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.
List of New York Giants seasons
Thirty years after the team's previous NFL title, the Giants were victorious in Super Bowl XXI, winning against the Denver Broncos 39–20 to end the 1986 season. The Giants won their second Super Bowl four years later, defeating the Buffalo Bills 20–19 in Super Bowl XXV. In the 2000 season, New York returned to the Super Bowl, but lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34–7. The 2007 season saw the Giants win their seventh NFL championship at Super Bowl XLII, where they defeated the previously unbeaten New England Patriots 17–14 in a game that is widely considered to be one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. The Giants made four consecutive appearances in the playoffs from 2005 to 2008, before an 8–8 record in 2009 caused them to miss the postseason. After missing the playoffs in 2010, they defeated the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers in the 2011 playoffs to reach Super Bowl XLVI, where they defeated the Patriots 21–17. In the most recent season, 2018, the Giants went 5–11 and did not qualify for the postseason.