Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and NFL Teams With The Most Playoff Appearances
Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants Have the Most Playoff Appearances (nflshop.com)
The Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants have made it to the playoffs more than any other NFL Team – 30 times. But the Giants have been around 35 years longer. The Cowboys, in fact, also have the highest percentage of playoff berths when put up against a team’s years of existence.
The Dallas Cowboys joined the NFL in 1960, the same year as the founding of the AFL. The founding teams of the AFL were the Boston [New England] Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, New York Titans [Jets], Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. The Miami Dolphins joined the AFL in 1966, and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968.
Today, two related lists…
The first looks at playoff appearances by team, sorted by most to least. It’s kind of not fair though, comparing, say, the Giants, who have been around for 86 (87 if you include 2011), years, with the Baltimore Ravens, babes at 15 years old (16 with 2011). So, the second list sorts by the percentage of years a team has made the playoffs.
The Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings are the only teams to make the playoffs 50% of their history.
One quick note – add 1 to the “Years Existence” column for all teams to include 2011 (obviously, no one’s made the playoffs yet).
NFL PLAYOFF APPEARANCES BY TEAM
| TEAM | FOUNDED | YEARS EXISTENCE | YEARS PLAYOFFS | PERCENT MADE PLAYOFFS | |
| 1. | Dallas Cowboys | 1960 | 51 | 30 | 58.82% |
| 1. | New York Giants | 1925 | 86 | 30 | 34.88% |
| 3. | Cleveland Browns | 1946 | 65 | 28 | 43.08% |
| 4. | St. Louis Rams (Cleveland/L.A.) | 1937 | 74 | 27 | 36.49% |
| 5. | Green Bay Packers | 1921 | 90 | 26 | 28.89% |
| 5. | Minnesota Vikings | 1961 | 50 | 26 | 52.00% |
| 5. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 1933 | 78 | 26 | 33.33% |
| 8. | Chicago Bears | 1920 | 91 | 25 | 27.47% |
| 9. | Indianapolis Colts (Baltimore) | 1953 | 58 | 24 | 41.38% |
| 10. | Philadelphia Eagles | 1933 | 78 | 23 | 29.49% |
| 10. | San Francisco 49ers | 1946 | 65 | 23 | 35.38% |
| 12. | Miami Dolphins | 1966 | 45 | 22 | 48.89% |
| 12. | Washington Redskins | 1932 | 79 | 22 | 27.85% |
| 14. | Oakland Raiders (L.A.) | 1960 | 51 | 21 | 41.18% |
| 14. | Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers) | 1960 | 51 | 21 | 41.18% |
| 16. | New England Patriots | 1960 | 51 | 18 | 35.29% |
| 17. | Buffalo Bills | 1960 | 51 | 17 | 33.33% |
| 17. | Denver Broncos | 1960 | 51 | 17 | 33.33% |
| 17. | San Diego Chargers | 1960 | 51 | 17 | 33.33% |
| 20. | Kansas City Chiefs | 1960 | 51 | 16 | 31.37% |
| 21. | Detroit Lions | 1930 | 81 | 14 | 17.28% |
| 21. | New York Jets | 1960 | 51 | 14 | 27.45% |
| 23. | Seattle Seahawks | 1976 | 35 | 11 | 31.43% |
| 24. | Atlanta Falcons | 1966 | 45 | 10 | 22.22% |
| 24. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1976 | 35 | 10 | 28.57% |
| 26. | Cincinnati Bengals | 1968 | 43 | 9 | 20.93% |
| 27. | Arizona Cardinals (Chicago/St. Louis) | 1920 | 91 | 8 | 8.79% |
| 27. | New Orleans Saints | 1967 | 44 | 8 | 18.18% |
| 29. | Baltimore Ravens | 1996 | 15 | 7 | 46.67% |
| 30. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1995 | 16 | 6 | 37.50% |
| 31. | Carolina Panthers | 1995 | 16 | 4 | 25.00% |
| 32. | Houston Texans | 2002 | 9 | 0 | 0.00% |
PERCENTAGE OF TEAM’S YEARS IN POSTSEASON
| TEAM | PERCENT MADE PLAYOFFS | |
| 1. | Dallas Cowboys | 58.82% |
| 2. | Minnesota Vikings | 52.00% |
| 3. | Miami Dolphins | 48.89% |
| 4. | Baltimore Ravens | 46.67% |
| 5. | Cleveland Browns | 43.08% |
| 6. | Indianapolis Colts (Baltimore) | 41.38% |
| 7. | Oakland Raiders (L.A.) | 41.18% |
| 7. | Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers) | 41.18% |
| 9. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 37.50% |
| 10. | St. Louis Rams (Cleveland/L.A.) | 36.49% |
| 11. | San Francisco 49ers | 35.38% |
| 12. | New England Patriots | 35.29% |
| 13. | New York Giants | 34.88% |
| 14. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 33.33% |
| 14. | Buffalo Bills | 33.33% |
| 14. | Denver Broncos | 33.33% |
| 14. | San Diego Chargers | 33.33% |
| 18. | Seattle Seahawks | 31.43% |
| 19. | Kansas City Chiefs | 31.37% |
| 20. | Philadelphia Eagles | 29.49% |
| 21. | Green Bay Packers | 28.89% |
| 22. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 28.57% |
| 23. | Washington Redskins | 27.85% |
| 24. | Chicago Bears | 27.47% |
| 25. | New York Jets | 27.45% |
| 26. | Carolina Panthers | 25.00% |
| 37. | Atlanta Falcons | 22.22% |
| 28. | Cincinnati Bengals | 20.93% |
| 29. | New Orleans Saints | 18.18% |
| 30. | Detroit Lions | 17.28% |
| 31. | Arizona Cardinals (Chicago/St. Louis) | 8.79% |
| 32. | Houston Texans | 0.00% |
Posted on October 3, 2011, in NFL and tagged appearances, cowboys, football, giants, List, most, nfl, Playoff, teams. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
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