A Bit of Background
Despite growing up in West Texas and in a home that occasionally spent time watching the odd college football game, I was only vaguely aware of the NFL up until I graduated from college and moved out to Los Angeles. I'm not sure what exactly draws me to the sport, but I've recently become fascinated with it. I'm fascinated, not so much by the actual play of the game, I suppose (since I only watch a handful of games before post-season play begins), but more by the serialized nature of reading the weekly power rankings lists which give me an easier narrative to latch onto.
I did not come into my NFL fascination with any built-in team allegiances, so when I began following the NFL back around 2012 or so, I was only kind of rooting for the Denver Broncos, since that was my place of residence at the time. I also had a fondness for the San Francisco 49ers, since Steve Young had played for them years before. However, I really didn't know anything about either team, and my fondness for Steve Young was only vaguely rooted in a youthful awareness of his athletic ability.
So needless to say, when I moved out to L.A. in 2013, I didn't really care how any one team performed, I just kind of enjoyed the drama and spectacle of each season. Since Los Angeles didn't have an NFL team before the 2016 season, and my roommate rooted for the Green Bay Packers, I had a kind of soft spot for that team as well, but, again, I didn't really care all that much.
When the Rams moved back to Los Angeles in 2016, they gave me a (relative) hometown team to root for. Unfortunately, their first season back was rather dreadful, so my fandom waned over the season. Meanwhile, while watching last season's play-off games, I found out that the Atlanta Falcons (who eventually went on to the Super Bowl) had never won the Super Bowl, and had relatively little post-season success. Given my meager familiarity with the NFL, this fact surprised me. I logged the information away, watched the Super Bowl rooting for them to win, and ended up being disappointed when they lost.
When this current season came around, I reflected on all of this, and wanted to know the play-off success of each NFL team, so I could have a better appreciation for the historical stakes each team would be dealing with, should they make it to the post-season. I briefly searched around on the internet for these answers, but I found that there wasn't exactly the most thorough answers to be found. So, a couple of months ago, while bored at work with little to do, I began to assemble and analyze the statistics myself. The following are my findings as to how well each NFL team has fared in the post-season in the Super Bowl era (which is since 1967, for those unfamiliar with the term).
The Rankings' Methodology
This ranking takes the amount of seasons a team has played in the Super Bowl era, as well as the number post-season games each team has played, and their win-rate in each game into consideration. Each measurable category was weighted and given points based on how a team fared per category. I then totaled all of those points up and determined the percentage of post-season opportunities each team took advantage of in their history based on a maximum number of points a team could have attained had they theoretically been perfect for every single season.
A Caveat
Things got a little fuzzy determining what to do with teams like the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens, since they are teams that moved around the country and changed ownership. It can be a little difficult determining which team gets to keep their historical records, so in this regard, I chose to have the Cleveland Browns retain their historical achievements prior to the creation of the Baltimore Ravens, and the Ravens would only get to count their records since their inception in the '90s. This is because that is what the agreement was between the two teams when the Cleveland Browns ceased operations for a while and the Ravens became a new NFL team. The reason for this arrangement was because the Browns' team ownership stayed behind in Cleveland while the coaching staff and essentially all of the staff that had made the Browns the team they were moved to Baltimore to form the Ravens. So, this is how I measured these teams, even though it's probably best to consider the current Ravens better heirs of the Browns' athletic history (especially given the futility of the Browns team since they came back into the league in 1999).
One Further Note
The post-season success percentages are relatively small, but that is because it's basically impossible to achieve absolute post-season perfection, and even the best teams only achieve a fraction of the success that is theoretically possible. So, without further ado, here are my rankings (ordered from worst to best):
The Rankings!
32. Detroit Lions (2.48% post-season success rate)
The Lions have been in the league every season since the Super Bowl was invented (which is 51 years at this point). In that time, the Lions have only appeared in 13 post-season games, winning 1 game: a divisional round game. They got to the divisional round three times despite never winning a game in the first round of the play-offs (the wild card round), because of how the NFL's play-off rules work. If, in a season a team finishes with one of the two best records in a conference, then they automatically place in the second round of the play-offs (the divisional round), and don't have to play a wild-card game. Detroit has done that three times in 51 seasons. Detroit never made it to the divisional round after playing a wild-card round.
31. Arizona Cardinals (3.23% post-season success rate)
The Cardinals have been in the league every year of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 14 post-season games, winning 6 of them: 3 Wild Card games, 2 Divisional Round games, and 1 Conference Championship. They appeared in 1 Super Bowl, but they were not victorious in it.
30. New Orleans Saints (3.47% post-season success rate)
The Saints have been in the league every year of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 16 post-season games, winning 7 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 1 Conference Championship, 2 Divisional games, and 3 Wild Card games.
29. Cincinnati Bengals (3.81% post-season success rate)
The Bengals have been in the league for all but one of the Super Bowl years. In that time, they have appeared in 19 post-season games, winning 5 of them: 2 Conference Championships, 2 Divisional Round games, and 1 Wild Card Round game. They have been to the Super Bowl twice, losing both times.
28. Houston Texans (3.92% post-season success rate)
The Texans are an expansion franchise and have only been in the league for 16 seasons. Their record, therefore, gets graded on a curve reflective of that amount of time playing in the league. In their time as a franchise, the Texans have appeared in 7 post-season games, winning only 3 of them (all were Wild Card round games).
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3.97% post-season success rate)
The Buccaneers are another expansion team, but they have been in the league for much longer than the Texans. They have played in the league for 42 years. In that time, they have appeared in 15 post-season games, winning 6 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 1 Conference Championship, 3 Divisional Round games, and 1 Wild Card game.
26. Atlanta Falcons (4.82% post-season success rate)
The Falcons have been in the league every year since the Super Bowl era began. In those 51 years, they have appeared in 19 post-season games, winning 9 of those games: 2 Conference Championships, 4 Divisional Round games, and 3 Wild Card games.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (4.91% post-season success rate)
The Jaguars are an expansion team and have been in the league for 23 seasons. In that time, they've appeared in 11 post-season games, winning 5 of them: 2 Divisional Round games and 3 Wild Card games.
24. Los Angeles Chargers (5.2% post-season success rate)
The Chargers have been in the league since the beginning of the Super Bowl era, and in that time, they have appeared in 23 post-season games, winning 10 of them: 1 Conference Championship, 4 Divisional Round games, and 5 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl once, but were not victorious.
23. Kansas City Chiefs (5.2% post-season success rate)
The Chiefs have also been in the league since the inception of the Super Bowl era, and in that time, have appeared in 21 post-season games, winning 5 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 1 Divisional Round Game, and 3 Wild Card games. If you're wondering how they got to the Super Bowl without winning a Conference Championship, it appears that their win in the Divisional Round that year (1969) counted as a conference championship that advanced them to the Super Bowl.
22. New York Jets (5.78% post-season success rate)
The Jets have been in the league since the inception of the Super Bowl er as well, and have appeared in 23 post-season games. Of those post-season games, they have only won 11: 1 Super Bowl, 4 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. Their advancement to the Super Bowl without having won a Conference Championship game is similar to the Chiefs' Super Bowl win: their divisional round win counted as a Conference Championship.
21. Cleveland Browns (6.07% post-season success rate)
The Browns have been in the league 48 seasons, and have appeared in 18 post-season games. They have won 6 of those games: 2 Conference Championships, 3 Divisional Round games, and 1 Wild Card game. Even though the Browns won two Conference Championships, they have never appeared in a Super Bowl game. Basically all of the Browns' post-season success came before the team was re-booted in 1999 as an essentially new expansion team. If we were only counting the Browns' post-season success by their seasons since 1999, they would would place at the bottom of the list, since they've only played one post-season game in that stretch of time, and they lost that one game to the Steelers.
20. Tennessee Titans (6.29% post-season success rate)
The Titans have technically been in the league since the dawn of the Super Bowl era (before the team was the Titans, they were known as the Oilers). In this time span, they have appeared in 26 post-season games, winning 12 of them: 1 Conference Championship, 4 Divisional Round games, and 7 Wild Card games. They went to 1 Super Bowl, but lost.
19. Buffalo Bills (7.08% post-season success rate)
The Bills have been in the league for the entirety of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 25 post-season games, winning 12 of them: 4 Conference Championships, 5 Divisional Round games, and 3 Wild Card games. The Bills have infamously been to four Super Bowls, and lost every single one of them.
18. Chicago Bears (7.23% post-season success rate)
The Bears have been in the league since the inception of the Super Bowl era. They have appeared in 23 post-season games, winning 10 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 2 Conference Championships, 5 Divisional Round games, and 2 Wild Card games. They appeared in two Super Bowls, but only won one of them.
17. Philadelphia Eagles (8.22% post-season success rate)
The Eagles have been in the league since the Super Bowl era began, and in that time, they have appeared in 33 post-season games, winning 15 of them: 2 Conference Championships, 6 Divisional Round games, and 7 Wild Card games. They have appeared in the Super Bowl twice, losing both times.
16. Seattle Seahawks (9.03% post-season success rate)
The Seahawks are an expansion team that has been in the league for as long as the Buccaneers have (so 42 total seasons). In that time, they have appeared in 27 post-season games, winning 14 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 3 Conference Championships, 4 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They went to three Super Bowls, but only won one of them.
15. Los Angeles Rams (9.61% post-season success rate)
The Rams have been in the league for every season of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 36 post-season games, winning 16 of them: 1 Super Bowl, 3 Conference Championships, 9 Divisional Round games, and 3 Wild Card games. They have gone to three Super Bowls, but only won one of them.
14. Carolina Panthers (9.84% post-season success rate)
The Panthers are an expansion team, and have only playing in the league for 23 seasons. In that time, they have appeared in 22 post-season games, winning 9 of them: 2 Conference Championships, 4 Divisional Round games, and 3 Wild Card games. They went to the Super Bowl twice, but lost both times.
13. Minnesota Vikings (10.43% post-season success rate)
The Vikings have been in the league since the beginning of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 46 post-season games, winning 18 of them: 4 Conference Championships, 8 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl four times and lost every time.
12. Miami Dolphins (10.46% post-season success rate)
The Dolphins have been in the league since the Super Bowl era began. In that time, they have appeared in 41 post-season games, winning 20 of them: 2 Super Bowls, 5 Conference Championships, 7 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They went to five Super Bowls, but only won two of them.
11. Indianapolis Colts (10.81% post-season success rate)
The Indianapolis Colts have been in the league since the dawn of the Super Bowl era (although they were known as the Baltimore Colts for their first 18 seasons of the Super Bowl era). In this time-span, they appeared in 40 post-season games, winning 19 of them: 2 Super Bowls, 4 Conference Championships, 7 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They went to four Super Bowls, but only won two of them.
10. New York Giants (11.01% post-season success rate)
The Giants have been in the league since the beginning of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 32 post-season games, winning 20 of them: 4 Super Bowls, 5 Conference Championships, 5 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They have been to 5 Super Bowls, and they won 4 of them.
9. Denver Broncos (12.67% post-season success rate)
The Broncos have been in the league since the beginning of the Super Bowl era. In that time, they have appeared in 42 post-season games, winning 23 of them: 3 Super Bowls, 8 Conference Championships, 10 Divisional Round games, and 2 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl 8 times, but have only won it twice.
8. Oakland Raiders (12.94% post-season success rate)
The Raiders have been in the league since the beginning og the Super Bowl era, and in that time, they have appeared in 38 post-season games, winning 21 of them: 3 Super Bowls, 4 Conference Championships, 11 Divisional Round games, and 3 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl 4 times, and won it 3 times.
7. Green Bay Packers (14.38% post-season success rate)
The Packers have been in the league since the beginning of the Super Bowl era, and in that time, they have appeared in 44 post-season games, winning 25 of them: 4 Super Bowls, 4 Conference Championships, 7 Divisional Round games, and 10 Wild Card games. They have been to 5 Super Bowls and won four of them.
6. San Francisco 49ers (15.54% post-season success rate)
The 49ers have been in the league since the Super Bowl era began, and in that time-span, they have appeared in 49 post-season games. They have won 30 of those games: 5 Super Bowls, 6 Conference Championships, 15 Divisional Round games, and 4 Wild Card games. They have been to 6 Super Bowls and they won 5 of them.
5. Baltimore Ravens (15.57% post-season success rate)
The Ravens are an expansion team that have been in the league for 22 seasons. In that span of time, they have appeared in 23 post-season games, winning 15 of them: 2 Super Bowls, 2 Conference Championships, 4 Divisional Round games, and 7 Wild Card games. They have been to 2 Super Bowls and won both of them.
4. New England Patriots (16.43% post-season success rate)
The Patriots have been in the league since the dawn of the Super Bowl era. They have appeared in 49 post-season games, winning 31 of them: 5 Super Bowls, 9 Conference Championships, 13 Divisional Round games, and 4 Wild Card games. They have been to 9 Super Bowls, and only won 5 of them.
3. Washington Redskins (16.79% post-season success rate)
The Redskins have been in the league since the Super Bowl era began, and have appeared in 35 post-season games in that time-frame. Of those games, they have won 20: 3 Super Bowls, 5 Conference Championships, 6 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl 5 times, but have only won it 3 times.
2. Dallas Cowboys (18.14% post-season success rate)
The Cowboys have been in the league since the inception of the Super Bowl era, and in the time, they have appeared in 59 post-season games, winning 34 of them: 5 Super Bowls, 9 Conference Championships, 14 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl 8 times, but only won it 5 times.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (18.48% post-season success rate)
The Steelers have been in the league since the Super Bowl era began, and in that time, they have appeared in 59 post-season games, winning 36 of them: 6 Super Bowls, 8 Conference Championships, 16 Divisional Round games, and 6 Wild Card games. They have been to the Super Bowl 8 times, winning 6 of them.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. A definitive ranking of how miserable it has been to be a fan of every NFL franchise since the Super Bowl era began. Since the newest post-season is about to begin, these stats will change slightly, but for now, the ranking is definitive.
I hope this has been as enlightening for you as it was for me to put this all together.
Go Rams! I will also root for the other current play-off teams in this order (which is mostly decided based on these rankings): Vikings, Falcons, Jaguars, Titans, Bills, Eagles, Panthers, Chiefs, Saints, Steelers, then the Patriots. (Please someone at least beat the Patriots. I'm tired of watching them win.)
'Til next time, have a great day!
Cosmion (Austin Hill)
