The NFL is a league that prides itself on parity, and its playoffs are proof that anyone can get in with a smart plan and a well-coached roster. Worst-to-first turnarounds are common in the NFL, although a few teams have had trouble maintaining enough discipline to stay the course with a program or churn through enough coaches to make themselves a playoff regular.
The addition of an extra postseason spot in each conference beginning with the 2020 season has created more competition for postseason berths down the stretch. Which teams have made the postseason the most since the turn of the century and what does it say about each franchise?
18 Playoff Appearances: New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers
New England Patriots
A big credit to this run goes to the dynasty run the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady New England Patriots put together, with all but one of their playoff appearances coming prior to Brady's departure for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season. New coach Mike Vrabel is looking to start a new run of success in New England with a top young quarterback in Drake Maye hoping to add to New England's collection of six Lombardi trophies.
Green Bay Packers
Even though those appearances have resulted in just one Super Bowl title, the Green Bay Packers remains a gold standard for the league due to their impeccable ability to develop franchise quarterbacks. The Packers got the bulk of their playoff appearances behind Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, with Jordan Love now poised to keep Green Bay's streak of dynamic results going for another decade.
17 Playoff Appearances: Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The current gold standard of the NFL are the Philadelphia Eagles, which claimed its second Super Bowl crown last season and has been the NFC East's most consistent threat since Andy Reid built a strong foundation in the 2000s. Howie Roseman has shown an ability to find and cultivate talent, which should keep the Eagles highly competitive for years to come.
16 Playoff Appearances: Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
Despite having a short franchise history after relocating from Cleveland in the late 1990s, the Baltimore Ravens has built as consistent a program as the league has ever seen. Its been a minute since the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012 but Lamar Jackson's presence makes them a consistent threat to play January football and add a third Lombardi trophy to their ledger.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Another gold standard franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers won two Super Bowls with Ben Roethlisberger and remain in the playoff hunt every year thanks to Mike Tomlin's incredible streak of 18 consecutive seasons at .500 or better since succeeding Bill Cowher as head coach. Time will tell if the addition of Aaron Rodgers can help Pittsburgh get over the hump with a strong core in 2025.
15 Playoff Appearances: Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks
Indianapolis Colts
Going from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck made it easy for the Indianapolis Colts to dominate the AFC South, winning a Super Bowl and going to another under Manning. Things haven't gone so well since Luck's abrupt retirement prior to the 2019 season, with Indianapolis reaching the postseason just once since then.
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle's run spanned two great head coaches, with Mike Holmgren turning the Seahawks into a perennial contender and Pete Carroll raising the bar with the franchise's first Super Bowl title thanks to a fruitful partnership with Russell Wilson. All of those figures are gone now, however, as Mike MacDonald looks to bring Seattle's schemes into the modern age and start a new run atop the NFC West.
14 Playoff Appearances: Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
A lot of credit for Kansas City's rise on this list goes to the arrival of Reid, who showed up in 2013 and has guided the Chiefs to the playoffs in 11 of his 12 seasons as head coach. Drafting Patrick Mahomes helped Kansas City become the NFL's new dynasty, ripping off nine consecutive AFC West titles, five Super Bowl appearances and three titles since 2016.
10 Playoff Appearances: Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams
Denver Broncos
While the Broncos were consistent playoff contenders in the mid 2000s, the arrival of Manning from Indianapolis raised Denver to Super Bowl contender status, reaching the big game twice and winning it all in Manning's last season in 2015. Finding a successor to Manning proved difficult, but the pairing of Sean Payton and Bo Nix snapped Denver's playoff drought last season and could lead to a new period of excellent football in the Mile High City.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have been a consistent threat since Bill Parcells rebuilt the foundation of the Cowboys in the early 2000s, but there has been a Divisional Round cap on their postseason success. America's Team is the only squad in the NFC to fail to reach a Conference Championship game since 2000, a run that Jerry Jones is banking on new head coach Brian Schottenheimer breaking this season.
Minnesota Vikings
It feels like the Minnesota Vikings have periods of intermittent success followed by rebuilds, so 10 appearances in the postseason since 2000 is about right. Minnesota has come close to the Super Bowl, losing in the NFC Championship Game three times (2000, 2009, 2017), and the Vikings are hopeful Kevin O'Connell is the right coach to get them back there for the first time since Bud Grant's Purple People Eaters lost four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
New Orleans Saints
The pairing of Sean Payton and Drew Brees led to a football revival in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, leading the Saints to help restore a sense of civic pride by becoming an NFC South powerhouse that brought the Lombardi Trophy to Bourbon Street for the first time in 2009. Things have slowly declined since Brees and Payton left, leaving a mess for the organization to clean up in order to let the good times roll again.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While Jon Gruden took the foundation Tony Dungy built and won the franchise's first Super Bowl in 2003, the modern Tampa Bay Buccaneers have become the team to beat in the NFC South. Tom Brady's arrival brought another Lombardi Trophy and taught Tampa Bay how to win, a model the Buccaneers have followed to lord over their division even with Baker Mayfield succeeding Brady under center.
Los Angeles Rams
There was a period of darkness after the end of the Greatest Show On Turf, but a move back to Los Angeles and the hiring of Sean McVay as head coach revitalized the Rams. The franchise has made the postseason six times since hiring McVay, reaching the Super Bowl twice and becoming the second team to ever win the big game on their home field by topping Cincinnati in Super Bowl LVI.
9 Playoff Appearances: Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals were a dumpster fire before Marvin Lewis arrived and made them a respectable team that occasionally won its division and was a playoff regular. The pairing of Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow has taken the Bengals up a level, reaching the Super Bowl before losing a heartbreaker to the Rams, but Cincinnati will need to fix its defense to build on that success.
Tennessee Titans
After spending the early 2000s as Indianapolis' biggest AFC South rival, the Tennessee Titans became the division's top team under Vrabel, who got the Titans to an AFC Championship Game in 2019 and the conference's top seed in 2020. Ownership meddling led to the end of that run, however, as Titans fans are left to hope that Brian Callahan and Cam Ward can revitalize Tennessee's franchise.
Los Angeles Chargers
A lot of this success dates back to the franchise's San Diego days, when Philip Rivers made the Chargers playoff regulars and reached the AFC Championship Game in 2007. While the move to Los Angeles still doesn't feel quite right, the pairing of head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert offers the Chargers a chance to make a mark in their new home.
New York Giants
The Eli Manning era led to some early success for the New York Giants, who were postseason regulars towards the end of the 2000s and won two Super Bowls over the Patriots. That second title has become a clear dividing line for New York, which has made just two postseason appearances since then and has been a laughingstock for the better part of a decade.
San Francisco 49ers
While the 2000s were something of a wasteland for San Francisco, two smart head coaching hires (Harbaugh and Kyle Shanahan) have helped the 49ers become regular threats in the NFC West. Unfortunately for San Francisco, they have lost three Super Bowls in that span, an unwanted change for a franchise that had gone 5-0 in the big game during the 1980s and 1990s.
8 Playoff Appearances: Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans
Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan was a big key for Atlanta's postseason success, reaching the playoffs six times and taking the Falcons to a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. Blowing that lead has haunted the Falcons, however, who made the playoffs the following year and haven't gone back since.
Houston Texans
The newest NFL franchise, the Houston Texans have made the postseason a respectable eight times, with all eight appearances coming via AFC South titles since 2011. There has been a second weekend ceiling on the Texans. Houston has yet to reach the AFC Championship Game, a run they are hoping to snap behind new franchise quarterback C.J. Stroud.
7 Playoff Appearances: Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers
Buffalo Bills
A long postseason drought from 1999 until 2017 keeps the Buffalo Bills low on this list but they are poised to rise rapidly with reigning MVP Josh Allen under center. The Bills are the new kings of the AFC East, winning five straight division crowns, but are still trying to figure out how to get past the Mahomes/Chiefs road block to get out of the AFC and reach the Super Bowl.
Carolina Panthers
The 2000s were a great time for the Carolina Panthers, who routinely were NFC South title contenders and reached two Super Bowls, one under Jake Delhomme and the other led by Cam Newton. Super Bowl 50 was a turning point for the franchise, which lost as big favorites to the Broncos and have gone to the playoffs just once since then in 2017.
6 Playoff Appearances: Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears
Miami Dolphins
Success has been very sporadic for Miami since Dan Marino retired, with the Dolphins being one of just four teams that hasn't reached a Conference Championship Game since 2000. There appeared to be some hope that the Mike McDaniel regime could be a difference maker with consecutive postseason appearances in 2022 and 2023, but exiting in the first round twice didn't inspire much long-term confidence in Miami's direction.
New York Jets
The foundation that Parcells built here was a successful one in the 2000s as the New York Jets rode it to six postseason appearances between 2001 and 2010. New York hasn't gotten back to the playoffs since the 2010 AFC Championship Game, however, with its 14-season postseason drought the longest active one in the league by 7 years over Carolina and Atlanta.
Washington Commanders
Success has been sporadic for the Washington Commanders, which won the occasional division title under Daniel Snyder's ownership. But the new Josh Harris-ownership group got to the NFC Championship Game last season. Commanders' fans are hoping a more stable ownership dynamic and a franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels can make the playoffs a more regular thing in the nation's capital.
Chicago Bears
Reaching Super Bowl XLI has been the highlight of the past 25 years for the Chicago Bears, which has struggled to contend in the NFC North thanks to an inability to find consistent quarterback play. The Bears are betting that new head coach Ben Johnson can help Caleb Williams be Chicago's long-awaited answer under center.
5 Playoff Appearances: Las Vegas Raiders, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals
Las Vegas Raiders
Trading Jon Gruden away to Tampa Bay proved to be a turning point for the Raiders, which reached a Super Bowl in its first year without Gruden. But the Raiders have made the postseason just twice since 2002. Impatient ownership has been an issue, but with Brady now in the group, there is hope that his winning pedigree can bring more respectability to Las Vegas.
Detroit Lions
Years of dysfunction have left the Detroit Lions very low on this list, but Dan Campbell has brought meaningful change to an organization that has been known as losers for a long time. Detroit has made the playoffs each of the past two years, including an appearance in the NFC Championship Game, raising the bar for what success means for the Lions going forward.
Arizona Cardinals
Another perennial underachiever, the Arizona Cardinals' high watermark came with an aging Kurt Warner under center, who got them within a drive of a championship in Super Bowl XLIII. The Cardinals have made the postseason just three times since 2010 and a promising start to Kyler Murray's career has quickly faded into big questions as to whether he is the guy to take Arizona to the promised land.
4 Playoff Appearances: Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
A string of bad decisions at head coach and quarterback has made sustained success difficult for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The furthest they have gone in the playoffs is the 2017 AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars are hoping that Liam Coen can get the most out of Trevor Lawrence to help Jacksonville maintain a more regular postseason presence.
3 Playoff Appearances: Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
Few NFL teams embody dysfunction better than the Cleveland Browns, which has a league low three postseason appearances since 2000. It appears the Browns finally have the right head coach in Kevin Stefanski but a poorly-placed big bet on Deshaun Watson has helped Cleveland waste a promising core, making the postseason a pipe dream for the near future.