When Was the Last Time the New York Jets Made the NFL Playoffs?

Key Takeaways The New York Jets haven’t made the NFL Playoffs in 13 years, which is tied for the longest current postseason drought in North American sports.
Gang Green made the postseason six times from 2001 to 2010, marking one of the most successful periods in franchise history.
The last time the Jets made the playoffs, they reached the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive season.
With 13 NFL seasons in the books since the New York Jets last made the playoffs, Gang Green is tied for the longest current playoff drought of any team in the four major North American pro sports. Only the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres have gone as long as the Jets without making the postseason.
While the Jets are often the butt of the joke on the back pages of the New York City tabloids, the truth is that they’ve been a fairly successful pro football franchise over the years. The team made 14 playoff appearances in its first 52 years of existence and has won a Super Bowl , which is not something all NFL franchises can say.
The current 13-season streak away from the postseason isn’t just the longest active streak in pro football, but it’s also the longest such run in franchise history. The Jets have had 11-year, eight-year, and six-year dry spells through the years, but they’ve never gotten to this point before.
What is to blame for these 13 years of futility? Well, there isn’t just one problem. It’s a multitude of problems that add up to zero playoff games in these seasons. It starts with owner Woody Johnson, who went long stretches without being involved, and that might actually be preferable to him being more involved.
The general managers have struggled to pick the right players during this time (see Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson ) and the coaching — from late-stage Rex Ryan to Todd Bowles to Adam Gase to Robert Saleh — has been shaky at best. Mostly, though, quarterbacks like Geno Smith , Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Darnold, and Wilson just haven’t been able to get it done.
In 2024, the Jets are all in on four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to finally lead them back to the postseason, but until we know whether that will happen or not, let’s act like true Jets fans and look back wistfully at the last playoff season a long, long, time ago.
Related 5 Players You Forgot Suited Up for the New York Jets Most remember Brett Favre suiting up for Gang Green, but here are five other stars you may have forgotten who played for the New York Jets.
The New York Jets Haven’t Made the NFL Playoffs Since 2010
Gang Green made six postseason appearances from 2001 to 2010
Jerry Lai-Imagn Images
The 2010 Jets season wasn’t just a standalone playoff appearance. It was the culmination of a decade-long run that was, overall, arguably the most successful period in team history. Gang Green made six playoff runs from 2001 to 2010 and made the AFC Championship Game twice.
Even in the late 1960s, when the Jets made their lone Super Bowl appearance, they only made the playoffs twice, with their eight and 11-year droughts on either side.
The first part of the 2000s, though, was excellent for the Jets. They went to the postseason three times with “You play to win the game!” Herm Edwards, once with the “Man-Genius,” Eric Mangini, and twice with defensive guru and all-around wild man Rex Ryan.
The biggest problem over these years is that the Jets were cursed to play not just in the same league or conference as the dynastic New England Patriots , but in the same division.
Still, it was a solid run for Gang Green, and the last time the Jets made the playoffs may have been the best team of that bunch.
The 2010 Jets Playoff Season
The Jets reached their second straight AFC title game the last time they made the playoffs
Andrew Weber-Imagn Images
In 2010, Rex Ryan was entering his second season as head coach and the team was coming off of an unexpected run to the AFC Championship Game the season before. The team ultimately fell short that season, though, losing 30-17 to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts .
As Ryan and the Jets geared up for the next season, the team brought in some help for its current crop of stars that included, on offense, quarterback Mark Sanchez, running back Shonn Greene, tight end Dustin Keller, and wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards. On defense, New York featured linebacker Bart Scott, defensive lineman Shaun Ellis, and cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie.
The Jets weren’t content to stick with this group, though. They also added some big-name free agents for the 2010 run, including two future Hall of Famers in RB LaDainian Tomlinson and OLB Jason Taylor.
Despite all the big names, the season got off to a rocky start for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, as the team fell to the Baltimore Ravens 10-9 on Monday Night Football in Week 1.
However, the veteran-laden group came together after the hard-fought loss and won the next five games in a row, which included victories over all three of their AFC East foes: the Patriots, Miami Dolphins , and Buffalo Bills .
An ugly 9-0 loss to the Green Bay Packers followed the Jets’ Week 7 bye, but the team once again rallied, winning the next four straight. These four victories included back-to-back overtime wins over the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns .
At 9-2, the Jets were looking good to make the playoffs and maybe even win the division, something they hadn’t done since 2002. However, the team struggled down the stretch, going 2-3, which put them at 11-5 on the season and giving them the No. 6 seed on the AFC side of the playoff bracket.
That No. 6 seed gave the Jets a first-round matchup with the Colts, the team that, as mentioned, had cost them a trip to the Super Bowl the year before. This game was different, though, and the Jets slid by with an exciting 17-16 victory. In the Divisional Round, Gang Green exercised even more demons, beating Brady and the Patriots by a score of 28-21.
One step away from the Super Bowl, the Jets were confident, but ultimately, Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers were just a better team. The AFC North squad beat the Jets 24-19 and would move on to lose in the Super Bowl to the Packers.
New York went 8-8 the following year and has only reached double-digit wins in the last 13 years, going 10-6 in 2015. As they finished seventh in the AFC that year, they would’ve gotten into the postseason under the current format, but as only six from each conference got in at that time, they were on the outside looking in, as they lost the tiebreaker to the Steelers, who had the same 10-6 record.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.