Playoff Droughts

I stumbled across these interesting figures recently. Here are the NFL teams with the longest droughts between playoff wins.

50 years-Chi/Stl/Pho/Ari Cardinals: 1948-97
37 years-Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers: 1933-71
33 years-New Orleans Saints: 1967-99
33 years-Detroit Lions: 1958-90
28 years-Washington Redskins: 1944-71
25 years-Cincinnati Bengals: 1991-2015

One thing that should be pointed out when pondering these numbers is that playoff opportunities were very hard to come by prior to the AFL-NFL merger of 1967 and complete merger of 1970. There weren't multiple divisions and the resulting multiple division champs. There wasn't even a wildcard team, or two. Outside of some tiebreaker playoff games there was only the NFL Championship game from 1933-66. Obviously, a team can't win a playoff game if they aren't in the playoffs. With only two spots available simply getting a shot at a playoff win was quite an accomplishment. That little aspect of NFL history played a part in the postseason futility of the Cardinals, Steelers, Lions, and Redskins. But, not being very good played an even bigger part. The not being very good part of the Steelers past is actually the most interesting thing about this list. The Steelers have been so successful over the last 40+ years that it's really hard to imagine that they were ever terrible. In the 36 years before Chuck Noll was hired the Steelers more closely resembled the current Cleveland Browns. Owner Art Rooney is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but it isn't for how he ran his club during the first four decades. He hired Walt Kiesling, with a .353 career winning percentage, three times. Rooney even hired the less than dependable Johnny "Blood" McNally to coach his team. The Steelers were a mess for the first half of their existence. They have been a model of success and consistency ever since. They have hired three coaches since 1969 (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin). Each has won at least one Super Bowl.

The presence of the Bengals on this list is likely the reason that it recently surfaced in the social media world. It became a talking-point within the media because of the recent contract extension given to head coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals have been one of the more talented teams in the league for a few seasons now. That talent and the coaching of Lewis and his staff has earned the team a playoff spot in each of the last five seasons. The unfortunate thing about those playoff appearances is that each has ended on the first weekend. Most of the teams on this list are on it because of their inability to make the playoffs. The Bengals are the only team on this list with an active streak because they haven't been able to in the playoffs in the last five years.