Biggest NFL Championship Blowouts

The NFL Championship Game usually produces nail-biting matchups, but occasionally, one team puts their opponent away with ease on the sport's biggest stage.

In this article, we'll look at those dominant teams who have produced the five biggest blowouts in the most important game of the season.

San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10 (1990)

You might think some of the old-time football games would have produced the most one-sided NFL Championship matchups, but in fact you can find the five title games with the widest margins of victory without going further back than 1986.

The biggest blowout of them all came in January 1990 when the San Francisco 49ers showed no mercy to the Denver Broncos in a 55-10 victory in New Orleans.

Far from being a meeting between a real underdog and a top team, it was in fact a clash of the top seed in each conference, but the 49ers were 12-point favorites for the game after going 14-2 in the regular season and beating the LA Rams by 30-3 in the NFC Championship.

Led by quarterback Joe Montana's five touchdown passes, the Niners scored at least 13 points in all four quarters in the Louisiana Superdome.

Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10 (1986)

The second game on our list is the oldest matchup and it also occurred in the Louisiana Superdome, four years earlier than the 49ers-Broncos game.

Again it was an NFC team delivering the winning performance as the Chicago Bears won their first championship in style in a battle of two teams who had reached this stage for the first time.

This time the result was more predictable as the Bears, coached by Mike Ditka, earned the top seed in the NFC after going 15-1 in the regular season. The New England Patriots were something of a Cinderella team who were seeded fifth in the AFC after finishing only third in the AFC East at 11-5. 

The Pats had won on the road against the Jets, Raiders and Dolphins to get a shot at the title and actually scored the first points of the game with a field goal, but the brilliant Bears, who had been 10-point favorites, then scored 44 unanswered points to cruise to the championship.

Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17 (1993)

The Buffalo Bills famously lost four successful NFL Championship games in a row in the 1990s and the third defeat in that run was by far the heaviest.

Having lost by one and 13 points in the previous two years, the returning AFC champions were underdogs of only 6.5 points against the Dallas Cowboys at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, even though they had been the fourth seeds in the AFC after an 11-5 regular season.

The Bills scored the first touchdown through Thurman Thomas, but the Cowboys soon cruised into a big lead with quarterback Troy Aikman throwing four touchdown passes, including two to Michael Irvin, while running back Emmitt Smith had 108 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Andre Reed had an impressive 152 receiving yards for the Bills, but his team still lost by 35 points.

Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8 (2014)

The most recent game on this list brings a second appearance for the Broncos, who at this point were losing for the fifth time in seven NFL Championship games, although they were to record a third win two years later.

This was another battle of number one seeds as both teams had gone 13-3, with the Seattle Seahawks putting together the best record in the NFC under head coach Pete Carroll.

Quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch led the way on offense, while the team is now best remembered for its famous Legion of Boom defense featuring cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor.

That defensive strength was shown in the final score, as the Seahawks, who had been two-point underdogs for the game, dominated as the Broncos failed to reach double digits.

Washington 42, Denver Broncos 10 (1988)

Look away now, Broncos fans, it's a third appearance for your team on this list.

To make matters worse, the Broncos were three-point favorites for this game in 1988 after going 10-4-1 in the regular season to claim the top seed in the AFC, while Washington was only the NFC's third seed after winning the NFC East with an 11-4 record.

One quarter made all the difference in this NFL Championship game as the Broncos moved into an early 10-0 lead with a 56-yard Ricky Nattiel reception from league MVP John Elway, but Washington responded with a phenomenal 35 points from five touchdowns in the second quarter.

Ricky Sanders (two), Gary Clark and Clint Didier all caught touchdown passes from Doug Williams, while Timmy Smith had a 58-yard TD run as Washington ran away from Denver.

Only seven points were scored in the second half after that outburst, as Williams finished with 340 passing yards and won the MVP award, while Smith had 204 rushing yards as well as two touchdowns.