The Buffalo Bills have once again fallen shy of their ultimate goal of a Lombardi Trophy, this time in the Divisional Round against the Denver Broncos on Saturday. Josh Allen and the Bills took a 27-23 lead in the fourth quarter after trailing 23-10, but Bo Nix and the Broncos prevailed in overtime, eliminating the team that eliminated them a year ago by a score of 33-30.
The Bills nearly became the first team since 1977 to win a road playoff game with a turnover differential of minus-3 or worse. But five turnovers, which included four from Allen, with one resulting in an overtime controversy, proved to be too difficult to overcome.
They also failed to end a somewhat surprising streak that dates all the way back to the 2007 season: the last remaining undefeated team in the regular season has not won the Super Bowl during that stretch.
Bills eliminated, keeping shocking NFL streak alive
The most recent team to win a Super Bowl after being the final remaining undefeated team during the regular season was the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. After their 9-0 start to the year, they finished 12-4, won the AFC South, earned the No. 3 seed, and went 4-0 in the postseason, capped off by a 29-17 Super Bowl XLI victory over the Chicago Bears.
This season, the Bills were the final remaining unbeaten team at 4-0, before they fell 23-20 to the New England Patriots in Week 5. The Philadelphia Eagles were also 4-0 but lost earlier that afternoon to the Broncos. Not since the 2014 season had a season not seen at least one 5-0 team.
If you include ties (i.e. both the Bills and Eagles for 2025, not just the Bills) while looking back at the 19 seasons of this active streak, there have been 26 total teams with a chance to win it all after having been the final team to suffer their first lost during the regular season.
Those teams are 0-for-26.
Here's a look at every one of those teams since the 2007 season.
Season | Team(s) | Record before first loss | Season result |
|---|---|---|---|
2007 | New England Patriots | 16-0 (perfect regular season) | Lost Super Bowl |
2008 | Tennessee Titans | 10-0 | Lost Divisional Round |
2009 | Indianapolis Colts | 14-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2010 | Chicago Bears | 3-0 | Lost Conference Championship |
2010 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2010 | Kansas City Chiefs | 3-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2011 | Green Bay Packers | 13-0 | Lost Divisional Round |
2012 | Atlanta Falcons | 8-0 | Lost Conference Championship |
2013 | Kansas City Chiefs | 9-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2014 | Philadelphia Eagles | 3-0 | Missed playoffs |
2014 | Cincinnati Bengals | 3-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2014 | Arizona Cardinals | 3-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2015 | Carolina Panthers | 14-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 5-0 | Missed playoffs |
2017 | Kansas City Chiefs | 5-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2018 | Los Angeles Rams | 8-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2019 | San Francisco 49ers | 8-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2019 | New England Patriots | 8-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2020 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 11-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2021 | Arizona Cardinals | 7-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2022 | Philadelphia Eagles | 8-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2023 | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2023 | San Francisco 49ers | 5-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2024 | Kansas City Chiefs | 9-0 | Lost Super Bowl |
2025 | Philadelphia Eagles | 4-0 | Lost Wild Card |
2025 | Buffalo Bills | 4-0 | Lost Divisional Round |
Prior to this streak, no streak of this nature had lasted longer than six years in NFL history, and post-AFL-NFL merger, no streak of this nature had included more than seven teams.
If you were keeping track, the 26 teams listed above only combined for 21 playoff victories during those 19 seasons, and 14 of the 26 didn't manage a single playoff victory. About the only common positive here is the fact that 12 teams in a row (over the past nine years) have at least made it to the playoffs.
The Bills, which had not previously earned the distinction of being the NFL's last remaining unbeaten team since all the way back in 1980, did win their Wild Card game over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But for the seventh time during their run of seven consecutive playoff appearances, a Super Bowl berth has eluded them, and instead, it's Jarrett Stidham who is set to take center stage for the Broncos next Sunday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High against the winner of Sunday's Houston Texans-New England Patriots Divisional Round clash.