Longest playoff droughts in North American sports: NFL’s Jets top list after NBA’s Kings clinch playoff berth

The New York Jets were granted an ignominious honor on Wednesday, and they didn’t even have to lift a finger to earn it.

The honor was bestowed upon the Jets after a win by the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis helped the Kings maul the Trail Blazers in a 120-80 victory.

The win allowed the Kings to clinch an NBA playoff berth for the first time in 16 years. That snapped the longest active playoff drought among teams competing in the four major North American sports leagues.

Now, the Jets are the team that has gone the longest without making it into the postseason.

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New York last made the playoffs in 2011, after a 2010 season that saw the team go 11-5 and earn a wild-card berth. The Rex Ryan-coached club went on to beat the Peyton Manning-led Colts and Tom Brady-led Patriots en route to an AFC championship game clash with Ben Roethlisberger’s Steelers.

Ultimately, the Jets’ Cinderella run ended there despite Mark Sanchez (233 yards and two touchdowns) outplaying Roethlisberger (133 yards and two interceptions). Pittsburgh would go on to win the Super Bowl while the Jets attempted to regroup.

However, Ryan never recaptured the magic of his first two seasons with the Jets, and he didn’t post another winning season in his time in New York. In fact, the Jets have had just one winning season since their last playoff appearance, their 10-6 campaign in Todd Bowles’ first season as coach.

Bowles peaked in his first season while the Adam Gase era proved to be an abject disaster. Robert Saleh appears to have the Jets on the right track after two seasons, but he will need to get the team its first winning record since 2015 to avoid the hot seat. That should be doable, especially if the team trades for Aaron Rodgers, as expected.

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Longest active playoff droughts in North American sports

The Jets’ 12-season streak of postseason misses is the worst among the four major North American sports, but they may not be alone for long. The NHL’s Sabres have missed the postseason 11 consecutive times and are in danger of doing so again, barring a late wild-card push.

Below are some of the other teams with the longest playoff droughts.

The encouraging news for the Jets is that the Mariners and Kings have snapped their postseason-less streaks within the calendar year. So, the end to New York’s slump could soon be coming, especially with a four-time MVP en route to play quarterback.

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