While New York Jets fans have certainly been suffering for a while, they’ll need a few more years to approach the longest droughts the league has ever seen.
The 2025-26 NFL postseason officially gets underway Saturday, as 14 teams begin their quest for a Super Bowl title in what should figure as an incredibly interesting playoffs, particuarly in the AFC where Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are all absent.
While fans of 14 NFL teams are preparing for what they hope will be a championship playoff run for their club, fans of the league’s other 18 teams will be spectating this winter, hoping that April’s NFL Draft will plant the seeds for future success.
Of course, the pinnacle of success is a Super Bowl ring, but fans of different teams have different versions of success – I’m sure you wouldn’t find many Washington Commanders fans that were upset at their team’s run to the NFC Championship Game last season.
The same can be said for Chicago Bears fans this season, who are hoping their team dispatches the arch rival Green Bay Packers for the team’s first playoff win since January 2011.
Yet for the teams sitting this postseason out, the length of suffering has varied – though no one can contend with the New York Jets in that regard, who last played a playoff game in the 2010 AFC Championship Game, a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Jets’ 15-year absence from the postseason is nearly double that of the next-longest drought, that being the eight-year hiatus the Atlanta Falcons have had in the postseason since the 2017 NFC Divisional Round.
While 15 years may be enough for the longest active drought by a country mile, the Jets still have a few more years of futility to go before approaching the level of the longest playoff droughts in NFL history.
Here’s a look into the four longest NFL postseason droughts:
4. New Orleans Saints: 20 seasons (1967-1986)
While the Saints had a sustained era as a consistent contender with Drew Brees at quarterback throughout much of the late 2000’s and 2010’s, there’s no question that Brees led the most successful era in franchise history.
It would be quite hard for the Saints to match the poor play of their first 20 seasons, in which New Orleans failed to qualify for the postseason a single time. To make matters even more brutal, the Saints finished with three or fewer wins in six of their first 20 seasons of franchise play, developing a reputation as a perennial cellar-dweller.
The era did allow for the development of a fierce rivalry with the Atlanta Falcons, a team that also dealt with a good deal of early futility as the two clubs were the league’s lone representation in the Deep South for quite some time.
The Saints’ streak ended in the 1987 season, which saw New Orleans finish with a 12-3 record in the strike-shortened season, allowing the team to play and host a playoff game for the first time – a 44-10 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings.
Though the Saints would go on to make three consecutive playoff appearances from 1990-92, the team remained without a playoff victory until their upset over the “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams in the 2000 NFC Wild Card Game.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 24 seasons (1948-1971)
While the Steelers are unquestionably among the league’s most iconic and successful franchises, they’ve also had among the longest periods of poor play, missing out on the playoffs for 24 straight seasons from 1948 to 1971.
Following a Divisional Round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1947, the Steelers began a prolonged period of true mediocrity. While missing the playoffs in 24 straight years, the Steelers were the last-place team in only five of those seasons, routinely turning in forgettable campaigns with records near the .500 mark.
Furthermore, the 1947 trip to the postseason stood as the lone playoff appearance for the Steelers for the length of the drought, standing alone as one of the league’s most unremarkable teams until beginning a run for the ages in the 1970’s.
Pittsburgh broke the streak in Terry Bradshaw’s third year as the starting quarterback, taking a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 1972. That playoff run began a streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances, which included an incredible four Super Bowl victories.
Though without a Super Bowl since 2008, the Steelers remain on a wildly impressive run, with the team having not finished with a losing record since their 6-10 campaign in 2003, the year before Ben Roethlisberger began his storied tenure as the franchise quarterback.
1. (tie) Arizona Cardinals: 25 seasons (1949-1973)
Long known as one of the longest-struggling franchises in the NFL, the Cardinals also hold the longest active championship drought in all of professional sports, having not won it all since they were the Chicago Cardinals in 1947.
While the Cardinals made it back to the NFL Championship in 1948 in a losing effort, the following year started a prolonged period of franchise futility for the birds, which included a move to St. Louis ahead of the 1960 season.
Despite finishing with a record above the .500 mark in eight of the next 25 seasons, the Cardinals failed to make the postseason in all of them, finally charting a path to their return in 1974 when the Don Coryell-coached Redbirds finished 10-4 en route to a Divisional Round loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Cardinals made just two more postseason appearances during their time in St. Louis – a Divisional Round loss to the Los Angeles Rams the following season, and a Wild Card Round loss to the Green Bay Packers in the strike-shortened season.
The Cardinals then moved to the Phoenix area ahead of the 1988 season, being known as the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988 to 1993 before adopting their current name in 1994. The Cardinals have made six playoff appearances since moving to Arizona, including one trip to the Super Bowl in 2008 – a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
1. (tie) Washington Commanders: 25 seasons (1946-1970)
Certainly not known as a franchise decorated with long periods of success, it will be hard for the Commanders to ever top the futility they displayed for a quarter century, stretching from the aftermath of World War II to the breakup of The Beatles.
Prior to the streak beginning, the then-Redskins were among the most powerful teams in the NFL, having won two league championships while making a total of six apperances in the Championship Game in a decade-long span from 1936 to 1945.
Following a loss in the 1945 Championship Game, things quickly went downhill for Washington, with the perennial contender quickly turning into a bastion of mediocrity. Similar to the long drought the Steelers withstood, Washington was seldom awful, only finishing in last place three times during their 25-year drought, while finishing in second place the same amount.
The drought finally came to an end in 1971, Billy Kilmer’s first year as quarterback for the franchise. Washington went on to lose to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, beginning a stretch of five playoff apperances in six seasons that included a trip to the Super Bowl in 1972.
Though that period of franchise history came and went without a title, the then-Redskins went on to win their first Super Bowl in 1982 before taking home another two titles in 1987 and 1991, respectively. The team hasn’t made it back to the Super Bowl since, with their trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2024 being their most successful campaign of the 21st century.
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