NFL
Have the Detroit Lions ever won a Super Bowl?
The Lions banished one piece of unwanted NFL history in the Wild Card round, taking the Michigan franchise one step closer to putting paid to another.
After finally ending their NFL-record postseason winless streak, the Detroit Lions will continue their bid to break free from another unwanted statistic when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional playoffs this weekend.
Lions among Super Bowl-less quartet
The Lions are one of just four teams in the league who not only have never won a Super Bowl, but have never even qualified for the showpiece game.
What’s more, Detroit are the longest-serving NFL franchise not to have made a single Super Bowl appearance since the fixture’s inception in the 1966 season.
The Lions made their NFL debut in 1930, initially as the Portsmouth Spartans. The three other franchises who have failed to reach the championship game in the Super Bowl era - the Cleveland Browns, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars - joined the league in 1946, 2002 and 1995, respectively.
Eight more NFL teams - the Buffalo Bills, the Minnesota Vikings, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans - have reached at least one Super Bowl over the past 58 years, but have never won the game.
See also:
Detroit’s record-breaking playoff pain
The Lions did win four NFL championships in the pre-Super Bowl era, in 1935, 1952, 1953 and 1957. So far, however, the closest they have come to success in just 13 playoff appearances since 1966 was in the 1991 season, when they were beaten by Washington in the NFC Championship game.
Following that 41-10 loss to the eventual Super Bowl XXVI champions, Detroit then played nine playoff games in a row without a win, before breaking their postseason hoodoo by edging out the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in the 2023 Wild Card round last Sunday.
That sequence is the longest losing run in the playoffs in NFL history.
Bucs vs Lions: when, where, how to watch?
The 2023 Divisional round clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions is to be played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday 21 January 2024. Kick-off is scheduled for 3pm ET/12 noon PT.
In the US, Tampa Bay vs Detroit will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock and Universo.
You can stream the game on fuboTV, which offers users a free trial.
Video - Crazy AI-generated NFL helmets:
Get more news on the 2023/24 playoffs in our dedicated NFL section.