Repeating as Super Bowl champions hasn’t been easy lately

Pittsburgh Steelers: Won Super Bowls XIII and XIV

After back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1974 and ’75, the Black and Gold lost an AFC title game and were then ousted at Denver in the 1977 divisional round. The Steelers won their first seven games a season later, finished a league-best 14-2 and scored 33-plus points in postseason wins over the Broncos, Oilers and Cowboys.

Chuck Noll’s club turned over the ball 52 times in 1979 but still got back to the Super Bowl where they rallied to beat the Rams.

Washington Football Team: Won Super Bowl XVII, Lost Super Bowl XVIII

Joe Gibbs became the franchise’s head coach in 1981 and after a rough start, the team won seven of its last nine games. It carried that momentum into ’82, which wound up being a 9-game season due to labor issues. The club would rally to knock off the Dolphins in Pasadena thanks to relentless John Riggins.

A year later, the team finished 14-2 and would clash with the Raiders in Tampa. But Washington was overwhelmed by the Silver and Black, 38-9.

San Francisco 49ers: Won Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV

In 1988, Bill Walsh’s club got off to a 6-5 start and the San Francisco offense was erratic – be it future Hall of Famers Joe Montana or Steve Young at the controls. A 6-5 mark morphed into a 4-1 finish and the 49ers disposed of the Vikings, Bears and Bengals in Walsh’s final season.

Enter George Seifert, a revitalized Montana and a 14-2 showing that culminated with playoff wins over the Vikings, Rams and Broncos by a combined 100 points (126-26).