NFL: Playoff Seeds of Super Bowl Teams

The playoff seeding system was started in 1975. Since then, every Super Bowl has featured at least one #1- or #2-seeded team.

In the following table, #1 and #2 seeded teams are bolded. Years marked with a '*' are ones with no #1 seeded team. As usual, the year refers to when the regular season started; the actual Super Bowls are played the following calendar year.

Year	Winner	Loser
1975	Steelers #1	Cowboys #4
1976	Raiders #1	Vikings #1
1977	Cowboys #1	Broncos #1
1978	Steelers #1	Cowboys #2
1979	Steelers #2	Rams #3	*
1980	Raiders #4	Eagles #2	*
1981	49ers #1	Bengals #1
1982	Redskins #1	Dolphins #2
1983	Raiders #1	Redskins #1
1984	49ers #1	Dolphins #1
1985	Bears #1	Patriots #5
1986	Giants #1	Broncos #2
1987	Redskins #3	Broncos #1
1988	49ers #2	Bengals #1
1989	49ers #1	Broncos #1
1990	Giants #2	Bills #1
1991	Redskins #1	Bills #1
1992	Cowboys #2	Bills #4	*
1993	Cowboys #1	Bills #1
1994	49ers #1	Chargers #2
1995	Cowboys #1	Steelers #2
1996	Packers #1	Patriots #2
1997	Broncos #4	Packers #2	*
1998	Broncos #1	Falcons #2
1999	Rams #1	Titans #4
2000	Ravens #4	Giants #1
2001	Patriots #2	Rams #1
2002	Buccaneers #2	Raiders #1
2003	Patriots #1	Panthers #3
2004	Patriots #2	Eagles #1
2005	Steelers #6	Seahawks #1
2006	Colts #3	Bears #1
2007	Giants #5	Patriots #1
2008	Steelers #2	Cardinals #4	*

Comments:

• There's certainly evidence in this list that high playoff seeds aren't as valuable as they used to be:

• There were 8 #1-vs-#1 matchups 1975 to 1993 (19 seasons).

• There were 0 #1-vs-#1 matchups 1994 to 2008 (15 seasons).

• Counting this year, we are on a stretch of 5 Super Bowls not won by a #1 seed. The longest such strech before 2000 was just two years (1979-1980, and 1987-1988).

Observations on playoff seeding

Starting with the 1975 season, the NFL has used a seeding system to determine how home field is awarded in playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl. In that time there have been 33 Super Bowls played. Of the Super Bowls played under the seeding system:

• Every Super Bowl has had at least one team that was a 1 or 2 seed.

• Only 4 Super Bowls have had a 2-seed vs a lower seed (1979: Rams (3) vs Steelers (2); 1980: Raiders (4) vs Eagles (2); 1992: Bills (4) vs Cowboys (2), and 1997: Packers (2) vs Broncos (4))

• 20 Super Bowls were either 1 vs 1 seed or 1 vs 2 seed.

• Only 7 Super Bowls were won by a team not a 1 or 2 seed (1980: Raiders (4), 1987: Redskins (3), 1997: Broncos (4), 2000: Ravens (4), 2005 Steelers (6), 2006: Colts (3), and 2007: Giants (6))

• In spite of the above, 5 of the last 11 Super Bowls have been won by lower-seeded teams.

The final point is particularly notable, and (to my way of thinking, anyway), suggests there is no need to give low-seeded teams any additional special advantage.