How important is home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs?
By JERRY TAPP
The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday with four Wild Card games. Here are five stats that you may not know about the NFL playoffs since the start of this century.
- NFL teams spend the regular season trying to not only make the playoffs, but also find a way to get the highest seed possible in the post-season … including trying to get a bye that first weekend. So, how important is it to get home games during the playoffs? And, is hosting a playoff game more important in the Wild Card round, the Divisional round or in the Conference Championship Game? Since 2000, home teams were 122-68 (.642) in playoff games. Home teams were 44-32 (.579) in Wild Card games; 53-23 (.697) in the Divisional contests; and, 25-13 (.658) in Conference Championship games.
- The 12 playoff teams this year played 32 games against each other. The Baltimore Ravens, who finished the NFL regular season with a 14-2 record, best in the league, also had the best record against the other 11 playoff teams. They were 5-1 against the other 11 playoff teams. Here are the records of each of the 12 playoff teams in games played against each other in 2019: Baltimore 5-1, New Orleans, 3-1, Green Bay 3-2, San Francisco 3-2, Houston 3-3, Kansas City 3-3, New England 3-3, Seattle 3-3, Philadelphia 2-3, Tennessee 2-3, Buffalo 1-4, Minnesota 1-4.
- The Indianapolis Colts have played in the most Wild Card weekend games since 2000 with 11. Seattle, which will be playing in a Wild Card game this weekend, is making their 10th Wild Card weekend contest since 2000, is now tied for second most in the league with Green Bay. The number of Wild Card weekend games played by each NFL team: 11-Indianapolis, 10-Green Bay, Seattle, 9-Baltimore, Philadelphia, 7-Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, 6-Houston, New Orleans, New York Giants, New York Jets, 5-Dallas, Kansas City, L.A. Chargers, Minnesota, 4-Atlanta, Carolina, Denver, Miami, New England, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington, 3-Arizona, Detroit, Jacksonville, L.A. Rams, San Francisco, 2-Buffalo, Oakland, 1-Chicago, Cleveland.
- This is the first year since 2009 that the New England Patriots have not been either a #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs. They have been either a #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs 13 times since 2000, by far the most in the league. By conference, here are the number of times each team has been the #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs since 2000: AFC: 13-Patriots, 5-Broncos, Steelers, 4-Chiefs, 3-Colts,Ravens, Titans, 2-Chargers, Raiders, 0-Bengals, Bills, Browns, Dolphins, Jaguars, Jets, Texans. NFC: 4-Bears, Eagles, Falcons, Packers, 3-Forty-Niners, Panthers, Rams, Saints, Seahawks, Vikings, 2-Cowboys, Giants, 1-Bucs, Cardinals, 0-Lions, Redskins.
- As you might expect, the New England Patriots have won the most post-season games since 2000 with 30. That is twice as many as the two teams second on the list, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, who have each won 15 playoff games since 2000. Here is the number of playoff games won by each franchise since 2000. 30-New England, 15: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, 14-Philadelphia, 13-Indianapolis, Seattle, 12-Green Bay, 10-NY Giants, 9-New Orleans, 8-Carolina, 7-Denver, 6-Atlanta, NY Jets, San Francisco, 5-Arizona, LA Chargers, LA Rams, 4-Miami, Oakland, 3-Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, 2-Kansas City, 1-Miami, Washington, 0-Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
