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Road trippin'
Cold, Hard Football Facts for January 7, 2008
Compiled by John Dudley
Cold, Hard Football Facts cool-ass dude
Road teams went 2-2 in the 2007 wild-card round, which was somewhat unexpected in a sport that values home-field advantage so greatly -- especially in the postseason.
But road teams have been quite respectable since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, standing at 98-226 (.302).
Here’s a year-by-year rundown of the playoff teams that have won on the road, dating back to the merger:
|
Season |
Wild-Card Playoffs |
|
| |
2007 | 2 (Giants, Jaguars) | ??? | ???
| |
2006 |
0 |
2 (Colts, Patriots) |
0 | |
2005 |
3 (Steelers, Redskins, Panthers) |
2 (Steelers, Panthers) |
1(Steelers) | |
2004 |
3 (Jets, Rams, Vikings) |
0 |
1(Patriots) | |
2003 |
1 (Titans) |
2 (Colts, Panthers) |
1 (Panthers) | |
2002 |
1 (Falcons) |
0 |
1 (Buccaneers) | |
2001 |
1(Ravens) |
1(Eagles) |
1 (Patriots) | |
2000 |
0 |
1 (Ravens) |
1 (Ravens) | |
1999 |
1 (Dolphins) |
1(Titans) |
1 (Titans) | |
1998 |
1 (Cardinals) |
0 |
1(Falcons) | |
1997 |
1 (Vikings) |
1 (Broncos) |
2 (Broncos, Packers) | |
1996 |
1 (Jaguars) |
1 (Jaguars) |
0 | |
1995 |
1 (Colts) |
2 (Colts, Packers) |
0 | |
1994 |
1(Bears) |
0 |
1 (Chargers) | |
1993 |
1 (Packers) |
1 (Chiefs) |
0 | |
1992 |
2 (Redskins, Eagles) |
1(Bills) |
2 (Bills, Cowboys) | |
1991 |
2 (Falcons, Cowboys) |
0 |
0 | |
1990 |
1 (Redskins) |
0 |
1 (Giants) | |
1989 |
2 (Steelers, Rams) |
1 (Rams) |
0 | |
1988 |
1 (Oilers) |
0 |
1 (49ers) | |
1987 |
1(Vikings) |
2 (Vikings, Redskins) |
0 | |
1986 |
0 |
1 (Redskins) |
1 (Broncos) | |
1985 |
1(Patriots) |
1 (Patriots) |
1 (Patriots) | |
1984 |
1(Giants) |
2 (Steelers, Bears) |
0 | |
1983 |
0 |
1 (Seahawks) |
0 | |
1982* |
2 (Jets, Chargers) |
1 (Jets) |
0 | |
1981 |
2 (Bills, Giants) |
1 (Chargers) |
0 | |
1980 |
0 |
2 (Raiders, Cowboys) |
1 (Raiders) | |
1979 |
0 |
2 (Oilers, Rams) |
1 (Rams) | |
1978 |
1 (Oilers) |
1 (Oilers) |
1 (Cowboys) | |
1977 |
n/a |
2 (Raiders, Vikings) |
0 | |
1976 |
n/a |
2 (Steelers, Rams) |
0 | |
1975 |
n/a |
1 (Cowboys) |
1 (Cowboys) | |
1974 |
n/a |
0 |
1 (Steelers) | |
1973 |
n/a |
0 |
1 (Vikings) | |
1972 |
n/a |
1 (Cowboys) |
1 (Dolphins) | |
1971 |
n/a |
3 (Dolphins, Colts, Cowboys) |
0 | |
1970 |
n/a |
1 (49ers) |
1 (Cowboys) | |
TOTALS |
33 out of 102 (.323) |
40 out of 148 (.270) |
25 out of 74 (.338) |
As
you can see, winning on the road in the wild-card round is easier than
winning in the divisional round -- but winning on the road in the
conference championship is actually the most common of all (.338)
The most road wins in any postseason is six, from the Steelers' upset run of 2005. In 1992, there were five road wins, including title game wins for Buffalo and Dallas.
And there has been at least one road upset every year since the merger.
* strike-shortened season in which each conference played four first-round games
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