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Toughest postseason schedules
Cold, Hard Football Facts for February 13, 2008
There's no way to minimize the amazing playoff run of the 2007 Giants. They won three straight road playoff games, including back-to-back victories over 13-3 division winners from Dallas and Green Bay. They topped it off, of course, with a miraculous 17-14 Super Bowl victory over New England, the first 16-0 team in NFL history.
The Cold, Hard Football Facts, which often slam the door on conventional wisdom, do nothing in this instance but support the starry-eyed wonder with which fans and "pundits" stare at New York's playoff run.
The Giants faced playoff opponents who were a combined 51-13 (.797). They tied the 2005 Steelers for the second toughest slate of postseason opponents any Super Bowl champ has ever faced, behind only the 2004 Patriots (40-8; .833).
However, those 2004 Patriots played just three postseason games, and only one on the road. The 2005 Steelers and 2007 Giants each played four postseason games, including three each on the road. So, though the opponents of the 2004 Patriots had a better cumulative winning percentage, it's certainly reasonable to conclude that the 2005 Steelers and 2007 Giants faced tougher challengers.
Below is a list of every Super Bowl winner since the AFL-NFL merger, with the cumulative records of their playoff opponents.
One thing will jump out, and it supports the assertions made yesterday by Cold, Hard Football Facts reader Jeff Blout: the NFL has become an utterly top-heavy league. Super Bowl champs have never faced tougher slates of opponents than they have this decade.
- The three toughest postseason schedules in history have all come in the last four seasons
- Five of the nine toughest postseason schedules in history have come this decade
The death of pigskin parity is a common theme among the Cold, Hard Football Facts. We routinely look at the gridiron mastodons who dominate the modern NFL as proof that this cliche is dead.
It's literally inarguable, for example, to say that teams of the past (when parity did rule) faced such daunting postseason prospects as teams do today. Pigskin romantics love to talk about the great battles of the past, such as those of the 1970s between powerhouses like Oakland, Miami and Pittsburgh, or in the 1990s between the likes of Dallas and San Francisco.
But the truth is that none of these teams ever faced a series of powerhouse opponents like Super Bowl contenders have in recent years. The Cowboys, 49ers and Steelers, for example, combined for 14 Super Bowl titles in the 25 seasons from 1971 to 1995. Only one of those 14 teams, the 1992 Cowboys, faced a postseason schedule that was among the 10 most difficult in history.
In fact, most of those teams faced pretty easy postseason schedules, at least by 21st-century standards: these three dynasties faced six of the 10 easiest playoff schedules in history.
In other words, the Cowboys, 49ers and Steelers dynasties beat up patsies in the playoffs.
Of course, there is another way to look at it: perhaps parity is alive and well. After all, we live an NFL age when muddling 11-5 and 10-6 wildcard teams can turn on the jets in the playoffs and overcome the toughest postseason schedules in history.
You decide how you feel for yourself. But here are the Cold, Hard Football Facts.
TOUGHEST POSTSEASONS OF SUPER BOWL CHAMPS (since merger; four-game playoffs in italics)
|
Year |
Team |
Opponents’ Record |
Opponents’ Win % |
|
2004 |
New England |
40-8 |
.833 |
|
2007 |
N.Y. Giants |
51-13 |
.797 |
|
2005 |
Pittsburgh |
51-13 |
.797 |
|
1990 |
N.Y. Giants |
38-10 |
.792 |
|
1976 |
Oakland |
32-9-1 |
.774 |
|
2001 |
New England |
37-11 |
.771 |
|
1972 |
Miami |
32-10 |
.762 |
|
1973 |
Miami |
31-10-1 |
.750 |
|
2000 |
Baltimore |
48-16 |
.750 |
|
1992 |
Dallas |
36-12 |
.750 |
|
1997 |
Denver |
48-16 |
.750 |
|
1998 |
Denver |
36-12 |
.750 |
|
1974 |
Pittsburgh |
31-11 |
.738 |
|
1975 |
Pittsburgh |
31-11 |
.738 |
|
2006 |
Indy |
47-17 |
.734 |
|
1996 |
Green Bay |
35-13 |
.729 |
|
2003 |
New England |
35-13 |
.729 |
|
1988 |
San Francisco |
35-13 |
.729 |
|
1991 |
Washington |
35-13 |
.729 |
|
1971 |
Dallas |
30-11-1 |
.726 |
|
1977 |
Dallas |
30-12 |
.714 |
|
1999 |
St. Louis |
34-14 |
.708 |
|
1980 |
Oakland |
45-19 |
.703 |
|
1986 |
N.Y. Giants |
33-14-1 |
.698 |
|
1983 |
L.A. Raiders |
33-15 |
.688 |
|
1981 |
San Francisco |
33-15 |
.688 |
|
1984 |
San Francisco |
33-15 |
.688 |
|
2002 |
Tampa Bay |
33-15 |
.688 |
|
1985 |
Chicago |
32-16 |
.667 |
|
1995 |
Dallas |
32-16 |
.667 |
|
1978 |
Pittsburgh |
32-16 |
.667 |
|
1989 |
San Francisco |
32-16 |
.667 |
|
1994 |
San Francisco |
32-16 |
.667 |
|
1987 |
Washington |
29-15-1 |
.656 |
|
1970 |
Baltimore |
26-14 |
.650 |
|
1993 |
Dallas |
31-17 |
.646 |
|
1979 |
Pittsburgh |
30-18 |
.625 |
|
1982 |
Washington |
22-14 |
.611 |
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