Which NFL teams will end playoff droughts in 2020?
The teams appearing in this analysis are not necessarily bonafide Super Bowl contenders. They are, however, squads that have a reasonable chance to make the postseason after long hiatuses.
In February, the NFL opted to expand its traditional playoff format enabling two extra teams to have a crack at playoff football. The longstanding configuration allowed 12 teams into the postseason, six from each conference. In 2020, this invitation will widen to seven teams per conference or a total of 14 teams. That’s 44 percent of the league. The NFL is, in this regard, now closer to the NBA than it is MLB in playoff participation.
As the win-loss criteria to sniff January football is no longer as stringent as years past, teams that are on the bubble will now get the nod. Expect 9-7 or 8-8 teams to sneak into the dance.
Of course (and even in the previous format), there is significant turnover in playoff hopefuls on a year-to-year basis. Five teams that reached the postseason during the 2018 NFL seasons failed to qualify the following year: Bears, Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, and Rams. How’s that for parity?
The new additions to the 2019 NFL playoffs included the 49ers, Bills, Packers, Titans, and Vikings. Because we are amid the build-up to the 2020 season and have memories of prosperity fresh in our heads from 2019, it feels like those teams are poised to be playoff contenders in 2020. In all reality, not all five will make the postseason. So, some other teams have to replace these five squads.
Mix in the expansion to the playoff format and the inevitable regressions of unknown teams from 2019 and you have fresh suitors for the Lombardi trophy.
These are four likely teams to end playoff droughts.