List Of Teams With Postseason Wins More Recently Than Steelers Is Shockingly Long

What do they say about the definition of insanity? Something about repeating the same actions while expecting different results? Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ recent postseason efforts have been the definitely of insanity, even if not by intention.

The pattern is simple: build an insurmountable deficit and then fail to surmount it. Sometimes they kinda-sorta come close, as was the case on Monday when in the fourth quarter they pulled to within seven points of the Buffalo Bills after having trailed 21-0 at one point, going in a 17-3 run. The game ended 31-17.

And their previous postseason game in 2021 ended 42-21. The one the year before that was 48-37. Three years earlier, it was 45-42, though the final score doesn’t properly indicate the competitiveness of the game. And finally, the year before that, it was 36-17.

But at least they won a couple of postseason games that year before losing in the conference finals. That was back in 2016. Seven years have come and gone since then. They have racked up five consecutive postseason defeats, the 15th instance in NFL history, and the first while allowing 28 or more points in each game.

The thing is, a lot of different teams have won a playoff game since then. Like, actually a lot, not exaggeratedly a lot. I’m talking about most of the league. The Steelers have never been in a postseason drought like this in their entire history in the Super Bowl era. Seven years without a win is unprecedented in franchise history.

Not so for many teams that have since had more success than they have. Like, say, the Seattle Seahawks, who did not win a playoff game between 1984 and 2005. They won a playoff game in 2019, though just the one since 2016 (the last time they won).

They are merely one of 23 teams that have won a playoff game in 2017 or later, including the Los Angeles Chargers (2018), the Atlanta Falcons (2017), the New York Giants (2022), the Detroit Lions (2023), the Minnesota Vikings (2019), the Dallas Cowboys (2022), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2022), the Cleveland Browns (2020), and the Indianapolis Colts (2018).

There are just eight NFL franchises remaining that have not won a playoff game since the Steelers last won one. That includes the two contestants in the 2015 Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, who have combined to appear in just one playoff game since then.

Just five teams trace their winless streak to before 2015, including the Washington Commanders (2005), the Las Vegas Raiders (2002), and the Miami Dolphins (2000). Prior to this past weekend, of course, the Detroit Lions had not won a playoff game since 1991. And it was only in 2021 that the Cincinnati Bengals won their first playoff game since 1990.

But that’s the Lions. That’s the Bengals. This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team that is tied for the most Super Bowl wins. The team that up until fairly recently had the most playoff appearances, playoff games, playoff wins. It shouldn’t be like this. There shouldn’t be 23 teams winning playoff games between their last win and their next. That’s not the standard.

*denotes current 2023 playoff teams