They say it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
That certainly can be true in the NFL. The 2007 Giants started 0-2, ended the regular season 10-6, withstood playoff tests by the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers, and somehow took down the undefeated Patriots — allegedly the best single-season team in NFL history — in Super Bowl XLII. Four years later, they had a similar curve — a 9-7 regular season, a wild-card berth that forced them to run through three playoff opponents on the way to the Super Bowl, another overtime win in the NFC Championship Game, and in the end, another win over the Patriots.
Neither of those Giants teams would be considered one of the greatest in NFL history, but they got the job done when it mattered. So did the 1980 Oakland Raiders, 1997 Denver Broncos, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2010 Green Bay Packers and 2017 Philadelphia Eagles — all wild-card teams who went on to win the Super Bowl. None of those teams rank among the worst NFL playoff teams of all time, because they won their ultimate game, no matter how shabby the regular-season results may have looked at times.
But the NFL playoff formats have allowed for some ragged postseason contestants through the years. Here are the worst of the lot since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, considering regular-season performance, point differential, strength of schedule and postseason results.