Browns at Texans will be the first NFL playoff game in 24 years to hold this rare Super Bowl distinction

There are only four teams in NFL history that have never played in a Super Bowl, and three of them actually made the playoffs this year with the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans all getting in. 

This postseason will mark the first time in 23 years that the playoffs will feature at least three teams that have never made it to the Super Bowl. Back in 2000, those three teams were the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If this year’s playoffs go like the 2000 playoffs, that will be good news for the Browns, Lions or Texans because one of the teams that had never been to the Super Bowl (Baltimore) ended up winning it all that year. 

Although the Ravens, Buccaneers and Saints all made the playoffs in 2000, none of those three teams played each other in the postseason that year, which is why the Browns-Texans game is so unique this season. 

The game in Houston will mark the first time in 24 years that two teams with a combined ZERO Super Bowl appearances will face each other in the postseason. The last time it happened came all the way back during the 1999 season when the Jacksonville Jaguars played the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship. 

The Titans ended up winning that game, 33-14, to advance to their first Super Bowl, but 24 years later, the Jags still haven’t made it to the big game. (We mentioned at the top that there were four teams that have never been to a Super Bowl; well, they’re the fourth team.)

 With the Browns and Texans playing each other, that means one team has to lose, and that team’s Super Bowl drought is definitely going to continue after this week. On the other hand, we’re going to see one of these teams take one step closer to the Super Bowl. 

The winner of Saturday’s game will earn a spot in the divisional round, and if the favored team wins each wild-card game this weekend, then the Browns-Texans winner will be…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/browns-at-texans-will-be-the-first-nfl-playoff-game-in-24-years-to-hold-this-rare-super-bowl-distinction/

Author : John Breech

Publish date : 2024-01-12 19:19:29

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