In the divisional playoffs, the Falcons defeated the St. Louis Rams 47 – 17 in the Georgia Dome, advancing to the NFC Championship, which they lost to the Eagles 27 – 10.

Although they failed to make the playoffs in 2009, the streak ended when the team rallied to win their final three regular season games to record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history.

As a result, they were out of the playoffs.

Those against the Wild Card see it as diminishing the importance of the pennant race and the regular season, with the true race often being for second rather than first place, while those in favor of it view it as an opportunity for teams to have a shot at the playoffs even when they have no chance of a first-place finish in their division, thus maintaining fan interest later in the season.

In the playoffs, they easily defeated the Cowboys in the wild-card round before facing the St. Louis Rams in the divisional round.

The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons ( 1966 – 85 ), in which they only missed the playoffs twice ( 1974 and 1984 ), an NFL record that remains unchallenged.

Star receiver Michael Irvin was suspended by the league for the first five games of 1996 following a drug-related arrest ; he came back after the Cowboys started the season 2-3 ; they finished 10-6 and won the NFC East title, but were eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs 26-17 by the second-year Carolina Panthers.

In 1930, the Cougars were renamed the Falcons, but their woes continued, as they usually finished near the bottom of the standings, even though they made the playoffs again in 1932.

The following season Yzerman scored 62 goals, but the team missed the playoffs ( which as of 2012 is the most recent time they did so ).

New coach Bryan Murray was unable to get them back over. 500, but they returned to the playoffs.

The Wings cruised to the playoffs, where they faced the Nashville Predators.

In the second round, they fell behind the San Jose Sharks three games to one, before being knocked out of the playoffs in five games.

Torborg's successor, 72-year-old Jack McKeon, improbably led them to the National League's wild card berth in the playoffs ; they defeated the New York Yankees four games to two in the 2003 World Series.

The two teams met twice a year ( interrupted in 1982 by a player strike ) 1970 – 2001 ; with the move of the Colts to the AFC South the two teams ' rivalry actually escalated, as they met three times in the playoffs in the South's first nine seasons of existence ; the Jets crushed the Colts 41 – 0 in the 2002 Wild Card playoff round ; the Colts then defeated the Jets 30 – 17 in the 2009 AFC Championship Game ; but the next year in the Wild Card round the Jets pulled off another playoff upset of the Colts, winning 17 – 16 ; it was Peyton Manning's final playoff game with the Colts.

In 1977 Baltimore tied for first for the third straight year ( in 1976 they tied with the now-New England Patriots ) with Miami, and this time advanced to the playoffs on even slimmer pretenses, with a conference record of 9 – 3 compared to Miami's 8 – 4, as they had split the season series.

Since then they have appeared in the playoffs in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011.

Following a 2006 season in which they missed the playoffs, Lamar Hunt sold the club in August 2006 to OnGoal, LLC, a six-man ownership group led by Cerner Corporation co-founders Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, a local group committed to keeping the Wizards in Kansas City.

By the turn of 1992 they were top of the Second Division, and then suffered a dip in form before recovering to qualify for the playoffs, during which Dalglish led Blackburn into the new Premier League by beating Leicester City 1 – 0 in the Second Division Play-off final at Wembley.

Since the merger, they have made the playoffs 24 times, third most in the league.

In the playoffs they built on their cold weather reputation, defeating both the St. Louis Cardinals 30 – 14 and the Los Angeles Rams 14 – 10 in frozen Metropolitan Stadium.

By, age was taking its toll on the Vikings, but they still made the playoffs with an 8 – 7 – 1 record.

In 1985, they returned to the playoffs, and made it all the way to Super Bowl XX, which they lost to the Chicago Bears 46 – 10.

The Falcons have qualified for the playoffs three times ( 2008, 2010 and 2011 ) during this period, but lost all three in the first round

In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Falcons made the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 30 – 24.

It was closed on Sunday, January 20, 2002, a day after the Bears lost in the playoffs.

The Bengals lost to the Oakland Raiders 31 – 28 in the divisional playoffs.

After defeating the wild-card Boston Red Sox 3-1 in the Division Series, Cleveland lost the 1998 ALCS in six games to the New York Yankees, who had come into the playoffs with a then-AL record 114 wins in the regular season.

The Wings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Bruins.

Following the championship, the Colts returned to the playoffs in 1971 and defeated the Cleveland Browns in the first round, but lost to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Wizards lost to the last-seeded Colorado Rapids.

The Twins lost that game and missed the playoffs.

However, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, 17 – 14, on a controversial touchdown pass from the Cowboys ' quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson that became known as the Hail Mary.

Despite a strong push in the middle of the 2007 season, winning five straight games, the Vikings lost their final two games to finish the season at 8 – 8, missing the playoffs.

Following their Super Bowl loss, they returned to the playoffs in 1986, but lost in the first round.

In 1987, they finished 12-3 ( their first-ever winning season ) and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the Minnesota Vikings 44-10.

In his first year, he took the team to the 2001 playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings a week after beating the St. Louis Rams for the team's first ever playoff win.

The Saints lost Saturday, January 14, 2012 in the Divisional round in the playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers in Candlestick Park.

The Mets continued playing well after 1986 and won the division in 1988, but lost the playoffs that year and declined into the 1990s.

In 1999, they made the playoffs in a one game playoff but lost the 1999 National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves.

In 2008, the Giants won the NFC East with a record of 12 – 4 ( and also were the number one seed in the NFC after beating the Carolina Panthers for home field advantage ), but lost 23 – 11 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs.

In the wild-card playoffs, the Eagles played against the Dallas Cowboys for the second consecutive week and lost 34 – 14.

The Phillies made the playoffs twice more in the 1980s after their Series win, in 1981 and 1983, where they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, but they would soon follow these near-misses with a rapid drop back into the basement of the National League.

The Chargers made it back to the playoffs, but after beating the Steelers in the first round, they lost to the Dolphins 34 – 13 in a rematch of their playoff game from the previous season.

They locked up the second seed as well as a first round bye but this served them no advantage in the playoffs as they lost at home to the Jets 17 – 14 ( the only home team with a bye to lose in the divisional round ).

Seattle has reached the playoffs in eleven separate seasons, including in the 2005 season when they lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers.