5 Most Hard-Luck Franchises in NFL History

For every Super Bowl champion, there is a team trying at the top of the draft that just underwent a terrible season.

Sometimes, like the Indianapolis Colts this year, it is a team that just suffered a fluke season sparked by injury. Others, it is a franchise selecting in the top portion of the draft yet again. Some teams just can't seem to get it right. Injuries, poor management and just plain bad luck can contribute to this.

Here are the top five hard-luck franchises in the history of the NFL.  

Detroit Lions

Before Calvin Johnson came along and the team was finally able to get a season out of Matt Stafford, the Detroit Lions were undoubtedly the worst franchise in the NFL. 

Poor management (Matt Millen), poor coaching and poor drafting has led to a 20-year winless streak in the playoffs. In that span, we have seen injuries and inconsistency create first-round busts with the likes of Mike Williams, Kevin Jones and Joey Harrington, though none were worse than Charles Rogers.

Rogers was drafted a pick ahead of Andre Johnson in 2003. Rogers broke a lot of Plaxico Burress' records at Michigan State and was supposed to be what they have in Calvin Johnson now. Instead, he caught 36 passes in three seasons.

I hate to say it, but the Lions' hard-luck ways may not be over yet, in spite of their first playoff appearance since 1999. Jahvid Best has serious concussion issues and could be facing an early retirement. Matt Stafford had his first two seasons cut short by injuries to his throwing shoulder, and one more would end a Lions' season, if not Stafford's career. 

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are no longer the embarrassment they were in the late-90's and early-thousands, but they still have fallen on tough times. 

The misery started with drafting Ryan Leaf. Leaf and Peyton Manning were both considered can't-miss prospects, and there was a great debate over who would go first overall. Of course, the Indianapolis Colts would take Manning, deciding the fate of the two franchises for the next decade-plus. 

Then the Chargers were humiliated by Eli Manning's refusal to come play for them after they made him the top overall pick of the 2004 NFL draft. Phillip Rivers has been pretty damn good, but has yet to win a Super Bowl. Of course, Manning and the man Rivers replaced in San Diego, Drew Brees, both have. 

For years, this team was considered the best in the league on paper. However, they could never get healthy and take advantage of that talent in the playoffs. They made it as far as the AFC Championship Game in 2008, and had a chance to upset the undefeated New England Patriots.

Rivers played that game with a torn ACL and LaDanian Tomlinson had two carries. Tomlinson, the heart-and-soul of the team for the better part of a decade, was only healthy enough to reach 20 carries three times in his postseason career and eclipsed 100 yards rushing just once. 

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals went through a phase of just awful selections in the draft. Akili Smith, Peter Warrick, Ki-Jana Carter, Dan Wilkinson and David Klingler were all top-six picks. None of them made a Pro Bowl.

Some of it was poor drafting (everyone knew Wilkinson was lazy, and Smith had a low completion percentage even in college), some of it was injury-related (Carter) and some of it could have been the pure dumb luck of drafting a bust. I do remember thinking Warrick was the fastest player I had ever seen when he was at Florida State. Then again, I was 10, and perhaps the Bengals' scouts should have known more than me. 

Since then, things looked up as the Bengals drafted an apparent Peyton Manning clone in Carson Palmer. Leading Cincinnati to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, Palmer started out the game with a 66-yard bomb against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. The pass would be his last, as Steelers' defensive end Kimo Von Oelhoffen would roll into Palmer's knee, tearing his ACL. The Steelers would win the game, then the Super Bowl. 

Palmer has never been the same since, and later suffered ligament damage to his elbow that cost him some zip on his fastball. The Bengals are still searching for their first Super Bowl win. 

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have not made the playoffs since the 1999 season. Of course, even then it ended badly, as they lost the game on a last-second kick return for a touchdown that would later become known as the Music City Miracle. Somewhere in Buffalo there is a fan still screaming, "that was a forward pass, damnit!"

Before that, they had the infamous run of four straight Super Bowl appearances with zero wins. There were some blowouts involved, but their first loss came in dramatic fashion as Scott Norwood's potential game-winning field goal sailed wide right. Twenty years later, the team has not been any closer. 

In the playoff drought, they have teased their fans with some hopeful starts, including this year. After a 5-2 start, the team would win only one game the rest of the way, and Ryan Fitzpatrick fell into a slump after signing a $60 million contract. Now, the team will have to decide which Fitzpatrick is the real one, as they can bail from the contract if they release him by early March.  

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions are the only teams left from the pre-Super Bowl era to never get to the big game. They have not done themselves any favors with draft picks like Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, William Green and Brady Quinn.  

Their best chances were thwarted by a young John Elway in two of the most famous (or infamous, perspective pending) games in NFL history. In 1989, the Browns took a late lead and were set to finally reach the Super Bowl. Then Elway extended the curse by marching the Broncos 98 yards down the field for the game-winning touchdown. In 1987, Browns' stud back Ernest Byner was set to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter with his third touchdown, when he inexplicably fumbled the ball on the goal line to seal the win for Denver.  

Of course, one of the Browns' biggest rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, had a play that could have been just as infamous. Jerome Bettis was set to punch in the game-sealing touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts when he fumbled the ball, which was scooped up by Nick Harper. Harper was streaking down the field for the game-stealing touchdown, when Ben Roethlisberger reached out while falling backwards and grabbed just enough of Harper's ankle to trip him up. 

The Steelers have six Lombardi Trophies, the Browns zero. Sometimes it is not a matter of skill, or will, but who the football gods are smiling on that determines a winner. 

Alexander is a featured columnist for bleacherreport.com You can follow Alexander on twitter @thesportsdude7 or become a fan on his bleacher report profile.