Sports-related curses
The Buffalo sports curse is an explanation for Buffalo's inability to win a Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, or an NBA championship. Those who believe in the Buffalo curse cite as examples the four consecutive Super Bowl losses by the Buffalo Bills for the 1990–1993 seasons (and the team's failure to qualify for the NFL playoffs from 2000 to 2017), as well as the failure of the Buffalo Sabres ever to win the Stanley Cup (despite winning the Presidents' Trophy for most regular-season points in 2006–07). The Bills, however, won two American Football League (AFL) titles (1964 and 1965), the latter occurring just months before an agreement was reached to merge the AFL and the National Football League (NFL) (Bills owner Ralph Wilson initiated the talks to merge the two leagues, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). In spite of that, it has been argued that this was achieved when the AFL was in its infancy as an upstart league, garnering little, if any, national attention before merging with the established NFL, and that even if they are considered to be at par, since there would be no Super Bowl until after the 1966 season, the Bills could be no greater than co-champions. There have been conflicting suggestions on how the Bills would have fared against the Green Bay Packers or Cleveland Browns, much as there have been disputes over how well the San Diego Chargers would have played against the Bears in 1963, had the Super Bowl existed at that time.
Super Bowl XLVII
This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXVII that did not feature the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, or the Pittsburgh Steelers as the AFC representatives, and the only one as of the 2017 season, including the Denver Broncos, the team that Peyton Manning was brought to in the 2012 season. Baltimore defeated the Colts and Patriots during the playoffs while the Steelers failed to make the playoffs. By contrast, the NFC had a different member go to the Super Bowl almost every year during that same span, with the New York Giants (who won Super Bowls XLII and XLVI) being the only NFC team to make two appearances during that span. With the 49ers making their first Super Bowl appearance since Super Bowl XXIX, this left the Dallas Cowboys (last appeared in Super Bowl XXX), Detroit Lions (never appeared in a Super Bowl), Minnesota Vikings (last appeared in Super Bowl XI) and Washington Redskins (last appeared in Super Bowl XXVI) as the only NFC teams not to play in a Super Bowl since 1998, with only the Vikings (on three occasions) even advancing to the NFC Championship Game.