Every team, it seems, has the goal of hosting games in the playoffs. But that isn't necessarily a golden ticket in the postseason. Ian Allan explores success of wild-card teams in the first round of the playoffs.
It's rare to see all four teams win in the first-round games. Since the NFL went to the eight-division format in 2002, only twice has all four of the first-round games been won by home teams. It happened in in the 2006 season, and it happened in 2011.
Home teams have been on a nice little run recently, going 7-1 in the last two years. But those are exception years. In each of the four previous years, at least half of the road teams won in those first-round games.
(This has me feeling good about my feeling that Kansas City and San Francisco will win this weekend).
Overall, since the shift to the eight-division format, home teams have gone 26-18 in the first-round games. This is very much in line with what you would expect out of home-field advantage in typical NFL games (given that division champs will tend to have better records than wild cards).
| Wild-Card playoff games | |
|---|---|
| Year | (home teams in all caps) |
| 2002 | N.Y. JETS 41, Indianapolis 0 |
| 2002 | PITTSBURGH 36, Cleveland 33 |
| 2002 | Atlanta 27, GREEN BAY 7 |
| 2002 | SAN FRANCISCO 39, N.Y. Giants 38 |
| 2003 | Tennessee 20, BALTIMORE 17 |
| 2003 | INDIANAPOLIS 41, Denver 10 |
| 2003 | CAROLINA 29, Dallas 10 |
| 2003 | GREEN BAY 33, Seattle 27 (OT) |
| 2004 | N.Y. Jets 20, SAN DIEGO 17 (OT) |
| 2004 | INDIANAPOLIS 49, Denver 24 |
| 2004 | St. Louis 27, SEATTLE 20 |
| 2004 | Minnesota 31, GREEN BAY 17 |
| 2005 | NEW ENGLAND 28, Jacksonville 3 |
| 2005 | Pittsburgh 31, CINCINNATI 17 |
| 2005 | Washington 17, TAMPA BAY 10 |
| 2005 | Carolina 23, NEW YORK GIANTS 0 |
| 2006 | INDIANAPOLIS 23, Kansas City 8 |
| 2006 | NEW ENGLAND 37, N.Y. Jets 16 |
| 2006 | SEATTLE 21, Dallas 20 |
| 2006 | PHILADELPHIA 23, N.Y. Giants 20 |
| 2007 | Jacksonville 31, PITTSBURGH 29 |
| 2007 | SAN DIEGO 17, Tennessee 6 |
| 2007 | SEATTLE 35, Washington 14 |
| 2007 | N.Y. Giants 24, TAMPA BAY 14 |
| 2008 | SAN DIEGO 23, Indianapolis 17 |
| 2008 | Baltimore 27, MIAMI 9 |
| 2008 | ARIZONA 30, Atlanta 24 |
| 2008 | Philadelphia 26, MINNESOTA 14 |
| 2009 | New York Jets 24, CINCINNATI 14 |
| 2009 | Baltimore 33, NEW ENGLAND 14 |
| 2009 | DALLAS 34, Philadelphia 14 |
| 2009 | ARIZONA 51, Green Bay 45 (OT) |
| 2010 | N.Y. Jets 17, INDIANAPOLIS 16 |
| 2010 | Baltimore 30, KANSAS CITY 7 |
| 2010 | SEATTLE 41, New Orleans 36 |
| 2010 | Green Bay 21, PHILADELPHIA 16 |
| 2011 | HOUSTON 31, Cincinnati 10 |
| 2011 | DENVER 29, Pittsburgh 23 (OT) |
| 2011 | NEW ORLEANS 45, Detroit 28 |
| 2011 | NEW YORK GIANTS 24, Atlanta 2 |
| 2012 | HOUSTON 19, Cincinnati 13 |
| 2012 | BALTIMORE 24, Indianapolis 9 |
| 2012 | GREEN BAY 24, Minnesota 10 |
| 2012 | Seattle 24, WASHINGTON 14 |
--Ian Allan