5 NFL teams that have gone the longest without a losing season
In sports, it's expected that teams should have winning and losing seasons. That is the nature of competitive sport at the highest level and what makes it so exciting. But some organizations have shown over and over again that they possess a culture that sets them apart from the rest. For such teams, losing is an aberration and winning is the only acceptable standard that exists.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has now clinched his 15th straight season without a losing record.
That's the most consecutive seasons to begin a career by any head coach in NFL history.
In a league of parity and constant coaching turnover, Tomlin's consistency is incredible. https://t.co/qDazhhJoM8
In rugby union, for example, the All Blacks (New Zealand Men's National Rugby Union Team) have a winning record against every other international side. The Australian Kangaroos have the best record in international men's rugby league, winning 11 World Cups out of the 15 played. Similarly, in the NFL, certain franchises have gone years without incurring a losing season. SK takes a look at the top five.
Note that for the purposes of this list, losing seasons are considered to have begun in 1966, the year of the AFL-NFL merger. Prior to that, AFL records have not been considered as they run the risk of skewing the record in favor of NFL teams. Hence, the Cleveland Browns, who had no losing seasons for 17 consecutive years from 1957 to 1973, do not feature on this list.
NFL records for franchises without losing seasons
#5 - Oakland Raiders, 15 seasons, 1965 to 1980
Fifth on our list of teams without a losing season are the Oakland Raiders, who had 16 such seasons from 1966 to 1980. The era actually began in 1965 in what was Al Davis' last season as head coach. But the AFL-NFL merger would not take place until the following year. John Rauch became the coach in 1966 and would guide them to Super Bowl II in 1967, only to succumb to the Green Bay Packers.
#Raiders will have only 1 winning season in their final 17 seasons in Oakland (12-4 in 2012). They had only one losing season in 16 years in their first stint here (7-9 in 1981)
John Madden succeeded Rauch in 1969 and carried on the record, the high point of which was to come at the end of the 1976 season when they won their first Super Bowl. By 1979, Tom Flores had replaced John Madden and won the Raiders' second Super Bowl at the end of the 1980 season.
The 1981 season was tumultuous as the reigning champions failed to even make the playoffs before departing at the end of the losing season for California.
#4 - San Francisco 49ers, 16 seasons, 1983 to 1998
As one franchise was waning on the West Coast, another was rising. In 1983, the San Francisco 49ers would begin a stretch of 16 non-losing seasons. With Bill Walsh as head coach and Joe Montana as their quarterback, by 1984, this iteration of the 49ers would bring their franchise its second Super Bowl. They combined again to emerge victorious as Super Bowl winners in 1988.
In 1989, George Seifert replaced Bill Walsh but the winning streak continued as they won the Super Bowl again in 1989. In early 1990s, they regularly reached the NFC Championship game, losing twice to the Dallas Cowboys but beating them in the 1994 season enroute to winning the Super Bowl. In 1997, Steve Mariucci replaced George Seifert and he too would carry on the team's winning ways by not suffering a losing season until 1998.