Washington Commanders hold NFL's longest championship drought

Exciting start leads to disappointing season for Commanders

Thanks to some new ownership - the Washington Commanders season started with a lot of fanfare. But that excitement was short lived... FOX 5 photojournalist Nelson Jones shows us how things have changed since the beginning of the season.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Commanders are No. 1 --- just not in a category, they'd like to hold that ranking.

Washington entered the 2023-24 season tied with the Detroit Lions for the longest conference championship game appearance drought in the NFL, a mark of futility that spanned 32 years.

While the Commanders finished the regular season at 4-13, missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year and extending their streak of ineptitude to 33 seasons, the Lions defeated Tampa Bay, 31-23 on Sunday to book their ticket to the NFC championship game where they will face San Francisco, ergo the dubious tie is broken and subsequently, the Commanders stand or sit, alone.

The last time the Washington franchise reached the semifinals was in 1991, a game in which they defeated the Lions, 41-10 en route to defeating the Buffalo Bills, 37-24 to capture Super Bowl XXVI.

The '91 roster included pro bowlers like Mark Rypien, Darrell Green, Earnest Byner, Art Monk and Gary Clark.

Behind the Commanders are the Miami Dolphins, who have not made a conference championship game in 32 years, Dallas, whose streak is 29 years, the Texans, who go back 23 seasons and, technically, the Browns have not made it since 1989, but they were out of the league for two seasons after the franchise relocated to become the Baltimore Ravens.

Of note, Tress Way is the only Washington Commander on the ‘23-’24 roster who was alive the last time the team reached the NFC conference championship game.