NFL Teams With the All-Time Worst Losing Streaks

After 30 years in Baltimore, several winning seasons and a 1971 Super Bowl victory, the Colts vanished from Baltimore in 1984. The move did not go over well and saw the city of Baltimore even try to sue the Colts to force the team to return to the city. Several former Colts legends even cut ties with the team over the move, including Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas. His statue now stands outside the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium.

While many teams and fan bases have crumbled under losing seasons, the Buffalo Bills and their rabid fandom may just have come out stronger. The Bills Mafia, Buffalo’s superfan group, virally famous for jumping on folding tables at icy parking lot tailgates, has stayed true despite the extended losing streak. The Bills remain in Buffalo and have finally started to turn things around. In the 90s the Bills lost four Super Bowls in a row so perhaps that hardened their fans to the sting of defeat.

The Los Angeles Rams are now the Los Angeles Rams again but the team left for St. Louis after a terrible streak in the 90s. They would go on to become a football powerhouse in their new city, winning the 1999 Super Bowl with stars Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk. Their play style was exciting and flamboyant, earning the team the nickname “The Greatest Show on Turf.” But even that was not meant to last and after several dismal seasons they returned to LA.

Not to be confused with the St. Louis Cardinals of the MLB, the football team went on such a rough losing streak that it ended up moving to Phoenix in 1988. The team was originally the Chicago Cardinals but moved to St. Louis in 1960 after it was determined they could no longer compete with the popularity of the Chicago Bears. However, instead of changing the name to anything besides the Cardinals, the team remained the Cardinals and there were two professional sports teams in the same city with the same name.

Now the Washington Football Team after deciding a racial slur as a mascot maybe wasn’t the best look, in the 50s and 60s Washington struggled to find wins. The team has a storied history with three Super Bowl wins and several conference and divisional championships. Washington was a powerhouse in the 40s but a decade later they fell on hard times. They began turning things around in the late 60s and returned to the playoffs in 1971.

The Lions’ struggles in the 2000s didn’t help to uplift the spirits of a city that was also struggling with the effects of outsourcing and deindustrialization. During this time Detroit managed to go an entire season without winning a single game. Ironically, in the same season, their star receiver Calvin Johnson was the highest leading scorer in fantasy football. The Lions have recovered somewhat from the trauma of their losing streak.

The Philadelphia Eagles got off to a rough start. The franchise was founded in 1933 and saw its first decade of play with all losing seasons. They hold the record on this list for lowest winning percentage during their losing streak. However, the team persisted and remains an NFL team to this day in its original city. The Eagles have found more success in modern times, winning their first Super Bowl in 2018.

The Rams are the only team to make this list twice (and move twice because of it). The Rams managed to create an incredible team in St. Louis only to see the franchise fall into the doldrums less than a decade later. Their time in St. Louis was short by NFL standards but at least fans got a Super Bowl victory out of it. After moving back to LA, the Rams competed in the 2019 Super Bowl but were defeated by the Patriots.

Let’s be honest, the Cleveland Browns have often been synonymous with bad. The team name and colors sure aren’t inspiring anyone or making it any better. Until only a few years ago the team was on one of the worst streaks in NFL history and the worst one of this millennium. They went through an exceptionally high number of quarterbacks during this time, having a knack for picking the ones that did not make it in the pros. It didn’t help that exceptional receiver Josh Gordon was suspended numerous times for marijuana use during the streak. With the addition of Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. they seem to have turned things around somewhat.

In the 60s and 70s the Saints really struggled to win. Starting in 1971 their quarterback was future Hall of Famer Archie Manning, who is also the father of Super Bowl champion quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. However, even Archie was not enough to turn the Saints’ luck around for several seasons. While the quarterback might be the most important position, a good one isn’t enough to do it alone.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the prize for the team with the most consecutive losing seasons. The Buccaneers were founded in 1976 and lost their first 26 games, making them the first team to lose every game in their first season. However, that part of their history isn’t even included in this losing streak. They continued to have trouble for much of their time until winning the Super Bowl in 2002. They are also the current Super Bowl champs. Adding Tom Brady to the roster paid off big.