It's a good time to be a sports fan in Michigan. The University of Michigan won its first college football national championship since 1997 this season, and the now the Detroit Lions are joining the football fiesta in the Great Lakes State.
With quarterback Jared Goff (277 yards and one passing touchdown) and the Lions surviving their Super Wild Card Weekend showdown with franchise passing leader and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (267 passing yards and two touchdowns) 24-23, they snapped both the longest losing streak in playoff history (nine in a row) and the longest active playoff drought (their first win since beating the Dallas Cowboys in the 1991 NFC divisional round behind Hall of Famer Barry Sanders).
Now, there's a new team atop the list for the league's longest drought since their last postseason win, and that team is the Dolphins. Miami had an opportunity to snap their playoff win drought in their Super Wild Card Weekend showdown at the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. However, they could only muster one touchdown, a 53-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill, in a 26-7 defeat in the brutal cold. Here's a look at the three teams with the longest droughts.
Longest active drought without NFL playoff win
| Team | Season of last playoff victory |
|---|---|
Dolphins | 2000 |
2002 | |
2005 |
Miami's last playoff win came against the Indianapolis Colts and Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison. They defeated Indy's high-flying offense 23-17 in the AFC wild-card round back in the 2000 season with running back Lamar Smith running for 209 yards and two touchdowns on a whopping 40 carries. Now, it's up to head coach Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill and company to fight to earn the team's second postseason win of the 21st Century.
As for who's behind Miami, the Raiders have waited more than 20 years for a postseason victory and the Commanders aren't far behind. There's a tie for fourth place between the Jets and Bears (last playoff win in 2011) and a tie for fifth between the Cardinals, Panthers and Broncos (last playoff win in 2016). After the Dolphins, those other seven teams all missed the playoffs again this season.
