This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Either_Imagination_9 on 2025-04-19 13:38:27+00:00.

I felt like this would be a fun post to make. Talking about what I consider the worst losses in every teams history. Feel free to correct me if you feel I got it wrong. So without further ado, let’s get to the comedy and pain.

NFC East

  • Giants: Starting off with my team to get it out of the way. The Giants have some pretty bad losses, Super Bowl 35, both Miracles At The Meadowlands. But the one that still keeps up Giants fans is hands down the 2008 Divisional Round, the only time in my life where my team was actually the best team in the league. Unfortunately, our WR1 decided to shoot himself a couple days before the game, and it demoralized the whole team. Thus we got blown out by the Eagles. We beat the Cards and Steelers in the regular season, and I know for a fact that if Plax hadn’t shot himself we would have won this game and won back to back super bowls. Thankfully we made it back in 2011 but this will always to me be the worst loss because it would have been the only time I got to see my team win back to back titles.
  • Eagles: The Eagles have some pretty bad losses as well. Losing both Super Bowl 39 and 57. But considering they eventually got revenge on both teams I think those two losses have lessened a bit. But the loss that they definitely haven’t moved on from is the 2002 NFC Championship Game. The last game to be played in Veterans Stadium, the home of the Eagles for three decades. And in their final game played there, they got blown the fuck out by the Buccaneers. But the play that sticks with Eagles fans to this day is when Ronde Barber intercepted Donovan McNabb and returned it for a touchdown. And that was the last memory Eagles fans have in Veterans stadium. This game is the perfect summary of Andy Reid’s time in Philly.
  • Cowboys: The Cowboys, being one of the most storied franchises in sports, reasonably have a lot of options to choose from. There’s the 1978 Super Bowl against the Steelers with Jackie Smith’s drop, The Catch in the 1981 NFCCG that ended their reign of dominance. But I’m gonna go with a more recent option. The only time the Cowboys legitimately had a shot of making the Super Bowl post their 90s dynasty, the 2014 Divisional Round, with the infamous Dez no catch. This was the best shot the Cowboys had of making it back to the Super Bowl. And to make it even worse, it was Tony Romo’s last chance to make it as well, as his body finally gave out in 2015.
  • Commanders: Gonna be honest, the Commies don’t have many big heartbreaking losses. I had to dig deep for this one. So the one I’m going with is the Monday Night Massacre, where they got destroyed 59 to 28 by Philly. The Eagles score 4 touchdowns in the first quarter alone. It remains to this day one of the worst blowout losses in Commies history.

NFC West

  • 49ers: HOO BOY there were so many options for me to pick, or more accurately, so many super bowls. But I’m gonna go a different route for this one. If there’s one game I think did the most damage to the 49ers, it’s the 2013 NFCCG. This was the height of the Seahawks-Niners rivalry, and also a damn great football game. Whoever won this game would inevitably go on to win the Super Bowl. And sure enough the Niners lost. It solidified the Seahawks as the team of the early 2010s. Think about it, when people think of great teams around this period of time, it’s the Seahawks that they think of not the Niners. Despite the Niners from 2011-2013 having one of the most talented rosters of the 21st century.
  • Seahawks: And speaking of the Seahawks, you know what this one is. It’s an answer so obvious that you don’t even need me to say it. I will say that if they had won Super Bowl 49, it’d be interesting to see what the timeline for Seattle would have looked like.
  • Cardinals: Another one I didn’t even need to think about. I made a post about the 08 Cardinals a couple weeks ago so check that out if you want a more detailed answer. But Super Bowl 43 is the game that lives on in the nightmares of Cardinals fans. They got hit with not 1, but 2 of the greatest plays of all time. Would have been an amazing cinderella story that we’d still be talking about if they managed to pull off the win but, twas not to be.
  • Rams: Man this was a super tough one to decide. There are two games in particular that are fighting in my mind for which is worse. Super Bowls 36 and 53, both to the Patriots. And while Rams fans may argue for 53, I’m gonna go with 36. The game that ended the Greatest Show On Turf and the potential dynasty the Rams could have had. If they had won this game, they could have avoided the decade worth of misery they would be thrust into after this.

NFC South

  • Buccaneers: Very much a similar situation as the Rams where there’s two options fighting for the pick in my mind. The 1999 NFC Championship Game and the 2021 Divisional Round. If they had won the latter they would have undoubtedly won the Super Bowl for a second year in a row. But I’m taking the 99 NFCCG. Everyone remembers the 02 Buccs but the 99 Buccs were just as great. They held the Rams to their lowest score for that entire season. Then late in the game, Bert Emmanuel caught a pass that would have put them in great scoring position to win, but the refs said he didn’t catch it. This one is very close but I’m going with this one because it would have been quite the accomplishment beating the Rams that year. I’m not sure if they would have beaten the Titans but they would have been no slouch in the Super Bowl.
  • Panthers: There’s really only one answer to choose here. While Super Bowl 38 definitely still stings for Panthers fans, its Super Bowl 50 that created the situation they’re in right now. This was their best shot to win the Super Bowl, they had by far the best team in the nfl. They were better in almost every category than the Broncos. But the most damage this game did is that this is what people remember Cam Newton for, the play where he didn’t jump on the fumble. You can debate whether thats fair or not but the truth is that they never recovered from it.
  • Saints: Once again, only one answer for me to choose, the 2018 NFCCG. This might be a hot take but I consider this to be Drew Brees’ best year in the league. The fact that this man carried the Saints so hard for so long should put him in the HOF just for that feat. I remember all the talks going into the playoffs about how everyone thought for sure this would be his year. But then we got perhaps the worst referee moment of the last 10 years. You all know the one, I don’t need to say it.
  • Falcons: You know what it is already

NFC North

  • Bears: The Bears have some pretty bad losses, for instance there’s the hail mary from last season. Or there’s Super Bowl 41. But nah, there’s one that still sits with Bears fans. The double doink. This one is bad more for how ridiculous the entire exchange. The Bears already have a pretty bad habit of losing in the dumbest ways, but it doesn’t get anymore stupid than that.
  • Packers: There were many options to pick from but there’s only one loss that still lives in the minds of Packers fans nearly a decade later. The 2014 NFCCG. This remains one of the worst 4th quarter collapses I’ve ever seen. Russell Wilson had 4 turnovers in this game, the entire Seahawks team was failing for most of the game. Literally everything that had to go wrong for the Packers to lose this game happened. And what makes it even worse is that this was the best Packers team during Aaron Rodgers tenure as quarterback, even better than the 2010 team. The defense which has always been GB’s problem was actually good this season.
  • Vikings: Alright Imma be real, there were so many options here to choose from that I had like four that for any other team would have been the easy number 1. There’s the four super bowls, there’s Favres interception, there’s the 2015 missed FG. But nah, sometimes the best answer is the easiest one. In 1998 the Vikings had their best season in franchise history, with an absolutely loaded offense with Cris Carter and Randy Moss. They made it to the NFCCG where they’d play the Falcons in a pretty tight game. And in a chance to ice the game at 27-20, Gary Anderson missed the field goal. Sucks that this defined his career.
  • Lions: I could be real petty and just put down the whole 0-16 season but nah I’m not gonna do that. Instead I’m gonna say the 2014 wild card game against the Cowboys. This was by far the best chance they had during the Matthew Stafford Era to win a playoff game. And well… the refs just fucked them over. Interesting that the entire 2014 playoffs had each team get hit with a cursed moment. Thankfully the Lions have rebuilt very well and are currently one of the leagues best.

AFC East

  • Dolphins: The Dolphins haven’t had a lot of success since Marino left. So what better to pick than the game that sent him off? The 1999 Divisional round against Jacksonville. They lost this game 62-7. Jesus… I really don’t have any more words to describe this. And so Dan Marino would end his career as arguably the greatest player to never win the super bowl. And the goddamn dolphins couldn’t even give him a good send off.
  • Bills: Very much a similar scenario to the Vikings where there’s like four that would be the number 1 for any other team. But come on, you guys all know what it is. Super Bowl 25, the Bills get a drive going late in the game to win it. They get to the 40 and send out Sco…

Content cut off. Read original on old.reddit.com/…/the_worst_loss_for_every_footbal…