Belichick does not approve of this table.
So today I’m bringing the Checkdowns category to Football Perspective. I was wondering how often a team defeated both eventual Super Bowl participants in the same season. There have been 42 Super Bowl champions since the merger (no team could have done this in the pre-merger era), and surprisingly, 16 teams have accomplished this feat. Most recently, the 2010 Patriots defeated both the Steelers and Packers (playing with Matt Flynn and not Aaron Rodgers). The table below lists all 16 teams, with linkable boxscores to the games in question. I’ve also shown the team’s overall record and winning percentage during the regular season. As always, all columns are sortable.
Team | Year | SB Winner | SB Loser | Win % | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWE | 2010 | GNB 31-27 | PIT 39-26 | 0.875 | 14-2-0 |
| PHI | 2008 | PIT 15-6 | ARI 48-20 | 0.594 | 9-6-1 |
| NYG | 2008 | PIT 21-14 | ARI 37-29 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
| JAX | 2005 | PIT 23-17 | SEA 26-14 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
| PIT | 2004 | NWE 34-20 | PHI 27-3 | 0.938 | 15-1-0 |
| WAS | 2000 | BAL 10-3 | NYG 16-6 | 0.500 | 8-8-0 |
| TEN | 2000 | BAL 14-6 | NYG 28-14 | 0.813 | 13-3-0 |
| DAL | 1996 | GNB 21-6 | NWE 12-6 | 0.625 | 10-6-0 |
| MIA | 1993 | DAL 16-14 | BUF 22-13 | 0.563 | 9-7-0 |
| SEA | 1986 | NYG 17-12 | DEN 41-16 | 0.625 | 10-6-0 |
| MIA | 1985 | CHI 38-24 | NWE 30-27 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
| CLE | 1981 | SFO 15-12 | CIN 20-17 | 0.313 | 5-11-0 |
| SDG | 1980 | OAK 30-24 | PHI 22-21 | 0.688 | 11-5-0 |
| DAL | 1980 | OAK 19-13 | PHI 35-27 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
| SDG | 1979 | PIT 35-7 | RAM 40-16 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
| RAM | 1978 | PIT 10-7 | DAL 27-14 | 0.750 | 12-4-0 |
While some of these teams were in the same division as a Super Bowl participant, none of them swept their division foe and also defeated the Super Bowl representative from the other conference.
Each team on the list has its own interesting story. The 1981 Browns won just 5 games, but managed to beat both the 49ers and Bengals that season. The Don Coryell-Dan Fouts Chargers appear on this list in consecutive years. In 1979, San Diego blew out Pittsburgh and Los Angeles and finished the year with the NFL’s best record. But in one of the most improbable upsets in playoff history, the Houston Oilers and shocked San Diego and won, 17-14. In 1980, San Diego went 11-5 and won close games over both the Raiders and Eagles. After defeating Buffalo in the division round of the playoffs, Oakland upset San Diego 34-27 in the AFC Championship Game en route to becoming the first wildcard team to win the Super Bowl.
What sticks out to you on the table?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m actually quite impressed that 3 separate times, both SB contenders were beaten by two different teams. Obviously, the SB contenders will be amongst the best teams in the league and almost certainly win most of their games. When you combine that with how few teams are played by both eventual SB teams, it’s a little strange that it happens that frequently. Aside from that, I find the grouping at the bottom of the list (’78, ’79, ’80) quite amusing. The number of times the same teams all pop up in different colummns would seem to show that those teams (SDG, DAL, RAM, PIT) had a ton of talent and were really dominant (even the Chargers, despite their lack of postseason success).
This reminds me of the stat that used to be mentioned often (up until about 10-12 years ago) how no team that lost to Tampa Bay ever won (or went to?) the Super Bowl.
I think this was mainly an issue of selection bias. Tampa Bay didn’t beat many teams AT ALL from 1976-1998, so the chances that they could beat somebody who made the Super Bowl was slim.
How hard would it be for you to research any similar streaks? If we assume that the Tampa Bay streak ran from 1976 to 2000 (maybe you can check this), are there any current 24+ year streaks? When was the last time a team lost to, say, Cleveland or St. Louis and went on to win the Super Bowl?
That sound like a future checkdown.
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