BroBible
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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...
