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Ranking NFL teams by how often they have made the playoffs during their existences


pf9

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There are many sources which lists the number of playoff appearances for each NFL team, ranked from most to least.

But I'm going to look at it from a different angle. I've measured how often each team has been in the playoffs, during their own existences, dividing the number of playoff appearances by each team by how many seasons each team has been in the NFL. This is what I found out:

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So, while the Packers have 34 physical playoff appearances, they don't have the most appearances relative to how long they have been in the league. They only rank 16th in that category.

Similarly, the Texans, the team with the fewest playoff appearances, have had more success relative to how long they've been around than 14 other teams.

So, using this algorithm, the Cowboys are the most successful NFL team relative to how long they have been in existence, making the playoffs in 54.1% of the seasons they played (33 out of 61). The only other team above 50% in this category is the Baltimore Ravens, who have made the playoffs 13 teams but missing only 12.

The least successful team relative to how long they have been in the NFL is the Cardinals franchise - 10 playoff appearances out of 101 seasons. But in one of those seasons, they won the 1947 championship.

Now I know the playoffs have only been around since 1933. I will work on a separate chart regarding that.

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Ugh, lol.

Even though we had some decent seasons in the 70's, I don't want anything pre- new stadium/new logo to be counted cause it would be nice if that really didn't exist (except for our '98 playoff win and our Championship in '47).

Terrible really on a grand scheme.  Stupid parents, why did you have to move to Flagstaff when I was a little kid!

 

*Shakes fist at the sky*  Although my dad is a Cowboys fan...so I guess I can't be too upset if that was the alternate timeline.  I guess I really had no chance after all.

Edited by Zalixar
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This isn’t really fair though. There were no playoffs until the mid-30s, so Green Bay won championships in some of the years you don’t give them credit for making the playoffs—yet you are counting those seasons in their total seasons. Until the mid-60s, only 2 teams made the playoffs. You can only really compare from around the time of the AFL-NFL merger.

Edited by TheEagle
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If this chart was year 2001, the Dolphins would be something like 21 postseasons in 35 seasons of existence which is an incredibly awesome 60%.

Unfortunately, 2002-2020 happened, so 41% it is. 

Buccaneers are very low on percentage but still ridin' high with two Super Bowl wins. 

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7 hours ago, INbengalfan said:

Wait.  Baltimore should have the "old Browns" attached to them as they relocated.  The "New Browns" should be the ones that have 25 seasons.  they were the expansion team.

They forfeited the history and branding when they relocated. In an official sense, the Browns were temporarily deactivated, and the Ravens were a new franchise entirely.

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16 hours ago, TheEagle said:

This isn’t really fair though. There were no playoffs until the mid-30s, so Green Bay won championships in some of the years you don’t give them credit for making the playoffs—yet you are counting those seasons in their total seasons. Until the mid-60s, only 2 teams made the playoffs. You can only really compare from around the time of the AFL-NFL merger.

I made a separate chart excluding those seasons for the 7 (or 6, depending on source) teams that predate the playoffs.

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Also note that I made two different entries for the Colts franchise - one which includes the line of franchises starting with the Dayton Triangles and ending with the Dallas Texans as part of the Colts history, and one that does not include it. The NFL's official stance is that the Colts began in 1953, but I don't agree with that.

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35 minutes ago, Jakuvious said:

They forfeited the history and branding when they relocated. In an official sense, the Browns were temporarily deactivated, and the Ravens were a new franchise entirely.

I'd forgotten that.  It's been a quarter decade, and I believe that's the only time a team relocated and "left" the history behind

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