When Dan Marino retired, the Miami Dolphins had a rude awakening and realized how much harder it would be to win a playoff game. Despite never having won a Super Bowl, Marino was a playoff machine who advanced to the postseason in ten of his seventeen seasons in the league.
The only postseason victory the Dolphins have experienced since the Hall of Fame quarterback’s retirement came against the Indianapolis Colts in overtime in 2000. Since since, all five of those postseason trips have ended in first-round eliminations. Under head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, two of the team’s five playoff appearances have occurred in back-to-back seasons.
The Dolphins have joined a select group of teams who haven’t prevailed in a postseason match for the previous 15 years. Only the Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, and Washington Commanders meet the requirements out of the 32 NFL franchises.
The latest postseason victory for the Commanders came in 2005 when they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-10. After defeating the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, the Raiders made their final playoff appearance in 2002 and went on to the Super Bowl. With the Dolphins having to wait 24 years for a postseason victory, Miami has the longest playoff drought.
The Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns, and Dallas Cowboys have all emerged victorious from Wild Card games in the league. A Divisional Round match, conference title, or Super Bowl have been won by the 25 teams who are still in the running. The Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots are the only two teams that have won multiple Super Bowls in the previous fifteen years.