerated Oakland 51-3. In the Super Bowl, the Bills matched an in-state rival in the New York Giants. Trailing 12-14, Thurman Thomas rattled off a 31-yard touchdown to take a 19-14 lead. However, the Giants fought back in the 4th quarter, making two field goals to take a 20-19 lead. Kelly and the Bills were determined and drove down the field late to set up Scott Norwood for a final try. This is the story everyone knows. Norwood's kick sailed wide right, and the Bills were sent home. While they made the Super Bowl each of the next three years, losing every time, the first Super Bowl remains the most heartbreaking. In all four attempts, this was the one that should've been theirs.

CINCINNATI BENGALS: 1988

The Bengals are known as "The Bungles" for good reason, with multiple candidates for this spot. Led by MVP Boomer Esiason, the Bengals' 12-4 record won them the top spot in the AFC Central, and they matched up against Steve Largent and the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round. Despite Esiason being rendered numb by Seattle's defense, runningback Ickey Woods carried the team as the Bengals led 21-0 at halftime, and held on to win 21-13. Facing the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship, the defense once again proved to be an outstanding unit, holding Thurman Thomas to 6 yards and getting 3 interceptions off of Jim Kelly to win 21-10 and advance to the team's second Super Bowl of the decade, where they once again faced Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. Despite leading for much of the game, one moment served to haunt Bengals fans forever. As Montana fired into the endzone with the Bengals up 13-6, a pass hit Lewis Billups in the hands, and the defender couldn't catch the interception thrown directly to him. The very next play, Montana would score a touchdown to Jerry Rice to tie the game, and follow it up with a 92-yard game-winning drive on the 49ers' next possession to win 20-16. The history of the Bengals is full of what-ifs, and Billups' drop is yet another moment of coming up short in the history of the franchise.

CLEVELAND BROWNS: 1987

"The Fumble". The play that truly epitomizes the legacy of the Cleveland Browns. The 10-5 Cleveland Browns locked up the AFC Central with a strong rushing attack led by Ernest Byner in the strike season. In the divisional round, the Browns breezed by the Indianapolis Colts with a strong 38-21 win, which saw them advance to the AFC Championship to play John Elway's Broncos for the second year in a row. Following Elway's magical "The Drive" in the previous contest, many were expecting fireworks in this game too. After the Browns started with a big halftime lead, the Broncos scored 30 points in the second half to retake control of the game. With 1:12 left in the game, superstar runningback Ernest Byner was stripped of the ball at the 2-yard line as he tried to run in for a game-tying touchdown by Broncos linebacker Jeremiah Castille. Denver would regain possession and run down the clock (alongwith an intentional safety) to win 38-33 and advance to their second straight Super Bowl. The moment is one forever embedded in Browns lore, and just another bump in their everlong ride of sadness and misery.