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Which team holds the title for the longest NFL playoff streak? With only 14 teams that make it each season, making the playoffs in the NFL is supposed to be difficult.
Yet, the most successful NFL playoff teams make it look easy.
What is the longest NFL playoff streak?
To hold the title for most consecutive postseason appearances, a team must be able to work with what they have and constantly adjust.
With the number of players on a roster, the salary cap, and injuries, making it to the playoffs often involves a strong core while finding new pieces to plug in each year.
Here are the 10 teams with the most consecutive postseason appearances, including the team with the longest NFL playoff streak in history.
10. 49ers: 1992-1998 (7 consecutive seasons)
Steve Young and Jerry Rice helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to seven straight postseason appearances in the 1990s.
The 49ers took the division five times during the streak, four of them consecutively. They won one Super Bowl trophy during the run, winning it all in 1995.
9. Chiefs: 2015-present (7 consecutive seasons)
The Chiefs are ahead of the 49ers on this list because it doesn’t look like their streak will end anytime soon. With Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, the Chiefs could be the next team to break the record for the longest NFL playoff streak.
Kansas City has won the division every year since 2016. They have made it to the Super Bowl the previous two seasons and were crowned champions in 2020.
The Chiefs have a chance for another Super Bowl this season, which would put them as one of the most successful NFL playoff teams ever.
8. Rams: 1973-1980 (8 consecutive seasons)
Although the only team on this list not to win a Super Bowl trophy during their streak, the Rams will be remembered for all their playoff runs in the 1970s.
Los Angeles won seven straight division titles during the streak and had six playoff wins. They made the Super Bowl once in 1980, where they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19.
7. Packers: 2009-2016 (8 consecutive seasons)
Aaron Rodgers helped bring the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs eight consecutive seasons from 2009 to 2016. In that span, the Packers won five division titles, including four in a row.
Green Bay won nine playoff games during the streak and defeated the Steelers 31-25 in the 2011 Super Bowl. Rodgers took home Super Bowl MVP, and the following season won league MVP for the first time.
6. Cowboys: 1966-1973 (8 consecutive seasons)
Like the Packers, the Cowboys also won one Super Bowl during their eight-year playoff streak. After finishing the 1971-72 season 11-3, Roger Staubach and the Cowboys would win three straight playoff games, capping it off with a 24-3 win over the Dolphins in the Super Bowl.
During the Cowboys eight-year run, they captured the division six times to go along with eight playoff victories. They finished with 10+ wins for seven of the eight seasons.
5. 49ers: 1983-1990 (8 consecutive seasons)
The San Francisco 49ers make it twice on the longest NFL playoff streak list, having an eight-year streak in the 1980s prior to their seven-year run in the 1990s.
Joe Montana and Jerry Rice led the way to seven division titles and three Super Bowl victories during the streak. Included in the three were back-to-back wins in Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV.
The 49ers never had a season under 10 wins during the run and finished the regular season with 14 or more wins three times.
4. Steelers: 1972-79 (8 consecutive seasons)
Although not the longest NFL playoff streak, the Steelers in the 1970s are probably one of the most successful NFL playoff teams in history.
Pittsburgh would go on to win four Super Bowls during the eight-year run, which is the most of any team on this list. They would win back-to-back Super Bowls in 1975 and 1976 and would go back-to-back again in 1979 and 1980.
During the run, the Steelers captured the division seven times and had an incredible 14 playoff wins.
3. Cowboys: 1975-1983 (9 consecutive seasons)
Nine consecutive playoff seasons for the Dallas Cowboys puts them in a class where only a few have ever been. They are one of only three teams to have at least nine straight playoff appearances.
What might be the most shocking part of their streak is that they only won the division five times. They also just have one Super Bowl trophy during the run, winning in 1978.
Dallas would go on to win 12 games in the regular season five separate times and make it to the Super Bowl three times.
2. Colts: 2002-2010 (9 consecutive seasons)
Peyton Manning and the Colts’ nine consecutive playoff appearances is tied for the second-longest NFL playoff streak all-time.
Manning was the best player in football for the majority of this run, winning the MVP four times. He was also named Super Bowl MVP when the Colts won it all in 2007.
Indianapolis had seven straight seasons of 12 wins or more during the streak and won the division seven times as well.
1. Patriots: 2009-2019 (11 consecutive seasons)
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots hold the record for the longest NFL playoff streak of all time. Their 11 straight playoff appearances are two more than any other team in NFL history.
The Patriots made it to the Super Bowl five times during the run and won in 2015, 2017, and 2019. New England would finish with 12 or more wins nine times during the streak and won the division all 11 years.
With a playoff streak lasting over a decade, the New England Patriots top the list and hold the title for the longest NFL playoff streak in history.
