Heartbreak Hotel: The Best NFL Teams That Somehow Didn't Win It All
The road to Super Bowl LXI is officially on, and ESPN is counting down every month. But before we crown a new champion, let's pay respect to the fallen giants — the squads that owned the regular season, terrified opponents, and then vanished in January like a bad Hail Mary.
Forget 'any given Sunday.' This is 'any given January.' Every team below had dynasty written all over it. Instead, they got heartbreak, embarrassment, or a fluky bounce that still stings decades later. These are the best teams, by DVOA, to ever miss the Super Bowl.
1. 2023 Baltimore Ravens (44.4% DVOA)
13-4, lost AFC Championship Game 17-10 to Chiefs
The 2023 Ravens were a buzzsaw. They smashed the Lions 38-6, throttled the 49ers on Christmas Day, and beat the Texans twice — including a 24-point playoff evisceration. They had the league's stingiest defense and an offense good enough to make Lamar Jackson the MVP. But in the AFC title game, the Chiefs did just enough, and Zay Flowers fumbled at the goal line. One inch, one bounce, one ring that never came.
2. 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers (44.3% estimated DVOA)
10-4, lost AFC Championship Game 24-7 to Raiders
The Steel Curtain's greatest season might also be its cruelest. From Week 6 on, Pittsburgh posted FIVE shutouts and outscored opponents 211-28 in a nine-game murder spree. Then Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier got hurt against the Colts, and the Raiders slammed the door. A top-five defense of all time wasted by injuries and bad timing.
3. 2010 New England Patriots (42.4% DVOA)
14-2, lost AFC divisional round 28-21 to Jets
Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, and a pair of undrafted running backs somehow produced the most efficient offense in DVOA history. The Pats scored 31-plus in their final eight games. Then they met the Jets, the same team they'd destroyed 45-3 weeks earlier. Brady threw a pick on the first drive, a fake punt backfired, and New York's trash talk became prophecy. The best offense ever took an early vacation.
4. 2024 Baltimore Ravens (40.9% DVOA)
12-5, lost AFC divisional round 27-25 to Bills
Another year, another Ravens monster. Baltimore outgained Buffalo 416-273, but turned the ball over three times. Mark Andrews dropped a two-point conversion with 1:33 left. Lamar played better than his MVP season, but the football gods just weren't interested. Two straight dominant seasons, two heart-stopping playoff exits.
5. 1968 Dallas Cowboys (37.8% estimated DVOA)
12-2, lost NFC divisional round 31-20 to Browns
Dallas averaged 30.8 points per game, allowed just 13.3, and opened the season with a 59-13 beatdown of Detroit. Then Don Meredith went 3-of-9 with three interceptions in the playoffs, got pulled for Craig Morton, and the Browns pulled off the stunner. The '68 Cowboys were so good that losing still stings a half-century later.
6. 1973 Los Angeles Rams (37.6% estimated DVOA)
12-2, lost NFC divisional round 27-16 to Cowboys
The '70s Rams were always close. This one was the best. Three missed field goals from David Ray, a couple of first-quarter turnovers, and a defensive mix-up on Drew Pearson's 83-yard touchdown later, the Rams were done. So close, so many times, so painful.
7. 1987 San Francisco 49ers (36.5% DVOA)
13-2 (10-2 real), lost NFC divisional round 36-24 to Vikings
Anthony Carter went absolutely nuclear with 227 receiving yards, an NFL playoff record at the time. Joe Montana got pulled for Steve Young. The 49ers were No. 1 in defensive DVOA and still couldn't stop Minnesota. It was the first time in 20 years the NFC's top seed didn't reach the conference title game.
8. 2022 Buffalo Bills (36.3% DVOA)
13-3, lost AFC divisional round 27-10 to Bengals
This Bills team is the only squad in DVOA history to finish top two in offense, defense, and special teams. Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and a loaded line made Buffalo look inevitable. Then the Bengals, in a rematch of the canceled Damar Hamlin game, jumped to a 14-0 lead and never looked back. The best Bills team of the Allen era never got out of the divisional round.
9. 2025 Los Angeles Rams (36.2% DVOA)
12-5, lost NFC Championship Game 31-27 to Seahawks
The Rams and Seahawks were clearly the NFL's two best teams. Seattle's defense won the day, and Devon Witherspoon's fourth-down breakup of a Stafford-to-Ferguson pass killed Los Angeles' shot at a Super Bowl berth. Puka Nacua got tackled at midfield on the final play. So close to a home-state Super Bowl, so brutally far.
10. 2019 New Orleans Saints (35.5% DVOA)
13-3, lost NFC wild-card round 26-20 to Vikings
This one doesn't have the same infamy as the no-call or the Minneapolis Miracle, but it was just as cruel. The Saints fought back, forced overtime, then watched Kirk Cousins hit Kyle Rudolph for a walk-off touchdown. Four straight seasons of top-two DVOA, and only one of them even reached the NFC title game. Football is pain.
11. 2012: The Year of the Choke
Patriots, Seahawks, Broncos all lost
New England, Seattle, and Denver were the top three teams in DVOA in 2012. None of them made the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning got beaten by a 70-yard Joe Flacco bomb and a Justin Tucker double-overtime kick. Tom Brady threw two fourth-quarter picks to the Ravens. And the Seahawks' 'Legion of Boom' let Matt Ryan march 41 yards in under a minute, setting up Matt Bryant's 49-yard winner. The Ravens and 49ers played for all the marbles instead. The Broncos, Patriots, and Seahawks did win the next three Super Bowls, so they eventually got theirs.
12. 1998 Minnesota Vikings (27.8% DVOA)
15-1, lost NFC Championship Game 30-27 to Falcons
Randy Moss was a rookie alien. The offense set records. Then Gary Anderson — who had been perfect all season — missed a field goal for the first time all year with 2:10 left. Atlanta tied it, won it in overtime, and the '98 Vikings became the ultimate cautionary tale. Sometimes the best team doesn't win. It just breaks your heart.
Every one of these teams had a legitimate claim to greatness. None of them got the ring. That's the Super Bowl — one bad day erases everything.