No guarantees unbeaten Patriots, 49ers are Super Bowl bound

By JERRY TAPP

There are two undefeated teams remaining in the NFL: Bill Belichick’s 6-0 New England Patriots who started the 2019 season with their sixth straight win this season over the New York Giants last Thursday; and the surprising San Francisco 49ers, who upped their record to 5-0 with a big divisional win over one of last year’s Super Bowl teams, the Los Angeles Rams, on Sunday.

Not counting this year’s Patriots and 49ers, there have been 53 teams that have started an NFL season 5-0 since 1990. Here are nine stats you may not know about the 53 teams that started the season 5-0 since 1990.

1. There were two teams that started 5-0 in 2018 (the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs). Since 1990, the most teams that started a season 5-0 were six in 2015. No teams started the year 5-0 in 2014, 2010, 2002, 1996 and 1995.
2. Nine teams that started the season 5-0 went on to win the Super Bowl: New York Giants(1990), Washington (1991), Denver (1997), Denver (1998), St. Louis Rams (1999), New England (2004), Indianapolis (2006), New Orleans (2009), Denver (2015). Eleven teams that started 5-0 since 1990 went on to lose in the Super Bowl that year. That means that of the 53 teams that started the season 5-0 since 1990, 20 (37.7%) went on to play in the Super Bowl that season.
3. There have been five Super Bowls since 1990 that featured two teams that started the season 5-0: 1991 (Buffalo and Washington), 2004 (New England and Philadelphia), 2006 (Chicago and Indianapolis), 2009 (Indianapolis and New Orleans) and 2015 (Carolina and Denver). Could this year’s Super Bowl feature two teams that started the year, New England and San Francisco?
4. Forty-seven of the 53 (88.7%) teams that started the season 5-0 since 1990 eventually made the playoffs that season.
5. Forty-seven of the 53 (88.7%) teams that started the season 5-0 since 1990 won 10 or more games that season. One team finished 9-7, five teams finished the year 8-8.
6. Twenty-one of the 53 teams (39.6%) that started the season 5-0 since 1990 won at least one playoff game that year.
7. Twenty-four of the 53 teams (45.3%) that started the season 5-0 since 1990 won 13 or more games that season.
8. Three teams (Denver, Indianapolis and Minnesota) started a season 5-0 five times since 1990, tied for most in the league. Three teams (Kansas City, New England and New Orleans) each started four seasons 5-0 since 1990.
9. Two franchises (Indianapolis and the St. Louis Rams) each had three consecutive seasons where they started 5-0 since 1990. The Colts did it in 2005, 2006 and 2007, while the Rams did in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Bonus: In case you were wondering, here is the breakdown of how many teams made the playoffs from 1990-2018 after starting the season 0-5, 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1 and 5-0.

Started season 0-5 … Teams-58, Made playoffs-0 (0%)

Started season 1-4 … Teams-142, Made playoffs-10 (7%)

Started season 2-3 … Teams-242, Made playoffs-53 (21.9%)

Started season 3-2 … Teams-247, Made playoffs-123 (49.8%)

Started season 4-1 … Teams-150, Made playoffs-114 (76%)

Started season 5-0 … Teams 53, Made playoffs-47 (88.7%)

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