There have been many great teams in the history of the NFL. These five teams are not among them, finishing their regular-season campaigns with a record below .500. Still each team manged to sneak its way into the NFL playoffs, despite limited success.
Here’s a look at the teams to reach the NFL postseason despite mediocre regular seasons.
1982 Detroit Lions (4-5)
Following the first of two NFL strikes in this decade, the ’82 season was shortened to just nine games, and the playoff field expanded to eight teams in each conference. Despite a 2-0 start to the season, the Lions went 2-5 after the strike ended in November.