The Eagles' chances as a 3-seed
How has the 3-seed done historically in the playoffs? Here's a look at what the Eagles are up against.
I decided to take a look today to see how the three-seed has historically performed in the playoffs.
The Birds, of course, are locked into that seed and might have cost themselves a shot at the one- or two-seed with their loss to the Vikings on Tuesday night.
So here's a breakdown of which seed from each conference has made the Super Bowl the last 10 years:
Two three-seeds have advanced to the Super Bowl in the last 10 seasons. The Colts won the Super Bowl as a three-seed in 2006. They finished 12-4, but finished behind the Chargers (14-2) and Ravens (13-3) in the AFC playoff picture. Indianapolis beat Kansas City, 28-3, in the first round. The Colts traveled to Baltimore and took out the Ravens, 15-6, in the divisional round. And they won a shootout in the NFC championship, beating the Patriots, 38-34.
The other three-seed that got to the Super Bowl (and you're not going to like this) was the Carolina Panthers in 2003. They took out Dallas, 29-10, at home in the wild-card round and then beat the Rams, 29-23, in St. Louis. The Panthers of course then came to the Linc and beat the Eagles, 14-3, before falling to the Patriots, 32-29, in the Super Bowl.
Here's how the three seeds have finished in the last 10 years:
Overall, the one-seeds clearly have an advantage, and that makes sense. They are the teams that prove themselves as the best in each conference over the course of the 16-week schedule. In 9 of the past 10 seasons, at least one No. 1 seed has reached the Super Bowl. And one-seeds make up 50 percent of the Super Bowl participants in the last 10 years.
The numbers are fun to look at, but each year is different. In 2005, the Steelers were the six-seed and won on the road at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver before beating the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
For what it's worth, Vegas hasn't soured much on the Eagles. The Birds' odds of winning the Super Bowl are 8/1, according to Bodog. Only the Patriots (9/4), Falcons (13/2) and Steelers (7/1) have better odds.
If you missed it earlier this week, I broke down the Eagles' playoff scenarios.
And on Thursday morning, I posted Man Up on the offense.