Top 10 Worst NFL Teams to Win the Super Bowl

The 2011 Giants, on paper, have the worst record of any Super Bowl-winning team at 9-7. They also have the worst point differential of any Super Bowl-winning team, which was actually negative in the regular season.

They were lucky to make the playoffs by winning the division in a year where the rest of the NFC East was godawful, and somebody had to win the division. They had a strong offense that was 9th in points scored that year, but they were 25th in points allowed. They were dead last in rushing yards and practically couldn't stop anyone on defense.

Much like their 2007 Super Bowl team, this iteration relied on their defense stepping up when it mattered most. They held Atlanta to just a safety, then stunned the #1 seed and defending champion Packers at Lambeau before squeaking past the 49ers in an upset win. This team did just enough to win the Super Bowl and happened to get hot at the right time.

The Jets' lone Super Bowl was a bit of a stunner at the time. They were considered massive underdogs against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. On paper, they should have been blown away by the Colts. They probably would lose this game 9 times out of 10.

The Jets were led by Joe Namath, often considered one of the worst Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. Despite an 11-3 record in the regular season, Namath himself averaged just a 49% completion percentage and had more interceptions (17) than touchdowns (15).

While they did prove the legitimacy of the AFL by winning this game, they didn't look all that great while doing it. This game says more about the Colts looking bad than anything else. Johnny Unitas didn't even play until the 4th quarter because of injuries. Had he been healthy, this game's outcome may have looked very different.

This was an example of a team past its prime. The Colts were solid but not quite the juggernaut they were in 1968.

This Baltimore Colts team is an interesting case as to why they're included on this list. They were talented, with the likes of Bubba Smith and Johnny Unitas, and went a respectable 11-2-1 in the regular season. However, they played horribly in the Super Bowl against the Cowboys in the infamously called "Blunder Bowl." The Colts had 7 total turnovers in the game.

The game was filled with a multitude of mistakes and sloppy play that came down to a Jim O'Brien field goal at the end of the game. It was honestly such an ugly game - it was one of those games where somebody had to win. Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley was named Super Bowl MVP, the only time a player from the losing team has won Super Bowl MVP.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were a team not many had on their radar at the time. This team wasn't even bad, but a number of factors contributed to this team's success being rather surprising.

The Steelers had lost a few unexpected games in the regular season and were a mere 7-5 at one point. Ben Roethlisberger was a second-year quarterback at the time and still considered a work in progress despite a promising rookie season. There were questions about whether he could perform at a high level during the playoffs.

Due to a stacked AFC conference that season, the Steelers were the 6th seed and had a very improbable path to the Super Bowl. They defeated the division rival Bengals, upset the #1 seed Colts, and then the Broncos. This is definitely one of those teams you can consider lucky.

This Raiders team was the first wild card team to win the Super Bowl. They were 11-5 in the regular season and had a scoring margin of just over 3 points per game in their wins, on average.

Their season was carried by quarterback Jim Plunkett, who threw 18 touchdowns to 16 interceptions in a pretty mediocre showing that season. They beat the Oilers, and they won the infamous "Red Right 88" game against Cleveland.

This team wasn't bad, but not anything impressive or dominant either, and they fit the typical "got hot at the right time" narrative much like a lot of other teams on this list.

I think practically everyone knows this story by now. The Patriots were forced to start a young and inexperienced quarterback named Tom Brady, a 6th-round draft pick, after Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury early in the season. At the time, nobody expected Brady to take the reins and lead them to a Super Bowl victory and a dynasty over the next two decades.

The entirety of this playoff run, and the dynasty as a whole if you think about it, comes down to the Tuck Rule Game, in which Tom Brady's fumble was ruled as an incomplete pass due to one of the most controversial rules in football.

The Patriots' offense wasn't even special. They just happened to be effective enough to win, thanks to a defense that held firm and stepped up when it mattered most. This was certainly one of the biggest underdog teams in NFL history, defeating the heavy favorites in the "Greatest Show On Turf" Rams.

As a Chiefs fan, I can admit this team, in hindsight, was definitely more lucky than good. They were 11-6 in the regular season. In the games Mahomes started, they were 10-6.

This team was very average on offense statistically but seemed even worse due to the multitude of inconveniently timed drops and fumbles. They did not receive a first-round bye and were forced to play almost all their playoff games on the road, except for the first round against the Dolphins, who are useless in freezing cold weather. Then they beat Buffalo on a missed field goal late and defeated Baltimore on the road thanks to some Ravens fumbles and the defense shutting down Lamar Jackson.

In the Super Bowl rematch vs. San Francisco, the Chiefs started off slow offensively, which is kind of a recurring theme for them. Dre Greenlaw tore his ACL, and the momentum shifted to the Chiefs. The game went to overtime, and thanks to the new rules, San Francisco scored first, but KC got the ball back, and Mahomes led a game-winning touchdown drive.

The defense for Kansas City carried them throughout the season, but this was nowhere near a dominant team.

The 2007 Giants, on paper, were very mediocre. They were 14th in points per game, 17th in points allowed, and had just a +22 point differential, which is the second worst for a Super Bowl-winning team in NFL history. The Giants were 10-6 in the regular season and barely squeaked into the playoffs.

There were plenty of questions surrounding the defense, which was seen as average, as was the team itself. They were massive underdogs in all their playoff games. They had nothing short of a miraculous run, beating the Buccaneers before pulling off massive upsets against Dallas and Green Bay to make it to the Super Bowl.

They then pulled off arguably the biggest upset in NFL history by defeating the undefeated New England Patriots, thanks to the defense stepping up in a big way and Eli Manning getting hot at the right time. To call this Super Bowl a David vs. Goliath game would be an understatement. The "helmet catch" by David Tyree perfectly encapsulates this entire playoff run.

The 2018 Patriots team is arguably the weakest of the Patriots' Super Bowl-winning teams, besides maybe the '01 team. This team, in particular, lost five games in the regular season, all to teams that missed the playoffs.

Let's not forget the AFC Championship game against Kansas City. While in retrospect it's hard to feel bad for the Chiefs, at the time they should have beaten the Patriots. New England was let off the hook by an offsides penalty against Dee Ford on a Tom Brady interception late in the game, which would have sealed the win for the Chiefs. Instead, it went to overtime under the old rules. Brady drove down the field and scored on the first drive of OT, ending the game.

Then, they put on one of the most pathetic and underwhelming performances on offense in the Super Bowl, winning with a grand total of 13 points.

The 2012 Ravens have to be one of the flukiest Super Bowl-winning teams in NFL history. They finished with a 10-6 record, and at no point were they considered dominant or even on the radar.

Interestingly enough, despite having some big names on the defense - including Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, and Ray Lewis - the defense really wasn't all that impressive. They were solid but not really anything special.

This team is most remembered for Joe Flacco's playoff performance, where he played out of his mind. Generally speaking, he was always seen as serviceable but never elite - that is, until this improbable run that came out of nowhere, in which Joe Flacco played the best football of his career. He would earn the Super Bowl MVP for his performance in the big game.

The San Francisco 49ers were pretty dominant during the '80s and early '90s. However, of all their Super Bowl-winning teams, this one was easily the weakest and least dominant of the bunch.

For starters, there was some quarterback controversy at the time. Joe Montana and Steve Young both started throughout the regular season until Montana took over down the stretch. This team had a rocky start to the season with a 6-5 record at one point, but they made the playoffs at 10-6 overall.

They managed to make it to the Super Bowl, in which they defeated the favored Cincinnati Bengals thanks to Joe Montana leading a clutch game-winning drive. This team was fairly average compared to the rest of the Niners teams during this time.