Yakuza Rich
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#1 Seed Has Its Benefits
by Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
The Cowboys have come into the postseason with questions as to whether or not it's more important to be the #1 seed with homefield advantage and a bye week or to be playing well coming into the playoffs but without those benefits that are rewarded to the #1 seed.
Personally, I'd always take the #1 seed, with the bye week and homefield advantage. The line of thinking is that the bye week is extremely useful. Not only can a team rest their players and get injured players healthy, their opponent risks injuries to their players in the wildcard game. Not to mention that the team with the bye week can spend a week more closely studying the opponent they will be facing while their opponents will have to prepare for two teams in that timeframe. Lastly, regardless of what type of weather conditions suit a team's style of play, teams play far better at home than on the road in the NFL. Especially the later you get into the season.
But, perhaps I'm dead wrong. So I wanted to check to see what the facts tell me. So since 1997, here's what I got:
9 of the last 20 teams that *went* to the Super Bowl were #1 seeds.
6 of the last 10 NFC Super Bowl representatives were #1 seeds.
3 of the last 10 AFC Super Bowl representatives were #1 seeds.
From here you can tell that the #1 seeds do very well in the postseason. However, they do extremely well in the NFC. There have only been three #1 seeds that haven't gone to the Super Bowl in the NFC since 1997 and they were the 1997 Niners, the 1998 Vikings, the 2002 Eagles, and the 2003 Eagles.
Here's some more data:
The last 20 #1 seeds in the NFL have gone a combined 31-15 in the postseason.
The last 10 AFC #1 seeds are a combined 11-8 in the postseason.
The last 10 NFC #1 seeds are a combined 20-7 in the postseason.
From here it shows that if you're a #1 seed, you're likely to win at least the first divisional playoff game. However, it's pretty obvious that the NFC #1 seeds a dominant in the postseason and for whatever reason being a #1 seed in the AFC is not as important.
YAKUZA
by Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
The Cowboys have come into the postseason with questions as to whether or not it's more important to be the #1 seed with homefield advantage and a bye week or to be playing well coming into the playoffs but without those benefits that are rewarded to the #1 seed.
Personally, I'd always take the #1 seed, with the bye week and homefield advantage. The line of thinking is that the bye week is extremely useful. Not only can a team rest their players and get injured players healthy, their opponent risks injuries to their players in the wildcard game. Not to mention that the team with the bye week can spend a week more closely studying the opponent they will be facing while their opponents will have to prepare for two teams in that timeframe. Lastly, regardless of what type of weather conditions suit a team's style of play, teams play far better at home than on the road in the NFL. Especially the later you get into the season.
But, perhaps I'm dead wrong. So I wanted to check to see what the facts tell me. So since 1997, here's what I got:
9 of the last 20 teams that *went* to the Super Bowl were #1 seeds.
6 of the last 10 NFC Super Bowl representatives were #1 seeds.
3 of the last 10 AFC Super Bowl representatives were #1 seeds.
From here you can tell that the #1 seeds do very well in the postseason. However, they do extremely well in the NFC. There have only been three #1 seeds that haven't gone to the Super Bowl in the NFC since 1997 and they were the 1997 Niners, the 1998 Vikings, the 2002 Eagles, and the 2003 Eagles.
Here's some more data:
The last 20 #1 seeds in the NFL have gone a combined 31-15 in the postseason.
The last 10 AFC #1 seeds are a combined 11-8 in the postseason.
The last 10 NFC #1 seeds are a combined 20-7 in the postseason.
From here it shows that if you're a #1 seed, you're likely to win at least the first divisional playoff game. However, it's pretty obvious that the NFC #1 seeds a dominant in the postseason and for whatever reason being a #1 seed in the AFC is not as important.
YAKUZA
