What history shows happens to teams who lose two wild card games in a row, like Miami

When the Dolphins begin their season at home Sunday against Jacksonville (1 p.m., CBS), here’s an historical nugget that should give them hope:

Two teams this century have won a Super Bowl immediately after doing precisely what the Dolphins have done — lose wild card playoff games to end their previous two seasons.

One was the New York Giants. After missing the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Giants lost wild card games to Carolina and Philadelphia in 2005 and 2006 and then beat the undefeated Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl to cap the 2007 season.

The other team to do it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost wild card games convincingly to the Eagles in 2000 (by a 21-3 score) and 2001 (31-9) before beating the Raiders in the 2002 Super Bowl. But that team had lost in the NFC Championship in 1999.

That’s the good news, from an historical perspective, about the Dolphins’ current predicament.

And here’s more good news: The Seattle Seahawks lost wild card games in 2003 and 2004, then made the 2005 Super Bowl but lost to Pittsburgh.

So that’s encouraging.

But… in the limited history of teams that lose two wild card or first-round playoff games in a row, the success of the Giants and Buccaneers and Seahawks are the outliers.

Of the 31 existing NFL franchises besides the Dolphins, only 13 have lost wild card games in two consecutive years, as the Dolphins have done.

And for most of them, the aftermath wasn’t good.

Here’s how it worked out for the 10 franchises other than the Giants, Buccaneers and Seahawks:

▪ Buffalo: They lost wild card games in 1998 and 1999 and then missed the playoffs the next 17 years.

▪ Denver: They lost to the Colts in wild card games in 2003 and 2004, then lost in the AFC title game to Pittsburgh in 2005, and then missed the playoffs five years in a row.

▪ Pittsburgh: The most recent example. They lost a 2020 wild card game to Cleveland and a 2021 wild card game to the Chiefs, then went 9-8 without a playoff berth in 2022 before returning to the playoffs this past season and losing in the first round at Buffalo.

▪ Cincinnati: The Bengals are the only team in history to lose five consecutive wild card games (2011-2015). Then they missed the playoffs five years in a row.

▪ Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans): After losing wild card games in 1989 and 1990, they won a wild card game but lost a divisional playoff game in 1991, lost a wild card game again in 1992, then lost in the divisional round in 1993, then went five years without a playoff berth.

▪ Dallas: The Cowboys lost wild card games in 1998 and 1999, then went 5-11 each of the three following seasons.

▪ Philadelphia: The Eagles lost wild card games in 2009 and 2010, then went 8-8 and 4-12 the next two seasons, missing the playoffs five of the six seasons after 2010 and losing their only playoff game in that six-year stretch.

▪ Detroit: The Lions lost wild card games in 1993, 1994 and 1995, then went 5-11, then lost a wild card game in 1997, then went 5-11 again, and then lost another wild card game in 1999.

▪ Minnesota: The Vikings lost wild card games in 1992, 1993 and 1994, then went 8-8 and missed the playoffs, then made the playoffs five years in a row but without a Super Bowl appearance.

▪ New Orleans: The Saints lost wild card games in 1990, 1991, and 1992, then missed the playoffs seven years in a row.

So here’s the bottom line: Of 13 franchises that have done what the Dolphins have done — two first-weekend playoff exits in a row — three made the Super Bowl and two won it immediately after.

Ten regressed or accomplished nothing of significance.

Miami must hope it bucks the odds.

THIS AND THAT

According to a source, defensive end Derrick McClendon is filling the 17th and final spot on Dolphins practice squad, pending a physical. McClendon, who had a sack for Carolina in preseason before being released, had 14 tackles for loss and eight sacks in four years at FSU and one at Colorado.

Here are the Dolphins’ other practice squad players:

On offense: quarterback Tim Boyle; receivers Robbie Chosen, Dee Eskridge and Erik Ezukanma; running back Deneric Prince; tight end Hayden Rucci and offensive linemen Chasen Hines, Andrew Hardy and Bayron Matos.

On defense: defensive linemen Jonathan Harris, Naquan Jones; linebackers Dequan Jackson and William Bradley-King; safety Jordan Colbert and cornerback Nik Needham and Isaiah Johnson.

▪ Third-year linebacker Channing Tindall, who had two sacks in preseason, said this defense maximizes his skill set.

“I’m very excited for this season and what’s to come,” said Tindall, who played 23 defensive snaps in his first two seasons.

Where has he improved? “My awareness, instincts, being a communicator, being aware of where everything is going to be.”

Though there was a need at outside linebacker late last season and during training camp, Tindall said the Dolphins “never talked to me once about moving to the edge. If the team needed me to do it, I would do it.”