The Super Bowl loser jinx is real.
Very, very real.
Don’t believe it?
Ask the San Francisco 49ers. Or ask the Philadelphia Eagles? Or ask any of the NFC teams that lost the Super Bowl over the past 49 years.
That’s right it’s been 49 years since a NFC team lost the Super Bowl and went back the next year. That was the Minnesota Vikings, who lost Super Bowl VIII to the Miami Dolphins and went back and lost Super Bowl XIX to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last NFC team to lose a Super Bowl and go back and actually win it was the Dallas Cowboys, who lost Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts and then won Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins.
If you ignore the New England Patriots and Tom Brady (because they did things nobody did), the last AFC team to lose a Super Bowl and go back the next year was the Buffalo Bills, who lost four straight Super Bowls from 1991-94.
Heck, that was 30 years ago.
And for the most part it’s not just not getting back to the Super Bowl in some cases it’s a total collapse. The 49ers, who lost last year’s Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs, are feeling it now.
After seven games, the 49ers are 3-4 and seem to lose a key player every game. This past week in another loss to Kansas City it was wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk who went out with a knee injury. The bad karma started for the Niners in the offseason when Aiyuk and tackle Trent Williams staged holdouts over their contracts. From there it’s just gotten worse.
The 49ers shouldn’t feel bad. They are far from the first team to feel the wrath of the jinx.
Just last year the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost Super Bowl LVII to Kansas City, felt the wrath. The Eagles began the 2023 season 10-1 and laughed at the jinx. Then they proceeded to lose six of their last seven games and got bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Tampa Bay.
San Francisco has been down this road before as well. After losing Super Bowl LIV also to Kansas City, the following year it went 6-10 and finished last in the NFC West.
It wasn’t quite as bad for the Los Angeles Rams after losing Super Bowl LIII to New England. The Rams went 9-7 the next year, but missed the playoffs.
After Atlanta blew that 28-3 lead to New England in Super Bowl LI, the Falcons made the playoffs, but lost in the second round to the Eagles.
That’s better than what happened to Carolina, who lost to Denver in Super Bowl 50. The next year the Panthers fell to 6-10 and last place in the NFC South.
Seattle lost to New England in Super Bowl XLIX when it got intercepted from the one-yard line, then lost the following year in the second round of the playoffs.
The 49ers are the closest team to erase the jinx when they lost to Baltimore in Super Bowl XLVII, but got to the NFC Championship Game the next year only to lose to Seattle.
Arizona lost to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII and then lost in the second round of the playoffs to Carolina the next year.
Chicago was another victim when it lost to the Colts XLI then missed the playoffs the following year. The same thing happened to Philadelphia when it lost to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX and went 6-10 the next year. And to Carolina when it lost Super Bowl XXXVIII to New England and missed the playoffs the next season.
When the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf was upset by Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, the Rams went 7-9 the next season.
And when the Giants lost to Baltimore in Super Bowl XXXV they also went 7-9 the following season.
Atlanta had the worst drop-off. After losing to Denver in Super Bowl XXXIII the Falcons went 5-11 the next season.
Green Bay lost Super Bowl XXXII to Denver (after winning Super Bowl XXXI) and then lost in the wild-card round the next year.
Washington lost to the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII, won the NFC East the next year but lost their first playoff game to Chicago.
The Eagles lost to the Raiders in Super Bowl XV, again started the season 6-0, but barely made the playoffs and lost in the wild-card game to the Giants.
That’s what happened to the Rams as well after losing Super Bowl XIV to Pittsburgh, and then losing a wild-card game to Dallas the next year.
It was the opposite after the Cowboys lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII and then lost to the Rams in the wild-card game the next year.
Minnesota almost avoided the jinx. After losing to Oakland in Super Bowl XI, the Vikings got to the NFC Championship Game but lost to Dallas.
Finally Dallas lost to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl X, cruised through the regular season the next year, but lost to the Rams in the second round of the playoffs.
And that’s when jinx began.
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