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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
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.
Follow @VinGetzBACK-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
NBA Finals: Back-to-Back Winners…and Losers
Kevin Garnett, Kobe Byrant, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen. Will they meet again in 2011 NBA Finals? (Photo: Getty)
Sports List of the Day looked at consecutive Stanley Cup winners and losers yesterday. Today, we’ll take a look at NBA Finals back-to-back winners and losers as we gear up for the playoffs, which start this afternoon with the Indiana Pacers taking on the Chicago Bulls in the Windy City.
Speaking of the Bulls, they’re on the list twice. The NBA is rife with dynasties – both winning and losing. Believe it or not, though, only five franchises have won it all back-to-back.
On the losers side, the Los Angeles Lakers were the only dynastic losers for the over two-decade period 1962-1984. Don’t feel too bad for them, though, they won three championships during that time and then again in 1985. And Kobe, Phil and the gang are going for another three-peat in 2011.
Back-to-Back NBA Finals Winners
1. Minneapolis Lakers (now L.A.) 1949(BAA), 1950
2. Minneapolis Lakers 1952, 1953, 1954
3. Boston Celtics 8 in a row: 1959-1966
4. Boston Celtics 1968, 1969
5. Los Angeles Lakers 1987, 1988
6. Detroit Pistons 1989, 1990
7. Chicago Bulls 1991, 1992, 1993
8. Houston Rockets 1994, 1995
9. Chicago Bulls 1996, 1997, 1998
10. Los Angeles Lakers 2000, 2001, 2002
11. Los Angeles Lakers 2009, 2010
Video: 1962 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers. Game 7. OT. Thriller.
Back-to-Back NBA Finals Losers
1. New York Knicks 1951, 1952, 1953
2. Fort Wayne Pistons (now Detroit) 1955, 1956
3. St. Louis Hawks (now Atlanta) 1960, 1961
4. Los Angeles Lakers 1962, 1963
5. Los Angeles Lakers 1965, 1966
6. Los Angeles Lakers 1968, 1969, 1970
7. Los Angeles Lakers 1983, 1984
8. Utah Jazz 1997, 1998
9. New Jersey Nets 2002, 2003
