Which NFL team is on longest drought without a Conference Championship Game
With Dak Prescott and the Cowboys going yet another year without a Conference Championship appearance, the drought continues but it’s not the longest.
The 2024 NFL playoffs are now down to the two Conference Championship games, meaning that we will soon know who will contest this year’s Super Bowl. Yet, there are a few teams who will be looking on in frustration as one more year passes in which they were unable to bring an end to a long running absence from the postseason games that matter most. Let’s take a look at who they are.
Dallas did it again...or didn’t depending on how you look at it
If you missed it, the second-seeded Dallas Cowboys lost their NFL playoff opening round game 48-32 against the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers last week Monday. The defeat brought to an end a 16-game home winning streak at AT&T Stadium and with it the Cowboys’ season as well. Needless to say, the mood in the locker room post-game was less than celebratory. What’s worse is that it extended the Cowboys’ streak of absences from the Conference Championship Game to 28 years, something we imagine will spark changes this offseason as Jerry Jones and Co. look to right whatever is obviously going wrong. Yet, believe it or not the Cowboys aren’t the team with the longest active streak of missing the postseason’s penultimate game.
The Cleveland Browns have the ‘honor’
That’s right. The Cleveland Browns are the team with the longest currently active NFL Conference Championship drought. To that end, the Browns haven’t made a trip to the conference’s biggest game since 1990 which is 34 years to be precise.
If you’re wondering who sits right behind them, that would be the Washington Football Team who hasn’t made a Conference Championship game appearance in 32 years. Interestingly, the team that was right behind the Commanders, the Detroit Lions, just brought an end to their 31-year-old drought by defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in the Divisional Round. If we’re honest the Lions were always a sure bet to end their streak after taking the NFC North title with a 12-5 record on the season. Of course, many probably said the same about the Cowboys who clinched the NFC East title with a similarly impressive record of 12-5, but here we are. The Miami Dolphins are the team that rounds out what would have been the top 5 - the Lions have now excused themselves - and they will continue to do so for another year after losing their Wild Card Round game 26-7 against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Dolphins haven’t made a Conference Championship Game appearance since 1993, some 31 years ago.
What team has the longest all-time NFL Conference Championship drought?
That dubious honor belongs to the Arizona Cardinals who went 38 years without making a Conference Championship game appearance between 1970 and 2008