Top 10 Super Bowl Champions That Started 0-1
In the NFL, it's always important to get off to a great start, and ideally, starting 1-0 is the way to go. But that doesn't mean if you lose the first game of the season, you can't still win it all.
Sixteen teams, including the Chiefs, Ravens, Texans, Bears, and Cowboys, to name a few, have a chance to join these Super Bowl champions who lost their first game of the season but turned it around to win.
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2007 New York Giants
The Giants lost to both the Cowboys and Packers, giving up 80 points combined. If the Giants didn't have the never-say-die attitude, arguably the best upset of the 21st century never happens.
The Giants won six in a row afterward and followed with a Super Run for the ages. Revenge wins over Dallas and Green Bay set up New York's historic upset over the 18-0 Patriots.
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2001 New England Patriots
The Patriots lost their Week 1 game to the Bengals in 2001. Two weeks later (9/11 delayed the game for a week), the Patriots lost to the Jets and had a change in fortune at quarterback with Tom Brady.
From that point on, the birth of the dynasty began as New England won an emotional Super Bowl.
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2023 Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs lost their season opener to Detroit in 2023, and everyone thought the dynasty was dead. Not quite. The Chiefs were only getting better as they went on a run to return to the Super Bowl and win it in overtime over the 49ers.
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1993 Dallas Cowboys
Without Emmitt Smith, who was holding out for a new contract, the defending champion Cowboys lost their first game to Washington in 1993. To make matters worse, they lost to Buffalo a week later to start 0-2, which no team before had overcome to reach the Super Bowl, let alone win it.
Fortunes changed when the Cowboys reached a contract deal with Smith, and they would return to the Super Bowl and repeat.
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2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brady's first game as a Buccaneer took place against the Saints in the Superdome, which had the unthinkable attendance of zero people due to COVID-19. The Saints defeated the Buccaneers that game, but Brady and the squad got revenge in the NFC Divisional and went on to win the Super Bowl at their home arena.
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1986 New York Giants
Before Lawrence Taylor could become the league MVP in 1986 as a linebacker, he first had to endure a heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys in Week 1 of that season.
As it turned out, that loss was one of only two for the Giants, who went on to dominate the league that season and win Super Bowl 21.
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2014 New England Patriots
The Patriots fell to Miami in their season opener of 2014. Yet, they managed to move on to the Super Bowl (despite the Deflategate controversy) and win.
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2011 New York Giants
It seems ironic that for the third time on this list, the Giants started 0-1 before winning the Super Bowl. In this case, New York lost their opening game to the Redskins 28-14.
Despite finishing 9-7, the Giants made the playoffs as the NFC East champions and rolled through the playoffs to their fourth Super Bowl title.
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2003 New England Patriots
The Patriots, two years removed from their first Super Bowl win, were shut out 31-0 against Buffalo, which featured former Pats teammates Drew Bledsoe and Lawyer Milloy. But that didn't faze Tom Brady, as New England went on to win the Super Bowl that season.
Along the way, they got their revenge on the Bills by shutting them out 31-0.
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2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
One of the greatest NFL defenses ever assembled actually lost their opening game in 2002, 26-20 in overtime against the Saints. While the loss stung, it only fueled their fire as they rallied back and claimed their first Super Bowl title.