8 NFL Teams With The Most Conference Championship Appearances But No Super Bowl Rings

There are 12 NFL franchises that have never won a Super Bowl title. Those range from some of the oldest, most recognized brands to newer organizations with little history.

Of that group, some have been frequent flyers in the NFL Playoffs. They’ve been able to advance deep into the postseason, but for one reason or another, have been unable to achieve the ultimate success.

Eight NFL teams have reached the conference championship round at least four times in their histories without winning a Super Bowl ring. One of those clubs has, surprisingly, never gotten the opportunity.

8 Ringless NFL Teams With The Most Conference Championship Appearances

Four teams without a Super Bowl title won’t be on this list. They include the Cardinals, Lions, Texans, and Jaguars. Together, that group has gone 1-6 across seven conference championship games.

Each member of that quartet boasts three conference championship appearances or less. Only Arizona has played in a Super Bowl. Houston has never made it past the divisional round.

Detroit, despite being one of the oldest franchises in the league, has been to just two NFC Championships, going 0-2. One of the younger teams, Jacksonville, has the most conference title appearances of the group with three.

That leaves eight teams to have made the conference championship round at least four times but have still failed to win a Super Bowl. Let’s get to them.

Los Angeles Chargers (4)

The Chargers have made four appearances in the conference championship round. They’ve gone 1-3 in those contests.

That lone win came in the 1994 season when the then-San Diego Chargers took down the Steelers, 17-13. They’d fall in the Super Bowl to the 49ers a game later.

The Chargers dropped back-to-back conference title matchups in ’80 and ’81, and last appeared in the championship round in 2007 with Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson when they fell to the undefeated Patriots.

Atlanta Falcons (4)

The Falcons have been to four conference championship games, which they split to post a 2-2 record. The two wins came in 1998 and 2016, though neither would lead to a Super Bowl.

Atlanta beat the Vikings in an exciting 1998 overtime contest before losing to the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII. Nearly two decades later, they made a return trip to Super Bowl LI after beating the Packers in the NFC title.

That matchup is, unfortunately, best remembered for an epic collapse. The Falcons held a 28-3 lead over the Patriots midway through the third quarter. They’d fall in overtime, 34-28.

The other two NFC Championship matchups came in ’04 when they lost to the Eagles, and ’12 when they were tripped up by the 49ers.

Carolina Panthers (4)

Despite being one of the NFL’s youngest organizations, the Panthers have made four NFC Championship Games in their 31-year history.

They’ve gone a respectable 2-2 in those contests to make a pair of Super Bowls. Unfortunately, they’ve lost both. One came against the Patriots in 2003, which was lost on the final play of the game. That came after a conference championship win over Philadelphia.

About a decade later, Carolina beat the Cardinals to advance to the Super Bowl before losing to the Broncos.

The other two NFC title games resulted in losses, with one coming in 1996, just their second season of existence. The second occurred in 2005.

Cincinnati Bengals (4)

The Bengals have made four trips to the AFC title. They’ve had the most success of anyone on this list in conference championship game scenarios.

Cincinnati is 3-1 all-time. Unfortunately, the momentum hasn’t rolled over into Super Bowl, where the organization is 0-3.

The first AFC title matchup resulted a 1981 win over the Chargers. It would be followed by a loss to Joe Montana and the 49ers.

Seven years later, they’d again fall to San Francisco on Montana’s historic 92-yard game-winning touchdown drive after having beaten the Bills to advance to Super Bowl XXIII.

In 2021, Cincinnati made another trip to the AFC title and again won to play for a Super Bowl trophy. Again, they’d lose in dramatic fashion, but this time to the Rams.

The team’s most recent conference championship resulted in the only loss, a 23-20 setback at the hands of the Chiefs.

Cleveland Browns (5)

The Browns are one of the league’s oldest franchises. At one point, they were one of the most successful, too. Cleveland won AAFC titles in each of its first four seasons of existence.

It won its first NFL Championship a year later, which sparked a string of six straight NFL Championship appearances. In all, the Browns own eight titles. None have come in the Super Bowl era.

In fact, Cleveland is the only franchise on this list that hasn’t even participated in Super Bowl contest. They’ve gone 0-5 in five conference championship tries.

They came one game shy of title trips for Super Bowls III and IV. At that point in time, conferences were split into East and West as opposed to AFC and NFC.

Cleveland wouldn’t appear in its third conference title game for nearly two decades before making back-to-back appearances in ’86 and ’87. They’d lose to John Elway and the Broncos in both instances by a combined eight points.

They’d return in ’89 to again lose to Denver, but this time in blowout fashion. The Browns have not been back in nearly 40 years.

Tennessee Titans (6)

Tennessee has been to six conference championship games in its storied history as both the Oilers and Titans. Unfortunately, there’s not much success to show.

The franchise is 1-5 in those opportunities with the lone win coming in 1999 over the Jaguars. That would lead to a heartbreaking loss in the team’s only Super Bowl appearance against the Rams as the offense came one yard shy of forcing overtime on the final play.

The Titans’ first conference championship shot came ahead of Super Bowl II when they lost to the Raiders in blowout fashion. They’d then be annihilated by the Steelers in the ’78 AFC Title, and again in the ’79 edition.

Two decades later, they’d lose by three scores to Oakland. The most recent conference championship appearance came in 2019, which resulted in a loss to Kansas City.

Tennessee is in the running for poorest collection of championship game showings, being outscored 177-53 in their five losses for an average score of 35-10.

Buffalo Bills (8)

The Bills have played in eight conference championship games in the Super Bowl era. They’ve split those to go 4-4, which ties them for most Super Bowl trips without a win.

Buffalo went two four consecutive AFC titles between 1990-1993. It won each to advance to the Big Game before losing four straight Super Bowls to NFC East foes.

The franchise’s first opportunity to play in a conference championship game came ahead of Super Bowl I. The Bills lost to the Chiefs in 1966, who’d go onto lose to the Packers.

Buffalo wouldn’t return for more than two decades. In 1988, they lost to the Bengals in the AFC Championship.

In 2020, the Bill fell to the Chiefs. That scenario would again play out four years later in the organization’s most recent conference championship trip.

Minnesota Vikings (10)

The Vikings own the NFL title of most conference championship game appearances without a Super Bowl win. They’ve had 10 opportunities. None have helped them capture a Lombardi trophy.

Minnesota is 4-6 in those 10 tries. That came after a 4-0 start.

The Vikings appeared in and won each of their first four conference championship contests, which came between 1969-1976. All of those teams were led by head coach Bud Grant, and all would fall in their Super Bowl efforts.

Now, the franchise is riding a six-game conference championship losing skid, with the most recent chance coming in 2017. That resulted in a 31-point loss to the Eagles.

Eight years prior, they lost a heartbreaker in overtime against the Saints.

In 2000, Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss were whipped 41-0 by the Giants. That came two years after another overtime loss in which the Vikings blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead against the Falcons.

In 1987, Minnesota fell by a touchdown to Washington. A decade earlier, they lost to the Cowboys by three scores.

They’ve now been winless in the NFC Championship for a near 50-year span.