Miami Dolphins tied for longest Championship game drought

It has been 32 seasons (and counting) since the Miami Dolphins last made the AFC Championship game.

With the Washington Commanders advancing to the NFC Championship game this past weekend, the Miami Dolphins find themselves in a dubious position. It has been 32 seasons since this once storied franchise has made the AFC Championship game — now tied with only the Cleveland Browns for the longest such drought in the entire National Football League.

Now, technically the Browns’ last appearance in the AFC Championship game was on January 14th, 1990 when they lost 37-21 to John Elway and the Denver Broncos, while Miami’s last AFC title game was on January 17th, 1993 in a loss to Jim Kelly’s Buffalo Bills, however, since the Cleveland Browns were an inactive franchise during the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons, those don’t count towards the number of seasons in between AFC Championship game appearances.

In addition to the 32 seasons since the Dolphins last had an opportunity to play for a chance at a Super Bowl berth, Miami continues their playoff winless streak — with their last postseason victory coming on December 30th, 2000 in an overtime contest against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. It is the longest such streak in the NFL.

While the rest of the league has enjoyed a degree of parity when it comes to playoff victories and Conference Championship game appearances, the Miami Dolphins remain atop both lists every time league broadcasts speak on such matters — which is incredibly fun for us fans sitting at home.

Let’s see if Chris Grier, Mike McDaniel and company can somehow break these unfortunate streaks as we head into the 2025 offseason — or if another regime will be given a chance to bring the South Florida franchise back to prominence.