Every year, several NFL teams rise up from the periphery to become contenders.
In fact, at least four new teams have made the playoffs every year since the league adopted its current 12-team postseason format in 1990. And the year-to-year fluctuation has really picked up the last couple of seasons, with eight new teams appearing in the 2017 postseason after failing to do so in 2016 and seven jumping into the playoff fray in 2018 after missing out in 2017.
Altogether, 75 percent of the NFL's 32 teams have made postseason appearances since 2016, with only the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos having consistently missed the playoff party the last three years.