Toughest postseason schedules

Cold, Hard Football Facts for Feb 12, 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

By Kerry Byrne

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