It Has Been a Very Difficult Road for Recent Super Bowl Champions

With the Bears’ 21-17 loss to Washington in Sunday’s National Football Conference playoff game, a jinx continued for Super Bowl champions of the recent past.

Not only have the last four Super Bowl winners failed to repeat as champions of the National Football League, they have failed to win a single postseason game since winning the big one.

--The Raiders, winners of Super Bowl XVIII, have not won a playoff game since that day.

--The San Francisco 49ers, who took Super Bowl XIX, have gone 0 for 3 in postseason play since then, including Saturday’s 36-24 loss to Minnesota.

--The Bears, easy winners of Super Bowl XX, now have suffered back-to-back, first-round playoff defeats to the Redskins.

--And the New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XXI, did not qualify for the playoffs this season.