The Longest Current Playoff Drought in Major Sports Is Over

The Buffalo Bills already had the record for the most consecutive Super Bowl appearances, with nary a win. On Sunday, what SBNation calls "one of the NFL's longest-suffering franchises" broke its most recent record: the longest current playoff drought, not only in the NFL, but in any of the four major sports leagues. The last time the Bills earned a playoff spot was in January 2000, but the team broke its 17-year wall on New Year's Eve with a 22-16 win against the Miami Dolphins.

But, as Deadspin notes, for the Bills to nab a wild-card spot in the playoffs, that win wasn't enough: They needed the Cincinnati Bengals to win their game against the Baltimore Ravens—which the Bengals did, 31-27, with a knuckle-biter final touchdown in the last minute of their game. (Click here to see reaction in the Bills' locker room after Cincinnati's touchdown.) After tweeting out an ecstatic "WE'RE IN" and a "Drought. Over" GIF, the Bills made sure to thank the Bengals online. "After we handled business in Miami, we needed you, and you came through bigtime. … THANK YOU. Wings on us. (No really, we're sending wings.)," the team tweeted. The Bills will face the Jacksonville Jaguars next week. (More Buffalo Bills stories.)