The 7 Worst Teams To Make The NFL Playoffs And How Each Fared

The 2025 NFL Playoff field is set following the conclusion of Week 18. One team will have an opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl title despite having a losing record.

The Carolina Panthers went 8-9 during the regular season to secure an NFC South championship. That first-place standing provided an automatic bid to the postseason.

In doing so, they become the seventh team in the league’s history to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 mark.

NFL teams that made the playoffs with losing records

Here, we’ll list every team that earned a postseason spot despite having less wins than losses. We’ll also take a look at how they fared. Here’s a hint: Nobody on this list won a Super Bowl.

Let’s start with the first instance in 1982 when two NFL teams made the playoffs with losing records.

Cleveland Browns (1982)

The 1982 NFL season was cut short due to a players’ strike. The 16-game schedule was reduced to just nine contests. As a result, the league changed its postseason setup.

The field was expanded from 10 to 16. Divisions were eliminated. The top eight teams from each conference were seeded from 1-8.

Despite being outscored by 42 points in the regular season and finishing third amongst AFC Central teams, the Cleveland Browns earned the eighth and final seed in the AFC with a 4-5 record.

Their playoff run wouldn’t last long as they were eliminated in their postseason opener by the Raiders.

Detroit Lions (1982)

Like the Browns mentioned before them, the 1982 Detroit Lions were the beneficiary of the adjusted NFL Playoff setup. They, too, finished the regular season at 4-5 to earn the final spot in the NFC.

Detroit finished fourth amongst NFC Central teams, which didn’t matter given the elimination of divisions for postseason selection.

The Lions did not make it past the opening wildcard round after making the field. They were beaten soundly by Washington, 31-7.

Seattle Seahawks (2010)

The Seahawks share the title of worst NFL team to make the playoffs, at least by record. Seattle finished 7-9 in the 2010 campaign but somehow won the NFC West.

The division was as bad as they come in that particular season with everyone finishing below .500. Seattle earned a tiebreaker over the Rams to get the nod with the teams boasting identical regular season marks.

Despite only having seven wins, the Seahawks were awarded the No. 4 seed due to the divisional crown. They faced and beat the fifth-seeded Saints to become the first team with a losing record to win a playoff game.

Seattle would fall in Game 2 to the Bears, ending their postseason run.

Carolina Panthers (2014)

Carolina finished 7-8-1 in the 2014 season to win the NFC South. A Week 6 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals allowed the Panthers to finish a half-game above the second-place Saints.

The team’s playoff chances appeared slim in the month leading up to the regular season finale. Carolina was 3-8-1 before ending the year on a four-game winning streak to leapfrog New Orleans at the top of the standings.

The streak would run to five games with a playoff win over Cardinals in their postseason opener. It came to an end in the next matchup as the Panthers fell to Seattle, 31-17.

Washington Commanders (2020)

Washington is the second franchise in a two-way tie for worst playoff team record due to a 7-9 campaign in 2020. The Commanders, then called the Washington Football Team, won the NFC East despite the output.

The squad dropped five of their first six contests, and seven of their first nine, before getting hot late. Washington used a four-game winning streak on the back half of the schedule to finish with five victories in their final seven matchups.

The late season run pushed the Commanders past the Giants and Cowboys, both of which finished at 6-10. Unfortunately, the magic didn’t continue into the postseason.

Washington dropped its first-round playoff game to the Bucs, 31-23.

Tampa Bay Bucs (2022)

The Buccaneers went 8-9 in 2022 to become the first sub-.500 NFL Playoff team of the 17-game era. The league switched from the 16-game regular season format the year prior.

A loss in the season finale to the Atlanta Falcons sank Tampa below that threshold. Had the switch not been made, the season might’ve ended at 8-8, and they could’ve avoided making this list altogether.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. In the end, it didn’t matter. The Bucs won the NFC South despite the losing record, as every other team in the division finished at 7-10.

In doing so, they secured the No. 4 seed in the bracket. Their postseason stay lasted just one game as they were quickly ousted by the Dallas Cowboys with a 31-14 thrashing.

Carolina Panthers (2025)

The Panthers became the first franchise to make this list twice thanks to an 8-9 output in 2025. This year’s NFC South was as competitive as they come with three teams finishing in a first-place tie.

Each had identical 3-3 divisional records. Carolina won the tiebreaker due to head-to-head records.

The Panthers lost three of their final four regular season games. That didn’t prevent them from making the postseason.

Their fate has yet to be decided with a first-round matchup against the Rams looming. Given the history of failure from previous teams in this situation, the odds of winning a title aren’t great.

Squads entering the NFL Playoffs with losing records are a combined 2-6 in the postseason. None have advanced to the Championship Round, let alone the Super Bowl.

Carolina looks to buck the trend and make an unprecedented run in 2025.