Seahawk Sailor
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2007
- Messages
- 22,963
- Reaction score
- 1
It's a bit interesting if you look at the road teams and who they're playing this week. Odds dictate that one road team should certainly be able to pull an "upset," right? Sure, home teams have a lot more on their side, but road teams do win, and the odds are better than .250. According to NFL.com, since the NFL adopted the current 12-team playoff format in 1990, home teams have a .659 winning percentage. That's a .351 winning percentage for the road team. In the last eight seasons, home teams in the wild card round have fared worse, with only a .531 winning percentage, or a .469 winning percentage for the road team. Last year, no road team won in the wild card round. Someone's due.
So, of the four road teams, which one has the best shot at winning?
Bengals at Texans - The Bengals may be a little "hotter" right now than the Texans, but are you really going to trust them going into Houston for the upset? Not me. They've shown an inability to close when they needed it most, and the Texans are probably a bit pissed they lost last week and have to play this week.
Colts at Ravens - The Colts had one of the easiest regular season schedules, but will face one of the tougher ones in the playoffs. Think they can march into Baltimore on the road, outside, and take a game away from them? I don't think they can. Experience, home field advantage, and weather conditions are all against them. And that's tough odds for even Andrew Luck, even if he doesn't throw a bunch of picks.
Vikings at Packers - The Vikings are returning to the scene of the crime of just a week ago, and the Packers are none too happy about it. Think they'll avoid a letdown now that they've snuck into the playoffs at the expense of a couple of division rivals - one they beat and the other they beat out? Hard to do, I'd say. The Packers are up for a little revenge, and Adrian Peterson can carry them only so far.
Seahawks at Redskins - We've been talking about this all week now, so I won't reiterate anything. Let's just say of all the road teams, I like the chances in this game better than any.
Joe Namath seems to think so too.
So, of the four road teams, which one has the best shot at winning?
Bengals at Texans - The Bengals may be a little "hotter" right now than the Texans, but are you really going to trust them going into Houston for the upset? Not me. They've shown an inability to close when they needed it most, and the Texans are probably a bit pissed they lost last week and have to play this week.
Colts at Ravens - The Colts had one of the easiest regular season schedules, but will face one of the tougher ones in the playoffs. Think they can march into Baltimore on the road, outside, and take a game away from them? I don't think they can. Experience, home field advantage, and weather conditions are all against them. And that's tough odds for even Andrew Luck, even if he doesn't throw a bunch of picks.
Vikings at Packers - The Vikings are returning to the scene of the crime of just a week ago, and the Packers are none too happy about it. Think they'll avoid a letdown now that they've snuck into the playoffs at the expense of a couple of division rivals - one they beat and the other they beat out? Hard to do, I'd say. The Packers are up for a little revenge, and Adrian Peterson can carry them only so far.
Seahawks at Redskins - We've been talking about this all week now, so I won't reiterate anything. Let's just say of all the road teams, I like the chances in this game better than any.
Joe Namath seems to think so too.