The way to make it to the post season in the NFL is to win at home, and split on the road. Going 8-0 at home is very difficult, but having a winning record at home is essential to making it to the post season.
For proof, lets look at recent superbowl teams:
| Season | League | Team | Home | Away |
| 2006 | AFC | Colts | 8-0-0 | 4-4-0 |
| 2006 | NFC | Bears | 6-2-0 | 7-1-0 |
| 2005 | AFC | Steelers | 5-3-0 | 6-2-0 |
| 2005 | NFC | Seahawks | 8-0-0 | 5-3-0 |
| 2004 | AFC | Patriots | 8-0-0 | 6-2-0 |
| 2004 | NFC | Eagles | 7-1-0 | 6-2-0 |
| 2003 | AFC | Patriots | 8-0-0 | 6-2-0 |
| 2003 | NFC | Panthers | 6-2-0 | 5-3-0 |
| 2002 | AFC | Raiders | 6-2-0 | 5-3-0 |
| 2002 | NFC | Bucs | 6-2-0 | 6-2-0 |
In fact, in those 5 season, there were 60 playoff teams, and only the 2003 Browns (3-5 home, 6-2 away) and the 2006 Giants (3-5 home, 5-3 road) had losing records at home. That's a 6.66% chance of making the playoffs if you don't win at home. Protecting the house is crucial.
Now that we can agree that winning at home is very important (or else you wouldn't still be reading), lets look at how teams are doing this year. The league, as a whole, is 77-66 at home, that's only a 53% winning percentage. However, no team with a winning record has a losing record at home.
Teams that have a winning record are currently 53-17 at home (75% winning percentage) and 40-25 on the road (62% winning percentage). [Updated: 11/13]
Teams with losing or even records are currently 25-49 at home (34%) and 26-53 on the road (33%). [Updated: 11/13]
Only three teams having winning records at home, and are not currently above .500. The Seahawks, the Cardinals, and the Ravens. Seahawks are 4-4 and are leading their division. The Cards and Raves are both 4-5, one game back of .500.
[Updated 11/13: With the Monday night domination of the 49ers, the Seahawks are now 5-4. So only 2 teams have winning records at home and are not above .500.]
Here's all of the teams.
| Team | W (Home) | L (Home) | W (Away) | L (Away) | W | L |
| New England Patriots | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Tennessee Titans | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| New York Giants | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Washington Redskins | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Houston Texans | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Denver Broncos | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| New Orleans Saints | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Chicago Bears | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Carolina Panthers | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Oakland Raiders | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| St. Louis Rams | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| Miami Dolphins | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
No comments:
Post a Comment