{"id":665902,"date":"2026-01-10T10:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T10:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665902\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T10:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T10:50:18","slug":"have-the-detroit-lions-ever-made-the-super-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665902\/","title":{"rendered":"Have the Detroit Lions ever made the Super Bowl?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions<\/a> have now gone 60 seasons without reaching the Super Bowl. The Lions<\/a> are the only continuous NFL club \u2212 playing every season in the Super Bowl era \u2212 to never make the game.<\/p>\n

The Lions are the only NFC team to\u00a0never make the Super Bowl<\/a>. Three other NFL teams have never played in the Super Bowl, all in the AFC: Cleveland Browns<\/a>, Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>, and Houston Texans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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However, both the Jaguars and Texans are expansion teams: The Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995, and the Texans arrived in 2002. (Both are in the playoffs this season<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The Browns did not exist for three seasons (1996-98) after the team moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens.<\/p>\n

SAME OLD: The Lions’ most gut-wrenching, weird losses: The list since 2000<\/a><\/p>\n

Two years ago, the Lions blew their best chance to make the Super Bowl, squandering a 17-point third-quarter lead and\u00a0losing the NFC championship game to the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Super Bowl LX (60)\u00a0is set for Feb. 8, 2026<\/a>, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.<\/p>\n

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There are 12 NFL teams to never win the Super Bowl; records provided\u00a0Pro Football Reference<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[ HOW WE GOT HERE:\u00a0Why Detroit Lions fell into championship obscurity<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

Lions championship history<\/p>\n

The Lions\u00a0last played for an NFL title in 1957<\/a>, crushing the Browns,\u00a059-14<\/a>,\u00a0for their third crown in the 1950s. The Lions also beat the Browns\u00a0for the NFL title in 1952 and 1953<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Lions also won the NFL championship in 1935, their second season in Detroit.<\/p>\n

The Lions famously had only one playoff win since that 1957 title \u2014 until the 2023 season, when they won twice at home: a\u00a024-23 thriller<\/a>\u00a0in the wild-card round over the Los Angeles Rams and\u00a031-23 victory<\/a>\u00a0in the divisional round over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

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Are the Lions cursed?<\/p>\n

Some believe the Lions are cursed by Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne, who\u00a0allegedly put a hex on the Lions in October 1958<\/a>\u00a0after he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it hurt me, naturally, when I was traded to the Steelers from the Lions,\u201d Layne\u00a0said in 1971<\/a>. \u201cWe had been very successful in Detroit. … I really didn’t know what to think.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried what they referred to as a hex.”<\/p>\n

But that curse, when Layne purportedly said the team would not win a championship for another 50 years, was\u00a0supposed to end in 2008<\/a>. Instead, the Lions went 0-16 that season.<\/p>\n

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It has been longer \u2212 68 seasons and counting, and the Lions have just three playoff wins since the curse was uttered.<\/p>\n

Peyton Manning and Jeff Daniels tried to exorcise the curse in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Daniels performed a song, titled “Curse of Bobby Layne.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Say goodbye, to all that sorrow.<\/p>\n

Say goodbye, to all that pain.<\/p>\n

Say goodbye, to the Same Old Lions.<\/p>\n

And the curse of Bobby Layne.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Jeff Daniels talks to Peyton Manning at warm up before the NFC divisional round at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan, 21, 2024.<\/p>\n

The 15-2 Lions then promptly lost to the rookie-quarterback led Washington Commanders in the divisional round at Ford Field<\/a> as 9\u00bd-point favorites at home, committing five turnovers.<\/p>\n

The Lions have made the NFC championship game twice: in the 1991 season, where they were\u00a0obliterated by Washington, the eventual Super Bowl champions, 41-10<\/a>; and in the 2023 season, when the Lions allowed 27 straight points and\u00a0lost to San Francisco, 34-31<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Have Detroit Lions ever won the Super Bowl?<\/a><\/p>\n