A big trend in music over the last couple of years has been revisiting the early 90’s and rediscovering its significance. From last month’s 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind, to the introduction of indie forefathers like Pavement, Sebadoh, and Archers of Loaf, to a new generation of fans–not to mention the influx of new bands taking influence from them–the slacker era has been experiencing a sort of revival in popular culture as of late.

While you may think that a certain era in music history has nothing to do with sports, I would argue that the NFL has inadvertently been going through a kind of early 90’s nostalgia trip during the first part of this season. It may be a stretch to think that many football fans will trade their body paint for plaid shirts and ripped jeans anytime soon, but the league has seen several franchises from the era reemerge as legitimate contenders at a time when dynasties from the last decade are beginning to fall by the wayside.

The 5-1 Detroit Lions are perhaps the most surprising of this bunch, as it was just a few short seasons ago that they achieved the humiliating feat of going 0-16 in the regular season. Lately, the team won nine regular season games in a row prior to Week 6’s home loss to San Francisco—having plateaued at thirteen consecutive wins counting the preseason. The Barry Sanders, Scott Mitchell, and Herman Moore Lions made seven playoff appearances in the 90’s, with four of them coming in the first half of the decade, and they are on track to reach the postseason for the first time since 1999 if they keep the momentum going.

Equally surprising are the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans, who were no strangers to the playoffs during the early part of the 90’s. Both franchises associate the era with heartbreak, as Houston (then the Oilers) lost two consecutive early playoff games in 1991 and 1992 (including blowing a 32 point lead to the Bills in 1992) and Buffalo has been haunted for years since losing the Super Bowl four years in a row from 1990-1993.  Case in point: they were victimized in their last playoff appearance in 2000 by the “Music City