5 Greatest Teams of the Decade That Didn’t Win the Super Bowl

While either the Kansas City Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers will be remembered throughout history as Super Bowl champs fo the 2019 season, the loser will add their name to a long, dubious list of high achievers that fell painfully short in the big game. Some of the most show-stopping teams over the last 10 years gave us regular season and postseason thrills aplenty, but failed to hoist a Lombardi Trophy when it was all said and done. With that in mind, here are the five best teams of the 2010s that just couldn't win themselves a Super Bowl.

5. 2014 Seattle Seahawks

Russell Wilson was emerging as a superstar, Marshawn Lynch was unstoppable, and the Legion of Boom was leading the league in fewest points allowed at the height of their power. They were one yard away from repeating as champions in Super Bowl XLIX, and history would look much different if Pete Carroll just ran the ball at the one-yard line. Instead, we're instead left with a Malcolm Butler pick and another ring for Tom Brady.

4. 2013 Denver Broncos

This was literally the greatest offense in league history, as Peyton Manning set records for passing yards and touchdowns that still stand to this day. Sadly, the Broncos could muster just eight points against Seattle in a humbling 43-8 loss in Super Bowl XLVIII, as Manning and the offense couldn't get out of neutral from the very beginning of the game. Peyton finally got his second ring two years later, but the 13-3 Broncos ended the 2013 season in the most crushing way imaginable.

3. 2019 Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson, all but a lock to win MVP in Year 2, set a record for rushing yards by a quarterback and led a 14-2 Ravens team that won 12 straight games to home field advantage in the postseason. Of course, Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans came into M&T Bank Stadium and shockingly streamrolled Baltimore, nullifying a regular season in which these Ravens were clearly the most dominant team in the league. Jackson will almost certainly a few more shots at a Lombardi, though.

2. 2015 Carolina Panthers

The Panthers, despite having a bunch of random dudes at wide receiver, won their first 14 games in 2015 en route to a sensational 15-1 season that culminated in an NFC championship and an MVP for star quarterback Cam Newton. All of that dominance went by the wayside in Santa Clara in Super Bowl 50, however. Von Miller and a loaded Denver Broncos defense made like hard on Cam and an overwhelmed Panthers o-line. Let's not just forget what Cam did that year, however, as it was almost superhuman.

1. 2011 Green Bay Packers

How did this team lose at home to... Eli Manning?? The Packers won the Super Bowl the year prior, Aaron Rodgers threw 45 touchdowns against six interceptions in just 15 games in the regular season, and they had a 15-1 record heading into the playoffs. That bunch might have been one of the most explosive offenses and aggressive defenses in NFL history, but they won just as many playoff games as the bottom feeders did that year. Still puzzling to this day, but those G-Men were simply a team of destiny.