The story of the last decade in the NFL has been that of a few long-woebegone franchises finally turning around their fortunes.
In 2017, the Bills crashed the postseason for the first time in 18 years; now, with reigning MVP Josh Allen under center, they are perennial division champions.
During the COVID-stricken 2020 campaign, the Browns won a playoff game for the first time in 23 seasons.
The following year, their downstate rivals in Cincinnati won its first postseason contest in 31 years en route to a conference title. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase have the Bengals on the cusp of contention every year now.
Two seasons ago, the Lions won their first postseason game in 32 years and then came one half away from their first-ever Super Bowl berth. They were the NFC’s No. 1 seed last season and have their sights set on another strong run in 2025.
Ask those four franchises and fan bases — all it takes is the right combination of front office, coach, quarterback and culture to leave eras of ineptitude in the dust and never look back.
But for the clubs that have yet to see that turnaround and are in the middle of their darkest days, it’s hard to see the light.
Of the NFL’s 32 franchises, six teams haven’t been to the playoffs in at least four years. That the number is so low is a testament to the league’s parity — and the the 2020 expansion from 12 to 14 playoff teams didn’t hurt.
But fan bases of the Falcons, Panthers, Bears, Colts, Saints and Jets can’t pass their pain off as merely a statistic. The emptiness of January without football feels very real and painful; the shortest day of the year gives way to the longest night.
Still, as Buffalo, Cincy, Cleveland and Detroit can attest, there’s hope for these clubs yet! Here are the six clubs with playoff droughts of four or more seasons, ranked in ascending order based on the likelihood they will snap their streaks in the 2025 campaign.