(NEXSTAR) — Wildcard Weekend is about to kick off, with multiple NFL teams hoping to find themselves on the road to their next Lombardi trophy. Two teams, however, are simply hoping to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in their respective franchise histories.
There have been 58 Super Bowls — Super Bowl LIX, or 59, is being held this year — played, yet a dozen teams have never won.
That includes four teams that have yet to even reach the Super Bowl: the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Houston Texans. The Browns and Jaguars have already been eliminated.
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The Lions and Texans are still in the mix for a trip to the Super Bowl.
The 15-2 Lions were able to topple the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings in Week 18 to secure their second straight NFC North title and with it, a bye in the Wildcard round.
The Texans, the fourth-seed in the AFC, clinched their second consecutive AFC South title after beating the Miami Dolphins in mid-December. They are set to host the Los Angeles Chargers — who haven’t appeared in a Super Bowl since 1995, when the team was still in San Diego — at 4:30 ET on Saturday.
The Chargers are one of eight teams that have appeared in at least one Super Bowl but have yet to win. Those teams are listed below, in order of their most recent appearances. Also included are the number of times they’ve played for the Lombardi Trophy:
Minnesota Vikings: 4, last appearance 1977
Buffalo Bills: 4, last appearance 1994
Cincinnati Bengals: 3, last appearance 2022
Carolina Panthers: 2, last appearance 2016
Atlanta Falcons: 2, last appearance 2017
Los Angeles Chargers: 1, last appearance 1995 (while playing in San Diego)
Tennessee Titans: 1, last appearance 2000
Arizona Cardinals: 1, last appearance 2005
The Bills — whose four Super Bowl losses were consecutive, starting in 1991 — fell two games short of another appearance last season after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win the title.
Buffalo will attempt to make a run again this playoff season as they host the seventh-seed Denver Broncos on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Denver has not been to the Super Bowl since their 2016 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The Vikings, No. 5 in the NFC, are also hoping to return to the Super Bowl. They are scheduled to play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday. The Rams are 1-2 in the Super Bowl, winning for the first time in 2022.
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On Sunday, four additional teams will play to move on to the divisional round.
The Green Bay Packers (five appearances, including a 2011 victory) will visit the Philadelphia Eagles (four appearances with a 1-3 record, including a 2023 loss to the Chiefs) while the Washington Commanders (five appearances, the most recent a 1992 victory) will be taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0 in the Super Bowl, including a 2021 victory over the Chiefs).
The New England Patriots, which have made the most Super Bowl appearances of any team at 11, have just a 6-5 record. That ties them with the Broncos, who have a record of 3-5 in the big game — the most Super Bowl losses.
The Patriots are also tied for the most Super Bowl wins with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have a 6-2 record when it comes to the final game of the NFL season. The Steelers will play against the Baltimore Ravens — 3-1 in the Super Bowl — on Saturday. The Chiefs improved to a 4-2 Super Bowl record last year after beating the San Francisco 49ers. They earned the other Wild Card bye and await the winner of Chargers-Texans in the Divisional round.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.