How many NFL teams started 5-0 and missed playoffs? Revisiting history as Chiefs, Vikings get off to hot start

There were just two teams left standing with a perfect 5-0 record and leading their respective conference's playoffs race, the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs, at the end of Week 5 of the 2024 NFL season. They are currently the top seeds in the NFC and AFC respectively and most observers expect them to make it to the postseason easily.

However, not every team that has got off to a 5-0 start has made it to the playoffs. Going back to 1990, when the NFL expanded the postseason to 12 teams, there have been six instances where the franchises later imploded.

Here is a list of each of their seasons and how they missed out on a certain berth after the regular season.

NFL teams to start 5-0 and miss playoffs

#1. 1993 New Orleans Saints (Final record 8-8)

The first team to accomplish this ignominious feat was the New Orleans Saints in 1993. They had finished the previous year with a 12-4 record and were regular contenders in the playoffs in the seasons preceding this collapse. They jumped to a 5-0 start before going into their first bye week.

They then lost to the Steelers and Falcons in consecutive games but looked to have stopped the bleeding with a win against the Cardinals. They entered the second bye week with a 6-2 record but would only win two more games afterward and finish with an 8-8 record. The Packers and Vikings, who had 9-7 records to end the season, pipped the Saints to the final playoff spots.

#2. 2003 Minnesota Vikings (Final record 9-7)

Vikings fans who are celebrating their team going 5-0 this year might want to forget about how their 2003 season went. They went 6-0 to begin the season before losing four straight to the Giants, Packers, Chargers and Raiders. That had them at a 6-4 record. After winning alternate weeks in the final six games, they finished with a 9-7 record.

That was good enough to be one game behind the divisional champions, the Packers. However, the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys took the final Wild Card spots with a 10-6 record and Minnesota missed out on the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

#3. 2009 New York Giants (Final record 8-8)

The New York Giants began the 2009 season with a 5-0 record but endured a spectacular implosion thereafter. They lost the next four games to finish with a 5-4 record before the bye week. Their fans' hopes were raised that a corner had been turned after they won in overtime against the Falcons following the break. But four losses in their final six games meant that they ended with an 8-8 record.

They were pipped to the second spot in the NFC East by the Philadelphia Eagles, who ended the season with an 11-5 record. The Packers had an identical record and took the other Wild Card spot.

#4. 2009 Denver Broncos (Final record 8-8)

Much like the situation this year with the Chiefs and Vikings, there was one team each in the AFC and the NFC with a 5-0 record. That season it was the Giants and Denver Broncos.

Denver's collapse was even worse than what they witnessed in New York. They had begun with a 6-0 record and went into their bye week undefeated. However, over the next 10 games they lost eight, winning against the equally hapless Giants and then the Chiefs in consecutive weeks.

They finished with an 8-8 record. It was good enough for second spot in the AFC West. However, the Ravens and the Jets posted a 9-7 in their final win-loss column to end the regular season and took the Wild Card places in the AFC playoffs bracket.

#5. 2015 Atlanta Falcons (Final record 8-8)

The Atlanta Falcons began their first season under head coach Dan Quinn by winning the first five games. The Saints defeated them in Week 6 to ruin their perfect record before the Buccaneers and the 49ers also inflicted defeats on them prior to their bye week. With a 6-4 record, they still had a chance to salvage the year but lost four of their final six games to finish 8-8.

One notable victory was in the penultimate week when they won against the Carolina Panthers, who were 14-0 at that point and targeting an undefeated season. The Falcons finished second behind them in the NFC South but that was not enough to make the playoffs. The Packers and the Seahawks had 10-6 records and went into the postseason as the Wild Card teams.

#6. 2016 Minnesota Vikings (Final record 8-8)

The Vikings are the last team to miss the playoffs despite beginning a season with a 5-0 record. In 2016, they jumped to an undefeated start before entering their bye in Week 6. That seemed to sap all the momentum out of them as they would only win three more games after the break and lose eight.

Minnesota's 8-8 record was good for third place in the NFC North. The Lions pipped them to the second spot in the division with a 9-7 record, which was also enough for a Wild Card spot for them along with an 11-5 New York Giants, who finished second in the NFC East.

Therefore, even though the playoffs might be in sight for both the Vikings and the Chiefs in 2024, history could repeat itself and one of them might miss out. If it rhymes with 2009, both could.