Key points
- The chart follows the 20 NFL teams with the best regular season point differential of the Super Bowl era, 1966 to 2024, into the playoffs.
- 7 of the 20 (35%) won the Super Bowl, the most common outcome. 6 (30%) lost it, 3 (15%) lost in a conference championship game and 4 (20%) did not win a playoff game.
- That means 13 of the 20 (65%) reached the Super Bowl, and 16 (80%) won at least one playoff game (our sum).
- The 2007 Patriots are in the “Lost Super Bowl” group. The 2024 Lions, 2019 Ravens, 1973 Rams and 1968 Cowboys won no playoff games.
- Point differential is points scored minus points allowed in the regular season.
The Super Bowl era playoff performance chart in text
Title: Playoff performance of the top 20 teams in point differential during the Super Bowl era. Subtitle: 1966-2024. A pie chart has four slices, each joined by a bracket to its list of teams. Black marks a Super Bowl win, shades of grey mark the other outcomes and red marks no playoff wins.
| Outcome | Teams | Share | Teams in the group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Won Super Bowl | 7 | 35% | 1972 Dolphins, 1975 Steelers, 1984 49ers, 1985 Bears, 1991 Washington, 1996 Packers, 1999 Rams |
| Lost Super Bowl | 6 | 30% | 1967 Raiders, 1968 Colts, 1969 Vikings, 1984 Dolphins, 2001 Rams, 2007 Patriots |
| Made Conf. Championship | 3 | 15% | 1968 Raiders, 1998 Vikings, 2012 Patriots |
| No playoff wins | 4 | 20% | 1968 Cowboys, 1973 Rams, 2019 Ravens, 2024 Lions |
Footer: Source: Pro Football Reference. Credit: u/JPAnalyst | @jaydpauley.bsky.social. Note: “Point differential is for the regular season (points scored minus points allowed)”.
Why the 2024 Lions prompted the chart
The chart’s maker posted it on Reddit’s r/nfl after the 2024 Detroit Lions lost their first playoff game. He wrote that the Lions finished the regular season with a point differential of +222, the 15th best of the Super Bowl era and the best in the four seasons of the 17 game schedule [1]. Without a playoff win, they joined the 2019 Ravens, the 1973 Rams and the 1968 Cowboys as the four top 20 teams that went out in their first playoff game. His post title adds that the Lions have the third best point differential in the Super Bowl era for a team without a playoff win [1].
His summary of the group: the most common result is a Super Bowl win, which happens 35% of the time, and 65% of these teams reach the Super Bowl [1].
Checking the Super Bowl results
We checked the two Super Bowl groups against the list of Super Bowl champions [2]. Every team in “Won Super Bowl” won the game for that season, from the 1972 Miami Dolphins to the 1999 St. Louis Rams. Every team in “Lost Super Bowl” lost it: the 1967 Oakland Raiders to Green Bay, the 1968 Baltimore Colts to the New York Jets, the 1969 Minnesota Vikings to Kansas City, the 1984 Miami Dolphins to San Francisco, the 2001 St. Louis Rams to New England and the 2007 New England Patriots to the New York Giants [2].
The 1984 season appears twice: the 49ers and the Dolphins both made the top 20 and met in that season’s Super Bowl, which San Francisco won [2].
Notes on this infographic
- Point differential ranking not checked. We confirmed the playoff outcomes for the Super Bowl groups, but not the ranking of the 20 teams by point differential, which comes from Pro Football Reference.
- Season, not game, years. The years are NFL seasons. Each Super Bowl ends a season that began in the previous calendar year [2].
- Team names. “1991 Washington” is listed as the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl records, and the 1999 and 2001 Rams were the St. Louis Rams [2].
- Shares of 20. Each percentage is the team count divided by 20, so each team is worth 5 points.
Sources
- u/JPAnalyst on Reddit r/nfl, [OC] The Lions have the 3rd best point differential in the Super Bowl era for a team without a playoff win, January 2025.
- Wikipedia, List of Super Bowl champions.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
