Table of Contents
The NFL has a rich history that dates back more than a century ago. Only a handful of the founding members are still around, and many new additions have been made since the league’s inception. Some of those franchises have catapulted themselves to the top of the pecking order over the decades, while others have banished themselves to the basement, serving primarily as literal and metaphorical punching bags for opposing teams and fans. This article is about those franchises, the worst ones the NFL employs.
To determine this list, I took into account several factors; Super Bowl wins, total championships, winning percentages, franchise age, and more came into account. I tried not to punish the newest franchises too harshly for failing to achieve the same as older outfits while still considering the opportunities they didn’t take. I kept in mind the teams that won big before the Super Bowl was a thing – those successes happened in the NFL, and they must be respected. It’s not a perfect science to weigh their inconsistent aspects against one another, but I did my best, unlike some of the franchises featured here.
If you’re a fan of one of these teams, please don’t be mad at me. I’m not the reason your team has lost a lot of games.
All records as of May 13, 2023.
The NFL’s Worst Franchises: When the Gridiron Goes Wrong
5: Jacksonville Jaguars
Championships: 0
Super Bowl wins: 0
Super Bowl appearances: 0
All-time record: 189-261-0 (.420)
Playoff appearances: 8
All-time playoff record: 8-8 (.500)
Notable players: Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor, Mark Brunell
Jacksonville joined the NFL in 1995, and considering the context, it experienced a good amount of success in its earliest days. With Tom Coughlin in charge, the Jags were in their first playoffs in their second season, and that began a run of four-straight postseason bids. The team even made runs to the AFC Championship Game in 1996 and 1999.
It took 23 seasons for Jacksonville to come up with another four playoff appearances. Since the successes starting off, the Jaguars have been largely brutal. Between 2008 and 2016, the franchise not only missed the playoffs every season but had a winning percentage of .292 (42-102). After a surprise run to the 2017 AFC Championship Game that almost ended in Jacksonville’s first-ever Super Bowl showing, the Jags reverted back to their losing ways, amassing a 15-50 (.231) record from 2018 through 2021.
With Trevor Lawrence under center, perhaps the future will be brighter in Florida’s northernmost NFL outfit. The Jags were certainly better last season than in years past. But with the second-worst all-time winning percentage in the league and failure to escape the list of four organizations to have never played in the Super Bowl, the Jaguars have to be considered among the worst NFL franchises.
4: Houston Texans
Championships: 0
Super Bowl wins: 0
Super Bowl appearances: 0
All-time record: 142-195-1 (.422)
Playoff appearances: 6
All-time playoff record: 4-6 (.400)
Notable players: J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster
The Texans are the most recent addition to the NFL, and that has been taken into consideration with this ranking. This is the least-accomplished franchise in the league, but with only 22 seasons under its belt, there has to be some benefit of the doubt given. That’s why the Texans aren’t the worst NFL franchise ever – it’s certainly not because of much that they’ve done on the field.
Houston has the fewest playoff appearances, fourth-worst playoff winning percentage, and third-worst all-time winning percentage in the NFL. The Texans won a game in four of their six postseason trips, but they abruptly exited in the Divisional Round each time, leaving them as the only franchise in the league to have never played in a conference championship contest, AFC or NFC. Houston holds the sixth-longest conference title game drought in the NFL.
It wasn’t until their 10th season that the Texans showed up for their first playoffs, and they spent most of their first nine years in the AFC South basement. Houston had a much better time in the 2010s with some division titles, but a lack of any serious contention for the Super Bowl has always had the franchise on the outside, looking in. The Texans returned to the doldrums lately and have won just 11 total games in the last three campaigns.
3: Cincinnati Bengals
Championships: 0
Super Bowl wins: 0
Super Bowl appearances: 3 (Losses in 1981, 1988, 2021)
All-time record: 385-463-5 (.454)
Playoff appearances: 16
All-time playoff record: 10-16 (.385)
Notable players: Anthony Munoz, Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason
In their first eight NFL seasons after debuting in 1968, the Bengals appeared in the playoffs three times, a decent introduction for an expansion franchise. But they didn’t win their first postseason contest until their 14th season in 1981. In that campaign, Cincinnati defeated the Bills and Chargers, in that order, to reach Super Bowl XVI against the 49ers. It was the Niners’ first Super Bowl appearance as well after a mostly-abysmal 35 years of existence up to that point. The game ended in San Francisco’s favor, 26-21, and became the launching pad for the franchise to become one of the NFL’s most successful; the same cannot be said for Cincinnati.
The Bengals returned to the Super Bowl in the 1989 season after failing to reach the postseason in the five prior campaigns. Again, they met the 49ers, and again, a close contest went against Cincinnati. San Francisco celebrated its fourth championship of the decade after scoring with 34 seconds left in regulation to take the final 20-16 lead. The Bengals led at the half, 13-6, but that didn’t save them.
Cincinnati missed the playoffs every season from 1991 through 2004, which is still tied for the 12th-longest playoff drought in NFL history. During that span, the Bengals put together seven seasons of four wins or fewer. The team finally snapped that skid in 2005 and appeared in seven playoffs between then and 2015. The problem was, the Bengals couldn’t for the life of them win a game in the postseason – Cincinnati lost in the Wild Card Round in all of those attempts, with healthy doses of bad injury luck, diabolical late-game management, and pure ineptitude in the mix.
Another half-decade without seeing the playoffs came to a close in 2021 when the contemporary core led the Bengals back to their first Super Bowl in more than 30 years. It was another painful ending for Cincinnati, though this time to SoCal’s Rams rather than NorCal’s 49ers. The Bengals followed that up with an AFC Championship Game appearance in 2022, and their short-term outlook seems positive for the first time in a long time.
But that doesn’t change the long history of appalling play, embarrassing losses, and zero championships. The Bengals have the second-worst all-time playoff winning percentage in the NFL (.385). Cincinnati has failed to advance a round in almost 70 percent of its postseason appearances. The franchise has had a long while to win a Super Bowl, and it hasn’t happened once.
2: Atlanta Falcons
Championships: 0
Super Bowl wins: 0
Super Bowl appearances: 2 (Losses in 1998 and 2016)
All-time record: 383-493-6 (.437)
Playoff appearances: 14
All-time playoff record: 10-14 (.417)
Notable players: Deion Sanders, Michael Vick, Julio Jones
Atlanta joined the NFL in 1966, the same year as Super Bowl I. The Falcons didn’t play in it, though, nor have they played in many in their 57 seasons.
The franchise initially appeared in the playoffs in 1978, the first of three postseason showings in five seasons. The most notable was in 1980 – a 12-4 record led to the team’s first division title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. But that didn’t matter when the Cowboys came to town and ended Atlanta’s season, 30-27, in the Divisional Round. This remained the best season in Falcons history well into the ‘90s.
After only making the playoffs twice between 1983 and 1997, Atlanta was back with a vengeance unlike anything ever seen before in 1998. The Falcons won a franchise-best 14 games in the regular season and wrapped up a bye to the Divisional Round as the NFC’s second seed. Atlanta outdid San Francisco, 20-18, to reach its first conference championship game and a date with the top-seeded, one-loss Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter of that contest, sending it to overtime with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 57 seconds on the clock. A 38-yard kick from Morten Andersen in the extra period completed the comeback, 30-27, and punched the team’s ticket to its first Super Bowl ever. Then Atlanta didn’t show up in their first-ever Super Bowl, the Broncos won their second-straight championship, and the saga continued.
The Falcons made the playoffs a lot more in the 2000s and 2010s than in the decades before, but they’ve mostly been immaterial. In eight playoff appearances between 2002 and 2017, the Falcons reached three NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl: in 2016, which turned out to become one of the most embarrassing losses in the history of sports championships. For 25 different reasons, I will not go into any further into detail.
It’s now been five campaigns in a row without advancing out of the regular season for Atlanta, and it seems that the team has reverted back to something more similar to its earliest state. The Falcons’ all-time winning percentage is fifth-worst in the NFL, their playoff history ranks among the bottom of the league, and zero Super Bowl victories in nearly six decades of opportunities is a poor track record. At 57 years old, Atlanta is the league’s oldest franchise to have never won a championship. Put all that together, and you have one of the worst franchises in the NFL.
1: Arizona Cardinals
Championships: 2 (1925 and 1947)
Super Bowl wins: 0
Super Bowl appearances: 1 (Loss in 2008)
All-time record: 581-790-41 (.424)
Playoff appearances: 11
All-time playoff record: 7-10 (.412)
Notable players: Larry Fitzgerald, Larry Wilson, Charley Trippi
The Cardinals are one the oldest franchises in the league’s history. They’re also the worst franchise the NFL has.
In 1920, the Chicago Cardinals were one of the founding members of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the initial name of the organization that rebranded as the National Football League two years later. In 1925, the Cardinals were champions of the young NFL by virtue of their 11-2-1 record. Then came a very dark period where the team struggled to reach .500 nearly every year from 1926 through 1946. In the mix were some truly miserable seasons, including six one-win campaigns and back-to-back 0-10 records in 1943 and 1944. That 1944 season was especially strange, with World War II-induced player shortages forcing a one-year merger of the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, creating “Card-Pitt” and splitting the team’s home games between the cities. Ranging between the 1942 and 1945 seasons, the Cardinals amassed 29-straight defeats, a record that still stands as the longest losing run in NFL history.
The franchise’s fortunes changed course quickly with the Cardinals claiming the NFL’s 1947 championship, outdoing the Philadelphia Eagles in the ultimate contest, then returning back to the final game in 1948, though the Eagles exacted revenge in that one. The 1947 title remains the last the Cardinals have won.
From 1949 through 1973, the Cardinals climbed atop another terrible leaderboard, matching the Washington Redskins for the longest playoff drought in NFL history at 25. A brutal time in the 1950s influenced the team’s exit from Chicago in 1960. The franchise headed west for St. Louis and retained the Cardinals name despite the city already hosting a long-established baseball team under the same moniker. In the 28 seasons the franchise spent in St. Louis, it played in three playoffs and never reached a conference championship game.
The Cardinals packed up again in the late ‘80s, going much further west this time for Phoenix, where they could be the only Cardinals in town. Life in the desert has only been marginally better. The team qualified for one postseason from when it came to Arizona in 1988 through 2007, continuing its long-standing tradition of futility. That consistency took a brief hiatus in 2008 when Kurt Warner directed the Cardinals on a run to Super Bowl XLIII, the franchise’s inaugural appearance in the event. Arizona rallied from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to take a lead in the final three minutes of regulation just for Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes to finish off a forever-famous drive to secure the title for the Steelers and ruin the Cardinals’ best-ever shot at supremacy.
Arizona has played in four playoffs since 2008 and reached one NFC Championship Game in those showings. The last 15 years have been decent by the franchise’s historical standards, but that says more about the mass misery the Cardinals have manufactured than anything else. The Cardinals own the NFL’s longest championship drought and are one of six franchises to have never triumphed in the Super Bowl. Fewer than 2 percent of their 103 NFL opportunities have concluded in championships. There have been 57 Super Bowls, and only one has contained the Cardinals. The franchise ranks near the bottom of the league in all-time and playoff winning percentages, and 11 playoff appearances in more than a century-worth of seasons is inexplicably atrocious. The Cardinals have been losers in all of their destinations, and they’ve dug themselves into a deep hole as the worst franchise in the NFL entertains.
Dishonorable Mentions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers
The Buccaneers have two Super Bowl victories to their name, which is more than a lot of teams in this league can say. But outside of those two anomalies, Tampa Bay has been catastrophically bad. The Bucs have the worst winning percentage of any NFL franchise (.404), and their 13 playoff appearances is the fifth-least in the league. Tampa Bay gained its NFL existence in 1976 with an 0-14 campaign, one of 22 times the team has failed to win more than five contests in a season. The Buccaneers have been mostly terrible in their 47 years, and even the two Super Bowls can’t erase decades of defeats. But those championships can do enough to keep the Bucs on the outside looking down at the worst franchises the NFL has to offer – it’s just a dishonorable mention for this Florida football team.
Minnesota joined the NFL in 1961, a few years before the Super Bowl started. In 62 seasons, the Vikings are yet to claim an NFL championship, in the Super Bowl or otherwise. This is why they’re named here. Outside of accomplishing the ultimate goal, Minnesota hasn’t been that bad – it has the NFL’s sixth-best all-time winning percentage in the NFL (.548), is tied for the fifth-most all-time playoff appearances (31), and claimed 21 division titles. But those regular season recognitions haven’t translated to when it matters most. The Vikings have one of the league’s worst all-time playoffs winning percentages (.404) and have come up empty in all four of their Super Bowl showings. Minnesota has put together some fantastic teams, but none of them have achieved what’s needed to be immortalized. Plain and simple, the Vikings should have won a championship by now.
The youth of the Panthers, entering the league as an expansion franchise in 1995, is what saves them from a numbered position on this list. Carolina has reached two Super Bowls in its 28 completed seasons, which is more than can be said for teams like the Texans and Jaguars, who have done less in comparable campaign counts. Plus, when the Panthers have made the playoffs, they’ve actually done fairly well – a .529 postseason winning percentage is among the top half of the league. But Carolina is still one of six franchises without a Super Bowl triumph, and nearly 30 years is long enough to be notable. In the NFL, there is nothing more important than winning the Super Bowl – it feels required that all six be mentioned in an article like this.
NFL FAQs
How do you play football survival pool?
Players pick one team each week they think will win the game outright. They may only pick a team ONCE per season, meaning you can't pick the same team twice in one season. If their pick is correct, the player survives another week and continues to play. An incorrect pick eliminates the player from the contest entirely. This is sometimes called an elimination or suicide pool. The last person standing wins.
How to make a football pool?
A football pool generally requires the creation of a shareable spreadsheet (like Google Sheets) so that members may pick teams. Then depending on the game type, creators must use several kinds of formulas (e.g. CountIF), data validation, and conditional formatting. Or, you can just use football pool hosting service like RunYourPool where we do all the work for you!
How to run a weekly football pool?
In order to run a football pool, you must first crown yourself as Pool Commissioner. Begin by picking a game type like Survivor or Pick'Em. You'll want to establish rules before inviting friends, family, and colleagues to join. As commissioner, you make the rules and also need to enforce them equally and fairly.
What is a football survivor pool?
In a Football Survivor Pool, players choose one team weekly they think will win. Usually, a team can be picked one time per season. Picks are made "straight up," no spreads necessary. If a pick is correct, members survive another week. An incorrect pick eliminates the player, unless a mulligan is used.
How does a football pool work?
Football pools are games of skill played among a group of people. There are a variety of pool types to fit every players needs, from casual to competitive. Pool commissioners can set up pools manually, or use a hosting service like RunYourPool whiel still customizing your own settings. Some examples include NFL Squares, NFL Survivor, NFL Pick 'Em, and Playoff Brackets.
What is an NFL pickem pool?
In an NFL pick’em pool, simply pick the outcome of each NFL game throughout the season. You can pick straight up winners or losers, or pick each game against the spread.
How to play a football pool?
The way one plays a football pool varies on the game type. For example, in Survivor, you pick one team to win each week and can't pick that team again. Guess wrong and you lose. Another example is Pick'em Pools in which you simply pick every game each week.
How does a fantasy football pool work?
Fantasy football pools don’t involve a traditional fantasy football draft. You can have as many members in your pool as you’d like, meaning no more 12 or 14 team limits! You pick a new lineup of players each week, and once you use a player once, you can’t use them again for the rest of the season.
What is a fantasy football pool?
A fantasy football pool is similar to a traditional fantasy football league but without the draft. Pick a new lineup each week, and once you use a player, you can’t use them for the rest of the season. Your players will receive points based on their in-game stats, and the member with the most points at the end of the season is the winner.
What is a football pool?
"Football Pool" is a broad term for a group of people competitively guessing the outcome of one or more football games. There are many types of formats, each assigning winners differently. They can be played informally between friends or through a more formalized system. They are often considered a great alternative to fantasy football given the ease of playing, although there are fantasy football pools as well.
How do football pool squares work?
There are different kinds of football square pools. Most have a 10x10 grid with one team for the rows and columns. In an attempt to win, participants select a square where they believe the last digit number of each team's score will intersect at the end of each quarter, and the game's end.
How do you play football squares pools?
To play a football squares pool, you're going to want to pick the squares with the best odds. As winners are determined by the point totals at the end of each quarter, try to consider options where scores are most common. Some of the most popular squares include 7-3, 7-0, 7-7, and 0-0. Numbers divisible by seven are good starting points.
How many squares in a football pool?
In a traditional football squares pool, a grid is sectioned off into 100 squares with 10 columns and 10 rows. This accounts for a direct relationship between each possible digit from 0 to 9 on both the X and Y axis. For smaller square grids like 5x5, multiple numbers can be assigned to each column and row.
How to play squares football pools?
Football squares are played by creating a grid, in which Team 1 takes the column and Team 2 the rows. In some cases, participants may claim as many squares as they like. In others, commissioners limit them to one. At the quarter times and end of the game, the winner is decided at the point the scores final digit intersect.
What is a football squares pool?
Also called Grid, Block, or Box Pools, Football Squares Pools can be played with any single game, but are most popular during the Super Bowl. Pool members claim squares on a 25, 50, or 100-square grid by putting their information in the square. Game scores are matched to the winning square(s), usually with winners being determined every quarter.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
How do you play football credits pool?
In the credits format, all players start with the same number of credits. Players make picks each week by risking a certain number of credits on games, assigning more credits to the picks with a higher confidence level. Members receive double the credits risked for each win. The member with the most credits at the end of the season wins.
What is a football credits pool?
In Football Credits Pools, players start with the same number of credits. They then make picks each week by risking a number of credits on games, assigning more to the picks they have more confidence in getting right. Members double credits risked for each win. The member with the highest credits at the end of the season wins.
How to run a football pool?
How you decide to run a football pool varies greatly depending on the game type. In each case, however, you'll want to determine the rules and settings before you begin inviting members to join you. You'll want to clearly establish how score will be kept, how tiebreakers work, and how winners are decided before anything else.
How do you play football confidence pool?
A football confidence pool is played straight up, not with a point spread. Not only do members pick the winning teams, they must back up their picks by giving them a relative confidence ranking. Your score reflects the number of confidence points given to winning teams. So if your confidence for a team winning is '1', then you can only win one point at most. If your confidence for a team winning is '5', then you can win five points for a win. The member with the most credits at the end wins.
What is a football confidence pool?
"Football Confidence Pool" refers to how you rank the teams that you think will win each week. For example, in the NFL, there are often 16 games weekly. In this scenario, you would rank each game from 16 to 1, based on the your confidence in that team winning.
How do you play football margin pool?
Margin pools are an NFL pool format that rewards members for picking a winning team each week. Pool commissioners can decide whether they award points equal to a winning teams margin of victory or the point spread for that game. When a commissioner chooses the point spread option, this format is often referred to as an NFL Underdog Pool.
What is a football margin pool?
In a Football Margin Pool, you are awarded points for picking a winning team. Pool commissioners get to decide whether they award points equal to a winning teams margin of victory or the point spread for that game. The player with the most points at the end of the season wins.
How do you play football 33 point pool?
The football 33 pool format is a casual pool where members are each assigned an NFL team (these pools are 32 members max, as there are 32 NFL teams). Members win when their team scores 33 points. Options for changing the target score, or having the closest to the target win each week is also available.
What is a football 33 point pool?
In the football 33 pool format, each member is assigned a unique NFL team (32 members max). A member will win when their team scores 33 points. This is a casual pool where you can change the target score or the option to have the closest to the target that week win.
How to run a weekly football pool?
In order to run a football pool, you must first crown yourself as Pool Commissioner. Begin by picking a game type like Survivor or Pick'Em. You'll want to establish rules before inviting friends, family, and colleagues to join. As commissioner, you make the rules and also need to enforce them equally and fairly.
What is an NFL Playoff bracket pool?
NFL Playoff Bracket pools are simple NFL pool formats where members pick every round of the playoffs before they start in an attempt to predict every match up correctly. It's optional to configure a multiplier for each round, or add a tiebreaker option of total points in the Super Bowl.
How to make a football pool?
A football pool generally requires the creation of a shareable spreadsheet (like Google Sheets) so that members may pick teams. Then depending on the game type, creators must use several kinds of formulas (e.g. CountIF), data validation, and conditional formatting. Or, you can just use football pool hosting service like RunYourPool where we do all the work for you!
How to set up a football pool?
To set up a football pool, you'll need to first choose a pool type like Survivor or Pick'em. Then, you'll need to set the ground rules. As pool commissioner, you'll enforce these rules and make sure the game runs smoothly throughout the season. Many commissioners use pool hosting sites like RunYourPool to make it easier and more engaging.
What is a football power ranking playoff pool?
In a power ranking playoff pool, members rank all 12 NFL teams competing in the playoffs from strongest (12 points) to weakest (1 point). Picks are made only ONCE before any games begin. Members are awarded the number of points assigned to a team when they win. Commissioners can optionally set up a point multiplier for each playoff round.
What is a football confidence pool?
"Football Confidence Pool" refers to how you rank the teams that you think will win each week. For example, in the NFL, there are often 16 games weekly. In this scenario, you would rank each game from 16 to 1, based on the your confidence in that team winning. This is similar to the Playoff Pool Power Ranking, just less teams.
How to run a football pool?
How you decide to run a football pool varies greatly depending on the game type. In each case, however, you'll want to determine the rules and settings before you begin inviting members to join you. You'll want to clearly establish how score will be kept, how tiebreakers work, and how winners are decided before anything else.
What is a football playoff precision pool?
In a playoff precision pool, members attempt to pick the winner of every playoff game each week. You can decide if it’s straight up or on a point spread picks, but point totals are also added. Points are awarded for correct picks AND for how close to the correct combined point total they were.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
What is a Super Bowl Prop Bets Pool?
A Super Bowl Prop Bet Pool is a fun and thrilling way to compete against friends and family during the big game! It's a simple questionaire of prop betting questions revolving around the Super Bowl, and whoever earns the most points based off correct answers wins!
How does a Super Bowl Prop Bets Pool work?
Pool members simply fill out a wide range of prop questions, each question worth a different value. Commissioners decide on the point value for each question, along with the amount of questions. Whichever member earns the most points based on corret answers wins the pool.
What is a football Super Bowl Squares pool?
Also called Grid, Block, or Box Pools, Football Squares Pools can be played with any single game, but are most popular during the Super Bowl. Pool members claim squares on a 25, 50, or 100-square grid by putting their information in the square. Game scores are matched to the winning square(s), usually with winners being determined every quarter.
What is a prop bet?
Prop bets are any sort of pick or wager on a game that has nothing to do with the score or the final score outcome. Props can range from game types, to team types and even player types - such as who will score the game's first and last touchdowns? Other props, such as novelty or exotic, feature bets on things such as the coin flip or the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
How to read a football pool sheet?
In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.
