As we are right in the middle of the NFL Playoffs, you’re either excited that your team is mixing it up with the best or a little dejected that your team is not invited to the party. Unfortunately, for the majority of NFL fans, it’s the latter case that is most likely. Still, plenty of us will enjoy watching the action of Super Bowl LIX as neutrals.
Of course, if you can’t abide watching your rivals in the Playoffs, you can bide your time by plotting your fantasy football strategy for next season or playing NFL-themed games like Blitz’Em at SportsMillions. Yet, there is no escaping the fact that the teams listed below will have big questions in the offseason as their hierarchies try to put postseason droughts behind them. They currently have the most extended active postseason droughts in the NFL:
New York Jets - 14 Seasons
By a distance, the Jets have the longest postseason drought in the NFL. It ranks 10th overall in the most extended postseason droughts in NFL history, although we expect that the Jets will never match the 25-season drought of the Chicago/St Louis Cardinals of 1949-1973. Nonetheless, the Jets are in a funk, and you can understand why they brought in the wildcard of Aaron Rodgers last season. Even if it didn’t work out, they had to try something different.
Carolina Panthers - 7 Seasons
While their drought has not been as long as the Jets’, the Panthers have been reasonably abject of late, having won 19 games across the last four seasons. The Panthers are a relatively new franchise (established in the mid-1990s), so we should take it with a pinch of salt when we say they are on their longest barren stretch. The problem is we don’t know when it will get better.
Atlanta Falcons - 7 Seasons
In some respects, the Falcons have been a team without a true identity across the last seven seasons. The cruel manner in which they famously lost out on Super Bowl LI to the Patriots seemed to weigh heavy on the team in the following years. There have been several head coach changes and attempts to rebuild through the Draft and trades but to no avail. The good news is that an 8-9 record in 2024 feels like progress.
Indianapolis Colts - 4 Seasons
Can we call four seasons a drought? It is perhaps indicative of how competitive the NFL has been in recent years that the Colts rank 3rd on this list, even though the drought has ‘only’ lasted four years. They have certainly not been awful in recent seasons, usually sitting at around .500, although 2022 was pretty bad. Yet, the days of Peyton Manning and Super Bowl glory seem a time ago.
Chicago Bears - 4 Seasons
Oh, what might have been. The Bears fans believed they were headed to the Playoffs in 2024. At least, they did right up until their Bye Week in mid-October. After that, the team went on a historic skid, losing 10 in a row and causing many Bears fans to claim that it’s the hope that kills you. They have big questions to address in the 2025 offseason to help them get back on track.
New Orleans Saints - 4 Seasons
We would put the Saints in a similar bracket to the Colts in that they have not been a bad team over the past four seasons. The main issue, however, is their direction of travel. A 5-12 record in the 2024 season was their worst finish since 2005. They have moved on from head coach Dennis Allen, so perhaps the front office will look to bring fresh ideas to the team.
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