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NFL: Back-to-Back Super Bowl Champions and Losers

The New England Patriots Are the Last Team to Repeat as Super Bowl Champions

The New England Patriots Are the Last Team to Repeat as Super Bowl Champions

It doesn’t look like the Baltimore Ravens are interested in repeating as Super Bowl Champions. Sure, they signed quarterback Joe Flacco to the largest contract in NFL history, but the Ravens are letting everyone else go it seems.

Wide receiver Anquan Boldin is now a San Francisco 49er. The Ravens let two key linebackers (Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger) and safety Bernard Pollard split. Now it looks as though defensive backs Cary Williams and maybe even Ed Reed are on the way out.

On top of all that, the heart and soul of the franchise for most of the past 17 years, Ray Lewis, has hung it up.

It’s OK. It’s hard enough to win back-to-back Super Bowls – but not as hard as it’s usually made out to be.

In fact, football’s percentage of repeat champions is not far off from the percentages of the other three major sports since the beginning of the Super Bowl era.

How about that one.

There have been repeat winners eight times out of 47 Super Bowls (17%).

During the same period, baseball has had seven repeat winners out of 46 World Series (15%, 1994 cancelled), basketball has had 11 of 47 NBA Titles (23%) and hockey has had 12 of 46 Stanley Cups (26%, 2005 cancelled).

Also take into account that in the cases of basketball and hockey, some teams won three in a row, repeating twice (Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers) or four in a row, repeating three times (Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders).

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team to go back-t0-back twice. No team has ever won three Super Bowls in a row.

But one team did lose four in row – the Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s. Ouch. They are the last team to post consecutive Super Bowl losses.

Two others – the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos – lost two big ones in a row.

By the way, that makes the Broncos the only team to both win and lose back-to-back Super Bowls.

BACK-TO-BACK SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS

  YEAR (SEASON) SUPER BOWL CHAMPION LOSER SCORE
1. 1967 (1966) I Green Bay Packers Kansas City Chiefs 35-10
  1968 (1967) II Green Bay Packers Oakland Raiders 33-13
           
2. 1973 (1972) VII Miami Dolphins Washington Redskins 14-7
  1974 (1973) VIII Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings 24-7
           
3. 1975 (1974) IX Pittsburgh Steelers Minnesota Vikings 16-6
  1976 (1975) X Pittsburgh Steelers Dallas Cowboys 21-17
           
4. 1979 (1978) XIII Pittsburgh Steelers Dallas Cowboys 35-31
  1980 (1979) XIV Pittsburgh Steelers Los Angeles Rams 31-19
           
5. 1989 (1988) XXIII San Francisco 49ers Cincinnati Bengals 20-16
  1990 (1989) XXIV San Francisco 49ers Denver Broncos 55-10
           
6. 1993 (1992) XXVII Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills 52-17
  1994 (1993) XXVIII Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills 30-13
           
7. 1998 (1997) XXXII Denver Broncos Green Bay Packers 31-24
  1999 (1998) XXXIII Denver Broncos Atlanta Falcons 34-19
           
8. 2004 (2003) XXXVIII New England Patriots Carolina Panthers 32-29
  2005 (2004) XXXIX New England Patriots Philadelphia Eagles 24-21

BACK-TO-BACK SUPER BOWL LOSERS

YEAR (SEASON) SUPER BOWL CHAMPION LOSER SCORE
1. 1973 (1972) VIII Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings 24-7
  1974 (1973) IX Pittsburgh Steelers Minnesota Vikings 16-6
           
2. 1987 (1986) XXI New York Giants Denver Broncos 39-20
  1988 (1987) XXII Washington Redskins Denver Broncos 42-10
           
3. 1991 (1990) XXV New York Giants Buffalo Bills 20-19
  1992 (1991) XXVI Washington Redskins Buffalo Bills 37-24
  1993 (1992) XXVII Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills 52-17
  1994 (1993) XXVIII Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills 30-13

Photo: discountpostersale.com

Major League Baseball: Teams with Back-to-Back World Series Losses

The 2010 and 2011 Texas Rangers Were the Latest Back-to-Back World Series Victims

The 2010 and 2011 Texas Rangers Were the Latest Back-to-Back World Series Victims

Losing one World Series is bad enough, but losing two in a row as the Texas Rangers did in 2010 and 2011? That’s painful.

At least they have some company. And it gets worse too.

What about, egad man, losing three World Series in a row? Two teams have done that – the Detroit Tigers and the New York Giants.

All together, 11 teams* boast back-to-back World Series losses.

The New York Yankees had a hand in six of the occurrences. Makes sense. The Yanks have been in 40 of the 108 official* World Series.

  YEAR WINNER LOSER SERIES
1. 1887 Detroit Wolverines St. Louis Browns 10-5
  1888 New York Giants St. Louis Browns 6-4
         
2. 1907 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-0
  1908 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-1
  1908 Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers 4-3
         
3. 1911 Philadelphia Athletics New York Giants 4-2
  1912 Boston Red Sox New York Giants 4-3
  1913 Philadelphia Athletics New York Giants 4-1
         
4. 1921 New York Giants New York Yankees 5-3
  1922 New York Giants New York Yankees 4-0
         
5. 1923 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
  1924 Washington Senators New York Giants 4-3
         
6. 1936 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
  1937 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-1
         
7. 1952 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
  1953 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-2
         
8. 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees 4-0
  1964 St. Louis Cardinals New York Yankees 4-3
         
9. 1977 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
  1978 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
         
10. 1991 Minnesota Twins Atlanta Braves 4-3
  1992 Toronto Blue Jays Atlanta Braves 4-2
         
11. 2010 San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers 4-1
  2011 St. Louis Cardinals Texas Rangers 4-3

* The first official World Series was in 1903, so technically it’s 10 teams.

Thanks to baseball-reference.com!

Photo: bleacherreport.com

MLB: Back-to-Back World Series Winners and Dynasties

Casey Stengel and the New York Yankees Won Five World Series in a Row (1949-1953)

Casey Stengel and the New York Yankees Won Five World Series in a Row (1949-1953)

It’s that time of year. October baseball.

I thought it would be interesting to look at every baseball team that won the World Series at least twice in a row. Since the late 1800′s, this has happened 15 times, nine of which by either the Yankees (6) or Athletics (3).

Only seven different franchises in total have done it: Giants, Cubs, Athletics, Red Sox, Yankees, Reds and by far the youngest one of them all, the Blue Jays.

Only the New York Yankees and the Oakland A’s have won the World Series three times in a row.

And the Yankees take it further than that. They posted two greater titular dynasties, the greatest in baseball history. New York won four in a row under Joe McCarthy in the years 1936-1939 and five in a row under Casey Stengel between 1949-1953.

The last championship baseball dynasty occurred in 1998-2000. Also, the Yankees.

The last back-to-back winners in the National League were the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds. They are the only NL team to achieve the feat in 90 years.

Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.

  YEAR WINNER LOSER SERIES
1. 1888 New York Giants St. Louis Browns 6-4
  1889 New York Giants Brooklyn Bridegrooms 6-3
         
2. 1907 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-0
  1908 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-1
         
3. 1910 Philadelphia Athletics Chicago Cubs 4-1
  1911 Philadelphia Athletics New York Giants 4-2
         
4. 1915 Boston Red Sox Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
  1916 Boston Red Sox Brooklyn Robins 4-1
         
5. 1921 New York Giants New York Yankees 5-3
  1922 New York Giants New York Yankees 4-0
         
6. 1927 New York Yankees Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0
  1928 New York Yankees St. Louis Cardinals 4-0
         
7. 1929 Philadelphia Athletics Chicago Cubs 4-1
  1930 Philadelphia Athletics St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
         
8. 1936 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
  1937 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-1
  1938 New York Yankees Chicago Cubs 4-0
  1939 New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 4-0
         
9. 1949 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1
  1950 New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies 4-0
  1951 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
  1952 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
  1953 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-2
         
10. 1961 New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 4-1
  1962 New York Yankees San Francisco Giants 4-3
         
11. 1972 Oakland A’s Cincinnati Reds 4-3
  1973 Oakland A’s New York Mets 4-3
  1974 Oakland A’s Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
         
12. 1975 Cincinnati Reds Boston Red Sox 4-3
  1976 Cincinnati Reds New York Yankees 4-0
         
13. 1977 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
  1978 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
         
14. 1992 Toronto Blue Jays Atlanta Braves 4-2
  1993 Toronto Blue Jays Philadelphia Phillies 4-2
         
15. 1998 New York Yankees San Diego Padres 4-0
  1999 New York Yankees Atlanta Braves 4-0
  2000 New York Yankees New York Mets 4-1

Photo: ecoggins.hubpages.com

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