2024 NFL season: Which teams (and fan bases) most need a Super Bowl win?

There are teams on this list that have never won a Super Bowl, and yet the Jets, who own one of the most impactful, iconic Super Bowl victories in history, have suffered so acutely and so prominently that they win (or lose?) this ranking. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010 — that’s the longest active drought in the NFL — and the loss of Aaron Rodgers on the first series of the 2023 season, when hopes were the highest they have been in more than a decade, was excruciating. What again raises the stakes for 2024 is how all-in this team is, and how narrow the window with Rodgers remains. There is just a year or two of certainty that Rodgers will be there, but he’s looking to be in good form coming into camp — joining a powerhouse defense, a rebuilt offensive line and plenty of offensive weapons, meaning this is the Jets’ moment to seize. The franchise is balanced on a knife’s edge. Given the presence of an all-time great signal-caller, a playoff appearance coupled with an early exit would be gut-wrenching. 

The Lions last won a championship in 1957. They’re the only team that has been active throughout the Super Bowl era that has never gone to the Super Bowl. In 2008, they went 0-16, the first time an NFL team did that. Two beloved all-time greats — Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson — retired after just 10 and nine seasons, respectively, with the Lions’ futility contributing at least in part to their decisions. But things have turned dramatically in Detroit, and the era of positive vibes and great results has arrived, with coach Dan Campbell and, among others, quarterback Jared Goff. They came oh so close to beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game last season, and with an exceptional offense and a rebuilt secondary, the Lions appear primed to again challenge for a Super Bowl spot. For far too long, the Lions have been the NFL’s lovable losers. If their rebirth culminates with a Super Bowl, it would be one of the best feel-good stories in history. 

The anguish of losing four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s speaks for itself. But what has recently heightened the anxiety in Western New York more recently is that after a bleak 17-year playoff absence, the Bills have one of the best quarterbacks in football (Josh Allen) and still can’t quite get back over the hump to return to the Super Bowl. For nearly two decades, Tom Brady represented the Bills’ speed bump, in their division. Now, it’s Patrick Mahomes, to whom the Bills have lost during the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, in the conference. (The other loss was to Joe Burrow and the Bengals.) Compounding things, the last two postseason losses, in the Divisional Round to the Bengals and Chiefs, were at home. The Bills have had a lot of personnel turnover this offseason — the wide receiver room is almost entirely new, for instance — and perhaps this will represent a reset and the push they need to go deeper in the playoffs. But the concerns that the Bills’ aren’t capitalizing on Allen’s prime years won’t be allayed until the Bills win their first championship since their pre-merger AFL title in 1965.

The Browns haven’t won a championship since 1964 when Jim Brown was playing. And then there is this wrinkle: The Ravens — the team that used to play in Cleveland before they relocated to Baltimore for the 1996 season — have won two Super Bowls since 2000, while the Browns have a winning percentage of just .344 since being reborn in 1999 (the worst of any expansion team), going to the playoffs just three times in that span. There is particular expectation and pressure on this current group, because of the mega-trade for and fully guaranteed contract given to quarterback Deshaun Watson before the 2022 season. That acquisition, so far at least, has not panned out well for the Browns, for whom Watson has played just 12 games in two seasons because of suspension and injury. The Browns have one of the best defenses in the league, headed by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. Last year, Cleveland made it to the playoffs (losing in the Wild Card Round) despite using five different starting quarterbacks, a testament to coaching and the general talent level on the team. But when you make a deal as big as the Browns made for Watson, and absorb as much criticism as they did because of sexual misconduct allegations against him, the returns are expected to be bigger than an early playoff exit. Like the teams ahead of them on this list, the Browns have all the pieces in place to finally end years of suffering. 

The Bengals have never won a Super Bowl, losing all three times they have been there. And yes, they have sometimes been known as the Bungles, a name that fit during a 14-season playoff absence starting in 1991. But the desperation has faded in the last few years, thanks to the arrival of quarterback Joe Burrow, with whom the Bengals made it to a Super Bowl (after beating the Chiefs on the road in the AFC Championship Game) and then back to the AFC Championship Game in consecutive seasons. Like the Lions and Bills, the Bengals have a quarterback who will likely keep them in the mix for years to come. What makes this an especially critical season for the Bengals to finally win a championship? This could be the last season that Burrow has both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to throw to, with the franchise-tagged Higgins almost certain to hit free agency after the season.