See below for additional information on how to watch the games. After finishing with a 2-14 record, the New York Jets not only ended their season without the number one overall pick in the 2021 draft but now officially have the longest NFL playoff drought… The only team to make this list twice, Tampa Bay won seven games in its first three seasons as a franchise but followed that by making the postseason in three of the next four seasons. 2 seed this season. CLEVELAND — The Browns slayed what had been the NFL's longest active playoff drought with a dramatic 24-22 victory over the Pittsburgh … Fortunately, the arrival of Marvin Lewis as head coach in 2003 turned the franchise around and made it a perennial postseason contender for the next decade. The "Greatest Show on Turf" was one of the most exciting offenses in NFL history, but by 2005, it was as painful to watch as the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney World. CLEVELAND (AP) — Amid a masked, muted celebration in the locker room after the Browns ended the NFL’s longest playoff drought, coach Kevin Stefanski asked for a game ball and then told Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio to step forward. The Saints went on to make the postseason three more times in the next five years. Eight NFL teams own a playoff drought of at least three seasons, with the Browns (16 years) and Jets (eight years) carrying two of the longest. The NBA team with the longest championship drought is the sad-Sack-ramento Kings, who last won the league championship in 1951 as the (wait for it) Rochester Royals. The weekend started with the Buffalo Bills winning 27-24 against the Indianapolis Colts, snapping a 26-year drought without a win in the NFL Playoffs. After losing to the Tennessee Titans via the "Music City Miracle" in the Wild Card Round of the 1999-2000 playoffs, the Bills released Hall of Famers Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. Detroit’s playoff history has been miserable. This is the saddest run on this list, as the Saints did not have a winning season for their first 20 years of existence. Tune to NBC this weekend to see both teams compete in the Wild Card round. Cleveland also has the opportunity to end the longest playoff drought in the NFL. Tom Brady only had to play one half to lead the Bucs to a win Saturday. February 1, 2021 by Football History Dude In honor of Super Bowl week, in this episode of “ When Football Was Football ,” we’ll take you back to explore the last championship of the team now known as the Arizona Cardinals. The last time the Jets made it to the playoffs was 10 years, during the 2010 season. The longest win drought in the postseason still belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals, who last won a playoff game in 1990, although they have played in the postseason seven times since then. Click here to see the full 2021 NFL playoff schedule and be sure to check out ProFootballTalk for more on the 2021 NFL Playoffs as well as game previews, recaps, news, rumors and more. Kansas City overcame having the 28th-best offense in terms of yards per game to go 10-6 and make the postseason in 1986. That drought is currently the eighth-longest among NFL teams. This season also brought the end of the two previously longest playoff droughts by the Cleveland Browns (2002) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2007) respectively. The Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI and haven’t won a playoff … A 12-4 season in 2016 brought a brief respite, but it wasn't enough to get into the playoffs and the Raiders have come up short each of the past four seasons as well. In week 16–just two weeks ago–we saw Tom Brady lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of their 13-year playoff drought that went back to 2007. (Baker Mayfield photo by Ric Kruszynski/Clevealnd Browns, courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com), 5 Most Memorable NFL Wild Card Games of All Time, 5 Most Memorable NFL Divisional Playoff Games of All Time, 10 Longest Playoff Droughts in NFL History. Click here for the full 2021 NFL Wild Card Schedule. And now 31 of … From 2007 to 2009, St. Louis went 6-42, the worst record for a team during a three-year run since the Chicago Cardinals during World War II. Longest NFL playoff streaks and droughts . NFL Wild Card Weekend is in the books and the biggest takeaway from the weekend was teams snapping years-long droughts without a playoff win. The Bucs were 9-3 and tied for first in the NFC South going into Week 14 of the 2008 season. In the past two weeks, the NFL has seen its two longest postseason droughts come to an end. Unfortunately only four seasons left and the Royals have the longest drought ever. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), without the number one overall pick in the 2021 draft, Jets looking for a head coach for “entire team”. Oilers/Titans (won AFL championship in 1961) The Titans fell 1 yard short of possibly winning it all … Throughout the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), franchises have had various postseason and World Series droughts.. All 16 of the original Major League franchises (i.e., those in place when the first World Series was played in 1903) have won the World Series, with the longest wait for a franchise's first championship being for the Phillies (77 years, ending in 1980). What's worse — your NFL team winning a championship before you were born or never winning one at all? The Chiefs' last playoff appearance before this drought began was a two-overtime loss on Christmas Day in 1971 to the Miami Dolphins in the longest NFL game ever played. Here’s a look at the longest droughts entering 2021: T-5. While this streak is pretty bad at 15 seasons, it could and probably should have been a lot worse. — Detroit Lions (NFL) The Drought: 61 seasons (1958-Present) I think this guy’s shirt sums up … 30 seasons. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Unfortunately, they lost their final four games, missed the playoffs, and head coach Jon Gruden was fired. In Week 16, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended a 13-year drought that dated back to 2007. The Rams went 6-10 and head coach Mike Martz was fired. To give you a sense of how long those franchise's dry spells were, here is where they rank among the 10 longest runs without making the playoffs in pro football history. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! No other team has a drought longer than five years. The Cincinnati Bengals have the longest active playoff win drought, having not won a game since 1991. Buffalo suffered for 17 years, barely missing the playoffs in 2004 and 2014 before returning to the postseason in 2017. Cleveland Browns may have the most loyal fan base and those fans have been through everything. The Expos became the Nationals in 2005 and finally made the playoffs with 98 wins. Three of the NFL's longest playoff droughts came to an end over the weekend. This is currently the longest playoff drought in professional sports. What is the Longest Championship Drought in Professional Sports? — Written by Aaron Tallent, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network. Game six. After finishing with a 2-14 record, the New York Jets not only ended their season without the number one overall pick in the 2021 draft but now officially have the longest NFL playoff drought. With the loss on Sunday plus wins by Buffalo and Cleveland , the #Bears are now tied for the sixth-longest playoff victory drought in the NFL with the Jets at 10 years. They returned to the playoffs in 1998 with a 9-7 record despite being outscored 378-325 and ranking statistically below three different 4-12 teams. The Washington Football Team had to wait until Week 17 to clinch their playoff spot as they became just the fifth playoff team in NFL history with a losing record. Lions Playoff Drought . Tallent is a writer whose articles have appeared in The Sweet Science, FOX Sports' Outkick the Coverage, Liberty Island and The Washington Post. NFL playoff droughts: The last time each NFL team won a playoff game. President and part-owner Paul Brown died shortly before the 1991 season and that portended a sign of things to come. The Chiefs' last playoff appearance before this drought began was a two-overtime loss on Christmas Day in 1971 to the Miami Dolphins in the longest NFL game ever played. St. Louis improved to 8-8 in 2006 and then the wheels came off the bus. A move back to Los Angeles in 2016 and the hiring of Sean McVay as head coach the next season put the team in the Super Bowl in 2018 and back in the playoffs this season. The NFL’s two longest playoff droughts were ended this past season. Detroit Lions (2016) Regarded as one of the NFL’s worst franchises, the Detroit Lions made the playoffs three times in six years from 2011 to 2016. However, the team could not agree on a contract with starting quarterback Doug Williams and he opted for the USFL in 1983. The Longest NFL Championship Droughts. To be fair, Tampa Bay went 10-6 in 2010 and 9-7 in 2016, narrowly missing the playoffs both times. In the strike-shortened 1982 seasons, the Cardinals made it into the expanded playoffs with a record of 5-4. Imagine Jay Fiedler out-dueling Peyton Manning in a playoff game. Longest NFL playoff droughts (Team, last postseason appearance) 1. … Then in 1995, the Bucs drafted Hall of Famers Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in the first round. The NFL's two longest playoff droughts—Clevleand's and Tampa's—were snapped this year. Follow him on Twitter at @AaronTallent. The Browns last made the playoffs in 2002, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round. Longest NFL / AFL / Super Bowl championship droughts through history. The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their first Super Bowl win after beating the New England Patriots in a thrilling finish to the 2017 season. In the years that followed, they were unable to replace the roster of players that propelled them to three AFL titles and winning Super Bowl IV and slowly declined from mediocre to just bad. In 2002, the Raiders entered Super XXXVII as four-point favorites and were blown out 48-21 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.                                  RELATED: Jets looking for a head coach for “entire team”. A championship is listed as winning an NFL Championship (1920—1965), AFL Championship (1960—1965), and Super Bowl Championship (1966—present). The longest currently active Super Bowl drought is shared by the Detroit Lions and Arizona … After the Browns, the Jets' 11-year drought is the second-longest in the NFL. This time, the Browns are once again facing the Steelers in the wild-card game. Active droughts are listed in bold type. The NFL … The series kicked off with a look at the longest winning-season droughts, and as you’ve likely gathered from the above, we’re moving on to the teams – the anti-Patriots, if you will – which have gone the longest without a playoff berth. like November 7, 2019 12:56 pm. Then it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers […] Strangely enough, however, the team doesn’ have the longest current drought in the league in terms of a playoff win. Then New Orleans started the strike-shortened 1987 season at 3-3, but won its final nine games to make the playoffs for the first time ever. Anyway, here's the list of the five longest current playoff droughts in the NFL. Take those two seasons away and the Cardinals' playoff drought is 32 years. 1. That leaves the Jets' 10-year drought as the NFL's longest. Longest NFL title droughts You won't believe me, but I watched the big showdown between Manchester City and Manchester United last week from a pizza place here in Los Angeles. Currently, no team has missed the playoffs in more consecutive seasons than the New York Jets (10) as the Cleveland Browns have ended their 17-season playoff drought. Share this article 307 shares share tweet text email link Nate Scott. Both the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the playoffs this year, ending two of the longest postseason droughts in NFL history. That belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals , who haven’t won a playoff … FOXSportsWisconsin's James Carlton chronicles the longest current streaks and droughts of NFL … And for what it's worth, the longest current active streak now belongs to the New York Jets (10 seasons). It is hard to believe that this team was 0-16 just three years ago. The team went on to average less than five wins a season for the next 14 years, unable to build a winner despite having high draft picks. After nearly making the postseason at 10-6 in 2007 and then going 4-44 from 2015-17 — the worst three-year run of the modern NFL era — Cleveland is back in the playoffs. The longest all time NFL playoff game win drought belongs to the Arizona Cardinals, who went 38 years without winning a playoff game between 1960 and 1998. Five more coaches would lead the team through this 12-season drought, but the arrival of Bruce Arians in 2019 and Tom Brady in 2020 has sent the team back to the postseason. NFL Playoffs - Longest Active Playoff Droughts With 14 NFL teams making the postseason (starting with the 2020-21 NFL season), there are 18 NFL teams that did not make the playoffs. … (1982-2012) This drought is by far the worst ever. Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. The next 14 seasons, in which the Bengals never had a winning record, are known by Cincinnati fans as the "Bungles" years. The arrival of head coach Tony Dungy the next season put the team on a run where it made the playoffs in seven of the next 11 seasons and won a Super Bowl. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons for teams. Longest NFL Playoff Game Win Droughts Live coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. with Football Night in America on Saturday and Sunday night. For a franchise that had made the playoffs in 10 of the past 12 seasons, including making it to three straight Super Bowls, duplicating that success was going to take a while. Miami has had three playoff qualifications since to do something about the drought. New York had an 11-year playoff drought from 1970 to 1980 before finally making the postseason in … This is the second-longest playoff drought in Jets franchise history. Well, it helps when Lamar Smith rushes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, which is how the Dolphins earned their last playoff win, 23-17 in overtime over the Indianapolis Colts. It seemed as if everything fell apart after that as the franchise went 63-145 and made nine head coaching changes over the next 13 seasons. Strangely enough, however, they don’t have the longest current drought in the league in terms of a playoff win. Since then, the Bills have made the playoffs three of the last four years and are the AFC's No. Their last win in the playoffs came in a … The Cleveland Browns previously held the longest NFL playoff drought having not made the playoffs since 2002–nearly two decades ago–but will head to Pittsburgh to play in their first playoff game in 18 years this Sunday, after clinching a spot in week 17.