Author: Trey Johnson - Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Bears are heading into training camp desperate to take care of unfinished business. The feeling among the players is that they are a better team this season, and not only will they return to the Super Bowl, they will win it. That may be a tall order considering the losing Super Bowl team hasn't had much success the following season.

The Bills were the last team to lose a Super Bowl and return the following year. In fact they did it four times from 1990 thru 1993. Of the 13 Super Bowl losers since the Bills last trip in 1993 seven have missed the playoffs while only three managed to win a playoff game the next season. None have advanced beyond the divisional round.

The seven teams that missed the playoffs a year after losing the Super Bowl are:

1994 - Bills finished the season on a 2-6 slide and Jim Kelley injury.
1999 - Falcons managed to win 5 games with no run game and no rush defense.
2001 - Giants understandably distracted, suffered through the aftermath of 9/11.
2002 - Rams started the season 0-5 and never recovered due to injuries.
2003 - Raiders fell from 11 game winners to 12 game losers due to age and injuries.
2004 - Panthers started the season 1-7 before being eliminated in week 17.
2005 - Eagles suffered from a bad case of T.O. and an injured McNabb for a six win season.

Of the last 13 Super Bowl losers there are three that made the playoffs but failed to win game one, they are:

1995 - Chargers won five straight to finish the season but lost to Colts in the Wild Card.
1998 - Packers lost the Wild Card on a last second Steve Young to Terrell Owens touchdown.
2000 - Titans were better than the 1999 Super Bowl losers but Ray Lewis and Co. didn't care.

Finally, three of the last 13 Super Bowl losers actually returned to win a playoff game the next season. Those lucky three are:

1996 - Steelers couldn't overcome the departure of Neil O'Donnell and 40 different starters due to injuries. Even the arrival of Jerome Bettis couldn't make up for the inept Mike Tomczak at QB.
1997 - Patriots Pete Carroll replaced departed Bill Parcells and did a good job, just not good enough to get by the Steelers in the divisional playoffs.
2006 - Seahawks became the first Super Bowl loser in six years to return to the playoffs despite key free agency departures and injuries to Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck. They were ousted by 2007 Super Bowl loser Chicago.

So, will the Bears be the team to break the "Super Loser" jinx? I'd have to say no. Their defense is basically the same unit that took the field last season, and their offense will be improved now that Rex has a full season under his belt but that's not enough. Thanks to playing in the weak NFC Central the Bears will be a playoff team and might even win a game but there are too many good NFC teams waiting to knock them off come playoff time. The Jinx strikes again!

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