The Packers won the Super Bowl after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 21-16, the Atlanta Falcons 48-21, the Chicago Bears 21-14, and the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. They are the only team to win the Super Bowl after losing the first two games of the season.
They accomplished this feat in late February 1989. The Packers had a 12-2 record when they traveled to California for the Super Bowl. There they faced the 89th NFL Championship Game. The game was played at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. It was cold with snow falling on and off throughout the game. The Packers took a 14-10 lead into the fourth quarter but then allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to score 17 unanswered points to win the game. The loss eliminated the defending champion Packers from contention.
This is one of only two times that a previously undefeated team lost in the playoffs (the other time being the 1972 Miami Dolphins).
The 1989 Packers were not supposed to be there. They were ranked second to last by most experts and had no chance of winning the National Football League (NFL) Championship. However, due to some strong play from their defense, they were able to beat three straight top-five teams (Eagles, Falcons, Bears). Then they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game of the regular season.
Only the 1971 Cowboys, 1972 Dolphins, 1973 Vikings, 1987 Broncos, 1991-93 Bills, and the 2018 Patriots have returned to the Super Bowl the year after losing the Big Game.
The Dallas Cowboys won two consecutive Super Bowls (XXVII and XXVIII); the following season, they were ousted in the NFC Championship Game by the eventual Super Bowl XXIX winner San Francisco 49ers, two victories shy of a three-peat.
Through 1977, no other team had ever made it to the Super Bowl with fewer than ten wins. Three additional teams would finish 10-4 and enter the playoffs, but all three would lose the championship game. The NFL implemented a 16-game schedule in 1978. The Los Angeles Rams became the first 9-7 club to participate in a Super Bowl in 1979. They lost to the Minnesota Vikings 23-14.
In 1984, the Chicago Bears finished the regular season with a 9-7 record before beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. This is the only time up to 2017 that a team with at least nine wins went on to play in the Super Bowl. The Bears lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-0.
In 1995, the 9-7 New York Giants defeated the 8-8 Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game. This was the first time two winning records met in the postseason. The following year, the 7-9-1 Green Bay Packers defeated the 9-7-1 Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round. This was also the first time that three consecutive winning seasons ended in playoff losses for one team. In 2002, the Indianapolis Colts finished with an 11-5 record before getting eliminated by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. From 2000-01, only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8) and Oakland Raiders (9-7) failed to win at least ten games.
Super Bowl 52 The New England Patriots of the American Football Conference (AFC) beat the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football Conference (NFC) 34-28. Super Bowl LI saw the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, with the Patriots coming back from a 28-3 deficit to win. This was also their first championship in the era of the NFL's 26-game regular season.
The Atlanta Falcons entered the game as 11-point favorites but they could not keep up with Tom Brady and his New England Patriots team. In fact, it was never really close as the Patriots dominated throughout most of the game en route to their fourth Super Bowl victory.
It was also the second time that the Patriots have beaten the Falcons in the postseason. They defeated Atlanta in the Divisional Round of the 2001 playoffs 23-16 at Foxboro Stadium. That game went all the way to overtime before the Patriots came away with a victory.
The last time that the Falcons won the Super Bowl was in 1996 when they beat the Chicago Bears 29-13 at Sun Devil Stadium. It is worth mentioning that this was the only time that the Super Bowl has been played in Arizona and the first time that it was held in its current location in Phoenix.
Atlanta has been to five Super Bowls but they have lost every single one of them.
The Vikings and Bengals have appeared in the most Super Bowls without winning, both losing the NFL championship game four times. The Vikings lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-22 in their first Super Bowl appearance, while the Bengals fell to the San Francisco 49ers 23-7.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are also very familiar with the feeling of defeat. They have played in five Super Bowls but never won one. Their latest attempt ended in a loss against the New England Patriots 24-20 in Miami.
There have been many great players that have been part of these teams, but no single player has been responsible for their poor performances in the big game.
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