Becoming a star in the NFL is a curse and a blessing.
With all of the money, fame, and fans that come with it—the expectations also rise… Which can drive players to succeed but can also make big losses all the more painful.
Just ask a guy like Dan Marino who is a bonafide Hall of Famer with a resume that few can match, but has a legacy that was tarnished by the massive losses he suffered during his career.
Actually… don’t ask him! I don’t think he’d like that all too much!
In any case, there are plenty of stars in today’s game that are well on their way to that fate. So, without further ado—let’s get into our list of the 10 NFL stars with the most heartbreaking losses!
Who among these NFL stars had the most gut-wrenching losses in their career?
Jared Goff
Former number one overall pick out of Cal, Jared Goff, has had a lot of highs throughout his NFL career—and a lot of lows.
And we aren’t just talking about the crushing reality of having your team of five years trade you away for a new quarterback and immediately turn around and win a Super Bowl! Though… that is rather heartbreaking in and of itself.
But he’s also had some pretty brutal losses on the gridiron over the years. It is actually impressive that he continues to have such a positive outlook each season! Because… man… Going down the list, there are a couple of big-time heartbreakers to tack on to the Rams winning a Lombardi Trophy without him!
Take Super Bowl LIII, for example. He had led the Rams to the big stage with one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL—and considering they were going up against Tom Brady and the Patriots—the expectation across the sports world was that the game would be a barnburner and that both teams, Los Angeles in particular, would put up points in bunches.
Instead, Goff and the Rams were held to a measly three points in a historically low-scoring Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots. That game could’ve cemented his place in NFL history—and with the Rams… But he instead threw for just 229 yards, no touchdowns, and couldn’t find any rhythm—and was subsequently traded away not too long after.
Last year, his Lions didn’t have quite the same expectations as his old Rams team… but the loss they took in the NFC Championship Game after having a nice lead was painful in and of itself.
And how about the year before when they took care of business during the final week of the season but were still boxed out of the postseason?
Goff’s career has truly been a series of unfortunate events!
T.J. Watt
T.J. Watt is—bar none—one of the most talented defensive players in the game today.
But that hasn’t prevented him from having some heart-breaking losses!
2023 is a great example of that.
The Steelers went into Week 18 needing a win and some help to get into the playoffs—and they rallied to knock off the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens, albeit without Lamar Jackson, but a huge win nevertheless.
Unfortunately, during the contest, Watt suffered a Grade 3 sprained MCL, which kept him out of the Super Wild Card Weekend Game that the Steelers eventually qualified for after the Jags lost.
And… well… needless to say, Pittsburgh didn’t stand a fighting chance without him. His Steelers were dispatched by the Buffalo Bills 31 to 17 with ease—and all Watt could do was stand on the sideline and watch!
For a competitor like Watt, that had to be excruciating.
The year prior wasn’t great either. Watt was coming off his record-tying 22.5 sack season and ready to make his mark against an obviously tough Chiefs side.
He even started the Wild Card game against Kansas City with a bang, recovering a fumble for a touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead. But that was about as good as it got for the Steelers.
Mahomes and the Chiefs went on to score six straight touchdowns and blowout the Steelers in embarrassing fashion 42 to 21.
Another tough pill to swallow!
Ezekiel Elliot
The attention for playoff disappointment in Dallas is always on Dak, but it has been pretty hard on Zeke, too!
Perhaps more so!
One of the most crushing defeats in the 2018 Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cowboys entered the game with high hopes, especially after Elliott had just led the NFL in rushing. But the Rams’ defense had other plans, bottling up Elliott and holding him to just 47 yards on 20 carries.
Meanwhile, the Rams’ own running game exploded for 273 rushing yards and ran over Dallas to the tune of a 30-22 Dallas win.
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers has had more than his fair share of postseason devastation, but the 2020 NFC Championship Game loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be the toughest of them all. Rodgers had the Packers in prime position—home-field advantage at Lambeau, a shot at the Super Bowl, and everything seemingly in his favor.
Plus, if he was able to do it against Tom Brady—it would’ve been a massive feather in his cap legacy-wise.
But the Packers’ offense stumbled when it mattered most.
And a controversial decision to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down sealed Green Bay’s fate, as Brady and the Bucs walked away with the win and eventually the Lombardi Trophy, furthering the gap between the generation’s two best quarterbacks.
Then there was the Wild Card loss to the San Francisco 49ers all those years ago when the Packers couldn’t stop Colin Kaepernick from saving their collective life.
And the near miss on the comeback from 31 to 10 against Kurt Warner and the Cardinals…
For number 12, the list goes on and on.
Julio Jones
If you were wondering if Julio Jones has retired yet—the answer is no. He had stints with the Buccaneers and Eagles in 2022 and 2023, respectively—and is still technically a free agent, hoping to get picked up despite appearing to be past his prime.
And if you are wondering why a guy might hang on so long—maybe it is because he suffered so much heartbreak in the pursuit of a championship that he wants to win one, no matter how small his role on the team is to soothe his soul!
When you look back at his career—there are no losses more excruciating than the infamous collapse of 28 to 3 in Super Bowl LI.
Particularly when you zoom in on Jones’s career in particular—because the future Hall of Famer had one of the best catches down the sideline that will never be remembered as it got washed away in the loss.
Imagine adding that—and a victory between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl to his already ridiculous resume. It would’ve completely changed the narrative around his career.
This wasn’t his first introduction to playoff disappointment, either. People forget—but in 2013, Jones and the Falcons blew a 17 to 0 lead over the 49ers as well despite an 11-catch, 182-yard, two-touchdown showing from Jones.
Ouch!
Brock Purdy
For a relatively young quarterback—especially one with as improbable of a rise to stardom as Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant, the 49ers signal-caller has actually had a good bit of football tragedy to his name.
Purdy was the feel-good story of the 2023 season, as the then-rookie quarterback took over for the 49ers midseason and led them all the way to the NFC Championship Game… Everyone and their mother was speculating about whether he had the chops to lead San Fran to a Super Bowl, but… we’ll never know. In that game, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Purdy suffered an elbow injury early on and was unable to continue, effectively ending the 49ers’ chances.
And last year… when he was healthy—it was a crushing overtime loss to the NFL’s boogeyman, Patrick Mahomes—and his Kansas City Chiefs!
It is still early in Purdy’s story, so maybe better days are ahead, but for all the success he’s had—this has also been a somewhat tough way to start a career!
Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts has already had a couple of different flavors of heartbreak during his young NFL career.
There was the obvious embarrassment of his team crumbling down the stretch last year—and getting dispatched by the Buccaneers in a Wild Card match-up that, frankly, they shouldn’t have even been in—as the expectation was for them to win the Division.
And on the other side of the coin was the loss in Super Bowl LVII, where Hurts was an absolute baller all night. He threw for over 300 yards, accounting for four total touchdowns, and nearly willing the Eagles to victory.
But his heroic performance wasn’t enough, as the Kansas City Chiefs staged a late-game comeback, punctuated by a controversial holding call that set up the game-winning field goal –and the Eagles fell 38-35.
And what makes this one even more painful was the devastating turnover that he committed down the stretch of the game that aided in Kansas City’s victory!
That will definitely leave a sour taste in a guy’s mouth… Especially someone as competitive as Jalen Hurts.
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson has been one of the most electric and dynamic players in the NFL since his MVP season in 2019, but when it comes to the playoffs, his story has been one of frustration and sorrow.
For Jackson, the most painful chapter may have been written in the playoffs last season, when his Ravens entered with all the hopes in the world—and the stars looked completely aligned for them to make a run.
They were spectacular all regular season. Meanwhile, the rival Chiefs looked horrible… And they emerged as the AFC’s top seed and were seen as one of the clear Super Bowl favorites.
Jackson looked like he had exorcized his postseason demons against the upstart Texans in the Divisional Round, as he lit them up for 34 points, but it all came crashing down in the AFC Title Game when he laid an egg against the aforementioned Chiefs.
The quarterback struggled with his accuracy all game and looked generally out of sync as the offense mustered just 10 points in the embarrassing loss.
But it always seems to go that way for Baltimore with Lamar at the helm…
The year before, it was to the Bengals.
2021—the Bills.
It always seems like heartbreak is lurking around the corner.
Derrick Henry
For as dominant as Derrick Henry has been throughout his career, his postseason experience has been riddled with some really gut-wrenching losses.
King Henry’s career has countless signature moments—bruising his way to 2,000-yard seasons, stiff-arming defenders into oblivion—but when the lights shine brightest, his Titans always seemed to fold.
For example, in 2019, they got outmanned by Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game!
And recently, it has happened with Henry, the heartbeat of the team, putting up a flat stat line.
Take a look at his past two trips to the playoffs in particular, where Tennessee went one and done both times with Henry not eclipsing 62 yards in rushing. That has to be a tough blow to the ego for a guy like Henry, who is so used to performing at the highest level.
He’ll have a chance to change the narrative around him this year in Baltimore… but beware… if the Ravens make it to the playoffs and he suffers more heartbreak—there may be no coming back for one of the NFL’s all-time great running backs!
Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins’s career has been an interesting one to follow as the quarterback has often found himself on the wrong side of playoff heartbreak.
One of the toughest moments for Cousins came in the 2022 Wild Card round against the New York Giants, when after a 13 and 4 regular season, his Vikings crumbled against the underdog Giants—and the game ended with 31-24 with Cousins opting for a pitiful checkdown on 4th-and-8 that dominated the news cycle for weeks to come.
But Cousins’s postseason struggles go beyond just that one game. In 2019, after an emotional overtime win against the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round, Cousins and the Vikings were dismantled by the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
There is no shortage of heartbreak for Cousins!
Josh Allen
Josh Allen has done a heck of a job turning the Buffalo Bills around over the past few years, but he has done so at a cost, as the Bills have had a few tough pills to swallow during that stretch.
Perhaps none so much as the infamous 2022 AFC Divisional Round matchup with their vaunted rivals, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Allen gave Kansas City all that it could handle and more, throwing for 329 yards and four scores—and leading the Bills to what looked like a game-winning drive… Only to have his trusty adversary, Mahomes, work some dark magic and tie the game despite only having 13 seconds left in regulation to do so.
Then, he had the misfortune of the Chiefs getting the ball first in overtime—and marching down the field and scoring… meaning that all Allen could do was watch as his hopes for a Super Bowl went down the drain.
The salt in the wound? The NFL turned around and changed the rule the next year so that in the postseason, both teams had to have a chance to score in overtime!
