After another season without making the postseason, the Jets own the NFL’s longest active playoff drought.
The Browns previously owned the longest playoff drought at 18 years, but they officially clinched their spot in this year’s playoffs with a win over the Steelers on Sunday. Now the Jets have taken the lead with 10 years of not making the postseason.
The last time the Jets made it past Week 17 was in 2010, when Rex Ryan was the head coach. They made the AFC Championship game and lost for the second consecutive year.
This is the second-longest playoff drought in Jets franchise history. New York had an 11-year playoff drought from 1970 to 1980 before finally making the postseason in 1981.
In the last 10 years, the Jets have had one winning season. That came in Todd Bowles’ first season as head coach in 2015, when the Jets finished 10-6. However, they failed to make the playoffs that season after losing to Ryan’s Bills in the season finale.
New York will enter the 2021 season coming off its second-worst record in franchise history at 2-14. Only Rich Kotite’s 1996 Jets had a worse record than the 2020 Jets under Adam Gase.
Unless the Jets have a major turnaround next season, their playoff drought could tie for the longest in team history.