No NFL fan needs the pain of watching their team relinquish a surefire win by collapsing just before the finish line, but some are far more intimate with that form of heartbreak than others. In our latest NFL news piece, RotoWire.com pulled data on every regular-season game since 2000 to see which teams have lost most often after leading through three quarters, creating a data spread that I affectionately suggest labeling the "Anti-Clutch Index."
It won't surprise anyone with one of the following jerseys hanging in their closet, but the Chargers, Lions, and Browns have led the NFL in heartbreak moments this millennium. Meanwhile, the Patriots, Steelers, and Packers rank among the best closers (Pittsburgh and Green Bay denizens can be thankful that we only pulled regular-season data).
Methodology: Filtering for all regular-season games from 2000 through Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season using Stathead's Team Game Finder tool, we filtered for contests in which a team held a scoring margin of at least +1 through the third quarter. Then, we weighted each team's wins and loss records in those games by a primary metric of total losses when leading through three quarters, with blown lead percentage (losses ÷ games leading through three quarters) as a tiebreaker.
Below, the Anti-Clutch Index paints a picture of how often each NFL franchise has let victory slip through their fingers in the last 25 years.
| Rank | Team | 3Q lead Games | Losses | Wins | Ties | Blown Lead % |
| 1 | LAC | 205 | 47 | 158 | 0 | 22.9% |
| 2 | DET | 160 | 43 | 115 | 2 | 26.9% |
| 3 | CLE | 147 | 42 | 105 | 0 | 28.6% |
| 4 | CHI | 180 | 40 | 140 | 0 | 22.2% |
| 5 | WAS | 168 | 39 | 129 | 0 | 23.2% |
| 6 | BUF | 194 | 37 | 157 | 0 | 19.1% |
| 7 | JAX | 153 | 36 | 117 | 0 | 23.5% |
| 8 | DEN | 208 | 36 | 172 | 0 | 17.3% |
| 9 | SFO | 197 | 35 | 162 | 0 | 17.8% |
| 10 | HOU | 156 | 34 | 121 | 1 | 21.8% |
| 11 | CIN | 184 | 34 | 147 | 3 | 18.5% |
| 12 | CAR | 185 | 34 | 150 | 1 | 18.4% |
| 13 | DAL | 197 | 34 | 163 | 0 | 17.3% |
| 14 | TB | 177 | 33 | 144 | 0 | 18.6% |
| 15 | KC | 211 | 32 | 179 | 0 | 15.2% |
| 16 | BAL | 239 | 32 | 207 | 0 | 13.4% |
| 17 | NYG | 172 | 31 | 140 | 1 | 18.0% |
| 18 | MIA | 180 | 31 | 149 | 0 | 17.2% |
| 19 | TEN | 182 | 31 | 151 | 0 | 17.0% |
| 20 | IND | 214 | 31 | 183 | 0 | 14.5% |
| 21 | LVR | 152 | 30 | 122 | 0 | 19.7% |
| 22 | NYJ | 159 | 30 | 129 | 0 | 18.9% |
| 23 | SEA | 216 | 30 | 186 | 0 | 13.9% |
| 24 | PHI | 224 | 30 | 194 | 0 | 13.4% |
| 25 | LAR | 180 | 29 | 150 | 1 | 16.1% |
| 26 | ATL | 180 | 27 | 153 | 0 | 15.0% |
| 27 | ARI | 147 | 25 | 121 | 1 | 17.0% |
| 28 | NO | 210 | 25 | 185 | 0 | 11.9% |
| 29 | GB | 234 | 25 | 208 | 1 | 10.7% |
| 30 | PIT | 222 | 24 | 196 | 2 | 10.8% |
| 31 | MIN | 195 | 22 | 172 | 1 | 11.3% |
| 32 | NE | 241 | 16 | 225 | 0 | 6.6% |
Chargers Lead the NFL in 4th-Quarter Collapses
For some fanbases, this ranking might be more therapeutic than being just salt in the wound. The Chargers have endured the most 4th-quarter collapses (47) by a frankly impressive margin, especially given that Denver is the only other club in the top 10 of the Anti-Clutch Index to have led more games through 45 minutes of game clock and snap count. Those numbers call to mind not only innumerable letdowns that haunt Philip Rivers' otherwise prolific career, but also recent embarrassing collapses under pressure.
It was only five years ago when, courtesy of a 31-30 loss to the Broncos in Week 8 of the 2020 season, that Denver manufactured a fourth-quarter eruption down 21-6 in the fourth quarter, making the Bolts the first team in NFL history to blow a lead of at least 16 points in four consecutive games. The image of Los Angeles choking away a 27-point lead to Jacksonville in the 2022 AFC Wild-Card Round is even fresher in the mind. With optimism reigning early in the Jim Harbaugh era, though, and Justin Herbert looking like himself fresh off a three-TD performance and a Week 1 win over the Chiefs, looking back at those disasters might be almost remedial for fans loyal to the blue & gold.
Lions and Browns: Frequent 4th-Quarter Heartbreakers
The same might be true for Lions fans, were it not for the team's ugly Week 1 loss to the division-rival Packers causing a reminder that no Super Bowl window stays open forever, no matter how badly a fanbase needs it. It'll take some time for the blown fourth-quarter loss to San Francisco in the 2023 NFC Championship Game to stop aching, but the presence of coach Dan Campbell and a young, well-rounder roster core at least lends extreme confidence to this team ranking No. 2 on the Anti-Clutch Index being a distant memory. The Bears, coming in at No. 4, are fresh off a particularly gut-wrenching Week 1 loss to the Vikings in primetime, but the allure of new HC and offensive wunderkind Ben Johnson still provides tangible hope that this team will be able to turn things around for Caleb Williams.
At No. 5, the Commanders can finally rest easy, having found a franchise answer in reigning ROTY Jayden Daniels. There's no clear light at the end of the tunnel for the Browns, however, who've blown the third-most 4th-quarter leads this millennium and look destined to rank No. 1 on the list by the end of this decade, assuming the Chargers and Lions make good on their upward trajectories. Unless one of Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel defies the odds and is able to eventually replace Joe Flacco under center and look the part as a true long-term answer, the Browns are the one team for whom this exercise may offer nothing more than salt in the wound -- but even then, osmotic and antiseptic effects are good for the healing process.
