NFL postseason action kicks off Saturday with Wild Card weekend. The Tennessee Titans will be taking on the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Atlanta Falcons will face off against the Los Angeles Rams.
On Sunday, fans will get to see two more matchups between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints.
There are plenty of storylines for each game. Will Alex Smith be focused after being benched for Patrick Mahomes last week? Will the Rams’ high-powered offense continue to do damage? How will the Bills perform in their first postseason appearance since 1999? Will the Panthers finally get a win against the Saints this season?
It is definitely going to be an exciting weekend. Maybe the Wild Card teams will pull out a win or two.
A bigger question to ask is what are the odds of one of the Wild Card teams winning the Super Bowl? Or even making it?
The history
Not to disappoint fans of the Wild Cards, but the odds of one of them getting in or even winning it all aren’t great.
Overall, 10 Wild Card teams have played in a Super Bowl since the Wild Card was born in 1970. The first Wild Card team to make a Super Bowl was the Dallas Cowboys in 1975. They ended up losing 21-17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X.
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Wild Cards in the Super Bowl
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| TEAM | YEAR/SUPER BOWL | RESULT |
| Dallas Cowboys | 1975 (Super Bowl X) | Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17 |
| Oakland Raiders | 1980 (Super Bowl XV) | Defeated Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 |
| New England Patriots | 1985 (Super Bowl XX) | Lost to Chicago Bears 46-10) |
| Buffalo Bills | 1992 (Super Bowl XXVII) | Lost to Dallas Cowboys 52-17 |
| Denver Broncos | 1997 (Super Bowl XXXII) | Defeated Green Bay Packers 31-24 |
| Tennessee Titans | 1999 (Super Bowl XXXIV) | Lost to St. Louis Rams 23-16 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2000 (Super Bowl XXXV) | Defeated New York Giants 34-7 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2005 (Super Bowl XL) | Defeated Seattle Seahawks 21-10 |
| New York Giants | 2007 (Super Bowl XLII) | Defeated New England Patriots 17-14 |
| Green Bay Packers | 2010 (Super Bowl XLV) | Defeated Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 |
It is also noteworthy to include the Kansas City Chiefs in this talk. In 1969, they won the AFL as a Wild Card and then defeated the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
It is not impossible for a Wild Card to make the Super Bowl, or even win it. However, the chances are slim. There has been a Wild Card in 20.8 percent of Super Bowls since the Wild Card entered the postseason. They have also won just 12.5 percent of Super Bowls. When a Wild Card makes it, they have won 60 percent of the time, including the last four times.
What it takes to win
Is there much correlation between all the Wild Card Super Bowl winners? It is tough to find much.
One thing all Wild Card Super Bowl teams have in common is that they all won at least 10 games during the regular season. Four of them won 11 games, two of them won 12 games, and one of them even won 13.
Based on that, most of the Wild Cards that make the Super Bowl are pretty dominant teams. There are division winners that win 10 games. Teams are rarely going to be a Wild Card if they have 12 wins.
If fans are confident enough to bet on a Wild Card winning it all, they should look to the NFC. Only the Panthers and Falcons have double-digit wins. Sorry Bills and Titans fans, history is just not on your side.
Defense is something else that almost all the Wild Cards had in common. Seven out of the 10 ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed per game. Seven out of the 10 also ranked in the top 10 in points allowed per game.
Once again, the Panthers and Falcons are the only two Wild Cards that rank in the top 10 in yards allowed per game, and the Falcons are the only one that ranks in the top 10 in points allowed per game.
Will we see a Wild Card this year?
Let’s look at some history again. There was one Wild Card in the Super Bowl in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, three in the 1990s, three in the 2000s and one so far in the 2010s. Does that mean a Wild Card is due to appear soon since there has only been one so far this decade?
Actually, any team with a road playoff game is due to win soon. Since 2012, no team that has played a road playoff game has made it to the Super Bowl. The last time it happened was when the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens faced each other, with both winning games on the road.
It is very tough to say. The NFL is always unpredictable. Nobody picked the Jaguars or Rams would make the playoffs this year.
Going on history, it appears the Falcons have the best chance out of all the Wild Cards to make it. However, they just played in the big game last year and making back-to-back Super Bowls is very difficult. Also, each matchup and season is different. Comparing to the past is not always the best way to predict winners, but it does give us an idea of how difficult it is for a Wild Card to win on the big stage.
Either way, get ready. The postseason should be just as exciting as always.
Featured image by Getty Images
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